Research Questions, Variables, and Data Types

Research Questions, Variables, and Data Types Name Institutional Affiliation Research Questions, Variables, and Data Types Introduction Culturally relevant teaching practices are an essential aspect in a modern and diverse society. This is because they enable all students, and especially those in the minority, to feel valued and appreciated. This study explores the impacts of such an approach. Question 1 As far as this study is concerned, the author chooses to utilize a qualitative case study research design. This is based on the fact that the author seeks to understand the dynamics of applying culturally relevant educational approaches to teaching statistics at the high school level. As such, this approach works well to ensure that valuable information and understanding on the subject matter is collected with the aim of shedding light on the use and efficacy of such culturally relevant methods in education practice. More specifically, this study takes the shape of an ethnographic form of qualitative research. This is because the design, structure, and purpose of this study not only heavily relies on mixed research approaches as a case study research does, but also incorporates the embedding of researchers so that they can better understand the subject matter of the research. Question 2 With respect to this study, it is vital to establish that the core research problem that the author is looking to address is the difficulty of learning and teaching statistics in high school for minority students without engaging any form of culturally relevant methodologies and approaches. In this regard, the author is looking to establish not only some of the core factors that influence the ability of educators to comfortably teach statistics to minority students at the high school level, but also how different and culturally relevant approaches and methods by educators to students in such settings can kick-start and improve learning among students (Smith, 2014). This is a fundamental aspect of this study and one that continues to resonate across the entire profile of the research. As a means of further elaborating on the difficulties that minority learners face when they take statistics courses that are offered without any culturally relevant pedagogy, the study seeks to demonstrate the importance of cultural relevance in the instruction of students learning statistics at the high school level. In this way, the author contributes towards a broadened discussion of the difficulties of learning statistics in an environment where one’s culture and its relevance is minimally appreciated, and how this influences success for such students at the high school level (Smith, 2014). At the same time, it is worth noting that the study also explores how different educators approach culturally relevant pedagogy. In doing so, the author provides a concise and insightful understanding of how cultural minorities can learn statistics, among other challenging units, with relative ease and comfort in a culturally relevant setting (Smith, 2014). Question 3 In this study, the research questions presented are relational, causal, or even descriptive. When addressing different impacts of social and community factors in the ability of minority students to learn statistics, the author takes on a broadened perspective of the topic. This enables the author to develop research questions that promote a better understanding of how the community around a student can directly and indirectly affect the student’s ability to learn with minimal difficulty. The author also assesses how culturally relevant practices that such students find pivotal can be affected by classroom interactions and how this contributes towards effective learning in a high school statistics class. This is a fundamental aspect of this study. Question 4 The research questions used in the study include: * What community referents (social, economic, religious, historical, or political) are perceived as important in conceptua...