Embedded Research Design Research Articles

TÜBİTAK 4007 Bilim Şenlikleri Destekleme Programı Kapsamında Gerçekleştirilen Merzifon Bilim Şenliğinin Farklı Yaş Gruplarına Göre Değerlendirilmesi

Bilim insanlarının halk ile bütünleşebilmesi toplumların gelişimi açısından oldukça önemlidir. Bu kapsamda Türkiye’de TÜBİTAK destekli 4007 program kodlu bilim şenlikleri düzenlenmektedir. Düzenlenen bu şenliklerin, toplum üzerinde nasıl etkiler bıraktığının değerlendirilmesi, gelecekte yapılacak olan şenliklerde dikkat edilecek hususların ortaya çıkarılmasını sağlayabilir. Bu nedenle bu araştırmada TÜBİTAK tarafından desteklenen bir proje olan Merzifon Bilim Şenliği’nin, farklı yaş gruplarından elde edilen verilerle değerlendirilmesi amaçlanmıştır. Değerlendirme sürecinde araştırmada eş zamanlı iç içe geçmiş desen kullanılmıştır. Çalışmanın örneklemini şenlik katılımcısı olan öğrenciler ve yetişkinler oluşturmuştur. Araştırmada veri toplama aracı olarak Bir Bilim İnsanı Çiz Testi, Daimi Bilim Öğrenme Motivasyonu Ölçeği, Bilim Şenliği Tutum Ölçeği ve yarı yapılandırılmış görüşme formu kullanılmıştır. Şenliğe katılan okul öncesi ve ilkokul öğrencilerinin bilim insanı imajlarında; cinsiyet algıları açısından olumlu değişimler olduğu görülmüştür. Ayrıca mutlu bir ifade ile resmedilen bilim insanı çizimlerinin oranında artış görülmüştür. Ortaokul öğrencileri açısından ise şenlikteki etkinliklere katılmış olmanın, bilim öğrenmeye yönelik motivasyon ve bilim şenliklerine yönelik tutumda olumlu yönde anlamlı bir etki yarattığı belirlenmiştir. Lise öğrencileri için de benzer durum geçerlidir. Şenliğe katılan yetişkinler ise şenliğin gerçekleştirildiği yerleri, şenlik sürecini ve zamanını uygun bulduklarını, şenlikteki etkinliklerin içeriğinin kendileri açısından faydalı ve güncel olduğunu belirtmişlerdir. Bu değerlendirme sonucunda şenliğin katılımcılar açısından faydalı bulunduğu ve amacına hizmet ettiği kanısı oluşmuştur.

Engaging with Methodological Approaches to Training Practices in the Ghana Police Service: Sharing Personal Experience to Benefit Social Researchers

The idea behind this paper is to critically look at the methodological approaches applied to a research work titled ‘Assessment of Training Practices in the Ghana Police Service’. This paper specifically outlined the various methods used in the said research and their justifications. Some of the methodological issues raised in that study are research design, the study area, the target population, sampling techniques and their justifications, data collection instruments, sources of data, data collection procedures, data processing and data analysis and ethical considerations. The paper revealed that descriptive research design is good for the studying of police training practices because it gave a detailed description of the characteristics that was studied. The findings of the study revealed that the mixed method (embedded research design) approach was largely the best in conducting a study like this at the police training schools in Ghana by eliciting appropriate data from both primary and secondary sources and adopting both qualitative and quantitative approaches. Furthermore, it was revealed that questionnaire was the most appropriate data collection tool for interviewing police officers, trainees and trainers and the interview guide was the best data collection tool for interviewing key actors like the commandants and administrators of the police training schools. These two instruments produced the primary data for the study. Quantitative responses were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0 whereas the qualitative responses were transcribed and interpreted appropriately. The researcher strictly adhered to the principles of anonymity and confidentiality in order to protect respondents (quantitative) and participants (qualitative) of the research. In conclusion, all these methodologies followed in this research confirmed the complete validity and reliability of research findings and research instruments.

