A Beginner’s Guide Review

A Beginner’s Guide Review

Table of Contents

In “A Beginner′s Guide to Doing Your Education Research Project,” we explore the essential steps and strategies for conducting successful education research from start to finish. This practical guide, published on September 5, 2012, covers everything from initial project planning to data analysis and final reporting. With user-friendly explanations and hands-on advice, it serves as the perfect resource for those new to the world of education research, providing clear direction and support for novice researchers. Join us as we delve into the comprehensive tools and insights that make this book an invaluable companion for your educational journey.

Click to view the A Beginner′s Guide to Doing Your Education Research Project     Paperback – 5 September 2012.

Have You Ever Felt Overwhelmed by Your First Research Project?

Let’s be real—jumping into your very first education research project can feel like diving into the deep end of a pool without a life vest. We’ve all been there. And that’s why having a comprehensive guide can be a game-changer. Luckily, “A Beginner′s Guide to Doing Your Education Research Project Paperback – 5 September 2012” is here to throw us a lifeline.

A Beginner′s Guide to Doing Your Education Research Project Paperback – 5 September 2012

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What is This Book About?

To put it simply, this book is a roadmap for anyone new to educational research. It’s packed with practical advice, step-by-step instructions, and insider tips to make your journey less daunting. Whether you’re an undergraduate student or someone new to the field, this guide promises to simplify things for you.

Why Should We Care?

Great question! Engaging in educational research is not just an academic exercise. It’s a vital skill that can significantly impact educational practices, policies, and outcomes. So, why not approach it with the right tools?

A Beginner′s Guide to Doing Your Education Research Project     Paperback – 5 September 2012

See the A Beginner′s Guide to Doing Your Education Research Project     Paperback – 5 September 2012 in detail.

Key Features of the Book

Practical Approach

The authors have done an excellent job of stripping away the jargon and focusing on what we really need to know. The book is filled with real-world examples and practical exercises. This makes it incredibly read-friendly and useful for visual learners.

Step-by-Step Guidance

Who doesn’t love a good step-by-step guide? The book is structured to walk us through the entire process, from planning our research to presenting our findings. It’s almost like having a mentor guiding us along the way.

Chapter Focus What We Learn
1 Introduction to Research Basic Concepts
2 Crafting Research Questions Formulate Clear Questions
3 Review of Literature How to Review Existing Work
4 Methodology Choosing the Right Methods
5 Data Collection Gathering Data Efficiently
6 Data Analysis Analyzing Our Findings
7 Presenting Findings Effective Communication
8 Ethical Considerations Maintaining Ethical Standards
Conclusion Final Thoughts and Next Steps Where Do We Go from Here?

Diving Into the Content

Introduction to Research

We all know the saying, “You don’t know what you don’t know.” This chapter lays the groundwork by introducing us to the basic concepts and terminology involved in educational research. It’s designed to bring everyone up to the same starting point.

Crafting Research Questions

Ever stared at a blank page, unsure of where to start? We’ve been there. This chapter helps us narrow down our broad interests into focused, actionable research questions. Think of it as setting the GPS for our research journey.

Review of Literature

This can be one of the most daunting parts of a research project. Luckily, the book breaks down how to find, analyze, and synthesize existing research. It even offers tips on organizing our literature review, so we don’t end up with a tangled mess of papers and notes.

Methodology

So many choices, so little time. This chapter helps us understand various research methods—quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods—so we can choose the one that best suits our project. It’s enlightening and demystifying at the same time.

Data Collection

From surveys to interviews, this chapter covers all our bases. It teaches us how to collect data systematically and reliably, ensuring that our results are as accurate as possible. We also appreciate the troubleshooting tips for common data collection issues.

Data Analysis

For many of us, data analysis can feel like deciphering a foreign language. Luckily, this chapter guides us through the basics, making it much less intimidating. It even offers practical advice on using software tools to aid in our analysis.

