Navigating Educational Research: Key Decisions, Challenges, and Ethical Choices in Messy Data Collection and Analysis

Session Type: Workshop

Abstract

Educational research is messy. Research may feel especially “messy” when taking new and innovative approaches or adapting to the ever changing political, social, cultural, and educational landscapes. The messiness may be particularly felt when centering equity or reducing harm because the educational psychology field has largely ignored the impact of systems of power. This messiness also results in challenges that are traditionally not discussed in published articles—with the exception of the limitations section. We argue that researchers would be better suited to acknowledge the “messiness” of the research process in lieu of their attempts to conduct the “perfect” research study. Through innovative thinking and reflexive practice, researchers may be better positioned to challenge the systemic inequities and prompt reformative research practice. Like when drivers intuitively accelerate or brake speeds with a goal to avoid impact during a winter storm, researchers often fall into traps where their research feels halted by ice. Instead, researchers might embrace the messiness of the research process, or follow the direction of the icy roadway, to conduct transformative research that better supports the goals of their scholarship and reduces potential harm. The purpose of this session is to provide opportunities for both early and established researchers to share the messiness of research (i.e., messiness related to growing past what historically educational psychology has been), to reflect on their past challenges, and encourage scholars to instead feel empowered to think about innovative research practices to help them navigate challenges faced when conducting educational research and adapt to the ever changing landscape.

Sub Unit

• Division C - Learning and Instruction

Chairs

• Xiao-Yin Chen, University of Tennessee

• Korinthia D. Nicolai, Indiana University

• DeLeon Gray, North Carolina State University

Participants

• Carlton J. Fong, Texas State University

• Daniela Kruel DiGiacomo, University of Kentucky

• Taylor Cummings, University of Nevada - Las Vegas

• Destiny Williams-Dobosz, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign