Nature of inquiry research

Quantitative research

- Systematic investigation of observable phenomena

- Gather numerical data and use statistical methods.

Main goals of Quantitative Research

1. Test hypothesis
2. Explore Casual relationship
3. Make predictions
4. Generalize findings

Quantitative Research applies

Probability Sampling

- Highly randomized, low level of subjectively

Generalizability

- Findings not only represents the sample but also the population large

Strengths of Quantitative Research

1. Can be replicated
2. Generalizability
3. Establish causality more conclusively
4. Make predictions based on quantifiable data
5. Data analysis using statistical software
6. Data gathering methods are less demanding
7. Low degree of subjectively
8. Validity and reliability can be measured

Weaknesses of Qualitative Research

1. Cannot provide in-depth information

2. Cannot provide a complex textual description
3. Cannot analyse intangible factors
4. Less flexible research design
5. Participants’ responses are strictly limited
6. Self-reported data may not be very accurate

Descriptive Research

- Observe and report a certain phenomenon

- Uses questionnaire and / or observation

Correlational Research

- Determine the nature of the relationship between two variables without looking into the cause
 - Uses questionnaire, tests, and / or observation
- 3 types Positive negative end no correlation

Ex post facto Research (means after the event)

- Infer the causes of s phenomenon which has already occurred

- Groups exposed to the presumed cause are compared with those who are not exposed
- Random assignment of participants to treatment or control groups

Quasi – experimental Research

- Establish cause – and – effect relationships

- Experimental manipulation may have limited use
- Not randomly assigned to treatment groups or control groups

Kinds of variables

Variables

- Any element which can be measured for quantity or quality

Independent cause (na nandgudulot ng change) and dependent ( sinusukat ng epekto ng idependent
variable )

Quantitative variables

1. Discrete
- Can be counted; positive whole numbers
2. Continuous
- Interval variables; measured in ranges; can be non-whole numbers; positive or negative value
3. Ration variables
- Special type of continuous variables; measured in ranges; absolute zero; cannot have a negative
value

Qualitative variables or categorical variables

1. Dichotomous
- Two distinct values
2. Nominal
- More than two categories
3. Ordinal
- Values can be ranked or ordered

Variables Based on Purpose

Independent

- presumed cause

Dependent

- presumed effect

Extraneous

- undesired variable that can influence the results

Confounding

- causes changes in DV instead DIV

Importance in different fields

1. Social Inquiry
- better understand the behaviour and social interactions among individual
2. Arts
- investigate methods or approached that enhance one’s creativity
3. ICT
- examine the trends and tendencies in the use of information technology
4. Science
- To determine the effectiveness of a newly developed medicine, treatment, or approach in
addressing health problems.
5. Agriculture and Fisheries
- To examine how agriculture in a particular community is influenced by global trends
6. Sports
- Understand the relationship between one’s health and athletic performance
7. Business
- To asses approaches that will help companies in their decision –making practise

1. Selecting the research topic

Research topic
- It is a general idea of interest that you would like to pursue in your research
- Factors to consider: relevance, interest, manageability, available resources
What to avoid:
- Highly sensitive & controversial topics
- Highly technical & specialized topics
- Overly recent topics
2. The background of the study
 Components to consider
1. Current state of the field
- State the general area where your study belongs
- Why it remains a significant area of research
2. Research problem
- Issues or concerns that your study will address
3. Current and conventional practices
- Discuss existing studies that address the issue
- Explain merits and contribution of these studies
4. Research gap
- Refers to an issue or area in your field of the study that has yet to be addressed or explore
extensively
5. Contribution of the present study
- Discuss how your own study will help fill in the research gap you have identified

Research problem
- It states what is to be investigated, identifies the variables, and discusses their relationships
Steps
1. Conduct a preliminary research
2. Prepare a concept map
3. Identify general research problem

Problem statement
- It formally points out the issue that your study wants you address

Formulating research questions

- These indicate specific concerns related to your research problem can be classified as
- General research question (effects, relation \ships)
- Specific research questions (must always include variables)
 Research objective
Functions as research questions but in declarative form
Thesis statement
- One sentence summary of the argument that you are presenting in your study