Presenting Findings

Ever heard that old saying, “It’s not what you say; it’s how you say it”? This is incredibly true when it comes to presenting research findings. This chapter provides tips on how to communicate our results effectively, whether it’s through a written report, a presentation, or both.

Ethical Considerations

Ethics might not be the most glamorous part of research, but it’s certainly one of the most important. This chapter ensures that we understand the ethical standards required in educational research, from obtaining consent to protecting participant confidentiality.

Final Thoughts and Next Steps

As we wrap up our research journey, this chapter offers insightful reflections on what we’ve learned and how we can apply it in future projects. It’s a nice touch, helping us see the bigger picture.

A Beginner′s Guide to Doing Your Education Research Project     Paperback – 5 September 2012

Pros and Cons

The Good Stuff

  1. User-Friendly: The conversational tone and clear explanations make this guide incredibly accessible.
  2. Comprehensive: Covers all the essential steps in educational research.
  3. Practical Examples: Real-world examples make complex concepts easy to grasp.
  4. Step-by-Step Guide: Perfect for beginners who need a structured approach.

The Not-So-Good Stuff

  1. Basic Coverage: While great for beginners, experienced researchers might find it too simplistic.
  2. Limited Depth: Some topics could benefit from a more in-depth exploration.

Our Personal Take

What Stood Out

What really stood out for us was the book’s practicality. Often, academic texts can be overly theoretical and dry. However, this book feels like having a friendly mentor guiding us step-by-step through the murky waters of research.

Room for Improvement

If there’s one area for improvement, it’s the depth of some sections. While the book does a fantastic job of covering the basics, we felt that some advanced topics, like advanced data analysis techniques, could have been explored in more detail.

Conclusion

Would we recommend “A Beginner′s Guide to Doing Your Education Research Project Paperback – 5 September 2012” to others? Absolutely! Its user-friendly approach makes it an invaluable resource for anyone embarking on their first educational research project. While it may not cover everything in minute detail, it provides a solid foundation upon which we can build.

Feeling overwhelmed by your first research project? This guide can be your go-to lifeline, ensuring that you’re not just treading water but confidently making your way toward your research goals. So, let’s grab our copy and get started on our research journey with newfound confidence!

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University Student Essentials
University Student Essentials

About Me

With 25 years of experience in healthcare IT implementation, Emmanuel began his career at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, working as an assistant manager for a billing system implementation. Over the years, he has explored various aspects of the healthcare IT domain, successfully implementing several laboratory information systems and electronic medical record (EMR) systems, such as Cerner Millennium and Epic EMR.

In 2005, Emmanuel shifted his focus to public health, working on bio-surveillance implementation for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). He contributed to the BioSense Data Provisioning Project and performed extensive analysis of HL7 messages in hospitals and healthcare facilities. Additionally, Emmanuel requirements analysis for the CDC BioSense Analysis, Visualization and Reporting (AVR) project and played a key role in publishing the Situational Awareness updates to the BioSense System Requirements Specification (SRS).

Over the past 11 years, Emmanuel has worked in the Middle East, implementing the Epic EMR system at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi. As a multidisciplinary team member, he has taken on various roles, including SCRUM Master, Project Manager, Integration Engineer, and Platform Engineer. Concurrently working as an adjunct university faculty member, teaching graduate-level courses in Systems Life Cycle and undergraduate courses in Health Information Systems

From a technological standpoint, Emmanuel has designed, installed, and implemented complete hospital integration systems using Rhapsody Integration Engine, MS SQL Server, and Public Health Information Networks Messaging System (PHINMS). He has also developed over 10,000 interfaces some of which coded in Java and JavaScript.

In 2019, Emmanuel expanded his skill set and entered the field of digital marketing, quickly becoming a proficient Digital Marketing Strategist. He has since helped numerous clients develop robust digital marketing strategies for their businesses. His expertise encompasses Social Media Marketing, On-page and Off-page SEO, Google Ads, and Google Analytics. Additionally, he and a team have managed clients’ website development projects, ensuring that each site is optimized for SEO, further enhancing their online presence and performance.

