Blog Post #7- Zumbrunn Research Proposal

The research proposal by Sharon Zumbrunn concerns the correlation between the feedback students receive on their writing and their writing grades.  Previous studies have shown that writing feedback can have a large influence on the quality of student writing, but less is known about students’ perception of the feedback and the effects of their perception.  Therefore this study seeks to examine the role of writing self-efficacy and writing feedback perceptions on elementary students’ writing grades.  Classroom teachers administered two surveys to 287 fourth grade students.  One survey tested self-efficacy and the other examined writing feedback attitudes.  The results showed that writing self-efficacy and writing feedback perceptions were significantly correlated with the self-reported writing grades.  Also suggested is that students’ perceptions of feedback may have a significant role in their experiences with writing.

Questions about the proposal:

1.       Which type of sampling technique was used?  Probability or nonprobability sampling?  Did the teachers volunteer to participate?

2.      Were students aware of whether or not their teachers would view the surveys?  (this may have skewed their answers in order to please their teacher)  Were students aware that their answers would be used for a research study?  How can you be sure of the accuracy of their self-reported grade in writing?

3.      How valid are the surveys used in this study?  Have they proven to be successful in the past?  With what type of participants were they previously used?

4.      To enhance reliability, were teachers given any guidance on how to administer these surveys and answer student questions other than simply reading the script?  Do you think the teachers could have unintentionally influenced student answers?

5.      Would this study have been more reliable if the surveys were administered more than once with this group of participants for stability over time (perhaps once at the beginning of the year and once at the end)? How about if the surveys were followed up by interviews for triangulation?

6.      Can this study be generalized to any larger group?