reseņas educativas (Spanish)    
resenhas educativas (Portuguese)    

This review has been accessed times since February 12, 2005

Gay, L. R. & Airasian, P. (2003). Educational Research: Competencies for Analysis and Applications, Seventh Edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

pp. xvii + 605
$93.33     ISBN 0-13-099463-4

Reviewed by Elsie M. Szecsy
Arizona State University

February 12, 2005

Some may think that is not possible for a discussion of educational research methods to be comprehensive and readable, but perhaps Lorrie Gay (deceased) and Peter Airasian have succeeded in integrating both characteristics in an introductory educational research textbook. According to an informal poll of a number of esteemed colleagues who have used this textbook in teaching graduate level introductory research methods courses, this textbook receives high marks. According to the authors:

The philosophy that guided the development of the current and previous editions of this text was the conviction that an introductory research course should be more skill and application oriented than theory oriented. Thus the purpose of this text is to have students become familiar with research mainly at a “how to” skill and application level. The text does not mystify students with theoretical and statistical jargon. It strives to provide a down-to-earth approach that helps students acquire the skills and knowledge required of a competent consumer and producer of educational research. The emphasis is not just on what the student knows but also on what the student can do with what he or she knows. It is recognized that being a “good” researcher involves more than the acquisition of skills and knowledge; in any field, significant research is usually produced by persons who through experience have acquired insights, intuitions, and strategies related to the research process. Research of any worth, however, is rarely conducted in the absence of basic research skills and knowledge. A basic assumption of this text is that there is a considerable overlap in the competencies required of a competent consumer of research and a competent producer of research, and that a person is in a much better position to evaluate the work of others after she or he has performed the major tasks involved in the research process. (Gay and Airasian, 2003, p. iii)

It is from this point of departure—along with the opinions of esteemed colleagues—that this review seeks to ascertain to what extent the book’s purpose was achieved.

Overview of the textbook

Each of this book’s eighteen chapters opens with an attempt at comic relief. Facing each chapter’s opening page is a scene from a horror movie. For example, the second chapter (Selecting and Defining a Research Topic) leads with a scene from the classic, Hunchback of Notre Dame. The hunchback is bent over the table holding his head in utter dejection; the caption is, “Some graduate students spend many anxiety-ridden days and sleepless nights worrying about where they are going to find the problem they need for their thesis or dissertation.” What follows in each chapter, consistent with many introductory research methods textbooks, is a list of objectives for the chapter, followed by the chapter narrative. The chapter closes with a summary.

The authors lead readers through a well-organized story of educational research, a story that is divided into four parts. The first part is the introduction, which defines what educational research is. In the introduction is also commentary on the concept of research topic; the concepts of basic, applied, and evaluation research; and qualitative and quantitative approaches to educational research. The reader then learns about identifying research topics or questions, pertinent requirements for writing a literature review, and formulating and stating various types of hypotheses. Unfortunately, the discussion of computer databases includes information about the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) that no longer applies because of the dismantling of the ERIC Clearinghouses by the U.S. Department of Education. Also included in the introduction are discussion of the mechanics of preparing a research plan, selecting a sample, and selecting measuring instruments. The introduction constitutes five chapters, or approximately 29% of the textbook’s pages, exclusive of appendices or indices.

The second part of this four-part book offers readers insights into qualitative research methods. Included in this section are discussion of six general steps in qualitative research (Select the research topic; Review the literature; Select research participants; Collect data; Analyze data; Write report) and a general overview of various qualitative research approaches (ethnography, historical research, grounded theory, action research). The four-chapter part ends with a chapter devoted solely to action research. Discussion of qualitative research methodology constitutes the next four chapters, or approximately 21% of the textbook’s pages, exclusive of appendices or indices.

The third part devotes seven chapters to discussion of various types of quantitative research methods. A chapter is devoted to each of the following: survey research; correlational research; causal-comparative research; experimental research; descriptive statistics; inferential statistics; and post analysis considerations in quantitative research. Seven chapters, or approximately 42% of the textbook’s pages, exclusive of appendices or indices, are devoted to discussion of quantitative research methods and statistical analysis.

