Methodologies in Quantitative Research

METHODOLOGIES IN
QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
A.J. BANSIONG
QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS
Types of Data
Nominal - as it is sometimes called, categorical or discrete data, is
simply a value that we count.
Ordinal - as it is sometimes called, ranked data.
Interval - first of two types of data that are called quantitative or
continuous data. A data value can hypothetically fall anywhere
on a number line within the range of a given data set.
Ratio - classified as quantitative or continuous data. Ratio data
does have an absolute zero point and the various points on the
scale can be used to make comparisons between one another.
Quantitative Research Designs
Survey
Correlational
Causal comparative/Ex-post facto
Experimental
Survey
 investigates
and reports on the current status of a population
based on numeric data collected (Fink, 2003; Fowler, 2013).
Survey
 Problem Statement: In order to effectively allocate human and
capital resources, politicians want to identify areas within the
state where voter support is lacking.
 Purpose Statement: The purpose of this study is to identify areas
with low voter support; this will allow the expenditure of human
and capital resources to increase support for our candidate in
those areas.
 Research Question: Are there areas in our state where our
candidate for governor has the support of less than 50% of the
voters in that district?

Survey

Survey
Is there a hypothesis for survey research?
>You are not examining the relationship between
variables or testing for cause and effect.
>Descriptive statistics
Correlational Research
>Knowing the relationship between two variables.
>Includes questions such as:
1.Is there a relationship between years of education and
salary?
2.Does ice cream consumption change depending on
the outside temperature?
3.Does a larger police presence lead to lower crime
rates?

>A Word of Caution
In each of the statements below, a strong correlation exists:
1. There is a negative correlation between the amount of hair on a
man’s head and his salary (i.e., the less hair, the more money).
2. There is a positive correlation between the number of churches
in a town and the number of drug addicts in a town (i.e., the more
churches, the more drug addicts).
Compounding Variables
Quantitative Research Designs - Correlational
Research
>Problem Statement: Researchers in the 1950s were astonished to
find that the number of children born to teenage parents was
directly proportional to the number of drive-in theaters in their
communities. This led many governmental officials to determine
that tearing down these theaters, thereby eliminating places
where young lovers could be alone, would help address this
problem.

Research
>Purpose Statement: The purpose of this study is to determine if
there is a direct relationship between the number of drive-in
theaters and the number of children born to teenage parents.
Research Question: Is there a correlation between the number of
children born to teenage parents and the number of drive-in
theaters in a community?
Research
Quantitative Research Designs –

Causal Comparative (Ex Post Facto)
>Involves comparing groups to see whether some
independent variable has caused a change in a
dependent variable (Like in experimental research)
>Involves variables that are difficult or impossible to
manipulate experimentally, often because they are
experiences that have already occurred.
Quantitative Research Designs – Causal
Comparative (Ex Post Facto)
Dochildren with a history of abuse have lower levels of

academic achievement than children with no history of
abuse?
Do students who are retained a grade have high school
graduation rates different from those who are not
retained?
ProblemStatement: Students are leaving the doctoral

program prior to graduation.
Purpose Statement: The purpose of this study is to
determine if there is a relationship between a student’s
level of intrinsic motivation and whether or not he or she
graduates from his or her doctoral program.
Quantitative Research Designs – Causal Comparative (Ex Post
Facto)
 Research Question: Is intrinsic motivation a predictor of
success in a doctoral program?
 Research Hypothesis: Students who graduate from a doctoral
program will have significantly higher intrinsic motivation than
students who do not graduate from a doctoral program.
 Null Hypothesis: There will be no significant difference in
intrinsic motivation between students who graduate from a
doctoral program and students who do not graduate.
Quantitative Research Designs – Experimental

>The only type of research that can suggest true
causal relationships.
>the researcher controls for or manipulates how
groups of participants are treated and then
measures how the treatment affects each group.
>Pre-experimental – lowest control over extraneous

variables, threats to validity.
>True experimental – highest control
>Quasi-experimental – somewhere in the middle

>R means that membership in a group is randomized.
>O represents a point where data is collected (i.e., a
pretest, posttest, or survey representing the dependent
variable).
>X indicates an independent variable. When there is
more than one level, they will be numbered. For
example, an independent variable with two levels would
be shown as X1 and X2.
Pre-experimental
>One-shot case-study:
XO
Used as an exploratory tool. Suppose, for example, I wanted to
determine if using mind maps affect academic performance. All I
would need to do is teach all students how to use mind maps.
Then I will collect grades from all my students and compute the
average.
Quasi-experimental
>The Nonequivalent Control Group Design:
O1  X1  O2
O1 X2  O2
 Theaddition of the pretest and the random assignment of the
treatment to an existing group goes a long way in helping
control for threats to validity.
Quasi-experimental
>The Time-Series Design:
OOOOOXOOOOO
>Counterbalanced Designs:
 X1 → O → X2 → O
 X2 → O → X1 → O
True Experimental Designs
>Pretest–Posttest Control Group Design:
 R O1 → X1 → O2
R O1 → X2 → O2
 >Thistrue experimental design controls for all threats to
internal validity, but external validity is threatened by
pretest–treatment interactions.
>The Posttest-Only Control Group Design:
 R X1 → O
 R X2 → O
 >In
this case, all threats to validity, with the exception of
mortality, are either controlled for or are not applicable.
>The Solomon Four-Group Design:
R O → X1 → O
R O → X2 → O
R → X3 → O
R → X4 → O
Identifying the Population and a Sample for Your Study

>Identify the participants for your study and explain how
they will be selected.
>Sampling Procedures – Random (Probabilistic) Sampling
-Nonrandom (Non-probabilistic) Sampling
Random Sampling – Simple Random Sampling
Random Sampling – Simple Random Sampling
Random Sampling – Cluster Sampling
Random Sampling – Stratified Sampling
Random Sampling – Stratified Sampling
Identifying the
Population and
a Sample for
Your Study
Random
Sampling
– Systematic
Sampling
Identifying the
Population and a
Sample for Your
Study
Nonrandom
Sampling –
Convenience
Sampling – a.k.a.
accidental
sampling
Nonrandom Sampling – Quota Sampling
-the researcher selects from his/her judgment or some
fixed quota.
-E.g. In radio listening survey, the interviewers may be
told to interview 500 people and that out of every 100
persons interviewed, 60 are housewives, 25 farmers and
15 children. With in these quotas the interviewer is free
to select the people to select the people to be
interviewed.

