Research Basics

Welcome to Research Basics!

Research, like most everything, has its own unique vocabulary and rules for fair and fine play. It made sense to NICHCY to start our Research Collection there, with the basics of research vocabulary and process. That way, educators, families, and policy makers--our primary audience of research users--might possess a common grounding of knowledge and understanding.

So, need the basics? Want to review the basics? Want to share the basics? Then our "suite" of Research Basics may be just what you're looking for. Help yourself to any or all of the following!

NICHCY’s Research 101...
research.nichcy.org/research101.asp
...provides resources that lay down the basics—what makes for good research, what good researchers consider when they do their work, and what consumers and decision makers need to keep in mind when reviewing research and basing decisions upon it. Included in Research 101 are links to information that shows inquirers:

-- The research process, start to finish
-- What’s in a research paper?
-- Is this a good research paper?
-- How do the pros define quality?
-- Writing research reports
-- How teachers can use research

NICHCY’s Research 102...
research.nichcy.org/research102.asp
...takes a look at some basic research processes for adding up the evidence from individual studies and drawing bigger conclusions—about patterns and trends in what works and what doesn’t. Research 102 links inquirers to information on:

-- Research reviews
-- Meta-Analyses: The next step up
-- What is effect size?
-- Applications to education

Making Sense of Statistics in Research...
research.nichcy.org/statistics.asp
...will help you understand more about the statistical tests and terms mentioned in research documents. These resources run the gamut of complexity—you’ll find everything from an entire online introductory statistics course to glossaries defining individual statistical terms. Making Sense of Statistics in Research includes links to:

-- Probability & statistics for the average person
-- Statistical inference defined
-- Introduction to “stats” in plain language
-- Glossaries

Weighing Information for Its Worth...
research.nichcy.org/weighinginfo.asp
...takes up the very real concern of whether or not we can trust the research information we find. As we rely more and more on the Internet for information, and as we seek to base our decisions upon research evidence, it’s important to consider the information and its source through the lens of a cautious consumer. But how do we do that? The resources in this research offering will hopefully shed light on the “how” of weighing information, as well as the “why.” Hook up with connections about:

-- Finding information
-- Can you trust information from that book or journal?
-- Can you trust information from that Web site?
-- Resource tools

Special Education Research: Where to Start?
research.nichcy.org/researchtostart.asp
Indeed, where? The answer depends on what you’re lookin’ for, we suppose. Here are intro categories in “Where to Start?” to point you in the direction(s) of your choice.

-- Applying research
-- Remembering the reason why
-- Where do we look first?
-- Try these Web sites!
-- What research is revealing

What Works: Can We Say?
research.nichcy.org/whatworks.asp
Millions of dollars have been spent trying to determine what’s effective in...you name it—teaching children, teaching children with disabilities, teaching math and every other subject in school, training teachers, hiring teachers and keeping them, administering sound educational programs, keeping our children from dropping out of school, graduating them with solid skills...and on and on. So—what have we found out? What can we say after all the research we’ve conducted, all the journals that tell what’s been discovered, all the experience we combine? Find out “what works” in the following endeavors:

-- First toe in the water
-- Improving school systems
-- Preparing & keeping good teachers
-- Helping young children
-- Teaching reading
-- Providing school services
-- Transitioning to adulthood

Research-Based Resources on Specific Disabilities...
research.nichcy.org/researchspecificdisab.asp
This resource page will connect you with disability-specific research—in these categories:

-- Starting with disability research in general
-- AD/HD
-- Autism
-- Down syndrome
-- Learning Disabilities (LD)