Agenda

 Presentation: Claire Holmes on library

resources
 Discussion topics:
 Literature review
 Why?
 What?
 Research paradigms
 Defining scientific research

 Group work on Research Critique Form

 Look ahead
Literature Review: Why?
 Why do we do literature review?
 Foundation: set the broad and historical
context of the study
 Inspiration: advance collective
understanding
 Thorough and sophisticated understanding
of the field
 Generativity: “ability to build on the
scholarship and research of those who
have come before us” (p.3)
 (Boote & Beile, 2005)


Literature Review: What?
 What is a good literature review?
 Coverage
 Synthesis
 Methodology
 Significance
 Rhetoric

( Boote & Beile, 2005 )

Research Paradigms
 Analytic-positvist-quantitative
 Constructivist-interpretivist-qualitative
 Critical theory-postmodern
 Eclectic-mixed methods-pragmatic


 (Reeves & Hedberg, 2003)

Analytic-Positivist-
Quantitative
 Analytic: parts separate from wholes;
cause-effect relationship revealed
 Positivist: scientific progress and
perfectibility of humanity
 Quantitative: measurement of variables
and analysis of statistics
 Define, predict, control, and explain
 Comparing one program/product over
another
Constructivist-Interpretivist-
Qualitative
 Truth is a matter of consensus; roles of
culture, gender, context, etc.
 Constructivist: humans construct reality
 Interpretivist: relativist; subjectivist;
multiple stakeholders; analyses in
context
 Qualitative: human being as primary
evaluation instrument
 Methodology: Interviews and observations
Critical theory
 Liberation from powers of oppression
 Critical: questions of power, control, and
epistemology
 Examples: feminism; critical race theory;
democracy in education
 Additional resource:
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/critical-the
Eclectic-Mixed methods
 Eclectic: open to borrow from other
paradigms
 Mixed methods: recognition of multiple
perspectives
Defining Scientific Research
 Quantitative?
 Qualitative?
 Mixed methods?
 Others?


Science (Diamond, 2003):



 Replication of lab experiment

 Scientia as knowledge
Looking ahead on Feb. 11
 Presentation: Dr. Sarah Lohnes Matulak
--“Troubling” technology and teens: Exploring the
relationships between young people’s technologies,
learning spaces, and access to academic discourses
 Readings:
 Johnson, R. B., & Onwuegbuzie, A. (2004). Mixed methods
research: A research paradigm whose time has come.
Educational Researcher 33(7), 14-26. DOI:
10.3102/0013189X033007014
 Reeves, T., Herrington, J. & Oliver, R. (2005). Design
research: A socially responsible approach to
instructional technology research in higher education.
Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 16(2), 96-115
 Seminar I students
 Share your literature review topic in your blog
