Support, Acknowledge & Respond

In writing researcher papers the authors should “make a claim, back it with reasons, support them with evidence, acknowledge and respond to other views, and sometimes explain your principles of reasoning” (Booth, Colomb & Williams, 2003, p. 108).  These four criterion need to be shaped by the literature and the existing conversations about your topic of interest.  I think the key to having a convincing argument is an informed description and discussion of current research.

During graduate school students spend a majority of their time writing, and often rewriting pieces.  During a recent classroom discussion, it was brought to my attention that a majority of students either write expository bits or persuasive morsels – hardly ever in the same space. Expository writing conveys discourse that explains, describes and informs the audience (Ball, 1999). Unlike persuasive writing, the primary goal of exposition is to simply deliver information about a subject, method, theory or issue. In persuasive writing the author makes a case and encourages the readers to follow a specific course of action or thought (Frost, 2013).

Often we have big ideas that we want to convey to our readers, and sometimes we have to build off limited literature in up-and-coming themes…but more often than not as writers we end up describing what others have said and then expanding their notions to fit our models of thought.  A great way of conveying your point is to have well structured key sentences.

 

 

References

Ball, A. (1999, June). Information about expository writing. Retrieved from http://www.stanford.edu/~arnetha/expowrite/info.html

Booth, W. C., Colomb, G. G., & Williams, J. M. (2003). The craft of research. (3rd ed.). Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

Frost, J. (2013, November 3). Ten important triggers for persuasive writing. Retrieved from http://www.grammarcheck.net/ten-important-triggers-for-persuasive-writing/

 

 

 

Journal Review of Compare

Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, the official journal of the British Association for International and Comparative Education (BAICE), began publications in 1975.  From 1975-1992, the journal was published semi-annually, and since then the number of publications has grown to three annual issues through 2002, and is now up to six, including special editions.

Compare focuses on secondary articles that relate to educational development and change across the globe in an effort to analyze educational discourse, policy, and practices as they relate to interdisciplinary fields.  Using research papers, literature reviews, book reviews, editorials, case studies, and even obituaries, Compare attempts to cover a wide range of topics.  It investigates the implications of various theories on teaching, learning, and management across the primary, secondary, and tertiary levels as well as adult and specialty education (Journal Details, 2014).  The articles offer insight into academics, including graduate students, policy makers, and development agency staff.

Compare promotes cross-disciplinary research and teaching, as well as encourages networking between professional organizations.  In an effort to extend the coverage of its publication, the editors of BAICE seek papers that express a comparative dimension and have a particular interest of case studies in under-researched fields (Journal Details, 2014).  Often, the yearly BAICE conference themes are reflected in the themes of subsequent issues.  Compare includes the works of many European authors, and their affiliations seem European-dominated, with several authors members of European-based organizations and universities.  Few authors were based in Canada and the United States.  Education consulting firms, research organizations, graduate students, and authors of other related journals, primarily in the Western world, seem to heavily cite the works published in recent volumes of Compare.

Beginning in the early 2000s, Compare emphasized primary and secondary education with economic undertones.  Articles addressed contemporary topics such as gender issues, school health in primary education, and integrating technology into the classroom.  Starting around 2002, the publications gave attention to issues on globalization, citizenship, and national identity.  In 2005, the journal began to examine matters related to education in emergencies and conflict, peace-building, and diversity in the classroom.  In the next few years, a variety of subjects were discussed including nationalism and identity as well as education in AIDS crisis regions.  During 2007 and 2008, a majority of the focus was on impacting factors outside the school system at the primary and secondary levels and within adult education.  In the later part of the decade, the research included issues of social justice and K-12 students, but also began to focus on teachers.  Despite widespread interest in the results of international comparative tests such as the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) released in 2001, 2006, and 2011, the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) released in 1999, 2003, and 2007, and the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) released in 2000, 2003, 2006, and 2009, there was little to no focus on such ideas and no discussion on comparative assessments.

The regions covered in Compare from 2000-2011 were numerous, although seemed to focus on European countries.  Outside of the Western world, emphasis was on South Africa and Japan with little attention given to Hong Kong and Latin America.  Beginning in 2003, there was a noticeable regional focus on African countries with some attention to Central America and Canada.  Middle Eastern countries were featured for the first time during the decade in 2003, and in 2005 the focus grew.  It was from 2006-2008 that Asia first came under the microscope.  However, the United Kingdom and Europe, particularly the eastern nations, seemed to dominate the scope of Compare while there was a growing emphasis on sub-Saharan Africa and Central Asia.  From 2009 to present, the journal became almost entirely focused on Asian and African countries.  Notably, the United States was mentioned only twice from 2003-2005 and twice again from 2009-2011; when Canada was mentioned, it was related to aspects of French language integration and post-colonialism.  Overall, case studies typically involved two regions within one or two countries, and other research papers compared two or three countries, rarely more.

