CHAPTER 2
DOING YOUR OWN RESEARCH: FROM PROPOSAL TO FINAL REPORT
TEACHING ACTIVITIES FOR CHAPTER 2
Activity 1. How does someone go about preparing a research proposal?
If you want your students to prepare a research proposal as a substantial, term-long assignment for your course,
this is a critical chapter. You can review in class the elements of the proposal outline in Table 2.1 (repeated in
Appendix 1) and also the sample proposals at the end of the chapter. You then can give students assignments in
which they complete different parts of the outline as they study different chapters.
By the end of the term, each student will have a research proposal that has been reviewed by you each time they
Activity 2. Research questions, research hypotheses, variables, constants, and case features.
You can select one of the quantitative studies reprinted in the textbook and ask your students to identify all the
research questions and/or hypotheses, constants, and variables in it. You can do this as an in-class activity,
particularly if the students have little or no prior experience with research.
In a similar manner, you can select one of the qualitative studies reprinted in the textbook and ask your students
to identify the cases and the features of the cases that were the focus of inquiry.
We recommend that you spend an ample amount of time on this activity, as it will improve students’
MULTIPLE-CHOICE TEST ITEMS FOR CHAPTER 2
1. A research proposal
a. is necessary only for students planning to do a research study as a dissertation.
b. should not be prepared until you have collected empirical data relating to your research problem.
c. is likely to be required by an institutional review board.
d. consists of a statement of the research problem, hypotheses, and questions.
2. Replication studies
a. are done by researchers primarily to improve their skills in collecting and analyzing data.
b. are desirable because they lead to an accumulation of knowledge about an educational problem.
c. are more appropriate for the physical sciences than for education or the social sciences.
d. require the researcher to exactly repeat the methods of the study being replicated.
3. The standard guide for organizing research manuscripts in education is the
a. Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association.
b. Publication Manual of the American Educational Research Association.
c. Chicago Manual of Style.
d. Manual of the Institute of Education Sciences.
4. Research questions for a qualitative research proposal
a. are prepared in the same manner as research questions for a quantitative research proposal.
b. can be more tentative because the researchers might change them as they collect data.
c. are typically limited to three or fewer questions.
d. must include specification of the methods that will be used to answer them.
5. Research hypotheses
a. are predictions based on theory.
b. are predictions based on previous research findings.
c. are possible explanations for the findings of a research study.
d. do not need to be specified at the outset of a research study.
6. If a researcher wants to learn how students vary in their performance on a creativity test, creativity is
considered a
a. hypothesis.
b. case delineation.
c. constant.
d. variable.
7. Qualitative researchers typically identify a focus for their study through the process of
a. variable delineation.
b. construct delineation.
c. case delineation.
d. personal reflection.
8. Search engines are particularly useful for
a. identifying a research problem.
b. identifying a research sample.
c. identifying existing studies on a research problem.
d. testing research hypotheses.
9. Collection of empirical data is
a. the essence of research.
b. less important in research than well-reasoned claims.
c. less important in research than individuals’ belief systems about reality.
d. an aspect of basic research, but not of applied research.
10. The purpose of an institutional review board is to ensure that a proposed research study
a. includes a proposal based on the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association.
b. protects research participants from harm.
c. is cost-effective.
d. All of the above.
11. A pilot study is helpful
a. if the results of a research study do not support the research hypotheses.
b. only if the study will involve quantitative methodology.
c. only if the study will involve qualitative methodology.
d. in convincing others that the research study is viable.
SHORT-ANSWER TEST ITEMS FOR CHAPTER 2
1. Let’s suppose that teachers are reporting an increased rate of distracting text-messaging during class, and they
want to solve this problem. State two research questions and two research hypotheses that are pertinent to this
situation.
2. Researchers want to know whether high school students in the Emporia School District do less homework just
prior to major holiday periods (e.g., Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter) and just after them than they do
during the rest of the school year. Specify the constants and variables in this proposed study.
3. Why is replication research important?
CHAPTER 2
DOING YOUR OWN RESEARCH: FROM PROPOSAL TO FINAL REPORT
Multiple-Choice Test Items
Short-Answer Test Items