Your measurements, or dependent variables, provide the data you will analyze. There are two main types of data.

Quantitative data represent the world with numbers that can be statistically analyzed. They are necessary for relational or causal research questions because these types of questions require inferential statistics that generalize the results from your study to a larger population (more on this later). For example, quantitative data could tell us the average number of forum posts per student or the number of times students watched a video. Quantitative measures are appropriate when you want to confirm a hypothesis (e.g., that students in one group outperform others), but they are close-ended, which does not allow for exploration.

Variables in education research are anything that can have different values or vary across learners. Dependent variables are the outcome variables that you collect data about in research, like learning outcomes. They apply to all research designs: non-experimental and experimental. All measurements used to evaluate or understand learning or a learning environment, such as test scores or attitudes, are dependent variables. Pre-tests and post-tests are dependent variables.

The type of research design that you need depends on the type of research question that you have. Descriptive and relational questions can be answered with non-experimental designs, and causal questions must be answered by experimental designs. Note: these design categories are independent from pre-test and post-test designs, so you can have a pre-post non-experimental design or a pre-post experimental design.

When you collect data has important implications for the conclusions that you can draw from that data. In education research, we often try to measure a difference, such as what students learn or how their experiences or perceptions change. Because we often try to make conclusions about differences, it can be equally important to take measurements at the beginning and end of a study.

Many research questions in education come from observing something unexpected in the classroom, reading about a new method of instruction, or learning about a new tool. For example, you might find that a student has a unique explanation for a concept and want to know if it would help other students. Or you might have read about a metacognitive strategy and want to know if using that strategy would improve learning outcomes in your class. Your research methods will depend heavily on what type of research question you have.

Education research aims to understand how people learn and the effects of learning environments, including sociocultural factors. The ultimate goal is typically to improve learning and enable learners to achieve their goals. How researchers build this understanding and achieve this goal is called research design, which is critical to the quality and validity of the knowledge produced. Research design includes several aspects:

• Crafting research questions that are interesting and answerable
• Selecting research methods that are appropriate and thorough
• Identifying or designing measurements that provide reliable and valid data
• Conducting appropriate analysis of data based on the type of data and the research questions