PHYSICS PROBLEM SOLVING

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A case-study approach allows for limited replication. This is the issue of
reliability. For this research to be reliable, it is important to carefully document the data
collection and analysis procedures. Assumptions must be clearly stated. If these
guidelines are followed, another researcher, with similar knowledge of the content and
context of the research should be able to replicate the research. Even so, “...it is
impractical to make precise replication a criterion of generalizability in qualitative work.
Qualitative research is so arduous that it is unlikely that high-quality researchers could be
located to engage in the relatively unexciting task of conducting a study designed
specifically to replicate a previous one” (Schofield, 1990; p. 203). What is probably
more important than precise replication is the stimulation of further qualitative and
quantitative research.
Finally, the generalizability, or external validity, of the this study depends on
applying it to a similar context and content. That is, are the results generalizable to other
introductory, algebra-based, college physics courses, with similar implementation of
cooperative learning and problem solving? Because each physics course has unique
features, such as the professor, teaching assistants, textbook, and student population, it is
not possible to exactly replicate the study. Rather than think in terms of generalizing the
findings to the same context and content, it might be better to think in terms of
translating the results to a comparable situation (Schofield, 1990; Goetz and LeCompte,
1984).
This Research is Exploratory