1

Module 1
BASIC CONCEPTS OF RESEARCH

Introduction
I believe that a budding researcher needs to be familiar first with the basic concepts
of research before he/she can venture into a real research work. This module will provide
him/her with a little foundation on research as a subject matter. He/she will be introduced
here with important concepts, principles, and methods in conducting a scientific
investigation.

This module is composed of Lesson 1 and Lesson 2. Lesson 1 talks about the basics of
research. Lesson 2, on the other hand, is devoted to the scientific process.

Objectives
After reading this module, the students will be able to:
1. Discuss the characteristics and qualities of a good research;
2. Exemplify the different types of research;
3. Distinguish the different types of variable;
4. Explain the scientific process; and,
5. Identify a possible research problem.
 2

Lesson 1: What is Basic Research?

Activity
In not less than 200 words, describe your research experiences whether during
your high school or college days.

Analysis
Based from these experiences, how do you consider the importance of
research in life?

Abstraction
Research is an essential and powerful tool in leading man towards progress.
Without systematic research there would have been very little progress.

John W. Best has rightly said, “The secret of our cultural development has
been research, pushing back the areas of ignorance by discovering new truths,
which, in turn, lead to better ways of doing things and better products.”

Scientific research leads to progress in some field of life. New products, new
facts, new concepts and new ways of doing things are being found due to ever-
increasing significant research in the physical, the biological, the social and the
psychological fields. Research today is no longer confined to the science laboratory.

Definition of Research

The word ‘Research’ is comprised of two words = Re+Search or to search

again. So research means a systematic investigation or activity to gain new
knowledge of the already existing facts.

Research is an intellectual activity. It is responsible for bringing to light new

knowledge. It is also responsible for correcting the present mistakes, removing
existing misconceptions and adding new learning to the existing fund of knowledge.
 3

Researches are considered as a combination of those activities which are removed

from day to day life and are pursued by those persons who are gifted in intellect and
sincere in pursuit of knowledge. But it is not correct to say that the research is
restricted to such type of persons, however, it is correct to say that major
contribution of research comes from highly gifted and committed workers. Thus the
research is not at all mysterious and is carried on by hundreds of thousands of
average individuals.

Research is also considered as the application of scientific method in solving

the problems. It is a systematic, formal and intensive process of carrying on the
scientific method of analysis. There are many ways of obtaining knowledge. They are
intuition, revelation, and authority, logical manipulation of basic assumptions,
informed guesses, observation, and reasoning by analogy. One of the branches of
research known as empirical research is highly goal-oriented technique.

The following are the important definitions of research:

“Research is an endeavor/attempt to discover, develop and verify knowledge. It is

an intellectual process that has developed over hundreds of years ever changing in
purpose and form and always researching to truth.” J. Francis Rummel

“Research is an honest, exhaustive, intelligent searching for facts and their

meanings or implications with reference to a given problem. The product or
findings of a given piece of research should be an authentic, verifiable contribution
to knowledge in the field studied.” P.M. Cook

“Research may be defined as a method of studying problems whose solutions are

to be derived partly or wholly from facts.” W.S. Monroes

“Research is considered to be the more formal, systematic intensive process of

carrying on the scientific method of analysis. It involves a more systematic
structure of investigation, usually resulting in some sort of formal record of
procedures and a report of results or conclusion.” John W. Best

“Research comprises defining and redefining problems, formulating hypothesis or

suggested solutions, collecting, organizing and evaluating data, making
deductions and reaching conclusions and at last careful testing the conclusions
to determine whether they fit the formulated hypothesis.” Clifford Woody

“Research is a systematic effort to gain new knowledge.” Redman & Mori

 4

“Social research may be defined as a scientific undertaking which by means of

logical and systematized techniques aims to discover new facts or verify and test
old facts, analyze their sequences, inter-relationships and casual explanation which
were derived within an appropriate theoretical frame of reference, develop new
scientific tools, concepts and theories which would facilitate reliable and valid
study of human behavior.” P.V. Younge

Characteristics of Research

Having just information and data is not enough for good research paper. One
must know the following qualities of it:

1. Rigorous
Research is a laborious and hard work in reality and it requires great patience
and control. Research paper requires rigorousness to maintain its quality. There can
be several factors that can affect the quality and the outcome of the research, the
researcher should have a control over these factors. Some factors will affect the
research positively while other factors negatively. Negative factors can decrease the
validity of the research, so these factors should be kept in control by the researcher.