Formulating the research hypothesis

Hypothesis
- It is a statement that defines the testable relationship you expect to see from examining the
variables in your research
Null hypothesis
- No relationship between variables
- IV has no effect in DV
 Alternative hypothesis
- There is a relationship between variables (positive or negative)
- IV has no effect to DV
- Directional or non-directional

Formulating hypothesis
1. Identify the IV and DV
2. Your hypothesis must be falsifiable
3. Must show relationship between variables ( increase, improve, decrease )

Significance of the study

- Details of the specific contribution of you study as well as its benefits to different people and
organization

Two formats

Paragraph form

- Based on research questions

Enumeration form

- Based on beneficiaries

Useful phrases

- The study of this study will improve useful to the following entities
- This study will contribute to
- This study will provide useful insight to

Writing the scope and delimitation

- This describes the parameters of you research

Components

- Topic
- Objectives
- Time frame
- Locale
- Characteristics of participants
- Response formats (if applicable)

USEFUL PHRASES

- This study covered…

- This study focused on…
- The coverage of this study…
 - This study is limited to…
- This study does not cover…

Writing the research title

- It summarizes the main idea of the whole paper. It must be written with the fewest possible
words.

What to avoid?

- Overly general title such as “exercise and weight”

- Abbreviation and the year the study has been conducted
- Phrases like “a study of” an investigation of”

What to do?

- Specify independent and dependent variables

- Employ either the questions or declarative form
- Use current acceptable terminology

Literature review

- Establishes the relevance of your study

- Clarifies research gap
- Provides info about topic and related concepts
- Presents contradiction between and among previous literature
- Justifies your research methodology

Writing the literature review

1. Literature search
- Researcher systematically looks for and selects reference materials
A. Specify the topic and subtopics
B. Plan the tentative number and type of sources
C. Survey online databases
D. Use relevant keywords when searching online databases
E. Use links that end in .gov, .mil, .edu, .and, .pdf, also .com, and .org
F. Use Boolean searching strategies
Useful websites:
Academic.microsoft.com.doaj.org
Student portal:
Ebsco, web opac
Databases:
ICPSR
GOOGLE DATASET
FOI.GOV.PH
 2. Evaluate & analysis
- Screen selected references for reliability and usefulness
A. Obtain an overview of the work you selected
B. Find if it’s published by a reputable publisher
C. Refrain from using references published by predatory publisher (beallslist.net)
D. Group the references according to categories
E. Evaluate currency and coverage
F. Note down key information
G. Use concept map
H. Refrain from using materials that do not directly explain the related concepts to your study
3. Drafting the literature review
- Actual writing of literature review
A. Get a model paper
B. Provide an overview in your introductory paragraph
C. Divide literature review into 2 subsection: conceptual literature and related studies
D. For related studies, you may arrange them in 3 ways: thematic, chronological, or typological
E. Write synthesis that shows research gap
F. Define important term in your study: operational definition and conceptual definition
G. In case you cannot extensively discuss a subject, you may direct your readers to scholarly
work for greater detail (ex. See author, year)
H. Use cohesive devices
I. Use headings and subheading
J. Apply principle of cohesiveness in writing
K. Use direct quotation sparingly
L. Be extremely cautious in claiming that no studies have been conducted before related to
your topic
M. Cite sources

Important skills in drafting the literature review

Important skills

1. Synthesizing
- Consolidating references into one cohesive text
1. Microlevel Synthesis
2. Macrolevel Synthesis
 1. Note-taking
- Writing info from a source text and integrate it to your current study
1. Summarizing
2. Paraphrasing

Theoretical and conceptual frameworks

- Serve as the backbone of your study

1. Visual form
- Use of diagram and charts
2. Narrative form
- Use of paragraphs to explain the visual representation

Selecting theoretical frame work

Guidelines: theoretical framework

- Understand the variables in our study and their relationship with one another
- Review the existing the literature related to your study
- Look for possible theories that may potentially account for the expected results
- Select one theory that is most relevant to your study
Developing conceptual framework

Guideline: conceptual framework

- Identify key concepts of your study

- Search for existing theories that incorporate these concepts
- Use the existing theories as a guide
- If there are concepts not covered by the selected theories incorporate them in your framework
- Complete the initial draft
- Check if conceptual framework is aligned to your research questions
- Process of creating conceptual; framework is developmental
- In some cases, hypotheses are presented after the conceptual framework