OVERVIEW OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP'S RESEARCH COURSES
Revised 7/22/2005
INTRODUCTION
The Educational
Leadership is in a continuous process of improving the quality of instruction and
student learning opportunities. This booklet is designed to assist the graduate
student through the entire three-course sequence. It will clarify what will be
taught and the requirements for each class: FOED 6610, SPSE 7010, and FOED
7610. Note: The actual course requirements may vary according to the
individual instructor.
Research Option:
This series of courses
(FOED 6610, SPSE 7010, and FOED 7610) are designed to prepare the student for
the planning & preparation of a doctoral dissertation.
Practicum Option:
SPSE 7190 maybe be
taken in lieu of SPSE 7010 and FOED 7610 for the student not planning on
pursuing a doctorate degree.
Related Links:
Office of Sponsored Programs
(Institutional Review Board – IRB)
CLASS SEQUENCE:
FOED
6610 (Master’s) - Analysis & Application of Educational Research.
Basic research
concepts & techniques for qualitative, quantitative, & action research
SPSE 7010 (Ed.S) -
Educational Research Methodology
Advanced
research concepts & techniques for qualitative, quantitative, & action
research.
FOED 7610 (Ed.S)
Prerequisite SPSE 7010 - Directed Individual Research in Education
· Studying a professional educational
problem & presenting a research project.
· Write research paper
OVERVIEW OF RESEARCH PAPER CHAPTERS:
There are three areas
in which graduate students need to be careful: (1) proper citation of sources,
(2) using copyrighted materials, and (3) reporting properly when compliance or
permission is required (Lacava, A, 1992, p 1).
Research papers are written about a narrow aspect of new knowledge/information
within a given field with which the student has a thorough knowledge. Research
papers typically have five chapters with the following classifications:
The first three
chapters, along with references, appendices, title page, and table of contents,
makeup the "proposal." The proposal is written in the present or
future tense. The proposal must be approved and accepted by the instructor and
other appropriate agencies prior to starting the actual study in FOED 7610.
Chapters 1, 2, and 3 are revised and chapters 4 and 5 are written after the
study has been completed with the data analyzed and results understood. Before
turning in the final paper all tenses in the entire document are changed to
past tense and all other changes in chapters 1, 2, and 3 must be made.
Chapter 1 -
Introduction
This chapter sets the stage
for the reader of the paper to understand the problem being studied, the
purpose of the study, why the study is significant, the limitations &
delimitations of the study, threats to external validity, the meaning of
special terms included in the paper, and what questions the researcher wants to
answer.
The following
definitions are from Introduction to Educational Research, Third Edition
by C. M. Charles, Longman 1998:
Delimitations - Restrictions that researcher
impose in order to narrow the scope of a study.
Limitations (on research) -Natural
conditions that restrict the scope of a study and may affect its outcomes.
Internal
Validity - The
degree to which the effects of extraneous variables have been controlled in a
study.
External
Validity - The
extent to which findings of a particular study can be generalized elsewhere.
Chapter 2 - Review
of Literature
This chapter is a
written report of all pertinent related literature up to the study. The
reasons for doing the study are supported. Background provided by this review
of similar studies supports the research questions and research methodology.
The reader should have a solid understanding of the background framework from
which the researcher is working. This section is used to report what other researchers
have found and not a forum for the researcher’s personal opinion. It should
logically lead the reader to support the need for your study and to recognize
the gap in knowledge that your study will attempt to fill.
Chapter 3 -
Methodology
At the beginning of
this chapter, restate the purpose and significance of the study. It explains in
detail how the problem will systematically be addressed, how the data will be
collected and analyzed, why this research design was selected, and cites
sources to support the methodology and data analysis used in the study. It
should contain threats to internal validity.
Chapter 4 - Data
Analysis/Findings/Results
The data are
systematically presented, analyzed, and the results are reported according to
the methodology defined in Chapter 3.
Chapter 5 -
Discussions/Implications/Recommendations
The results are
discussed, implications are made for possible use of the findings, and
recommendations are made for utilizing the results and identifying future need
for study. It should include a discussion of how threats to internal validity
that arose during the study were addressed or controlled
American
Psychological Association (APA) Format
The Literature Review,
the Proposal, and the Research Paper are to be completed using American
Psychological Association (APA). A sample paper showing the title page, table
of contents, reference page, and basic layout is included in the booklet.
OVERVIEW OF EACH COURSE
The Literature
Review & hypothesis construction (FOED 6610)
The student will write
a literature review, write hypothesis statement(s) and problem construction,
and evaluate and critique quantitative and qualitative primary research
articles.
The Proposal (SPSE
7010)
The proposal (chapters
1 through 3) includes a title page, table of contents, reference page, and
appendices which contain all instruments to be used in the study, supporting
documents, consent agreements, and any other pertinent documents.
The proposal should be
written in a clear and concise manner that is appropriate for the professionals
in this field. Terms, which are familiar to professionals in the field, do not
need to be defined. However, terms with special meaning in your field, or terms
which have a special meaning for your study should be concisely defined. The
student should consult dissertations within the field of study, as well as,
accepted guides to dissertations.
Specific Requirements:
SPSE 7010 students
submit a copy of their proposal to their course instructor. The student and the
instructor discuss all issues pertaining to the proposal. The issues include,
but are not limited to the following:
The student will
modify or redesign the study to meet the departmental and instructor’s
standards for acceptability. The proposal completed in the prescribed
professional manner is a requirement to pass SPSE 7010. However, approval of
the proposal in SPSE 7010 does not mean approval to pursue the study. Approval
to complete the study and write the FOED 7610 research paper rests with the
7610 instructor & committee members. Additional revisions or redesigns may
be required prior to continuing the study.
The Research Paper
(FOED 7610)
Your topic must be
from your area of concentration and approved by all 3 committee members.
A formal proposal will be made to the instructor prior to continuation of the
study. The student will continue to enroll in FOED 7610 until the research
paper is completed in an acceptable manner. After the first semester's 3 hour
class, the student will enroll in a 1 hour class until completion of the
research paper.
Once the FOED 7610
proposal has been approved by the instructor(s) and MTSU's IRB (Institutional Review
Board (if required), the pilot study and/or the main body of the project are
started. It is the responsibility of the student to keep the instructor
informed as to the progress being made by providing samples of data, analyses
in progress, and other sections of the research paper as they are completed.
The instructor(s) will make suggestions, ask questions, and attempt to detect
typographical errors and determine if the paper will be acceptable when
complete. After all sections have been completed, turned in and revised, the
student will present the entire paper in the correct format for review by the
instructor. Once the final review is completed, the student will make the
required revisions and present the paper in final form for a grade.
Updated 8/30/2004