Alongside their digital marketing expertise, Emmanuel has delved into the world of Affiliate Marketing, where Emmanuel and his team successfully managed and executed campaigns for a variety of clients. By identifying the right products and services to promote, Emmanuel and his team helped clients generate passive income streams and increase their overall revenue.

Their approach to Affiliate Marketing involves creating valuable content that educates and engages the target audience, while strategically incorporating affiliate links. Emmanuel and his team have experience working with multiple affiliate networks and platforms, ensuring optimal tracking and reporting of performance metrics. By staying up to date with the latest trends and best practices, Emmanuel and his team have been able to optimize affiliate campaigns for maximum results, fostering long-term partnerships and sustainable growth for their clients.

As an accomplished professional, Emmanuel holds dual Bachelor of Arts degrees in Linguistics and English, a Master of Science in Health Information Systems from the University of Pittsburgh, and a Ph.D. in Information Systems from Nova Southeastern University.

My Teaching History

Professor Bazile is a dedicated technology instructor and Adjunct Faculty professor, who began his teaching career in April 2000 at the Business Career Institute in Las Vegas, Nevada.

In 2001, he expanded his expertise by training nurses in the use of Electronic Medical Records (EMR) systems. His experience in both technology and healthcare led to his appointment as an Adjunct Faculty professor at the University of Phoenix in May 2008, where he has taught several graduate-level information technology and healthcare information systems courses.

Dr. Bazile has also developed an HL7 course, which he has taught at various healthcare facilities, drawing from his own book, “HL7: Introductory and Advanced Concepts,” currently available on Amazon. With a passion for teaching and a commitment to ensuring students get the most out of each course he teaches, Dr. Bazile is a valuable asset to both his students and the institutions he serves.

My Teaching Philosophy

My teaching philosophy as an Information Systems professor in healthcare is built on the concept that education should equip students to be confident and capable problem solvers who are prepared to traverse the complicated and ever-changing landscape of Healthcare IT.

In order to accomplish this, I prioritize the creation of a dynamic and engaging learning environment that encourages students to engage with course material and with one another. This involves employing a range of teaching approaches, such as lectures, seminars, and hands-on activities, to ensure that students learn in the manner that best matches their learning style.

I believe the reason we have Information Systems as a discipline is to allow students to apply technology to solve real world problems. If that is the case, both undergraduate and graduate students have to be challenged to incorporate their core academic courses with their matriculated subjects. As such, it is important that students enter their Junior and Senior years with a strong command of the core courses such as Programming, databases, networks, hardware and software, as they serve as the foundation upon which real-world solutions will be built.

I also believe in the importance of incorporating real-world examples and case studies into my courses, as this helps to connect abstract concepts to practical applications. Additionally, I encourage students to apply what they are learning to their own personal and professional goals, as this helps to make the material more meaningful and relevant to their lives.

I strive to foster a positive and supportive learning environment where all students feel comfortable asking questions and participating in class discussions. I believe that this is key to fostering a sense of community and ensuring that all students have the opportunity to succeed.

I have also taught online courses. I have found in an asynchronous learning environment it can be difficult to apply the Peer Teaching or Experiential Learning Pedagogical Approaches. However, I have found the Discovery Learning approach to works quite well. Along with a boost to students’ self-confidence, Discovery Learning in an online environment allows students to synthesize information, expand on existing concepts on their own, while experiencing a positive outcome through trial and error.

Ultimately, my mission as an educator, and a Healthcare IT Information Systems professor is to provide students with the knowledge, skills, and confidence they need to thrive and succeed in their careers and to be technological leaders. By creating a positive and supportive learning environment, incorporating real-world examples and case studies, and encouraging students to apply what they are learning to their own objectives; my hope is to inspire and empower all students to achieve their full potential.

