Research in Education and Psychology: Focusing on Root Causes and Increased Justice
by Donna M. Mertens
Dr. Mertens is Professor Emeritus, Department of Education, at Gallaudet University. She is the author of the 6th edition of Research and Evaluation in Education and Psychology: Integrating Diversity With Quantitative, Qualitative, and Mixed Methods. Use the code COMMUNIT24 for 25% off through December 31, 2024 when you purchase the book from Sage.
Find a Worthwhile Topic
When we start to think about a research topic, we might consider the advice often given to new researchers: Read the end of an article on a topic that interests you and see what it says about where “more research is needed”. This practice is not wrong, but it might not serve to address current challenges in ways that respond to those who hurt the most. As a beginning researcher, you might have a strong desire to do research that makes a difference for vulnerable and marginalized people. Listening to community voices, soliciting their views, and reading about challenges in the world news can provide guidance that has the potential to contribute to the transformative changes needed to increase justice. These sources of research topics are explored in the 6th edition of Research and Evaluation in Education and Psychology (Mertens, 2024), with special attention to issues of race, sexual orientation, disability, and Indigeneity.
Donna Mertens
The vestiges of the COVID19 pandemic and controversies around what teachers can teach present challenges and opportunities for educators and psychologists to conduct research that addresses root causes of injustices associated with an educational and mental health crisis. COVID19 made even more visible inequities that people of color, Indigenous people, and people with disabilities experience, not only in access to health care, but also to appropriate educational and psychological services. To their credit, school systems tried to respond to an unprecedented situation during the pandemic that contributed to a higher death rate for vulnerable groups, unsafe demands made on essential workers, and teachers and students who were supposed to pivot to online learning. However, the schools were faced with an almost impossible situation trying to provide services online without the support infrastructure and skills to do it effectively. This led to losses in terms of achievement that were even more profound in communities of color and to increased stress for school personnel and students. Many educators and support personnel (including psychologists) left the profession.
Look for Root Causes
This quote from a teacher that struggled with the conditions during COVID encapsulates concerns that point to the need for research that identifies the root causes of stressors and interventions that can address those causes.
I began my teaching just over a year before the global pandemic started, and the stressors that impacted us, in the best of times, included lack of access to support structures within the school… My stress was increased by changes in the curriculum throughout my time at the school…And then the pandemic hit, and we were required to take all the learning online. There was no preparation, just like most things in teaching... My stress levels were so high that I couldn’t eat or sleep. I had anxiety attacks. I wanted to reach these kids under untenable conditions, but it was not possible to be a good teacher. My physical and mental health suffered more than I had ever experienced in my life. To heal myself, I made the difficult decision to leave teaching. (Mertens, 2024, p. 85)
The literature on stress reduction often focuses on strategies for teachers to reduce their stress by meditating or exercise. While there are some benefits to adopting healthy lifestyles, such interventions do not address the root causes of stress and departure from the field of teaching. Read through what the quoted teacher said and think about what research topics emerge from that text. What root causes are suggested in the narrative? Researchers can choose topics that identify root causes and test interventions to correct those factors that are contributing to negative conditions. An important part of this process is engaging with communities that are experiencing the problems and listening to what they are saying before settling on a topic based only on literature reviews.
The legacy of COVID19 is exacerbated by political forces that restrict what books teachers can use in their classrooms and how they can teach topics related to gender, sexual identity, race, and history. “According to PEN America, an advocacy nonprofit (Young & Friedman, 2022), 36 states in the United States have introduced over 130 bills designed to restrict teachers in their coverage of issues related to race and gender, banning teaching of critical race theory and any lessons that are perceived by some to hurt the self-image of white students. Suppression of discussion about sexual identities is associated with increased mental health problems for members of sexual minority groups and with an increase in adolescent suicides (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2023). (Mertens, 2024, p. xxxvi) Research topics that address the effects of these restrictions and strategies for overcoming those effects have the potential to make our school and mental health systems part of the long arc of justice.
Be Culturally Responsive
Researchers who hold that the purpose of their work is to contribute to a more just world might find useful ideas for the generation of research topics by guidance from the assumptions of the transformative and Indigenous paradigms. Both philosophical frameworks lead researchers to begin their work by building relationships in culturally responsive ways to better understand community priorities, power structures, and historical context. In this way, research questions emerge from interactions that occur early in the research process. Sample research questions that reflect a transformative lens include:
How can we teach and counsel students and clients so that they do not continue to be oppressed?
To what extent are the resources equitably distributed? What needs to happen to increase the equitable distribution of resources?
How has the institution or agency been responsive/unresponsive in meeting the needs of people with disabilities? What interventions hold potential for better meeting the needs of people with disabilities? (adapted from Mertens, 2024, p. 67)
Indigenous scholars reinforce the importance of building relationships and considering the legacy of colonization in choosing research topics (Chilisa, 2020; Chouinard & Cram, 2020). As we grow in our understanding of the perspectives of members of marginalized and vulnerable communities, including people of color and Indigenous people, we can also increase our understanding of how to choose research topics that address root causes and test interventions that support transformative change.
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2023, March 9). Fact sheet: CDC report shows concerning increases in sadness and exposure to violence among teen girls and LGBQ+ youth. https://www.cdc.gov/nchhstp/newsroom/fact-sheets/healthy-youth/sadness-and-violence-among-teen-girls-and-LGBQ-youth-factsheet.html
Chilisa, B. (2020). Indigenous research methodologies. Sage.
Chouinard, J>A. & Cram, F. (2020). Culturally responsive approaches to evaluation. Sage.
Mertens, D.M. (2024). Research and evaluation in education and psychology. (6th ed.). Sage.
Young, J. C., & Friedman, J. (2022, August 17). America’s censored classrooms: Key findings. PEN America. https://pen.org/report/americas-censored-classrooms/