Example
In a study conducted on the effect of humidity on the tensile strength of
viscose fabrics the researcher has to test the performance of the fabric under
great humidity, less humidity and under standard humidity. The humidity will
be kept in control by the researcher to get valid and generalizable results. In
another study the researcher has to study the effect of socioeconomic class on
the performance of children in school, the researcher will see that no other
factors are influencing the performance of the children. There can be many
other factors like parenting style, peer group influence or sibling rivalry that is
affecting the performance of the child. The researcher should have a strict
control over these extraneous factors.

2. Controlled
Another very important and basic characteristic of a research paper is that it
should have to be controlled or measured. Everything that you add in a research
paper is pre-planned and cannot happen just by chance. The first step in conducting a
research is choosing a research topic. From that step till the end, which is writing the
research paper, the researcher should keep control over the research study. He
 5

should measure the consequences of each step that he has planned to take prior to
taking it.

Example
A researcher is conducting a research on the effect of permanent press
finishes on the durability characteristics of fabrics. In this research the
researcher should accurately measure the effect of permanent press finishes
and there should not be any other finishes on the fabric.

3. Accurate
Accuracy is important because without accuracy the research paper cannot be
valid and generalizable. In every step of the research, the researcher has to check the
accuracy. When the researcher is reviewing literature, he should write down the
references along with the literature review so that when writing those reviews he
can accurately write the reference of each review. While testing the hypothesis, the
researcher should write down the results of the tests accurately so that there is no
error. In research, the researcher should leave no chances of error by himself. He
should ensure the accuracy of his research to 100 percent.

Example
Suppose a researcher is conducting a research on the impact of physical
disabilities in children on the peer group acceptance. The researcher is using
interview as a tool of data collection. In here, the researcher should record the
responses of the interviewees accurately and he should not invest bias in any
way.

4. Clear
A research paper should have to be free of ambiguities and it should have
great clarity. Clarity is one of the main essences of research and without clarity the
research paper is useless.

Example
A researcher should be cautious about the clarity of the research. The
researcher should first develop a clear research question or research problem
and once the research problem is clear and understandable the researcher can
conduct the research without hurdles. Suppose the researcher makes the
research problem that how media influences child development, in this
research question the researcher needs to clarify which development, social,
 6

mental, physical or motor. The researcher cannot undertake the study unless
he brings clarity to the research problem.

5. Concise
As a researcher you do not need to add a lot to the research paper to make it
unique or interesting rather you should add only relevant and original content. The
readers will be able to understand a concise research more easily, there should not
be unnecessary details in the research.

Example
The researcher can write details and lots of explanations but these details and
explanations should be of value to the research the researcher should not add
unnecessary details in the research. The research paper is more concise in
nature than dissertations and thesis.

6. Valid
Validity is the most important concern in writing and conducting a research.
The actual strength of the research paper is its validity. A valid research is applicable
to various situations in general or it can be applied to any specific situation, people or
society.

Example
The constructs you are using, to measure attitudes, behavior or other
phenomenon, whether they really measure what you want to measure or they
measure something else.

7. Verifiable
The data the researcher adds in the research paper should have to be
verifiable and provable. The researcher should be able to demonstrate the research
paper and there should not be any loopholes in the information.

Example
The researcher should know from where the data has been taken and how it
has been analyzed. Suppose another researcher is trying to repeat similar
study to make it more valid he should be able to get information from the
previous research, if previous research will be invalid or unverifiable the new
research will also get effected. Research is an ongoing process and not only
research helps in the general development of the humanity but it more
specifically is used by the new researchers to generate more information.
 7

8. Sequential
The research should have to be conducted and written in a logical manner. The
researcher should follow a sequence so that he cannot get troubled in the end as to
how to compile this research. It is better if you start writing the research paper as
you are conducting it.

Example
You cannot write the analysis before writing about the data collection and
data processing. You have to follow a procedure and sequence.