Population Size:

A total of 310 responses were originally received. Any response containing missing data due to unclicked radio buttons or unchecked checkboxes were first reviewed, and, if justified, were omitted from analysis. For surveys with missing data, a total of 18 responses were removed. In order to address any issues with response-set, the data was downloaded into Microsoft Access and queries ran to identify responses that contained the same values for each question. A total of 16 responses were found to be qualified for removal. Another 18 were identified as outliers and removed leaving a total of 258 responses for the study analysis.

In order to assess multivariate outliers, the Mahalanobis distances were calculated and plotted against their corresponding Chi-Square distribution percentiles (Schmidt & Hunter, 2003). The resulting scatterplot is similar to a univariate normal Q-Q plot, where deviations from a straight line show evidence of non-normality. The data showed indications of moderate deviations from multivariate normality, as indicated by the concavity of the data points. There were no additional multivariate outliers or missing values in the data after the removal of 52 responses.

Descriptive Statistics

Frequencies and percentages were conducted for the demographics indicators, while means and standard deviations were calculated for the continuous indicators. For gender, there were 151 females (59%) and 107 males (41%) in the sample. For ethnicity, most participants were Caucasian (119, 46%), followed by African American (56, 22%). The two most populous education levels were Bachelor’s (90, 35%) and Master’s (62, 22%). The biggest proportion of the sample by age group was the 35-44 age group (101, 39%) followed by the 45-54 age group (59, 23%).

Analysis:

Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Composite Reliability

A CFA was conducted along with a reliability analysis to assess construct validity. Examination of modification indices and factor loadings indicated that CSE1, CSE5, CSE7, PC5, ATE1, ATE6, ATE8, PP5, and PP6 were all causing significant problems with the model parameters. The results of the last iteration of the CFA performed in R showed significantly improved fit, although still poor overall (χ2(545) = 2125.61, p < .001, CFI = 0.82, TLI = 0.81, RMSEA = 0.11). The high degrees of freedom indicate that a very large number of parameters are being estimated in this model.

Composite Reliability

For the full model, each construct had excellent reliability. The ATE latent construct had a composite reliability value of 0.89. The ORC construct had a composite reliability value of 0.94. The CSE latent construct had a composite reliability value of 0.85 and PC had a composite reliability value of 0.95. For PP and RES, the composite reliability scores were 0.80 and 0.96 respectively. These values indicate that the loadings for each construct were all directionally similar, and that the items in each construct show a high degree of consistency.

Cronbach’s Alpha

Cronbach’s alpha values were calculated for the items in each construct. The alphas for PC (α = 0.90), AXY (α = 0.94), and RES (α = 0.94) indicated excellent reliability. The alphas for CSE (α = 0.80), ATE (α = 0.88), and PP (α = 0.83) all showed good reliability. These values confirm the results of the composite reliability tests, and reiterate the high degree of reliability within each latent construct.

Partial Least Squares – Structural Equation Modeling

A partial least squares- structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was conducted to determine how well the data fit the proposed model, and discern whether significant relationships existed between the independent and dependent constructs. The full model showed AVE values of 0.53 for ATE, 0.69 for AXY, 0.44 for CSE, .72 for PC, .35 for PP, and 0.81 for RES. The high values for AXY, PC, and RES indicate that the amount of variance accounted for in the manifest variables is sufficiently high. The values for ATE, CSE, and PP indicate that some of the variance in the manifest variables is left unexplained.

Structural Model

Once the measurement model had been tested for model specification, the structural model was tested to determine if ATE, AXY, CSE, PC, and PP had a significant effect on RES. A path weighted model was calculated using 10,000 bootstrap samples in R. The results showed a pseudo R-squared value of 0.78. This indicates that approximately 78% of the variance in RES is explainable by the collective effects of CSE, PC, ATE, PP, and AXY.

