Educational Research

“Research is a combination of both experience and reasoning and must be regarded as the most successful approach to the discovery of truth” (Borg, 1963, as cited in Cohan, Manion, & Morrison, 2000).
                                            What is educational research? 

Educational research can be defined as a ‘purposeful and systematic’ inquiry ‘to solve a problem, illuminate a situation or add to our knowledge’ (Mutch, 2005, pp. 14) ‘by the discovery of non-trivial facts and insights’ (Howard & Sharp, 1983, as cited in Bell, 2005, pp. 2) ‘in relation to the improvement of education policy and practices, with a commitment to broader dissemination of research findings beyond publication in high status, international, refereed journals’ (Lingard & Gale, 2010, pp. 31).

Educational research refers to the systematic collection and analysis of data related to the field of education. Research may involve a variety of methods. Research may involve various aspects of education including student learning, teaching methods, teacher training, and classroom dynamics.

Educational researchers generally agree that research should be rigorous and systematic. However, there is less agreement about specific standards, criteria, and research procedures. Educational researchers may draw upon a variety of disciplines. These disciplines include psychology. sociology, anthropology, and philosophy.

Purpose of Educational Research

Educational research has enormous purposes. Some important purposes are presented as following.

• To identify truth regarding Enrolment, retention, dropout, quality of Education and so forth 
• To build new knowledge regarding the methodology, pedagogy or other core subject areas
• Adding the existing stock of knowledge related to the educational field
• To solve a problem related to classroom, institution, administrative level, policy level
• The invention of new teaching methods, curriculum transaction strategies, effective grouping technique and so forth 
• Realizing the exact problem of the educational sector
• Assess the Effect of New methodology of teaching

There are several topics that educational researchers might investigate such as one of the most important topic according to me is inclusive education. in inclusive education, researchers can investigate a framework for academic and social engagement of students in inclusive settings in the Maldives.

Only having a good curriculum is not enough so another educational topic that might investigate is the challenges of implementing a national curriculum framework in the government school system of Maldives. I believe investigating this topic is very important for our future generations.