TEAC 800

Week 4 - Quasiexperimental methods
This week we will continue our study of QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH. One of the most familiar quantitative approaches is quasi-experimental methods and we will focus our attention on this type this week. In quasi-experimental methods, the data is gathered and interpreted using statistical means but is not within the category of experimental research (this would include randomization of subjects). Note that this is another week to remain friends with your dictionary, since there are vocabulary terms that may be new to you.
Read in the Jaeger text, "Interrupted Time-Series Quasi-Experiments," by Gene V. Glass, on pp. 589-609. As you read, consider the following questions. Note: These are intended to help focus your reading (what your instructors consider to be important), and are not the study response questions for this week:

  • Locate quasi-experimental research on the McMillan & Wergin roadmap (p. 2)
  • Why is the matter of causality important in educational research?
  • What is a third variable?
  • What are the requirements for an interrupted time-series design? What are the pluses of this approach? What are the limitations?
  • How does a researcher determine if an intervention had an impact?
  • Why does Glass write that “The pretest-posttest design deserves its bad press”? (p. 595)
  • What are the differences between a stationary and nonstationary process?
  • How credible are "eyeball interpretations" of time-series quasi-experiments?

Then read Jaeger's piece, "Introduction: An Application of Time-Series Models to an Educational Research Study," pp. 610-613. Within his writing, he offers a solid guide to reading the two sample articles.
Read "An Evaluation of a Time-Series Single-Subject Design Used in an Intensive Study of Concept Understanding" by Mayer and Kozlow, pp. 615-621. Then read "More on the Series Designs: A Reanalysis of Mayer and Kozlow's Data" by Wilson, pp. 623-627.

As you read these two articles, consider the questions below. Pay particular attention to how the two articles vary in # 3 and 4. Note that these are the same questions you consider in your Research Analysis Assignment and are from the first chapter, by Shulman, that you read in Week 2. Again, use these questions to guide your reading (what your instructors think is important); these are not your study response questions for this week.
1) What is the research problem?
2) What is research setting?
3) What is research investigators?
4) What is research methods?
5) What is research purposes?

STUDY RESPONSE QUESTIONS FOR WEEK 4 (DUE FEB 24th)

1. Complete the "Credibility Scorecard" (in Assignments: Week 4), for the sample study of experimental methods from last week (CGI) and one of the two sample studies from this week (quasi-experimental). The various criteria we have asked you to indicate on a 1-5 scale on the credibility scorecard refer to the criteria, explanations, and questions in McMillan & Wergin, pp. 7-12. Attach your scorecard to your Blackboard Discussion Board entry for this week. **Be sure to include your name in your file name, so that your instructors aren’t trying to download 34 “credibility_scorecard.doc” files and determine whose is whose. In your Discussion Board entry, select one of the features that was the easiest for you to assess and explain your score and why it was easy to assess. Then, select another that was the most challenging and explain why. Your answers for easiest/most challenging may change depending on the type of article. If this is true for you, please elaborate.

2. What is Glass saying in this chapter? Identify three main points Glass makes about quasi-experimental research by citing or paraphrasing him. What vocabulary and/or concepts seem particularly important here? What vocabulary and/or concepts still seem fuzzy to you? What can you find when you search online for information about Gene V. Glass?

3. What do you see as the major difference(s) between true experimental research and quasi-experimental research? Describe an example in which a quasi-experimental method would be an appropriate research design. Be sure to explain why you see this as appropriate.

4. Think of three questions to pose to two of your peers’ study responses from week 3. Reply to their posts with your questions. You might ask clarifying questions (I was not sure what you meant by …?), speculation questions (Did you consider …?), or probing questions (Is there other evidence you could cite to support this claim?). At least one of your questions should address your peer’s examples of appropriate times to conduct experiments and/or the problems with experiments in schools he/she identified.

Post your answers to #1-3 in your GROUP Discussion Board by Sunday, February 24th. Post your answer to #4 by replying to your peers’ posts from Week 3 in your GROUP Discussion Board. At this time, we are not assigning who you respond to—figure it out among your group so that everyone gets and gives two responses.
Keep in mind that the Research Analysis Assignment draft is due next week, March 2nd, to two peers for peer review (assignment in a folder in the Assignments section). The instructor will be posting a message in your group discussion board assigning your peer reviewers for this assignment.

As always, email the instructor to ask questions!

TO DO Week 4 (Due Feb 24th)

  1. Read Section IX in your book.
  2. Answer the study response questions. Note that this assignment includes attaching the credibility scorecard to your post in your group’s discussion board, as well as responding to two of your peers’ posts from last week.
  3. If you haven’t already, begin writing the first draft of your Research Analysis Assignment. Next week, you will be turning in your first draft on Blackboard, and starting the peer review process (see handouts in Assignments: Research Analysis). Read through the assignment, peer review process, and rubric which will be used.

Please note: the pace of the course is going to pick up from this point forward. For the rest of the semester, something is due nearly every week, on top of the weekly reading. Take a look again at the syllabus to see what is coming up. You may want to read ahead some on the reading assignments. We will be posting the weekly reading response questions ahead of time to help those of you who decide to work ahead on reading.

As always, email the instructor to ask questions!