Mathematics – Logic
Scientific paper
Jan 2012
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2012aas...21913406s&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #219, #134.06
Mathematics
Logic
Scientific paper
As astronomy education research (AER) continues to evolve into a sophisticated enterprise, we must begin to grapple with defining our epistemological parameters. Moreover, as we attempt to make pragmatic use of our findings, we must make a concerted effort to communicate those parameters in a sensible way to the larger astronomical community. One area of much current discussion involves a basic discussion of methodologies, and subsequent sample sizes, that should be considered appropriate for generating knowledge in the field. To address this question, we completed a meta-analysis of nearly 1,000 peer-reviewed studies published in top tier professional journals. Data related to methodologies and sample sizes were collected from "hard science” and "human science” journals to compare the epistemological systems of these two bodies of knowledge. Working back in time from August 2011, the 100 most recent studies reported in each journal were used as a data source: Icarus, ApJ and AJ, NARST, IJSE and SciEd. In addition, data was collected from the 10 most recent AER dissertations, a set of articles determined by the science education community to be the most influential in the field, and the nearly 400 articles used as reference materials for the NRC's Taking Science to School. Analysis indicates these bodies of knowledge have a great deal in common; each relying on a large variety of methodologies, and each building its knowledge through studies that proceed from surprisingly low sample sizes. While both fields publish a small percentage of studies with large sample sizes, the vast majority of top tier publications consist of rich studies of a small number of objects. We conclude that rigor in each field is determined not by a circumscription of methodologies and sample sizes, but by peer judgments that the methods and sample sizes are appropriate to the research question.
Slater Stephanie
Slater Timothy F.
Souri Z.
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