Essentials of Research Methods for Educators

"The inspiration for this textbook developed from our professional backgrounds and experiences and our shared goal of writing a research methods textbook that would motivate educators and students to conduct research. Each of us has a doctorate in educational psychology; expertise in student learning; and careers related to teaching, conducting research, and providing administrative and clinical services in school contexts. As experts in educational psychology, we are trained to develop ways to optimize learning, develop and sustain motivation, and help learners manage or regulate their cognition, affect, and behavior. From our training and professional experiences in working with novice researchers and educators, we recognized a need for a research methods book that was practitioner friendly. Students and educators often express concern about their ability to understand and learn content found in research methods books. This realization prompted us to describe research methods using a style of writing that is easy to comprehend. We did so by outlining research designs and related concepts using a conversational tone and approach and by focusing much attention on the application of research design and related concepts to real-world education-related situations. In addition to the primary goal of providing information on research methods to practitioners, we framed the chapters and content using specific features that allow readers to interact with the content, thus giving educators opportunities to experience success in working through the mastery-oriented exercises. It is our hope and expectation that by reading and using this textbook, educators will gain a deeper understanding and a sense of competency about research methods and perhaps become motivated to conduct research in schools. While the main purpose of this textbook is conveying important information about research methods, we intentionally use self-regulated learning as the guiding principle for helping educators think of themselves as potential researchers. Self-regulated learning refers to a process by which learners set goals and then proactively work toward reaching these goals. Self-regulated learning involves a three-phase cycle of planning (Phase 1), doing (Phase 2), and reflecting (Phase 3) and is often developed through engaging in a sequence of four levels characterized by observing and emulating models (Levels 1 and 2), engaging in self-control (Level 3), and practicing independently-the self-regulation level (Level 4). Research has shown self-regulated learning is a powerful mechanism to help individuals learn and achieve their goals. While self-regulated learning is explained in greater detail in Chapter 1, in the section that follows, we provide an overview of this book's key features and describe how they are connected to self-regulated learning to help readers learn about research methods"--