The final part, Producing and Consuming Research, focuses on the preparation and evaluation of research reports. This part offers readers a clear description of the general guidelines and rules for writing and formatting research reports and the basic organizational structure of research reports. The authors also offer readers an extensive checklist of general and type-specific evaluation criteria that can be used in evaluating their own and others’ research reports. Two chapters, or slightly less than 8% of the textbook’s pages, not including appendices or indices, are devoted to this topic.

Mechanisms for developing competencies in educational research

Threaded throughout the book are eleven (11) strategically placed Tasks. The purpose of the Tasks is to guide students in the process of conducting a research study and writing a research report. Many Tasks build on a previous Task, and incorporate information provided through the intervening chapters.

Task 1 follows the first chapter of the book, Introduction to Educational Research. Students read two research reports, also supplied in the textbook, and analyze them. Students are to state the topic studied, the procedures used to gather data, the method of data analysis, and the major conclusion. Task 1 also includes seven research topic statements that students are to select an appropriate research approach and a rationale for its selection.

Task 2 follows the second chapter, Selecting and Defining a Research Topic. Students write an introduction to a prospective research study. The introduction should include a statement of the background and significance of the problem, a problem statement and necessary definitions, a review of the literature, and a statement of the hypothesis. To assist students, Task 2 also includes an example for student reference.

Task 3 follows the third chapter, Preparing and Evaluating a Research Plan. The purpose of Task 3 is to structure a brief research plan. A model follows that leads students to include information about participant selection, instrumentation, design, procedure, and data analysis.

Task 4 follows the fourth chapter, Selecting a Sample, and focuses on defining in greater detail the characteristics of the quantitative population to be studied. An example follows this assignment as well.

Task 5 follows the fifth chapter, Selecting Measuring Samples, and focuses on quantitative measurement. It draws from the example from Task 4 to select a measurement instrument from the Mental Measurements Yearbooks. Students must select three, describe their characteristics, and write a rationale to support the selection of one of them for the prospective study that has begun to develop through Tasks 1 through 4.

Tasks 6 and 7 appear after the chapters on Qualitative Research: Data Analysis and Action Research, respectively. Task 6 offers guidance in structuring a research plan for a qualitative study. Task 7 provides guidance in developing a design for an action research study to answer a school-based question.

Tasks 8 and 9 focus on quantitative research topics and follow the chapters on Experimental Research and Postanalysis Considerations, respectively. Task 8 provides guidance in developing further what was begun through Tasks 3, 4, and5. The model provided illustrates a description of participants, instrument, experimental design, and procedure for a quantitative study. Task 9 illustrates and provides guidance on how a typical description of the results of a quantitative study might be presented.

Task 10 synthesizes the previous nine Tasks into a complete research report that includes title page, table of contents, list of tables and figures, abstract, introduction, method, results, discussion, and reference list. Task 11 provides for the evaluation of the final product as a result of Task 10. Students are guided to combine Tasks 2, 8, and 9 in the production of the research report for Task 10. There is no clear linkage to Tasks 6 and 7 from Task 10 or 11.

Ancillary materials

The textbook is replete with ancillary materials, including a companion website that provides practice quizzes, additional documents, and summaries of the major points of each chapter. Also included in the website are external links to related online resources.

Of particular value to this reviewer were the four research reports posted on the companion website. Two illustrated qualitative, and two illustrated quantitative approaches to educational research. Three reports related to teacher identity and professional development (Pajak & Blasé, 1984; Bertoch, Nielsen, Curley & Borg, 1988; Schempp, 1995); one related to relaxation and positive self-esteem to improve academic achievement of college students (Schreiber & Scchreiber, 1995). Each of the four was not only illustrative of a point, but was also engaging because each related to the professional interests of my students, the majority of whom were young education practitioners in their 20s and 30s. The ensemble of research reports also provided for students’ entry into the professional research curricular conversation through discussion of various methodological approaches to the same topic. For example, one qualitative study (Pajak & Blase, 1984) reported on how socializing at a bar reduced stress and eased the transition from professional to private persona for a group of teachers. One quantitative study (Bertoch, Nielsen, Curley & Borg, 1988) reported a formal intervention designed to accomplish a similar objective. Classroom discussion also included historical commentary on the beginning of the school reform movement that was underway about the same time as these reports were published. These four reports were in addition to seven more scattered throughout the textbook.