BAICE is comprised of academics, researchers, policy makers, and members of governmental and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) (Sprague, 2014).  Utilizing Compare, BAICE encourages the continual development of international and comparative studies in education.  Compare aims to illustrate the effects of globalization and critical post-modern thinking on learning in a variety of aspects for professionals and everyday citizens.  While BAICE claims that Compare will reach the everyday citizen, upon further scrutiny it can be deduced that the journal targets a narrower audience and is not accessible to much of the developing world.  The high cost of a subscription coupled with the unavailability of translations limits the overall accessibility of the journal.

 

References

Journal Details. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/ccom.

Sprague, T. (2014, February 11). About BAICE. Retrieved from http://www.baice.ac.uk/about-baice.

Search, Click, Insert

The work of Boote and Beile (2005) really resonated with my journey through graduate school.  I came from a hard science background and had a very rough time adjusting to the academic style of writing and research rigor required in my graduate Education programs.  Despite being in graduate school for a couple of years, I have never taken a course that taught me how to write a literature review or develop article digging skills.  (Despite a course or two claiming to teach you how to write a literature review and ended with Lit. Review final products, none gave guided instruction on this important skill.)  Boote and Beile (2005) claim that shortcomings in student mastery of these skills is due to the “insufficient preparation” of graduate programs (p. 4).  I had to develop my research and writing skills on my own…and perhaps I have developed some bad habits.

Literature reviews are a vital first step in conducting research.  “A substantive, thorough, sophisticated literature review is a precondition for doing substantive, thorough, sophisticated research” (Boote & Beile, 2005, p. 3); often the goal of budding researchers.  To best understand where your research is going it is necessary to understand what has been done and where the gaps in the literature exist. “The literature review should be seen as an integral part of the proposal rather than simply tacked on” (Kilburn, 2006, p.536).  The literature review should be a process, something that serves to educate and inform the researcher and not just an obligatory part of the write up.

A good literature review is not just a summation of previous studies, but needs to “reflect on all aspects of the research process” (Anderson & Kanuka 2003, p. 40).  Far too many times I have seen students use definitions out of context and pull information from studies that not related to their research agenda.  Here, let me give you an example: Often students write a sentence and then use Google Scholar to skim and insert a seemingly relevant citation.  Well if you google the definition of case study, an approach common in the IST and education at-large field, you might get several pages upon pages of information.  Some students go point and “that looks good”…well did you know that the way in which Creswell (2012) defines this approach is different than how Stake (2013) establishes a case, which is different than how Yin (2009) defines a case, that is different from how Greene (1989) defines case studies.  

Due to the varying opinions, it becomes important for student to really read through the literature and use it to enhance their perspectives, and to do more than pick. There is value in rigor! Kibirige and Depalo (2000) provide five criteria when creating literature reviews that include: accessibility; timeliness; readability; relevance; and authority, all of these elements should be met for a successful literature review.

References

Anderson, T. & Kanuka, H. (2003). The literature review process in e-Research. E-Research: Methods, strategies and issues (pp. 39-55). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Boote, D.N. & Beile, P. (2005). Scholars before researchers: On the centrality of the dissertation literature review in research preparation. Educational Researcher 34(6), 3-15.

Creswell, J. W. (2012). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches. (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Greene, J. C., Caracelli, V. J., & Graham, W. F. (1989). Toward a conceptual framework for mixed-method evaluation designs. Educational evaluation and policy analysis, 11(3), 255-274.

Kibirige, H., & Depalo, L. (2000). The Internet as a source of academic research information: Findings of two pilot studies. Information Technology and Libraries, 19(1), 39-55.

Kilbourn, B. (2006). The qualitative doctoral dissertation proposal. Teachers College Record 108(4), 529-576.

Stake, R. E. (2013). Multiple case study analysis. New York, NY : Guilford Press.

Yin, R. K. (2009). Case study research: Design and methods. (Vol. 5). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Quick Tip: If you are having trouble accesses an article (and the library is taking a while to get it to you), email the authors. More often than not they are more than happy to share their work. Who knows, you might just make a new contact in the process.  The idea of research is to start a conversation not restrict access; authors are generally excited to share their work (if possible).