The trends and challenges for early carrier educational researchers in quantitative research in Turkey

Abstract

There are numerous problems in quantitative research in education literature. The purpose of the study was to identify the tendencies and challenges early carrier educational researchers face in quantitative data analysis. A basic qualitative design was applied. The study was conducted in four different phases and in every phase there are different samples and data collection tools. The research data was obtained from Ph.D. students, lecturers, Ph.D. thesis and Ph.D. programs. The qualitative data were collected through questionnaires, and document analysis to achieve triangulation. The descriptive analysis method was used to analyze the qualitative data for four phases. The study identified the most commonly used statistical techniques which are descriptive statistics, correlation, t-test and analysis of variances. The results of the study also demonstrated issues that novice educational researchers encountered in quantitative data analysis process. Participants had difficulties in defining the conceptual framework, finding the appropriate test and assumption check.

Keywords

• educational research trends
• quantitative data analysis issues
• research evaluation
• Ph.D. students

References

1. Akar, H. (2017), “Case Study”, In A. Saban & A. Ersoy (Eds.), Qualitative research in education, Anı Publication, Ankara, pp. 15-25.
2. Aslan, C. (2010), “Türkçe eğitimi programlarında lisansüstü öğrenim gören öğrencilerin akademik özyeterliklerine ilişkin görüşleri”, Mehmet Akif Ersoy University Journal of Education, No. 19, pp. 87-115.
3. Aydın, B., Kaplan, M., Atılgan, H. and Gürel, S. (2019), “Türkiye adresli eğitim araştırmaları dergilerinde yayınlanmış faktör analizi sonuçlarının tekrarlanabilirliği üzerine bir ön çalışma”, Journal of Measurement and Evaluation in Education and Psychology, Vol. 10 No.1, pp 1-11.
4. Başman, M., Uluman, M. and Tunç, E. B. (2018), “Use assumptions in dissertations”, Abant İzzet Baysal University Journal of Education, Vol. 18 No. 2, pp. 736-751.
5. Büyüköztürk, Ş. and Köklü, N. (1999), “Eğitim bilimleri alanında öğrenim gören lisansüstü öğrencilerinin araştırma yeterlikleri konusunda öğretim üyelerinin görüşleri”, Education and Science, Vol. 23 No. 112, pp. 18-28.
6. Cohen, L., Manion, L. and Morrison, K. (2002), “Research methods in education”, Routledge , New York, NY.
7. Corbin, J. and Strauss, A. (2008), “Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory”, Basics of Qualitative Research, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA, USA.
8. Creswell, J. W. (2012), “Educational research: planning, conducting and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research”, Pearson, Boston.

9. Demir, E., Saatçioğlu, Ö. and İmrol, F. (2016), “Examination of educational researches published in international journals in terms of normality assumptions”, Current Research in Education, Vol. 2 No. 3, pp. 130-148.
10. Doğan, H. and Tok, T. N. (2018), “Türkiye’de eğitim bilimleri alanında yayınlanan makalelerin incelenmesi: Eğitim ve Bilim Dergisi örneği”, Current Research in Education, Vol. 4 No. 2, pp. 94-109.
11. Erdoğan, İ. (2001), “Sosyal bilimlerde pozitivist-ampirik akademik araştırmaların tasarım ve yöntem sorunları”, Anatolia: Turism Research Journal, Vol. 12, pp. 119-134.
12. Evrekli, E., İnel, D., Deniş, H. and Balım, A. G. (2011), “Fen eğitimi alanındaki lisansüstü tezlerdeki yöntemsel ve istatistiksel sorunlar”, İlköğretim Online, Vol. 10 No. 1, pp. 206-218.
13. İlhan, M. (2016), “An analysis of researchers' difficulties in quantitative data analysis with the use of pairwise comparisons”, Journal of Measurement and Evaluation in Education and Psychology, Vol. 7 No. 1, pp. 73-84.
14. Jaykaran, P. Y. (2010), “How to select appropriate statistical test?”, Journal of Pharmaceutical Negative Results, Vol. 1 No. 2, pp. 61-63.
15. Kabaca, T. and Erdoğan, Y. (2007), “Examining of statistical properties of the thesis studies in the fields”, Pamukkale University Journal of Education, Vol. 22, pp. 54-63.
16. Karadağ, E. (2010), “Research models used in doctoral dissertations in the area of education sciences in Turkey: Quality of research and analytical errors”, Kuram ve Uygulamada Eğitim Yönetimi, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 49-71.
17. Karasar, N. (2016), “Bilimsel Araştırma Yöntemleri: Kavramlar Teknikler İlkeler”, Nobel Akademic Publishing, Ankara.
18. Keskinkılıç, S. B. and Ertürk, A. (2009), “Eğitim bilimleri doktora öğrencilerinin istatistiksel bilgi yeterlilikleri”. Journal of Kirsehir Education Faculty, Vol. 10 No. 1, pp. 141-151.
19. Kutluca, T., Mut, A. İ. and Gündüz, S. (2017), “Evaluation of the articles in a scientific journal using quantitative data analysis program”, Bayburt Journal of Education, Vol. 12 No. 24, pp. 723-746.
20. Merriam, S. B. (2009), “Qualitative research: A guide to design and implementation”, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA.
21. Ozan, C., and Köse, E. (2014), “Research trends in curriculum and instruction”, Sakarya University Journal of Education, Vol. 4 No. 1, pp. 116-136.
22. Özaydın-Özkara, B. (2019), “Ulakbim’de dizinlenen eğitim bilimleri dergilerinde 2017 yılında yayımlanan makalelerin çözümlenmesi”, Ankara Üniversitesi Eğitim Bilimleri Fakültesi Dergisi, Vol. 52 No. 2, pp. 469-494.
23. Özşahin, M. and Yüregir, O. H. (2008), “An expert system for statistical data analysis”, Çukurova Üniversitesi MMF Dergisi, Vol. 23 No. 1, pp. 345-357.
24. Selcuk, Z., Palanci, M., Kandemir, M. and Dündar, H. (2014), “Tendencies of the researches published in education and science journal: Content analysis”, Education and Science, Vol. 39 No. 173, pp. 428-449.
25. Tanrıöğen, A. (2009), “Scientific research methodologies”, Anı publishing, Ankara.
26. University Ranking by Academic Performance Research Laboratory. [URAP]. (2018), “2017-2018 URAP World ranking”, Retrieved from https://www.urapcenter.org
27. University Ranking by Academic Performance Research Laboratory. [URAP]. (2019), “2018-2019 URAP world ranking”, Retrieved from https://www.urapcenter.org
28. Uysal, M. and Güyer, T. (2014), “İstatistiksel veri analizine ilişkin genişleyebilir bir karar ağacı tasarımı", International Journal of Informatics Technologies, Vol. 7 No. 3, pp. 33-43.
29. Yıldırım, A. and Şimşek, H. (2013), “Sosyal Bilimlerde Nitel Araştırma Yöntemleri”, Seçkin Publishing, Ankara.