PRACTICAL RESEARCH I: QUALITATIVE RESEARCH REVIEWER

Competencies: RESEARCH ETHICS

• shares research experiences and knowledge 1 Voluntary Participation – you must ask people to voluntarily
• explains the importance of research in daily life participate in your research study
• describes, characteristics, processes, and ethics of research a. Explain to your recruited participants what your research is
• differentiates quantitative from qualitative research about.
• provide examples of research in areas of interest b. Ask them to sign a document that they are voluntarily
• describes characteristics, strengths, weaknesses, and kinds of participating (Informed Consent Form)
qualitative research c. Tell them that they have the freedom to stop participating
• illustrates the importance of qualitative research across fields in your study if they wish to do so at any point in your
• designs a research project related to daily life study.
• writes a research title 2 Confidentiality – you must inform your participants that you will
keep their personal information secret.
• describes the justifications/reasons for conducting the research
• states research questions
3 Privacy – Work with them only in the place and at the time that fit
• indicates scope and delimitations
well for them.
• cites benefits and beneficiaries of research
• presents written statement of the problem 4 Accuracy – make sure to accurately represent the data provided by
participants.
DEFINITIONS OF RESEARCH
Research is a scholarly activity that consists of addressing a specific 5 Truth – Never misrepresent your participants or the truth that came
problem through the collection analysis, and interpretation of data. from the data.
It is a systematic endeavor which involved a well-planned strategy QUALITIES OF A GOOD RESEARCHER
and a timely execution. It is used to advance development. a. Curious
b. Efficient and effective
Research is a systematic study directed toward fuller knowledge or c. Creative
understanding of the subject studies.” National Science Foundation d. Honest
e. Interested in improving life
Basic Research – focuses on increasing the scientific knowledge base. f. Meticulous
It is about understanding a certain behavior or phenomenon without g. Systematic
the aim of solving a problem (Cherry, 2014).
THE RESEARCH PROCESS
Examples: A. Select the Topic of Interest
1. A survey on the influence of study habits to academic performance B. Search for Literature
of students. Free Online Database Samples
2. A study on the effects of computer game addiction to the person’s Google Scholar (https://scholar.google.com.ph)
behavior. Philippine E-journals (http://ejournals.ph)
3. An investigation on the relationship between strategy use and Pubmed (http://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed)
academic performance of students. PDF (http://freefullpdf.com)
Applied Research – is a scientific study which aims to gain knowledge C. Establish the research Methodology
and understanding necessary to determine the means by which a D. Collect and Analyze Data
recognized and specific need may be met (National Science E. Report the Findings
Foundation).
STRENGTHS OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
Examples: 1. Helps study complex issues or problems
1. What is the most effective treatment in addressing insomnia? 2. Based on data from natural settings
2. What are the effective strategies in teaching polynomials? 3. Can reflect more closely the reality of the research
3. What is the best drainage design in addressing city flooding? participants
4. What is the best benefit package to develop a highly motivated 4. Takes into account the real life of people by using their
workforce? stories and their settings
5. Provides multiple perspectives about the same problem
CHARACTERISTICS OF RESEARCH from multiple sources.
1. Empirical – it should be based on the experience or observation
2. Systematic – follows a specific process and a specific set of WEAKNESSES OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
guidelines and principles 1. Based on a limited number of participants
3. Credible – must make the readers believe what was found in the 2. Subjective
research study. 3. The researcher’s bias may affect the data
4. Focused on one specific problem – must be focused on a specific 4. Can be cumbersome because data does not follow the same
problem because research is there to help us solve problems. structure
5. Logical – should be based on evidence 5. Can take more time
6. Critical – must be based on careful evaluation
QUANTITATIVE VS QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
RESEARCH PROCESS
Step 1: Identify the Research Topic Quantitative Research (QNR) relies heavily on numbers. It is used to
Step 2: Identify a specific Problem try to understand what a large number of people think about a
Step 3: Write down specific research questions certain topic.
Step 4: Conduct the literature review
Step 5: Plan your research study Characteristics:
Step 6: Implement your research study a. Objective
Step 7: Analyze your data b. Use of numbers
Step 8: Interpret your data c. Use of quantitative data collection methods
Step 9: Draw the conclusion d. Focus on a predetermined set of concepts.
Step 10: Check the quality of your research
 PRACTICAL RESEARCH I: QUALITATIVE RESEARCH REVIEWER

Qualitative Research (QLR) allows a researcher to explore a complex Ethnography – focuses on the shared and learned pattern of values,
issue that does not have clear preset variables. behavior, beliefs and languages of a certain group.

Characteristics: Case Study – focused on understanding a case or a problem using the

a. Rich – explores a problem in-depth
b. Open – can be checked with more data collection
c. Subjective – not free from bias
d. Can deal with complex issues – not limited by variables
Similarities of QLR and QNR:
a. Help address human problems and issues
b. Require a systematic way of conducting research
c. Have specified research designs
d. Have specific methods and analysis techniques
e. Require a critical mind
f. Require hard work
g. Require planning and organization
case as a specific illustration.
Action Research – is used when you have a specific problem in your
field of expertise that you want to understand, generate solutions for,
test those solutions to improve the way you do things, and then
create guidelines on how to implement those solutions.
Content Analysis – This can be used if you have some documents that
you want to explore to understand a certain problem.
FINDING A RESEARCH TOPIC
The Topic – this is the main idea of your research study.

