USPQK008 Methodology of Special Education Research

Faculty of Public Policies in Opava
Summer 2025
Extent and Intensity
6/0/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: z (credit).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Kateřina Janků, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. Mgr. Eva Zezulková, Ph.D.
Institute of Special Education – Faculty of Public Policies in Opava
Contact Person: doc. Mgr. Eva Zezulková, Ph.D.
Prerequisites (in Czech)
FAKULTA(FVP) && TYP_STUDIA(N) && FORMA(K) && ROCNIK(1)
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The aim of the course is to provide a basic orientation in the logic of scientific work, taking into account the specifics of research in the field of special education. Students will gain knowledge that they will use both for the preparation and creation of a diploma thesis, and then also for orientation in professional literature and current research findings in the field. Within the scope of the subject, they will become familiar with the logic of qualitative and quantitative research, including examples of their applications in specific research projects. They will learn to plan their own research, formulate research problems, questions and hypotheses, operationalize concepts through observable indicators, choose and implement an appropriate strategy for data collection and analysis. They will learn a number of concepts, key to methodology in the social sciences - representativeness, reliability, validity.
Learning outcomes
Expertise:
- the student orients himself in the basics of methodology, especially in terminology, research methods, techniques and research processing options
- the student will explain the differences between quantitative and qualitative research
Professional skills:
- the student analyzes the research process in theoretical and practical contexts
- the student recognizes the appropriateness of using research strategies
- the student manages to apply the principles of operationalization of research objectives
- the student manages the creation and verification of hypotheses
General qualifications:
- the student can independently apply the principles of scientific methodology
- the student can independently formulate and present the achieved results, or reflect them in their daily practice
Syllabus
  • 1. The scientific method. Science as a way of knowing the world. Social versus natural sciences. Correlation, Causality, Experiment
  • 2. Research problem. Research questions. Choosing a topic for research. Formulation of the research question. Choosing a research strategy. The main differences between quantitative and qualitative approaches
  • 3. The logic of quantitative research. Causality. From theory to practice
  • 4. Hypothesis (theoretical and working), variable, concept, operationalization, measurement, indicators
  • 5. Basic quantitative methods. Questionnaire as one of the data collection tools. Method of compiling the questionnaire. The problem of return, validity and reliability of research
  • 6. Secondary analysis. Population, sample, representativeness
  • 7. The logic of qualitative research. Induction, generation of hypotheses. Main characteristics of qualitative research and its comparison with quantitative. Reasons for choosing a qualitative approach
  • 8. The basic tradition of qualitative research. Case study, ethnography, grounded theory. Sources of qualitative data
  • 9. Data collection in qualitative research. More details on interview and observation techniques. Principles of work in the field, field notes, relationship with informants
  • 10. Qualitative data analysis. Inductive logic of data "creation" and analysis. Output from qualitative research. Ethical aspects of research
  • 11. Work with literature. Database, research, resources
  • 12. Method of writing a professional text. The appearance of a well-written research project. Doing professional science
Literature
    required literature
  • HENDL, J. Kvalitativní výzkum: základní teorie, metody a aplikace. Praha: Portál, 2016. ISBN 978-80-262-0982-9.
  • HENDL, J., REMR, J. Metody výzkumu a evaluace. Praha: Portál, 2017. ISBN 978-80-262-1192-1.
  • CHRÁSKA, M. Metody pedagogického výzkumu: základy kvantitativního výzkumu. Praha: Grada, 2016. ISBN 978-80-247-5326-3.
  • NOVOTNÁ, H., ŠPAČEK, O., ŠŤOVÍČKOVÁ JANTULOVÁ, M. (eds.). Metody výzkumu ve společenských vědách. Praha: Univerzita Karlova, 2019. ISBN 978-80-7571-025-3.
  • PUNCH, K. F. Základy kvantitativního šetření. Praha: Portál, 2008. ISBN 978-80-7367-381-9.
  • ŠVAŘÍČEK, R., ŠEĎOVÁ, K. a kol. Kvalitativní výzkum v pedagogických vědách. Praha: Portál, 2014. ISBN 978-80-262-0644-6.
    recommended literature
  • DISMAN, M. Jak se vyrábí sociologická znalost: příručka pro uživatele. Praha: Karolinum, 2011. ISBN 978-80-246-1966-8.
  • OCHRANA, F. Metodologie sociálních věd. Praha: Karolinum, 2021. ISBN 978-80-246-4968-9.
  • PUNCH, K. F. Úspěšný návrh výzkumu. Praha: Portál, 2015. ISBN 978-80-262-0980-5.
  • REICHEL, J. Kapitoly metodologie sociálních výzkumů. Praha: Grada, 2009. ISBN 978-80-247-3006-6.
  • SKUTIL, M. a kol. Základy pedagogicko-psychologického výzkumu pro studenty učitelství. Praha: Portál, 2011. ISBN 978-80-7367-778-7.
  • TROUSIL, M., JAŠÍKOVÁ, V. Úvod do tvorby odborných prací. Hradec Králové: Gaudeamus, 2015. ISBN 978-80-7435-542-4.
    not specified
  • EGER, L., EGEROVÁ, D. Základy metodologie výzkumu. Plzeň: Západočeská univerzita, 2017. ISBN 978-80-261-0735-4.
  • CHRÁSKA, M., KOČVAROVÁ, I. Kvantitativní metody sběru dat v pedagogických výzkumech. Zlín: Univerzita Tomáše Bati, 2015. ISBN 978-80-7454-553-5.
  • KAUFMANN, J.-C. Chápající rozhovor. Praha: Sociologické nakladatelství, 2010. ISBN 978-80-7419-033-9.
  • KRČ, M. Metodologie vědecké práce. Brno: Petr Brázda, 2019. ISBN 978-80-87387-65-8.
  • ŘIHÁČEK, T., ČERMÁK, I., HYTYCH, R. a kol. Kvalitativní analýza textů: čtyři přístupy. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, 2013. ISBN 978-80-210-6382-2.
  • SILVERMAN, D. Interpreting qualitative data. Los Angeles: Sage, 2020. ISBN 978-1-5264-6724-9.
  • VIKTORIN, J. Metodologie speciálně pedagogického výzkumu. In E-learning kurz pro studenty studijního programu Speciální pedagogika Fakulty veřejných politik v Opavě. Opava: Slezská univerzita v Opavě.
Assessment methods
Written test, 75% of correct answers are required to pass the course.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
The course can also be completed outside the examination period.
Teacher's information
Personal contact in lessons, consultation hours. During ongoing studies, the student uses study support and processes selected correspondence tasks. Here, at the same time, he will demonstrate his knowledge of compulsory literature and contact teaching lectures. The student will be able to continuously consult individually studied subject topics via e-mail, individual or group consultations. The subject has an e-learning course prepared in IS SU and a team established in MS Teams, which also serves as another possible tool for communication with the teacher and between students.
The course is also listed under the following terms Accreditation summer, Summer 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Summer 2025, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.slu.cz/course/fvp/summer2025/USPQK008