Regeneration of Amman Center - Social Acceptance of Syrian Migrants in Downtown Amman

Several studies discussed attitudes towards migrants; some of the issues pointed out are integration that requires interaction between migrants and the host society. Homogenous social groupings produce stronger communities. As the conflict in Syria entered its fifth year, Jordan hosted about 1.4 million registered Syrians, of whom 646,700 are informal refugees. Eighty-five percent of the refugees live outside camps in some of the poorest areas of Jordan. Consequently, new household’s typologies pressured the supply side. Such non-camp refugees’ migration patterns and housing market conditions formed ethnic homogeneous enclaves in different locations in Amman. Accordingly, non-camp refugees occupied and rented the upper floors of mixed used commercial buildings in downtown Amman.The present study investigated social acceptance of Syrian migrants residing in upper floors of commercial mixed used buildings located in the city center of Amman. The primary purpose of this research is to study how social acceptance of Syrian migrants is influenced by social gating. The hypothesis of the present study states that social acceptance of Syrian migrants in downtown Amman is influenced by sense of merchants’ sense of social gating. The significance of the study stems from that the development of downtown Amman with such rich social context can be informative and useful for strategic planners, local governments, NGO’s, social workers, and psychologists. This paper offers such an opportunity to reflect on an unfolding crisis that is of major social concern with changing urban demographics.The study was conducted using a quantitative and qualitative research strategy; an embedded research design was used. The quantitative method was conducted using a survey with downtown merchants, in addition to supportive qualitative methods of face-to-face interviews. The study was conducted in the central part of Amman, known locally as Wast Al-balad, which is considered the old commercial area that dates back to the second quarter of the twentieth century. Some of these secondary residential units became spaces (enclaves) for migrants that formed ethnic low-income enclaves. In the last five years, low-income Syrian migrants started to rent these units in Amman’s urban center. Outcomes indicated that social cohesion is the strongest motivator for acceptance of outsiders by the local merchants to reside in the upper floors of the commercial buildings of Downtown Amman area.

Development of Social Studies Learners’ Textbooks for Secondary Schools in Zambia

Learner’s text books are one of the most important teaching and learning resources in most schools in developing countries, Zambia inclusive. This study was triggered as a result of concerns by various stakeholders and scholars regarding the quality of Social Studies learners’ textbooks for the junior secondary school which were developed following the 2013 revised Zambian school curriculum. The embedded research design of the mixed methods research approach was employed for this study. Using interview guides and questionnaires for data collection, information was collected from book publishers and 91 teachers of social studies. The findings of this study revealed that privatization of textbook development resulted in the development of poor quality textbooks. Furthermore, failure to adhere to a specific national textbook policy to guide the development of learners’ textbooks also contributed to the development of poor textbooks. It was further revealed that there was lack of coordination between the Curriculum Development Center and textbook publishing companies. Additionally, findings pointed to the fact that secondary school teachers of Social Studies were not fully involved in developing learners’ textbooks and political interference in textbook development was found to have also contributed to poor quality textbook development. Researchers in this study recommended that the Ministry of General Education (MoGE) through the Curriculum Development Centre should thoroughly revise the textbooks in question, broaden the scope of teacher involvement and stop the privatization of textbook development in Zambia. Keywords : Textbook development, Quality, Social Studies DOI: 10.7176/JEP/10-6-14

Sosyobilimsel Konulara Dayalı Okul Dışı Öğrenme Ortamlarında Yürütülen Etkinliklerin Öğrencilerin Karar Verme Becerilerine Etkisi

Determining the effects of the activities carried out in out-of-school learning environments based on socio-scientific issues on the decision-making of the 7th grade students is the aim of this study. The embedded research design which is one of the mixed research design method was used. Twenty-one 7th grade students studying at a secondary school were included in this study. While “Adolescent Decision-Making Questionnaire” was used as the data collection tool, semi-structured interviews were held. Friedman Test and Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test were used to analyze the data obtained from the adolescent decision-making scale. Content analysis was used to analyze data obtained from the semi-structured interviews. At the end of the research, it was confirmed that the activities carried out in out-of-school learning environments based on socio-scientific issues affect the decision-making processes, self-esteem levels and vigilance which is a positive coping style for decision-making of the students. Besides, it was concluded that the qualitative findings of the study supported the obtained results of the study as well.