9. Precise
Preciseness means that the research paper should have completeness and it
should contain detailed investigation of the research topic.

Example
The research should contain exact answers to the research questions. It is not
possible that the researcher formulates a specific research question about
women injustice in underdeveloped countries but answers the question about
more general topic like gender biases.

10. Original
The research paper should contain only original content and copy work should
be completely avoided. You can add literature from other sources in various forms
like in the form of literature review but you should never compromise on the
originality of the research paper.

Example
Suppose a researcher is conducting a research on the impact of financial
resources in family on the personality development of children. The researcher
has decided to take black negroes population and he cannot get the required
number of sample, in this case, he cannot use other people’s findings to justify
his research. He has to use truly original data that has been collected from
truly representative sample.

11. Coherent
Coherence is necessary because it makes the research paper a complete and
one unit. Every part of the research paper should be so linked that it makes a whole.

Example
 8

The researcher should stick to one theme and should not wander from one
topic to another.

12. Academic style of writing

Writing a research paper is the last step of the research and writing requires
rigorousness. The researcher should follow an academic style of writing and any
ostentatiousness in writing should be avoided. The language of the research paper
should have to be simple and easy to understand.

Example
A research paper, thesis or dissertation should have decency and there should
have to be least ornamentation. The purpose of the research is to bring into
light facts and figures. The researcher should avoid the use of double barrelled
sentences, complex language or unnecessary details. The research should
have to be concise and precise in nature.

13. Generalizable
The research paper findings should be generalizable and the findings should be
applicable to the society in one way or other. Sometimes the purpose of the research
is to develop new research tools, techniques or data collection instruments. Such
research may not be useful for the society in general but in the long run researchers
will be able to use these tools or techniques to conduct more researches.

Example
The researcher is conducting a study on the life of transgender class in the
society. He has to collect data from different people who belong to this class,
the researcher should understand that he cannot generalize his findings until
he has selected an unbiased and truly representative sample. He cannot select
a sample from one area of the population rather he should select sample from
every area of the population to make it representative of the whole
population.

Qualities of a Good Researcher

Research entails the gathering of bits and pieces of information and compiling
same for the purpose of increasing the stock in knowledge and solving problems. It is
an art; a practice done to increase knowledge and render solutions to problems. This
is because a research raises questions, which when answered, bridges the gap in
knowledge in any field it was undertaken.
 9

Having known that a piece of research work is of great importance, the quality
of such piece cannot be overlooked. Thus, for a research to be adjudged as being
above standard, and also capable of serving its core purpose, the one undertaking
the research must possess certain qualities. These qualities will enable him produce a
work that will stand the test of time. These qualities which he must possess are
outlined below:

1. Accuracy: A researcher must ensure that his research work is accurate. He should
ensure that the facts and figures which he is presenting are true and verifiable.
There should be no room for conjecture or guesses.

essential qualities of a research person

He should exhibit due diligence in presenting his work so as not to present a false
and misleading research as the accuracy of the research determines the credibility to
be attached to the researcher.

2. Open mindedness: To explain how powerful the mind is, Albert Einstein once

said that the measure of intelligence is the ability to change the mind. It is one of
the most important characteristics of a good researcher because researching has
to do with finding new fact which may sometimes require that the researchers
alter previously valid facts.
 10

How to be a good researcher

The crux is that, a researcher must not be someone who hardly gives up on his
beliefs, custom or knowledge. He has to be someone who is able to see things in
different lights. He must understand that nothing is actually static and things change
over time.

Researching may sometimes lead you to find out that even some of the things
you consider fundamental knowledge are not actually fundamental; or maybe there
are more to it. Thus, a researcher who is not open minded during researching is
limited to a lot of knowledge.

3. Motivation: A researcher must have the ability to motivate himself to work. He

should not be easily discouraged. In the course of his research, he might come
across some hostile respondents. This should not deter him from carrying on his
research work.

Again, he might be met with opposition from his colleagues. Such oppositions
should not serve as a source of discouragement to him. A researcher therefore, must
have the ability to encourage and motivate himself to push on until he actualizes his
aim.