Further examination of the effects indicated that AXY had a highly significant effect on RES (= 0.87, < .001). This indicates that a standard deviation increase in AXY increases the expected value of RES by 0.87 standard deviations. CSE did not have a significant effect on RES (= 0.02, = .423). Additionally, CSE (= 0.02, = .423), PC (= 0.05, = .334), ATE (= 0.00, = .983), and PP (= 0.03, = .407) did not have significant effects on RES. Table 11 outlines the results of the path estimates.

Correlation Analyses

Both Pearson and Spearman correlations were calculated on the composite scores. The results of the Pearson correlations indicated that CSE was significantly correlated AXY (= 0.22, < .001) and RES (= 0.21, < .001). The results also indicated that PC was significantly correlated with ATE (= -0.79, < .001), AXY (= 0.18, < .001), and RES (= 0.20, < .001). ATE was significantly correlated with AXY (= -0.19, < .001) and RES (= -0.19, < .001). AXY was significantly correlated with RES (= 0.85, < .001).

ANCOVA Analyses

An analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was conducted to determine if a significant relationship existed between the AXY, PP, CSE, PC, ATE scores and RES controlling for Gender, Age, Ethnicity, Education, and Specialty. The overall model was found to be significant (F(63,194) = 53.39, < .001), with an R2 value of .95, indicating that 95% of the variance in RES was explained by the collective effect of the independent variables and covariates.

Since the overall model was found to be significant, the model’s covariates were assessed. The AXY (F(10,194) = 262.20, < .001), ATE (F(7,194) = 2.20, = .036), Years computers (F(1,194) = 5.71, = .018), and PC (F(12,194) = 2.00, = .026) scores were found to be significant, indicating that a significant amount of variance in RES is explained by AXY, ATE, and PC.

A path diagram depicting the results of the structural model.

Results

This research investigated Computer Self-Efficacy (CSE), Perceived Complexity (PC), Attitudes toward EMR Systems (ATE), Peer Pressure (PP), and Anxiety (AXY) to determine whether these constructs as individuals, or as a group, or coupled together with some other factors could significantly explain resistance to EMR systems. Quantitative examination of self-reported survey results was performed to understand the strength and significance of the relationships, while these relationships were investigated to test the strength of model fit.

the regression paths of the structural model were examined to test the hypotheses. Significance was determined using an alpha level of .05. The model had an overall R2 value of 0.78. This indicates that approximately 78% of the variability in RES can be accounted for by CSE, PC, ATE, PP, and AXY. Since the overall model was significant, the individual coefficients can be interpreted. Some of the hypotheses were supported by the results of this study, and some were rejected. The construction of a data model of the relationships in this study could not meet thresholds that would be evidence of a good fit of the relationships identified in the study.

The fifth hypotheses tested the influence of AXY on resistance to EMR systems. AXY was expressed to be significantly related to resistance (r=.87, p<.001). This finding supports the hypothesis that anxiety with the EMR system will lead to medical care professionals rejecting use of the system. Unlike the findings of the first four hypotheses, the findings of the current study support previous research. Angst and Agarwal (2009) indicated that AXY is a factor which is significantly related to the problem of EMR system resistance. Based on the empirical findings of previous research, the present research and conceptual propositions and conclusions in previously written scholarly articles, there is a great deal of support for the finding that AXY is significantly influenced by EMR resistance.

The findings of this research do not support all findings by previous researchers, and there are multiple relationships which had been established as being significant that were identified as being insignificant in the current research. Generally, because of the inconsistency of previous findings and the current study there may be elements related to the sample examined or other contextual factors which may contribute to the inconsistency that exists. Ultimately, it is suggested that there be further research done on the problem of resistance to EMR system use.

Ultimately the findings support a new take on the problem of EMR system resistance that may contribute to the ways in which scholars investigate the problem of EMR resistance in general. This may also help with the way practitioners approach EMR systems, and articulate value of the systems to medical professionals investing record-keeping systems in the workplace.