Nonrandom Sampling – Purposive Sampling- a.k.a.
Intentional Sampling
-it
is a sample chosen “on purpose” because those
sampled meet specific criteria.
-Thistype of sampling is used in many qualitative studies
to allow the researcher to identify small, specific groups
to work with.

Nonrandom Sampling – Snowball Sampling-
-the researcher identifies a small number of participants,
perhaps even one, and then asks those participants to
recruit other potential participants for the study they are
in.
Research Participants/Sample
 Present information related to the sample:
>how were they selected,
>the size,
>and relevant demographic characteristics of the
sample.
Data Collection Instruments

Achievement Tests
Affective Tests – Attitude inventories, Motivation
inventories
Behavioral Observation Scales
Surveys

 Describe the instruments and their purpose.
 Report reliability and validity of adopted existing
instruments.
 Include number and type of items used, the length
of time required to complete the test, and norms (if
available)

 Sample Instrument: Academic Resilience Scale
(Cassidy, 2016)
>30 items
>Three dimensions
>5-point Likert scale from likely (1) to unlikely (5)
>Cronbach alpha = .90

 Shorter instrument  include in the section.
 Longer instrument  Appendix, choose sample
items in this section.
 Researcher-developed instrument  describe how
you constructed it, the type of questions/items
included, how the reliability and validity were
established.
Validity
and
Reliability
Validity and Reliability
Data Gathering Procedures
Describe how the study was conducted.
>What directions were given to those completing the
survey?
>How long were the participants exposed to the
intervention?
>Especially important for experimental studies
>Includes a realistic timetable for the different phases
of the study.
Data Analysis Procedures
Describe how data were organized and analyzed.
>What statistical tests and techniques were used?
>Descriptive statistics – mean or median,
percentages, ranks, standard deviation, ranges,
Standard errors
>Inferential statistics – correlation, regression, t-tests, F-
tests, chi-square, Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskall-Wallis
test, etc., the level of significance (alpha value)
Ethical Considerations
What kinds of research need ethical approval?
• Primary data collection from human beings and
organizations.
>This includes research using methods such as
interviews and questionnaires where people are
invited to provide information possibly as part of a
survey or a case study.
• Primary data collection on human beings and
organizations.
> In this instance people might be involved in a
survey that observes their behavior or an
experiment designed to manipulate normal
physiological and/or psychological processes.
• Research about humans where the individuals
involved are personally identifiable.
>Thisapplies to the use of documentary sources
and archived data and, even if the research uses
data on people who are no longer alive, there
might still be ethical issues that need to be
considered.
“Research that is not ethical is not acceptable, and
research that is not acceptable is not feasible.”
Confirm, with some certainty, that the research can

be completed without infringing the rights of the
people involved, without jeopardizing their safety or
well-being, and without breaking the law.
 Ethical principles for conducting research using human subjects:
 1.
Beneficence. Participants must be treated ethically by having
their decisions respected, being protected from harm, and
having their well-being ensured.
 2.
Respect for persons. Participants should be treated as
individuals capable of making decisions affecting their well-
being. Participants incapable of acting autonomously are
entitled to protection.
 3.
Justice. Participants in a research study should receive all
benefits to which they are entitled, with no burdens imposed
unduly.
Three requirements:
 1.Informed consent. Ensure that participants are made aware of the
purpose of the study and their rights as a participant. Following that,
participants must provide written acknowledgment of and their
agreement to participate.
 2.Assessment of risks and benefits. Conduct a thorough investigation of
the nature and scope of risks and benefits inherent to the study.
 3.Selection of subjects. Establish and follow fair procedures for identifying
and selecting participants for a research study. Participants should not be
purposefully included or excluded for reasons of risk or reward.
Sample Ethical Considerations
 Data from all participants will be anonymized, and no

participants will be identified by name or by any other manner
during or after the course of the study. All data will be kept in a
locked filing cabinet and destroyed after 1 year.
Sample Ethical Considerations

Permission was obtained from the institutional review board.
Residents completing the survey were made aware that their
privacy is protected; no results, individual or aggregate, will be
able to be tracked back to a single person. Residents were also
warned that reflecting on current or past medical conditions may
cause emotional distress and completion of the survey, at any
point, is not required.
Thank you .

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METHODOLOGIES IN

Quantitative Research Designs

Quantitative Research Designs

Quantitative Research Designs

Quantitative Research Designs

Quantitative Research Designs

Quantitative Research Designs - Correlational

Quantitative Research Designs –

Dochildren with a history of abuse have lower levels of

ProblemStatement: Students are leaving the doctoral

Quantitative Research Designs – Experimental

>Pre-experimental – lowest control over extraneous

Quantitative Research Designs – Experimental

Identifying the Population and a Sample for Your Study

Identifying the Population and a Sample for Your Study

Identifying the Population and a Sample for Your Study

Data Collection Instruments

Data Collection Instruments

Data Collection Instruments

Data Collection Instruments

Confirm, with some certainty, that the research can

Sample Ethical Considerations

 Data from all participants will be anonymized, and no

Sample Ethical Considerations

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