A case study of analyzing 11th graders’ problem solving ability on heat and temperature topic

Problem solving ability must be owned by students after the process of physics learning so that the concept of physics becomes meaningful. Consequently, the research aims to describe their problem solving ability. Metacognition is contributed to physics learning to the success of students in solving problems. This research has already been implemented to 37 science students (30 women and 7 men) of eleventh grade from one of the secondary schools in Bandung. The research methods utilized the single case study with embedded research design. The instrument is Heat and Temperature Problem Solving Ability Test (HT-PSAT) which consists of twelve questions from three context problems. The result shows that the average value of the test is 8.27 out of the maximum total value of 36. In conclusion, eleventh graders’ problem-solving ability is still under expected. The implication of the findings is able to create learning situations which are probably developing students to embrace better problem solving ability.

Suporte Social e Estresse no Trabalho: Uma Análise com Métodos Mistos

Occupational stress and coping strategies have increasingly become the focus of research for their applied feature. The aim of this study was to investigate how social support has helped people deal with stressful situations in the workplace. In order to reach this aim an exploratory mixed method embedded research design was conducted. Study 1, quantitative, described the level of satisfaction with social support and perceived organizational support by employing a scale that summarized factors of the perceived organizational support. Study 2, a qualitative one, sought to describe the stressors in the workplace environment, to whom the workers resorted to, and the kind of perceived social support. The group interview script was based on the dimensions proposed by Folkman e Lazarus (1985) model. Fifty-one volunteer workers participated in the study. Results showed a lack of social support in the workplace: incivility of colleagues and managers, psychological contract breach and conflict of values. Investments in personal development that stimulate urbanity in organizations and a listening space for employees are suggested actions that can benefit affective dimensions of work.

Suporte Social e Estresse no Trabalho: uma Análise com Métodos Mistos

Occupational stress and coping strategies have increasingly become the focus of research for their applied feature. The aim of this study was to investigate how social support has helped people deal with stressful situations in the workplace. In order to reach this aim an exploratory mixed method embedded research design was conducted. Study 1, quantitative, described the level of satisfaction with social support and perceived organizational support by employing a scale that summarized factors of the perceived organizational support. Study 2, a qualitative one, sought to describe the stressors in the workplace environment, to whom the workers resorted to, and the kind of perceived social support. The group interview script was based on the dimensions proposed by Folkman e Lazarus (1985) model. Fifty-one volunteer workers participated in the study. Results showed a lack of social support in the workplace: incivility of colleagues and managers, psychological contract breach and conflict of values. Investments in personal development that stimulate urbanity in organizations and a listening space for employees are suggested actions that can benefit affective dimensions of work.

Error Analysis of Kurdish EFL Undergraduate Learners' Accuracy in Speaking English Language