4. Patience: One of the sterling attributes of a good researcher is patience. This

quality is a follow-up attribute to being motivated. A researcher must exhibit a
high degree of patience, both with his respondents and in the course of his
research when the much needed result is not forthcoming, in addition to his
being consistent with the effort he puts in.

Qualities of A Good Researcher

5. Prudence: The quality of being prudent has to do with his ability to manage the
resources at his disposal. Research is a capital intensive project and there are
 11

possibilities that one might not be well funded to carry out such project. The
managerial skill and ability of the researcher becomes handy for a successful
execution of the project.

Also, even if the resources are in abundance, he must be able to manage same so
as to avoid waste and extravagant spendings. Therefore, a researcher must be able
to effectively manage the resources at his disposal for optimum output.

6. Expertise: Though the aim of research is to add knowledge to already existing

knowledge (as one ventures into new areas not yet explored), the researcher
must have reasonable amount of knowledge in the field he intends carrying out
his research.

How to become a good researcher?

It will amount to a ruse if an archaeologist embarks on a research in medicine. A

researcher must therefore be an expert in the field of his research or must possess at
least, reasonable amount of knowledge in the field he professes to carry out his
research.

7. Unbiased in his Research: At the beginning of his research, a researcher must not
have a preconceived notion or idea about the subject of his research. This is
because the research may likely not be accurate as his leanings will mostly be
towards his bias. If there exists such bias, the researcher should be liberal enough
to accept findings that are against his held beliefs. This will aid him to present an
accurate and unbiased research work.
 12

How to become a good researcher?

8. Interest: A researcher must show sufficient interest in the work he is doing. He

should not be distracted. His interest should be focused on the work. This is quite
different from being motivated. This is because it is the interest one has in a task
that keeps him motivated.

If one is not interested in a research work, he cannot be motivated, even if all

necessary things are in place to drive the project. A researcher has to build interest
from within, in the field of his research to see him through the research work.

9. Amiable Personality: A researcher must have a friendly disposition. He should be

easily approachable and should also have the ability to communicate with people
in a friendly and coherent manner. A researcher that is unfriendly, gloomy and
unapproachable may find it difficult extracting information from his respondents.

A researcher should also exhibit friendliness to whoever works with him (if he is
in a team with other researchers). This act of friendliness reduces friction within the
team and the team is most likely to finish up their task in record time.

10. The Ability to Work Under Pressure: A researcher must be able to work under
pressure and unfavorable situations. The ability to carry out a task within little
time frame and also work in conditions that are less favorable (for example,
under a hostile boss) is a quality which the researcher should have to enable him
carry out his task.
 13

qualities of a good research team

Limited time may be allocated to accomplish a research project such that if the
researcher is unable to manage his time, the work will not be done. It is therefore a
needed quality of the researcher to be able to persevere and work in unfriendly
situations if he must accomplish his task on time.

11. Analytical in his research: A researcher should be analytical and should also be
able to exhibit sound judgment. Proper analysis of issues is key to having a good
research work. His ability to reason rationally and give sound judgment affects
the quality of the research work.

qualities of a good researcher

Where the ability to give sound judgment is missing, there may be a

misapplication of principles and rules. This might be fatal if such misapplication
happens in a research work of great importance to health. Therefore, a researcher
must have the natural ability to discern what is right between two factors brought
before him.

Conclusively, whether a research work is an academic or organizational work, the

researcher must be able to consistently gather information that are needed for the
task. Research has to do with the discovery of new information and only a well-
planned method of information gathering can aid in the actualizing of this aim.
 14

The quality of a research work, its success and its usefulness is dependent on the
level of diligence exhibited by the researcher. It is imperative that the researcher is
one with good attributes to enable him scale the litmus test of acceptability of his
work in the society.

Types of Research

Research can be differentiated into five categories. The following explanations

provide a brief overview of each group so that you can determine the type of
research you are reading.

1. Historical Research
Historical research involves understanding, studying, and explaining past
events. Its purpose is to arrive at some conclusions concerning past
occurrences that may help to anticipate or explain present or future events.
Understanding past research from high-impact aerobics injuries has helped our
industry design step and slide programs that offer safer means of achieving
similar goals.