One can also purchase the textbook packaged with other books or software. Available to companions to the textbook are a Student Study Guide (Sperling, 2003), SPSS 12.0 Windows Student Version software, Simulations in Educational Psychology and Research 2.1 (Garry, Cole & Ormrod, 2004), The Enlightened Eye: The Qualitative Inquiry and the Enhancement of Educational Practice (Eisner, 1997), Understanding and Evaluating Educational Research (McMillan & Wegin, 2001), Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher (Mills, 2003), WIN Statpack software, and Conceptualizing Qualitative Inquiry: Mindwork for Fieldwork in Education and the Social Sciences (Schram, 2002).

Critique

The book does achieve the goals set by the authors, and the book also provides a rich array of well-selected resources that support to busy professors of introductory graduate-level courses in research methods. Instructors may use these resources or substitute others more pertinent to their students’ particular research interests. The authors are to be commended for this most generous contribution to the field.

Nonetheless, there are a number of areas of concern. First, though the authors have expanded the section on qualitative methods to provide a more balanced presentation of the full array of research methods, the book remains focused more heavily on quantitative than on qualitative research. The quantitative side of the book comes closer to providing students with information that would be part of an advanced course in quantitative methods than its counterpart on qualitative research does.

For instance, unless students are already conversant with SPSS, the narrative about using SPSS to calculate various descriptive and inferential statistics is probably more than introductory research methods students, who the authors imply are the target audience for this book, may be able to digest in abstract terms. In my limited experience with this textbook with a large class of Masters level students, I found that the SPSS screen shots and discussion in the chapters on descriptive and inferential statistics confused the students. However, the opening photo for the chapter on descriptive statistics was a scene at the guillotine from the film, Madame du Barry with the caption, “Looks bad, right?” And the chapter’s first subheading is entitled “The word is ‘statistics,’ not ‘sadistics’, so I guess we can say that the reader is forewarned.

On the other hand, Figure 14.2 on page 419 (Characteristics of the normal curve) provides beginning students of educational research methods a concise overview of various statistical measures and how they relate to each other. The narrative around this figure explains in greater detail how each of these measures is computed and what they mean. Unfortunately, there no equivalent attention was paid to computer-mediated qualitative data analytical methods.

A better approach to the problem of providing a balanced presentation of quantitative and qualitative methods might be to publish a separate book on SPSS in educational research, if such a book does not already exist, and do the same in one volume for the variety of available qualitative research software tools. Giving cursory attention to technology tools available for qualitative research data collection, management, and analysis, as Gay and Airasian do in this edition, may prompt some to believe that qualitative methods are still as burdensome to manage as they used to be. Given the availability of a number of qualitative data management software products, such is not the case. Also, because software tools change more rapidly than books can be revised, it appears ill advised to include any discussion of software tools, lest the book become prematurely obsolete in some places, while timelessly appropriate in others. One might say the same about Gay and Airasian’s discussion of computer databases. Their discussion of the ERIC Clearinghouses, though complete, is no longer up-to-date, given the changes made at the U.S. Department of Education as a result of the No Child Left Behind Act.

The predilection for quantitative methods is also reflected in the sequence of Tasks. Students with research interests best served by qualitative research approaches are not as well served by the Tasks. The Task sequence sets the stage for reporting that is more closely aligned with the quantitative research canon than with a qualitative or mixed methodological one.

A highlight of the book that overshadows its weaknesses is its organization. Implied by the sequence of chapters over the course of the book is a continuum of research methods. When so interpreted, the location of action research at the end of the qualitative research begins to make sense, despite the fact that action research can be structured multi-methodologically and include qualitative and quantitative approaches.

A skilled instructor can point out how various research approaches fall along the continuum. For instance, qualitative methods tend to be oriented to developmental research with small samples where building a theory is preferred over testing one. At the other end of the continuum is experimental research with large samples, where independent and dependent variables can be controlled and theory testing is the priority. The remaining intervening approaches fall between theory building with small samples and theory testing with large ones.