Using a multiple-case embedded research design (Yin, 1994), this study examined the nature of EFL learners who are learning or acquiring English language as a foreign language. The purpose of this project is to explore the errors/mistakes that might be made by the Kurdish EFL undergraduate learners, with the causes behind them and try to find out the appropriate method to apply it with the foreign language learners in order to learn English language. The data which were collected from them were analyzed in order to explain their errors or mistakes. It would be useful to find out the reasons behind them for those who care about how the English language is learned, and try to find out the appropriate theory to apply it with the FL learners in order to learn it. The data was collected in various ways in order to evaluate their mistakes. This assignment highlights the following aspects: the literature overview of the theories of FL learning, then the methodology, which deals with the two cases, next, participant analyses and finally the conclusion will be presented. The results served as contrasting and to some extent similar case studies. Results suggested that the best way for learning a new language can be through communication and involvement. Examples of evaluating each case were shown. Though, in the analysis there is an indication to the socio-cultural and cognitivist theories are more satisfactory and appropriate than behaviourism in the SLA field, possibly behaviourism is more significant to understand some parts of their history in order to know how they have been taught. On the other hand, this study cannot be generalized due to the small number of the participants and also different personality might have different ways to learn and acquire English language.

Mixed-Method Research on Learning Vocabulary through Technology Reveals Vocabulary Growth in Second-Grade Students

A mixed-method embedded research design was employed to investigate the effectiveness of the integration of technology for second-grade students' vocabulary development and learning. Two second-grade classes with a total of 40 students (21 boys and 19 girls) were randomly selected to participate in this study for the course of a semester. One class was an experimental group and the other was a control group. The experimental group was found to be more engaged in class activities and showed significant improvement on the posttest, while the control group showed no change between the pretest and the posttest.

Is Family Responsibilities Discrimination the New Sex Discrimination? Lessons from School TeachersÂ’ Perceptions

This exploratory mixed-methods study uses grounded theory to examine the organizational and individual dimensions of Family Responsibilities Discrimination (FRD) and perceptions of FRD as a phenomenon and emerging law. By employing a primarily qualitative embedded research design, semi-structured interviews and exit surveys were conducted in three New Jersey public schools to study a sample of teachers and similarly situated professional staff to investigate these topics. This study is the first of its kind to examine FRD, as opposed to gender discrimination, in relation to public sector employees, specifically public school professionals. The results of the analysis of the data, consisting of qualitative themes extracted from the interviews and descriptive statistics from the exit surveys, show that current organizational factors not only fail to mitigate effects of FRD on the work/family balancing act but sometimes contribute to them, and that there is a lack of awareness of the legal concept of FRD, despite knowledge of the existence of discrimination against people with family responsibilities. Based on these preliminary results, recommendations for future research and action in the field are suggested.

The Effect of a Dynamic Software on the Success of Analytical Analysis of the Circle and Prospective Mathematics Teachers Opinions

–The aim of the study was to examine the effects of geometry instruction, which was performed with a dynamic software, on the success of prospective elementary mathematics teachers in the analytical analysis of the circle, and to reveal their opinions in this performed geometry instruction. The embedded research design, which is among the mixed research approaches, was used in the study. The research applied 29 prospective elementary mathematics teachers and the data obtained from circle success test and semi-structured focus group interview form. In view of the analysis of the data, it was observed that the instruction, which was performed with a dynamic software, provided a positive contribution to the success of prospective teachers in the subject of the analytical analysis of the circle. Moreover, it was observed that the prospective teachers expressed that geometry instruction in a dynamic environment enabled them to understand point of power and the points on the circle, and it had positive effects on developing thinking skills, visuality, retention, learning in a short time, concretization and focusing the attention of the students with dynamism. In contrast, it was determined that the use of technology was low in mathematics and geometry courses in the secondary education institutions, and prospective teachers wanted to perform geometry instruction in dynamic environments in their teaching profession

Talent Management as High Performance Work Practice: Emerging Strategic HRM Dimension

This study attempts to explore the use of Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM), as a context for talent management practices in high performing work organizations. Following a multiple case embedded research design, we have investigated how the Talent Management System has been successfully implemented at five high performing well known organizations in the National Capital Region of India. Literature review highlights some testable propositions which the literal replication from the case studies support. Mapping of the Talent Management System is attempted in the case studies. Core issues emerging in the caselets and the linkage with high performance work practices are discussed therein. Implications drawing on the nomonological domain of talent management in HR practice and research are further addressed, in the current study.