Differences of QLR and QNR: Guidelines in Choosing a Research Topic:

1. Interest in the subject matter
Quantitative Qualitative 2. Availability of Information
SAMPLE 3. Timeliness and Relevance of the Topic
Large, Representative, Small, non-representative, 4. Limitations on the subject
random selection purposeful 5. Personal Resources
DATA
Quantities, Counts, Verbal Descriptions, Research Topics to be Avoided:
Measures, Instruments, Notes, Observations, 1. Controversial Topics
Numbers, Statistics Documents, Photographs, 2. Highly Technical Subjects
People’s Own Words 3. Hard-to-Investigate Subjects
METHODS 4. Too broad subjects
Experiment/Clinical Trials, Case Studies, 5. Too Narrow subjects
Quasi Experiments, Cross- Ethnographies, Verbal 6. Vague Subjects
sectional surveys, cohort Protocol Analysis,
studies, case-control Narrative Analysis Sources of Research Topics:
studies 1. Mass media Communication
DESIGNS 2. Books, internet, peer-reviewed journals and government
publications
Structured, Pre- Evolving, Flexible,
3. Professional Periodicals
determined, Formal, Informal, General
Specific 4. General Periodicals
5. Previous reading assignments in your other subjects
GOALS
6. Work experiences
Test Hypothesis, Establish Build Theory, Develop
Facts, Show association, Understanding, Describe
Criteria of A Good Research Topic:
Demonstrate Causality, Multiple Realities,
a. A topic that you will like
Outsider Meaning Capture Naturally
b. A topic that other people will like
Occurring Behavior,
c. A topic that is doable.
Insider Meaning
d. A topic that is current
GENERAL DESCRIPTIONS
e. A topic that is relevant to your field or specialization
Information, External, Meaning, Internal,
Recurrence, Experiment, Occurrence, Experience,
Writing the Background of the Study
Measurement, Product Exegesis, Process Place the research topic within a bigger context. For
instance, identify some strong findings that other researchers have
TYPES OF RESEARCH ACROSS FIELDS written about in the past that can help people understand why your
a. Library Research – going to a physical or electronic library, topic is important. In the background of the research study, give
reading materials on a certain topic and systematically and specific facts that have been documented about your research topic.
critically synthesize what you read on the topic.
b. Field Research – conducted as part of the program or The Problem Statement
project implementation The problem statement is that one or few paragraphs that
c. Laboratory Research – requires you to conduct an pinpoint the exact problem that you plan to focus on. It must be
experiment and report the outcome of that experiment. directly linked to your topic and to your purpose statement. It also
starts with a general background and ends with one or more
GENERAL IMPORTANCE OF QLR sentences that state clearly what the problem is.
1. QLR helps explore problems in-depth
2. QLR is useful when statistics are not able to solve the Writing the Purpose Statement
problem State again some background information and then clearly
3. QLR helps solve complex problems state in one to three sentences why you want to conduct your
4. QLR allows the researcher to ask follow-up questions research study. Your purpose should directly be focused on
5. QLR helps understand people’s emotions and experiences addressing the research problem that you have just stated in the
better. previous step.

APPROACHES TO QUALITATIVE RESEARCH Considerations in Stating the Research Questions:

1. Each question should be unique. Don’t state two questions
Phenomenology – describes the lived experiences of people in a in one.
particular phenomenon. 2. No questions should have subsections in QLR.
3. Altogether, you should have 3-5 questions,
 PRACTICAL RESEARCH I: QUALITATIVE RESEARCH REVIEWER

4. At least one question (preferably the last one) should help

address the selected problem.
5. All the research questions should be written clearly and
concisely.
6. All the research questions should be written in the third
person, not the first or second person.

Importance of Guide Questions:

1. Provide clear focus of the study.
2. Suggest directions on the methodology of the study
3. Present the goal of the study.

Types of Questions:
General Questions
Sub-questions

Formulating the Research Questions:

1 Use good qualitative wording

2 Begin the questions with the word “What” or “how”?
3 Questions should tell what the research is trying to discover,
generate, explore, identify, or describe.
4 It should ask what is happening or what was the meaning to
individuals of what happened.

Scope of the Study – refers to the coverage where the study is

operating. You need to present a clear picture where your research
study will take place and what will be included and not included.

Delimitation – These are boundaries under the control of the

researcher. It limits the scope and defines the parameters of the
study.

Significance of the Study – an enumeration of who will likely benefit

from the study conducted.

Writing the Title of the Research Study:

1. Include the major key concepts of your topic, an idea about

the participants, the context, and an idea about the
research design.
2. Keep it to 10-15 words only.
3. You can use a colon to divide the title into two parts.
4. Don’t use a sentence form, a period or question mark at the
end.
5. Don’t use the actual names of people or location of your
study; this is an unethical practice.