A skilled instructor can draw from this book’s organization in underscoring key factors to keep in mind when selecting a research methodology to serve a particular purpose. Some are purely practical considerations, such as available time and money. Others may be more conceptually based or grounded in ethical or philosophical factors. For instance, research on a poorly defined problem may require the openness of a qualitative approach, so that one can define and operationalize for future study variables related to the problem. Also, an educational problem with clearly defined independent, dependent, and intervening variables may lend itself better to a number of quantitative approaches, but ethical considerations may preclude the use of an experimental research design that would hurt a control group by denying them a helpful intervention in the name of research. The authors of the book do not provide these insights explicitly in the narrative; one must infer them.

Finally, a skilled instructor can help students draw from this textbook as a resource in identifying and applying pertinent mixed methodological or pragmatic designs to their research. Burke Johnson and Onwuegbuzie (2004) advocate mixed methodological designs where quantitative and qualitative designs are not viewed as incompatible to each other, but are crucial to each other in researching complex educational problems (Howe, 1988). A future edition of Gay and Airasian’s textbook that includes more comprehensive discussion of mixed methods than the four pages devoted to this topic within the chapter on qualitative research characteristics would be an improvement.

This book confirms what we already know about the relationship between student and learning resources: No matter how extensive the array of resources, an experienced instructor, conversant with the field of study as well as with course resources used to communicate key concepts is the most invaluable resource in helping students to make sense of what they read. Then students are better prepared to apply what they read appropriately in practice through critical review of other people’s research and careful construction and implementation of their own research.

References

Bertoch, M., Nielsen, E., Curley, J., and Borg, W. (1988). Reducing teacher stress. Journal of Experimental Education, 57(1), 117-128.

Burke Johnson, R. and Onwuegbuzie, A. J. (2004). Mixed methods research: A research paradigm whose time has come. Educational Researcher, 33(7), 14-26.

Eisner, E. (1997). The enlightened eye: Qualitative inquiry and the enhancement of educational practice. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill-Prentice Hall.

Garry, S., Cole, J. Ormrod, J. (2004). Simulations in educational psychology and research 2.1 [Paper Bound book with CD-ROM]. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Gay, L. R. & Airasian, P. (2003). Educational research: Competencies for analysis and applications (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

Howe, K. R. (1988). Against the quantitative-qualitative incompatibility thesis, or, Dogmas die hard. Educational Researcher, 17, 10-16.

McMillan, J. and Wergin, J. (2001). Understanding and evaluating educational research (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill-Prentice Hall.

Mills, G. (2003). Action research: A guide for the teacher researcher (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill-Prentice Hall.

The National Commission on Excellence in Education (1983, April). A nation at risk: The imperative for educational reform. Retrieved December 2, 2004, from http://www.goalline.org/Goal%20Line/NatAtRisk.html.

Pajak, E. G., and Blase, J. J. (1984). Teachers in bars: From professional to personal self. Sociology of Education, 57, 164-173.

Schempp, P. G. (1995). Learning on the job: An analysis of the acquisition of a teacher’s knowledge. Journal of Research and Development in Education, 28(4), 237-244.

Schram, T. (2003). Conceptualizing qualitative inquiry: Mindwork for fieldwork in education and the social sciences. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill-Prentice Hall.

Schreiber, E. H. and Schreiber, K. N. (1995). Using relaxation techniques and positive self-esteem to improve academic achievement of college students. Psychological Reports, 76, 929-930.

Sperling, R. (2003). Student study guide to accompany L. R. Gay and Peter Airasian’s educational research: Competencies for analysis and applications. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill-Prentice Hall.

About the Reviewer

Elsie Szecsy is Associate Research Professional at the Southwest Center for Education Equity and Language Diversity, College of Education, Arizona State University. Her professional interests include designing multidisciplinary educational research approaches to help inform education policy and practice for Latino and other students of color and their families. Email: Elsie.Szecsy@asu.edu.

~ ER home | Reseņas Educativas | Resenhas Educativas ~
~ overview | reviews | editors | submit | guidelines | announcements | search ~