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There is a very well-established pathway to follow for those who are embarking on social sciences or educational research projects, such as Physics Education Research. Such research can be empirical or theoretical in nature. Empirical research in this context would focus on investigation into teaching and learning practice. Theoretical research is concerned with developing new frameworks or models of teaching and learning. This website focuses on empirical educational research processes.
Similar to scientific researchers, researchers conducting empirical Physics Education Research will formulate research questions/hypotheses, choose an appropriate methodology to address these questions, select methods for collecting data to answer those questions, develop data collection instruments, decide on appropriate forms of data analysis, examine the reliability and validity of both their data collection instruments, and of their analysis.
However there are subtle and important differences between laboratory research and educational research, particularly in relation to the importance of qualitative research methods which would not typically be found in scientific research.
Data is collected through two main approaches in social science research; quantitative and qualitative research methods. However, much empirical research combines these in ‘mixed methods’ meaning researchers use a combination of both approaches in the same investigation.
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