RESEARCH METHOD COHEN ok

98 PLANNING EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH
Parameters
The data will be collected on a ‘one-shot’
basis rather than longitudinally. A multi-method
approach will be used for data collection.
Stages in the research
There are five stages in the research, as follows.
Stage 1: Development and operationalization
This stage includes:
a review of literature and commercially
produced instruments
clarification of the research questions
clarification of methodology and sampling.
Stage 2: Instrumentation and the piloting of the
instruments
This stage includes:
questionnaire development and piloting
semi-structured interview schedules and piloting
gathering of observational data
analysis of documentary data.
Because of the limited number of senior staff, it
will not be possible to conduct pilot interviews
with them, as this will preclude them from the
final data collection.
Stage 3: Data collection
This will proceed in the following sequence.
First, administration of the questionnaire will
be followed by analysis of questionnaire data to
provide material for the interviews. Interviews
will be conducted concurrently.
Stage 4: Data analysis and interpretation
Numerical data will be analysed using SPSS, which
will also enable the responses from subgroups of
the school to be separated for analysis. Qualitative
data will be analysed using protocols of content
analysis.
Stage 5: Reporting
A full report on the findings will include
conclusions, implications and recommendations.
Ethics and ownership
Participation in the project will be on the basis
of informed consent, and on a voluntary basis,
with rights of withdrawal at any time. Given
the size and scope of the cultural survey, it is
likely that key people in the school will be
able to be identified, even though the report
is confidential. This will be made clear to the
potential participants. Copies of the report will be
available for all the employees. Data, once given to
the researcher, are his or hers, and the researcher
may not use them in any way which will publicly
identify the school; the report is the property of
the school.
Time frames
The project will be completed in five months:
the first month for a review of the relevant
literature
the second month to develop the instrumentation
and research design
the third month to gather the data
the fourth month to analyse the data
the fifth month to complete the report.
The example indicates a systematic approach to
the planning and conduct of the research, which
springs from a perceived need in the school. It
works within given constraints and makes clear
what it will ‘deliver’. Though the research does
not specify hypotheses to be tested, nevertheless
it would not be difficult to convert the research
questions into hypotheses if this style of research
were preferred.
Conclusion
The notion of ‘fitness for purpose’ reins in
planning research; the research plan must suit
the purposes of the research. If the reader is