PRACTICAL RESEARCH MODULE 2ND QUARTER

Research Design is the process of structuring techniques and strategies that helps researchers
solve their problems or answer their inquiry.

Writing the Method Section

Research Design

Describe the type of quantitative research design that you adopted for the study. Is the study a
true experimental or quasi experimental research design? If there is no intervention employed,
then non experimental quantitative research design like correlation, comparative, survey, and
developmental studies is used. Depending on your research goals, is the study descriptive,
correlation, comparative, predictive, or explanatory? The study could be retrospective, cross
sectional, or longitudinal depending on the time frame on how data was collected. Justify the use
of the research design by stating the goals of the study and reiterating your problem statement.

Research Setting

Where will you collect data? Identify the place of data collection? Are you collecting data in a
school setting in your neighborhood or in school? Write an explanation of the context, rationale
and a brief history of the research setting if possible.

Participants

Describe explicitly the sampling procedures adopted for the study. If the study is quantitative,
justify the number of participants who answered the survey questionnaire. Describe the sampling
technique used, whether it is random sampling, stratified random sampling or convenient
sampling.

CHOOSING AN APPROPRIATE QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH DESIGN

 Choosing a research design that is suited to one’s inquiry would largely depend in the
GOAL and PURPOSE of the study.
 Other quantitative design employ NO INTERVENTION and they are referred to as
NON-EXPERIMENTAL.
 If the research purpose is to:
a. Systematically collect information on a phenomenon (DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH
DESIGN)
b. Predict some event in the future (PREDICTIVE RESEARCH DESIGN)
c. Develop or test theory to explain a phenomenon (EXPLANATORY RESEARCH
DESIGN)

Non experimental Research designs are classified according to the time dimension of
how data are collected. These research designs are :

a. Retrospective – using past data to explain the present

b. Cross Sectional – collecting data at a single point in time
c. Longitudinal – collecting data across time

SAMPLING IN QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH

Sampling is the process of obtaining the participants of a study from a larger pool of potential
participants termed as POPULATION.

Population is the complete group of person, animals or objects that possess the same
characteristics that are of the researcher’s interest. There are 2 kinds of population TARGET
AND ACCESSIBLE POPULATION.
  Target Population – is made up of all research elements that the researcher would want
his/her findings to be generalized.
 Accessible Population – is a group of research elements within which the research
respondent will be taken from.
Example: In a study that seeks to find the opinion of Filipino high school students about
K-12 program the target population are high school students in the Philippines, while the
accessible population may be those from the locality of the researcher.

Sample is a group of individuals that represents the characteristics of population.

One of the characteristics of quantitative research is using REPRESENTATIVE SAMPLE. This

is essential so that the findings or results of the study can be generalized and that conclusions can
be considered valid.

ADVANTAGES OF SAMPLING [CITATION Ric16 \l 13321 ]

1. It saves time, effort and resources.

2. It minimizes casualties
3. It paves the way for through investigation
4. It allows easy data handling, collection and analysis

INSTRUMENTS IN QUANTITATIVE SURVEY

INSTRUMENTATION is the proves of collecting data. The tool or device used to collect data is
called an INSTRUMENT.

The instrument has to be designed and structured so that correct and accurate information will be
collected from the samples. This will ensure the quality and validity of the results and findings.

The first step in constructing an instrument is to ask the following questions on the data
collection:

1. How will the data be gathered?

2. When will the data be gathered?
3. Where will the data be gathered?
4. How will the data be analyzed?

The data that you collect in your study depends on your research design and on the purpose of
the research. The best data collection procedures use in describing a phenomenon (descriptive
study) are surveys, interview, and observations. A questionnaire is designed to obtain past data is
appropriate to use in retrospective studies.

Data are knowledge obtained from a sample or a population. Data can also be defined as
information used to calculate, process or analyze something. They serve the basis for reasoning
and discussion.