2. Descriptive Research
Descriptive research often involves collecting information through data
review, surveys, interviews, or observation. This type of research best
describes the way things are. A review paper of previously reported research is
descriptive research. The music and exercise article in this edition of IDEA
Today is an example of this type of research. Often new ideas and theories are
discovered and presented from this descriptive process.

3. Correlational Research
Correlational research attempts to determine how related two or more
variables are. This degree of relation is expressed as a correlation coefficient.
For example, a researcher may wish to determine the relationship between
cardiorespiratory fitness and self-esteem in college females. What is the
relationship between college females’ cardiorespiratory fitness and their level
of self-esteem? If the variables are highly related, a correlation coefficient near
+ 1.00 will be obtained meaning the variables are positively related. If the two
variables are not related, a correlation coefficient near .00 will be obtained. If
the correlation coefficient is near -1.00, the variables are inversely related.

4. Causal-Comparative Research
Causal-comparative research attempts to identify a cause-effect relationship
 15

between two or more groups. Causal-comparative studies involve comparison

in contrast to correlation research which looks at relationship. For instance, a
researcher may wish to compare the body composition of persons who have
only trained with free weights versus persons who have only trained with
exercise machines. In this case the researcher is not manipulating any
variables, only investigating the effect of free weights versus exercise
machines on body composition. Obviously, since other factors such as diet,
training program, aerobic conditioning could affect body composition, casual-
comparative research must be reviewed scrupulously to see how these other
factors were controlled.

5. Experimental Research
Experimental research is guided by a hypotheses (or several hypothesis) that
states an expected relationship between two or more variables. An
experiment is conducted to support or disconfirm this experimental
hypothesis. For instance, much of this author's research has been involved
with the physiological effects of step training with and without hand weights.
With this type of experimental research, I have randomly selected the group of
subjects, decided the exercise program (step training with hand weights, step
training without hand weights, and a control group which remained physically
active but did no step training), tried to control all relevant factors (e.g. no
other aerobic programs, no change in diet, no additional resistance training,
etc.), and then measured the effect of the step training with and without hand
weights on a number of variables (such as cardiorespiratory fitness, muscular
strength, body composition, blood lipids and lipoproteins, etc.). Experimental
research, although very demanding of time and resources, often produces the
soundest evidence concerning hypothesized cause-effect relationships (Gay,
1987).

Kinds of Variables

Life span of different persons have been different. Physical abilities of different
persons have been different. Marks of the students in the same subjects taught by
the same teacher to all of them have been not equal. Temperature at different time
in a day have been different. All these examples show that the variation in a
characteristics is found per unit that possesses it. We can thus say that as a person,
object or situation changes, value or proportion of the properties associated with it
also changes. The characteristics that may change per unit is called variable. Variables
play an important role in most of the researches, especially in quantitative type of
researches in which numeric or quantitative data are gathered and analysed.
Researcher must have clarity about the variables while conducting such a research
 16

because type of variable guides us to apply certain type of techniques for data
analysis to test the hypotheses or to get the answers of research questions.
Generally, variables are not considered in some of the qualitative type of research.
We will discuss about the variables in detail in this chapter. Let’s start with definitions
of variable.

Variable is concerned with variation in presence of something in person,

object, animal, place or situation or in any natural phenomena. It can be defined as:
(1) A characteristic under study of which an identity or value changes or is possible to
change per unit is called variable; or (2) A variable is a characteristic that varies in the
context of its value or identity.

Referring the definitions of variable, we can say that any such characteristic,
possessed by any living or non-living unit or thing, is called variable whose value may
change per unit or per groups of unit. Such characteristic is called variable
characteristic in research study. Some examples of variable are given below. If we
want to study the number of members in families of a village, the number of
members will be variable characteristic, because value of this number will change per
family and family will be considered as unit of study. In the same way, if we want to
study Mathematical Reasoning Ability (MRA) of students, MRA will be considered as
variable characteristic and students will be considered as units of study. Units of
study is called subject in research study.

