Thematic Seminars on Research Methodology and Statistics I – Teacher Training

Recommended Prerequisites

There are no recommended prerequesites

Teaching Methods

The methodology combines expository moments with the active participation of students through analysis of documents and debates.

The evaluation related to the Quantitative research methodology involves an individual work on a specific topic of the research methodology. This should essentially be a review / theoretical reflection on the theme, though it may be illustrated with examples taken from research already carried out. Students are advised to choose subjects which can further be useful for the design and elaboration of their doctoral thesis.

With regard to the Qualitative research, students should prepare (individually) a short summary of a text ( chosen from a list provided by the teacher) on one of the issues addressed.

Learning Outcomes

This curricular unit aims to offer students a general overview of the processes of analysis and design, planning and implementation of scientific studies in the area of teacher training

Some of the competencies that students should develop are:

- To promote the reflection on the contribution that quantitative research methodology can make to the construction of scientific knowledge in education.

- To promote awareness of the main features of the quantitative approach and of the main research designs;

- To encourage students to analyse the advantages of quantitative research strategies and their main limitations in the study of educational problems

- To introduce students to the initial stages of data analysis, using the SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences).

- To reflect on the concept of qualitative research

- To characterize the paradigms of qualitative research

- To identify some analytical frameworks of qualitative research;

- To foster reflection on the ethical issues that arise in planning, developing and disseminating education research

- To foster skills that enable students to conduct research in the area of teacher training

- To develop skills of critical reading and analysis of the literature in the domain of educational research

- To prepare students to write in a methodologically correct way their doctoral dissertation

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

A. Quantitative research methodology

- General information on the characteristics of scientific research in Social and Human Sciences

- Stages of a quantitative process research

- Quantitative research designs

- The correct formulation of scientific problems and hypothesis

- Data collection techniques

- Questions concerning the choice of samples

- Ethical concerns to consider in designing and implementing a scientific study

- Problems regarding the validity and reliability of scientific studies

- Building a database using SPSS

- Preliminary analysis of data

- General rules for writing a scientific paper

 

B. Introduction to qualitative research

Paradigms and analytical frameworks of qualitative research

- The human being as a producer of meanings

- To explain / To understand. The concept of paradigm

- Essential features of the phenomenological-interpretative paradigm

- The scientific criteria in critical theory and postmodern paradigms

- Complex rationality - an emerging paradigm

- Some analytical frameworks of Qualitative Research: social phenomenology, interactionism and theory of representation

- Strategies and techniques of qualitative research - in search of meanings

- Questions involved in validation of qualitative research

- Qualitative research writing

Head Lecturer(s)

Armanda Pinto Mota Matos

Bibliography

Bibliografia relativa à investigação quantitativa

Ary, D. et al. (1990). Introduction to research in education. Forth Worth: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc.

Bryman, A., & Cramer, D. (2001). Quantitative data analysis with SPSS release 10 for windows. A guide for social scientists.East Sussex: Routledge.

Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2011). Research Methods in Education (7^th Ed.).London: Routledge.

Drew, C. J., & Hardman, M. L. (1985). Designing and conducting behavioral research. New York: Pergamon Press.

Engel, R. J., & Schutt, R. K. (2009). The Practice of Research in Social Work (2^nd Ed.).Los Angeles: Sage Publications.

Fraenkel, J. R., & Wallen, N. E. (2003). How to design and evaluate research in education (5th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill.

Hill, M. M., & Hill, A. (2002). Investigação por questionário. Lisboa: Edições Sílabo.

Leedy, P. D., & Ormrod, J. E. (2001). Practical Research. Planning and Design (7^th ed.).UpperSaddleRiver: Merrill Prentice Hall.

Lewis-Beck, M., Bryman, A., & Liao, T. (2004) (Eds.). The SAGE Encyclopedia of Social Science Research

Methods.Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

McMillan, J. H., & Schumacher, S. (1989). Research in education. A conceptual introduction.Glenview: Scott, Foresman and Company.

Moore, G. (1983). Developing and evaluating educational research. Boston: Little Brown and Company.

Moreira, J. M. (2004). Questionários: Teoria e Prática. Coimbra: Livraria Almedina.

Newton, R. R., & Rudestam, K. E. (1999). Your statistical consultant. Answers to your data analysis questions. Thousand Oaks: Sage.

Tuckman, B. W. (2000). Manual de Investigação em Educação. Lisboa: Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian.

Vogt, W. P. (1993). Dictionary of statistics and methodology. A nontechnical guide for the social sciences. London: Sage Publications.

 

Bibliografia relativa à investigação qualitativa

Amado, J. (2008). Science et sens commun (A propos d’une étude ethnographique de l’indiscipline en classe). Recherche en éducation- Revue de l´Association Francophone Internationale de Recherche Scientifique en Education, Nº 1, pp. 60-73

Amado, J. (2009). Introdução á investigação qualitativa em educação. Universidade de Coimbra (texto inédito).

Amado, J. (2010). Ensinar e aprender a investigar – reflexões a pretexto de um programa de iniciação à pesquisa qualitativa. Revista Portuguesa de Pedagogia. Ano 44-1, 119-142.

Ambert, A., Adler, P. A., Adler, P. & Detzner, D. F. (1995). Understanding and Evaluating Qualitative Research. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 57 (4), 879-893.

Charmaz, K. (2006). Constructing Grounded Theory: a practical guide through qualitative analysis.London: SAGE Publications.

Daly, K. (2007). Qualitative Methods for Family Studies and Human Development.Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

Denzin, N. K., & Lincoln, Y. S. (1994). Handbook of Qualitative Research.Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

Efinger, J., Maldonado, N., & Mcardle, G. (2004). PhD Students’ Perceptions of the Relationship between Philosophy and Research: A qualitative Investigation. The Qualitative Report, 9 (4), 731-759. Acessível em: http://www.nova.edu/ssss/QR/QR9-4/efinger.pdf

Flick, U. (2005). Métodos Qualitativos na Investigação Científica. Lisboa: Monitor.

Herzog, B. (2008). Aprendizage y enseñanza de métodos qualitativos de investigación en ciências sociales. Forum: Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum. Qualitative Social Research, 9(3), art.22, http://nbbn-resolving.de/um:nbn:de:0114-fqs0803220

Miles, M. B., & Huberman, A. M. (1994). Qualitative Data Analysis: An Expanded Sourcebook (2^nd ed.).Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

Poulin, K. (2007). Teaching Qualitative Research. The Counseling Psychologist, 35(4), 431-458. Acessível em: http://tcp.sagepub.com/content/35/3/431.full.pdf+html