CLASSIFICATION OF DATA

1. PRIMARY DATA – refer to data sets that include firsthand information and experiences
about an event. Example: Data that are collected by university-based researchers that are
sorted in data achieve intended for future use and dissemination of the general research
community.
Primary data are considered to be more valid than secondary sources.
2. SECONDARY DATA – mostly data consisting of studied objects, that are coded
according to their characteristics. They are also composed of transcripts of audio and
video recordings.
Research Instrument

Researcher – completed instrument is an instrument where the researcher supplies the necessary
data on the information needed. An example of a researcher – completed instrument is a rating
scale – an instrument where participants rate items being asked usually from the scale of 1 to 5.

Participant – completed questionnaire – are designed in such a way that participants of the study
give needed data or information. A good example is a self-report inventory of group process
skills in the cooperative learning study.

COMMON DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENT

1. Documentary analysis – this instrument may require the researcher to examine available
resources or documents. Inspecting the primary and secondary sources is important when
using this type of data collection.
2. Interview – happens when the researcher personally asks the key informants about
things / information he/she needs from the subject.
Types of Interview
a. Structured interview – happens when the researcher prepared and organized questions
that the respondent will answer. The researcher does not go beyond what is written in
the interview sheet but could ask the interviewee for the purpose of clarifying his/her
answer.
b. Unstructured Interview – occurs when the researcher prepares an outline of the topics
that she/he needs to personally ask from the interviewee in spontaneous and
conversation like manner.
c. Semi – structured interview – is when the researcher prepares a specific set of
questions but could ask follow up questions to the respondents for them to elaborate
their answers.
3. Observation – in this technique the researcher tracks the subjects’ behavior change over a
specific period of time. Observation may happen in the ff manner
a. Naturalistic Observation – researcher observes the subjects in the natural setting or in
actual environment
b. Participative observation – it requires the researcher to be involved in usual activities
of the subjects. This gives the researchers first hand experiences of what the
respondents are experiencing
c. Non – naturalistic observation – this is also called “ideal -situation” observation.
Subjects are taken away from their actual environment and are subjected to ideal
conditions determined by the researcher.
4. Questionnaire – one of the most commonly used data collection instruments.
Questionnaire are easy to administer and could gather larger turnout on a single time. The
ff are some types of questionnaire
 Yes / No
 Recognition – respondents are made to choose from the choices given
 Completion – the respondents are made requested to supply the necessary
information in the blanks. This is also called open – ended questionnaire.
 Coding – the respondents are asked to rank or give numerical rating for the
information required of them
 Subjective – the respondents are free to give opinions and answers to the
questions posed by the researcher
 Combination – this make use of one or more type of questions in a single
questionnaire.
 5. Focus Group Discussion (FGD)
- A good way to gather people from similar backgrounds or experiences together to
discuss a specific topic of interest. They are guided by a oderator who introduces the
topics for discussion and motivated the group to participate actively.

STEPS IN CONDUCTING A SURVEY

STEP 1: Identify the purpose of doing a survey

STEP 2: Identify the participants of the study

STEP 3: Identify the kinds of data you want to collect and the time frame to collect the data

STEP 4: Operationalize your variables

STEP 5: Design and construct questions for the survey

STEP 6: Check survey validity

STEP 7: Administer the questionnaire as a pretest

STEP 8: Revise survey items as necessary

STEP 9: Administer survey

STEP 10: Encode Data

STEP 11: Analyze Data

STEP 12: Write a Report

SAMPLE DESCRIPTION OF A SURVEY INSTRUMENT

Self-Concept Inventory

The overall goal of the study is to determine the self-concept of participants from a constructed
inventory. Self-concept in this study is operationalized as participants’ degree of agreement /
disagreement on the different statements about themselves. The response code used was

1 – Not at all

2 – A little bit

3 – Somewhat

4 – Very much

5 – Extremely

Self-concept is further defined in this study as totality of one’s thinking , feeling , action
associated with self-concept.

References:

1. Pumones, R. (2017). You and the natural world quantitative research. Phoenix Publishing
House,Inc: Quezon City
2. Clemente,R (2016). Science in Today’s World for Senior High School , Research in
Daily Life 1. Sibs Publishing House,Inc: Quezon City