Subject of Study. The unit that possesses variable characteristic to be studied

is called subject of study. Family, in our above mentioned first example, will be
considered as subject and in second example student will be considered as subject of
study. In the same way, if we want to study Teaching Aptitude (TA) of high school
teachers, the high school teachers will be subjects of our study and TA will be
considered as variable characteristic under study. Generally, in research studies, if
variables are taken care of, interrelationship among the variables or impact of one or
more variables on other variables is studied. Sometimes, interactive effect of some
variables on other variable/s is studied through research. If variable based study is to
be done through research activity, researcher must have the understanding of types
of variable.

Types. There are five types of variable in terms of research methodology as

follows.

1. Independent Variable
 17

The variable, value of which affects the value of another variable is known as
independent variable. Such variable is not affected by the change in the value of
another variable but affects the value of another variable. Generally, effect of such
variable on another variable is measured or studied during research studies.
Independent variable is also known as absolute variable. We will understand this
concept with the help of examples. In a comparative study of Computer Aptitude
(CA) of undergraduate students of different faculties, ‘Faculty’ will be considered as
independent variable, because in this study researcher will check the impact of
faculty on computer aptitude of the students. Faculty may have different levels like
Arts, Commerce and Science. Here, researcher assumes that CA of students may
differ from faculty to faculty. Each level of independent variable is called Stratum and
all levels together are known as Strata. In how many levels an independent variable is
to be divided, depends upon how much large area is to be covered under study. If
researcher wants to compare CA of Engineering and Medical students also in above
mentioned study, there will be five levels of independent variable that is Faculty in
this example. Some independent variable, like Gender, has levels in fixed number.
E.g. In the study of Emotional Maturity of students in terms of their Gender, the
Gender will have only two levels Male and Female. Nowadays, third level of gender
that is transgender is also accepted universally. In such cases gender will have three
levels like Male, Female and Transgender. As discussed earlier, generally, impact of
independent variable on dependent variable is studied through research or
dependent variable is studied in relation to independent variable. So, now we will
discuss about dependent variable.

2. Dependent Variable

The variable, value of which may change due to change in the value of other
variable is called dependent variable. In other words, such characteristic is called
dependent variable for which different values can be obtained in the context of
change in independent variable. In this way, we can say that value of dependent
variable may change due to change in the value of independent variable. Let’s take
an example to understand this concept. In comparative study of Mathematical
Reasoning Ability (MRA) of students in the context of their Intelligence, MRA will be
dependent variable and Intelligence will be considered as an independent variable
because in this study, the impact of Intelligence on MRA is to be checked. Researcher
may divide the students according to level of their intelligence. Levels of intelligence
may be high, low and medium or very high, high, medium, low and very low. Levels
will be decided according to the need and objectives of study. Generally, there has
been relationship of cause and effect between dependent and independent
variables, where independent variable acts as a cause and dependent variable as an
effect. In our example, researcher takes intelligence as a cause and MRA as effect.
 18

Because, here, he wants to check whether MRA is affected by intelligence or not.

Let’s take one more example to understand the relationship between dependent and
independent variables. Suppose we want to check the impact of teaching strategies
like Concept Attainment Model (CAM) and Project Method (PM) on the achievement
of students in Geography, then we will teach certain units of Geography to the
students by these two strategies keeping in mind the procedure of experimental
method. In this case, teaching strategy will act as a cause that can affect the
achievement of students. In real life, we find that a single characteristic is affected by
more than one factors. In such cases, two or more variables may be there that may
change the value of dependent variable. For example, achievement of students in
any subject, may be affected by various factors like teaching strategy, intelligence,
attention or understanding level and study habits of students. More factors may also
be there. In such cases, researcher has to think over moderator variables also.

