Research Methods in Education 
Approaches to Educational Research  - What makes for ‘good research’

Denscombe (2002) identifies 10 ‘ground rules’ for good research – and it is these ground rules which will in part provide a framework for this course as we move through it.  The rules are as follows:

	Ground Rule	Question(s) the researcher should ask	Answer(s)	
1.		PURPOSE: 
Good research should have clearly stated aims 

	•	What is the research trying to achieve?
•	What is it all about?	•	The purpose of research is stated clearly and explicitly in a format appropriate for the style of investigation.
•	These statements of purpose indicate the focus of the research, and provide criteria for the evaluation of the outcomes of the research.	
2.		RELEVANCE:
Good research should relate to existing knowledge and needs	•	What is to be gained from research?
•	Is it of any significance?	•	The research is worthwhile because it contributes to the development of existing knowledge and/or addresses specific practical needs	
3.		RESOURCES: 
Good research should recognise the constraints that time, money and opportunity impose 	•	Is the research feasible in terms of the available resources?
•	Will it be completed on time?
	•	The scale and timing of the investigation reflects the resources available for the research and the opportunities for access to relevant data	
4.		ORIGINALITY: 
Good research should contribute something new to knowledge	•	What did the research find out that was not already known?	•	In the choice of topic, in the methods of investigation or the analysis undertaken there is at least one element of originality and this has been explicitly identified	
5.		ACCURACY: 
Good research should produce valid data using reliable methods

	•	Has the research asked the right question?
•	Are the data sufficiently precise and detailed?
•	Do the data depict the ‘reality’ of the situation?
•	Has the process of research itself distorted the findings?	•	The accuracy of the data has been checked using appropriate tests of validity
•	The possible impact of the research process on the data obtained has been assessed using suitable measures of reliability
•	Reasonable steps have been taken to avoid the use of any naïve, simplistic or erroneous indicators of the ‘underlying truth’	
6.		ACCOUNTABILTY: 
Good research should include an explicit account of its methodology

	•	Why should we believe the research results?	•	The research and its findings have been reported in a way that allows judgements to be made about the quality of the procedures and, in principle, checks have been made on the validity of the findings and the authenticity of the research	

	Ground Rule	Question(s)	Answer(s)	
7.		GENERALISATIONS: 
Good research should produce findings form which generalisations can be made

	•	How do we know that the findings from the specific piece of research can be applied to other comparable situations?
	•	Either – the research is based on a sample of people, events or data that are representative of the wider population (generalisability)
•	Or – sufficient information is given about the characteristics of the sample or the cases used in the research for judgements to be made about the extent to which the findings can be expected t apply more widely (transferability)	
8.		OBJECTIVITY: 
Good researchers need to be open-minded and self-reflective

	•	Can the research ever really hope to be completely impartial and unbiased?
•	Aren’t the findings inevitably biased by the researcher’s prior attitudes and conceptions?	•	The research has been designed, conducted and reported in a genuine spirit of exploration and the research explicitly acknowledges, as far as possible, the ways in which any vested interests, social values and aspects of the researcher’s self-identity have had a bearing on the nature of the research	
9.		ETHICS: 
Good researchers need to recognise the rights and interests of the participants

	•	Have the rights and interests of those affected by the research been taken into account?	•	Due consideration has been given to the impact of the research on those affected by it and, where it has been reasonable to do so, informed consent has been obtained from those directly involved in the research
•	Where appropriate, measures have been taken to maintain the confidentiality of the information and minimise intrusion into people’s lives	
10.		PROOF: 
Good researchers need to be cautious about claims based on their findings

	•	How can you prove that you are right?
•	How can researchers prove that their explanations are better than dogma or common sense?
	•	Evidence has been provided to support the arguments put forward by the research. This evidence is suitably substantial and has been collected in a rigorous and systematic way
•	Alternative theories and explanations have been considered and taken into account
•	Conclusions drawn from the research are appropriately cautious, reflecting the ‘provisional’ nature of theories and the difficulties of identifying simple cause-effect relationships