*Please see the attached RUBRIC and CHECKLIST for detailed instructions and MUST HAVES (attached as a file)
*Research paper that has been started is also attached as a file.
*Imperfect Example attached as a file.
–The Methodology Chapter includes identifying problem, description of research, participants, procedures, instruments, data analysis, and summary of outcomes. The Methods Chapter will be written by students. This chapter should NOT be written in past tense, until after the study has been completed. In the meantime, it should be written in future tense. In your participants section, offer generalities, until you have concrete data. The summary in this chapter is initially about what you hope to uncover and research.
Participants Summary:
-My topic is entitled “The Effects of Phonics Instruction on the Reading Comprehension of Emergent Readers in Second Grade”. My participant group will consist of the 20 second grade scholars in my homeroom class. The class is made up of 11 girls and 9 boys. The group is 100% African American. Their ages range from 7-8 years old. I currently hold a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction. I have been teaching for over 5 years.
–As stated above, My participant group will consist of the 20 second grade scholars. The class is made up of 11 girls and 9 boys. These scholars were chosen because they are in my homeroom class. My study will run for 9 weeks, due to that being a full term for interventions. Those 9 weeks will also allow time for me to finish a full unit with my scholars. I will test my students during the first week, followed by 7 weeks of phonics instruction/intervention, and the final week will be used to take a post test on the skills and knowledge gained. There will also be a weekly skills check every Friday, targeted towards the skill taught for that particular week. I will be the only person involved in the data collection, being that these are my students and I will be the only person teaching the skills and conducting interventions for them.
Checklist:
- Description of the Study- Are the Purpose and Problem Statement clearly written and relayed in the same way as in the Introduction. The Description of the Study talks about the general overview of what will be involved. It includes general information about the location of the study, whether and/or how participants are involved, and it provides info about the independent and dependent variables, in brief.
- Design of the Study – This description should offer the number of independent and dependent variables, by naming them. Identify and describe whether this research will be qualitative or quantitative. If it is mixed methods, both quantitative and qualitative, describe the data that will be collected from each method. Is this an investigative, casual comparative or exploratory study, overall? Explain.
- Participant Group – Whether the group is comprised of administrators, teachers, students, data from the past, or parents, the participants must be described demographically. (When appropriate, information about age, grade level, SES, free and reduced lunch status, highest educational degree earned, yrs in education, and etc. should be given.) Percentages and an actual numerical count of the number of participants must be offered.
- Procedures- Details the steps the researcher will take to begin, engage in, and complete the study. All the stakeholders’ involvement will be discussed. Timeframes and tasks will be detailed, in order to give the reader a roadmap for completion, in case the research is repeated.
- Instrumentation section- Is there proof of permission to use, when applicable? Are the validity and reliability numerical value for each instrument given? Is each research question listed, and then is the instrument used to gather the data for that particular question listed directly after it? Then, go on to the next question and do the same thing.
- Data analysis section- List research question one. List and identify the independent and dependent variables. Offer which test will be used to analyze the data. Discuss how this test will yield the desired information. Then, go on to the next research question.
- Conclusion – This is written in terms of a “time line” of events, details what will be done. This chapter should be written in future tense, until after the study is completed. Once the study is completed, it becomes a narrative about what was done, as it relates to was to be answered. Any known minor limitation can be described.