3. Moderator Variable

We know that independent variable affects the value of dependent variable

and there has been cause and effect relationship between these two. The variable
that affects the cause and effect relationship between these two variables is called
moderator variable. It means the effect of independent variable on dependent
variable may be different in the presence of moderator variable. E.g. In the study of
Value Awareness (VA) of urban, rural and semi urban students, the area will be
independent variable and VA will be dependent variable. But here, if researcher
thinks that the gender of students may also affect the relationship between area and
VA of students, the gender will be considered as moderator variable. Various
moderator variables may be there for one pair of independent and dependent
variable. Researcher has to decide, in such cases, which variable he wants to take as
moderator variable. If, in this case, researcher
feels that Socio-Economic Status (SES) of students
may also affect the relationship between Area and
VA, he can take SES as second moderator variable.
Final classification of variables, in case of two
moderator variables in our example, will be as
shown in Table – 1. Researcher has to take extra
care while selecting moderator variables. If
sincere and proper care is not taken, important
moderator variables will be ignored and useless variables will be selected. If
researcher does not want to check the effect of moderator variable, he controls it.
Such control makes the variable controlled variable.

4. Controlled Variable
 19

If the effect of such variables that can affect the cause and effect relationship
of dependent and independent variable, is eliminated, it is called controlled variable.
In other words, if the effect of moderator variable is
controlled, it is known as controlled variable. E.g. In
earlier mentioned example of study of value
awareness, at last we have taken variables as shown
in Table – 2. If researcher defines a problem as ‘A
study of Value Awareness of male students of urban,
rural and semi urban secondary schools of
Ahmedabad district’, the variable ‘Gender’ will become controlled variable, because
in this case, he does not want to check the impact of gender on value awareness, as
he will take only boys as sample. For this study, classification of variables will be as
shown in Table – 3. In this example, two controlled variables can also be taken. See
the following research problem. ‘A study of Value
Awareness of male students, having High Socio-
Economic Status, of urban, rural and semi urban
secondary schools of Ahmedabad district’ In this
study, value awareness of Boys, who have High
Socio-Economic Status only will be studied. So,
both Gender and SES will become controlled
variables, and classification of variables will be as
shown in Table – 4.

We have discussed types of such variables

till now, which can be clearly measured or taken
care of during research. But some variables have
been such that they either cannot be measured
clearly or are to be ignored during the study,
though they can affect the cause and effect
relationship of dependent and independent
variables. They are known as Intervening variables.

5. Intervening Variable

Any such variable is called intervening variable, that may affect the cause and
effect relationship of dependent and independent variables but either cannot be
measured clearly or is to be ignored during research. It means, intervening variables
are neither controlled nor taken care of during research. In other words, any
moderator variable, that cannot be measured or observed clearly or ignored is called
intervening variable. In our earlier mentioned example of study of value awareness of
students, researcher has classified variables like Area, SES, Gender and Value
 20

awareness as shown in Table 1 to 4. But besides the moderator and controlled

variable, mentioned in tables, the following variable can also affect the cause and
effect relationship of dependent and independent variables of our example.

 School Environment
 Social environment
 Culture of family
 Value Awareness of Parents
 Extra Reading
 Friend Circle / Peer group of Student
 Emotional Maturity of Students
 Parenting style of parents
 Age of student

These variables are ignored in our example. So, they are called intervening
variable for the example that we have discussed till now. There may be more
intervening variables for this particular example. Researcher has to take decision
about such variable by consulting experts and by referring and reviewing theoretical
literature and reports of earlier related researches. Actually, variable of study are
decided, while deciding the objectives and formulating hypotheses of the study. We
have discussed, in earlier chapters, that the objectives of the research are nothing
but the subtitles of the titles. By realising the objectives, based on sub titles one by
one, ultimately the main objective of the research is realised. The researcher has to
think over the research questions or hypotheses after the objectives of the research.
Hypotheses are formulated in most of the quantitative type of researches, but
research questions are decided in qualitative type and some quantitative type of
researches. Hypotheses or research questions direct the research process. In this
chapter, we will discuss about the hypothesis and research question. We start our
discussion with the definitions of hypothesis.

Threats to Validity

Please note that validity discussed here is in the context of experimental

design, not in the context of measurement.

