Educational research is a systematic and intellectual activity aimed at solving educational problem or expanding knowledge in the area of education.
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Travers (1969) defines educational research as an activity directed toward the development of an organized body of scientific knowledge about the events with which educators are concerned.
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Educational research employs the scientific method of investigations.
As a science, it possesses the following characteristics.
Verifiable: It is verifiable and the process adopted can be replicated by other researchers, leading to the same results.
Empirical: It involves collection of data from which conclusion may be drawn.
Non-Ethical: It provides explanation for any action instead of seeking whether an action is wrong or right.
Cumulative: It helps to update the existing principles, facts and theories through investigation and experimentation.
Theoretical: It provides the basis for explanation of certain concepts and phenomena.
Educational Research Process
Educational research process has to do with scientific methods of acquiring knowledge and are characterized by the following steps:
Observation of the natural phenomena: This requires a a trained eye and inquisitiveness to detect what previous researchers have not done.
Identification of problem: This is to identify area of problems in education that need solution.
Formulating researeh questions and hypotheses: Ths stage involves the development of relevant instruments to collect data. Hypotheses are wide guess made before experimentation which are either rejected or upheld after experimentation and subsequent analysis of data.
Experimentation: this involves keeping other intervening and extraneous factors constant in order to determine the cause-efect relationship
between dependent and independent variables.
Analysis of data: The information or data generated from scientific research is subjected to analysis in order to answer the research questions and test the hypotheses.
Conclusion: Necessary inferences and conclusions are drawn based on the result of the analysis.
Further experimentation: This is necessary for cross validation, widening of the scope of application or increasing.
If any of the steps in research is not properly carried out, the results will most likely be wrong or misleading.
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