 Internal validity refers specifically to whether an experimental

treatment/condition makes a difference or not, and whether there is
sufficient evidence to support the claim.
 External validity refers to the generalizability of the treatment/ condition
outcomes.
 21

Factors which jeopardize internal validity

 History--the specific events which occur between the first and second
measurement.
 Maturation--the processes within subjects which act as a function of the
passage of time. i.e. if the project lasts a few years, most participants may
improve their performance regardless of treatment.
 Testing--the effects of taking a test on the outcomes of taking a second
test.
 Instrumentation--the changes in the instrument, observers, or scorers
which may produce changes in outcomes.
 Statistical regression--It is also known as regression to the mean. This
threat is caused by the selection of subjects on the basis of extreme scores
or characteristics. Give me forty worst students and I guarantee that they
will show immediate improvement right after my treatment.
 Selection of subjects--the biases which may result in selection of
comparison groups. Randomization (Random assignment) of group
membership is a counter-attack against this threat. However, when the
sample size is small, randomization may lead to Simpson Paradox, which
has been discussed in an earlier lesson.
 Experimental mortality--the loss of subjects. For example, in a Web-based
instruction project entitled Eruditio, it started with 161 subjects and only 95
of them completed the entire module. Those who stayed in the project all
the way to end may be more motivated to learn and thus achieved higher
performance.
 Selection-maturation interaction--the selection of comparison groups and
maturation interacting which may lead to confounding outcomes, and
erroneous interpretation that the treatment caused the effect.
 John Henry effect--John Henry was a worker who outperformed a machine
under an experimental setting because he was aware that his performance
was compared with that of a machine.

Factors which jeopardize external validity

 Reactive or interaction effect of testing -- a pretest might increase or

decrease a subject's sensitivity or responsiveness to the experimental
variable. Indeed, the effect of pretest to subsequent tests has been
empirically substantiated (Willson & Putnam, 1982, Lana, 1959).
 Interaction effects of selection biases and the experimental variable
 22

 Reactive effects of experimental arrangements--it is difficult to generalize

to non-experimental settings if the effect was attributable to the
experimental arrangement of the research.
 Multiple treatment interference--as multiple treatments are given to the
same subjects, it is difficult to control for the effects of prior treatments.

General Format of a Research Publication

 Background of the Problem (ending with a problem statement)

— Why is this important to study? What is the problem being
investigated?
 Review of Literature — What do we already know about this
problem or situation?
 Methodology (participants, instruments, procedures) — How
was the study conducted? Who were the participants? What
data were collected and how?
 Analysis — What are the results? What did the data indicate?
 Results — What are the implications of these results? How do
they agree or disagree with previous research? What do we

Application

Answer the following questions.

1. Discuss and give an example to this statement, “Research emphasizes the
development of generalizations, principles, or theories that will be helpful
in predicting future occurrences.”
2. Identify and discuss some factors, of which the researcher has control over,
that affect the quality of the outcome of the research.
3. Give one sample research article for each of the types of research. Give a
justification how such article become an example of a certain type of
research.
4. Cite at least two scenarios exemplifying the relation between independent
and dependent variables. These hypothetical scenarios must be covid-19
related.
 23

5. If you were to conduct a real study on one of the scenarios you provided in
Number 4, describe what you will do as guided by the scientific process.

Note: Submit all your answers (in Activity, Analysis, and Application sections)
in one pdf file to our Chat Group in messenger. Use 13 font size, single-spaced
paragraphs, A4 in size, with 1-inch margin in all sides. For the filename, follow this
format: REYES FD501 M1L1

References:

1. Chukwuemeka, Edeh Samuel. (2021). Qualities of A Good Researcher: 11 Most

Essential. https://bscholarly.com/qualities-of-a-good-researcher/
2. Gay, L. R. (1987). Educational research: Competencies for analysis and
application (3rd ed.). New York: Merrill. https://www.unm.edu/~lkravitz/Article
%20folder/understandres.html
http://www.euacademic.org/BookUpload/9.pdf
3. Pandey, Prabhat and Pandey, Meenu Mishra. (2015). RESEARCH
METHODOLOGY: TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES.
4. Shukla, S. (2018). Variables, Hypotheses, and Stages of Research 1.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/325127119_VARIABLES_HYPOTHESE
S_AND_STAGES_OF_RESEARCH_1
5. Siegle, Del. 2019. Types of Research.
https://researchbasics.education.uconn.edu/types-of-research/
6. What are the Qualities of a Good Research Paper? 2013.
http://readingcraze.com/index.php/what-are-the-qualities-of-a-good-research-
paper/#google_vignette