LESSON 1: INTRODUCING QUANTITATIVE METHODS

THE SOURCE OF KNOWLEDGE

• EXPERIENCE – The only main source of knowledge is the experience.

• AUTHORITY – for things that is impossible to know by experience seek the authority
• DEDUCTIVE REASONING – if the conclusion and premises is true then the argument is
true.
• INDUCTIVE REASONING – direct observation and investigation. Identify the specific
knowledge in order to conclude the general knowledge

EXPERIENCE what can you give if you don’t have

According to Albert Einstein “The only main source of knowledge is the experience”

Ex. Choosing the right person you will love is you to have a boyfriend or girlfriend then experience
w/your previous experience is pain.

PERSONAL EXPERIENCE – you can find the best route from your house – school (result of
experience) much wisdom come from generation to generation.

“Kaya nga ang mga matatanda kapag may sinabi dapat making ka, dahil na experience
na nila”

➢ No progress if no experience, because of experience you gain knowledge and that

is what we called WISDOM
➢ Pure logical thinking cannot give us any knowledge “all knowledge of reality starts
from experience and ends in it.”

AUTHORITY

For things that is impossible to know by experience or wala pang experience – people we
frequently turn to higher authority in order to seek knowledge and to seek answers from your
questions.

Ex. “Love” pag nag fail ang tinatanong naten sa friends, tough naman sila authority

“nakasakit ka” – we usually tend to ask those in authority (doctors, physicians, expert) -> (
parents, lola, lolo ) like maglaga ng dahoon-dahon, luya, bayabas, etc. because they are person
from authority -> people accurate as truth from the person in authority, the word of recognize
authority gaya ng doctor etc. as correct and true source of knowledge.
DEDUCTIVE REASONING

A thinking process in which one proceeds from general to specific knowledge that use

LOGICAL ARGUMENTS

A.) Aristotle introduce the deductive reasoning

I. General – premises – conclusion
i. If the conclusion and premises is true the argument is true.

B.) Deductive reasoning can answer the question

“how likely Is that a student could pass a 20 items multiple choice test with 5 options per
itemas by chance alone”
From general to specific knowledge

INDUCTIVE REASONING

Direct observation

Identify the specific knowledge in order conclude the general knowledge.

Ex. The investigator should stablish general conclusion on the basis of facts gathered through
direct observation.

Observation are needs on particular events in a class (or category) and then on the basis of the
observed events. Made inferences about the whole class. Not only in the eyes but all the senses.

Ex. The coin I pulled from the bag is penny, therefore all the coin in the bag are pennies.

THE SOURCE OF KNOWLEDGE

DEDUCTIVE REASONING

• Every mammals has lungs

All Rabbit are Mammals Therefore, every rabbit has lungs

INDUCTIVE REASONING

• Every rabbit that has been observed has lungs. Therefore, ‘every rabbit has lungs.
SCIENTIFIC APPROACH

In the 19th century scholars began to integrate the most important aspects of the inductive
and deductive methods into a new technique, namely the Inductive-deductive method, or
the scientific approach.

a. This approach differs from inductive reasoning in that it uses hypothesis.

b. A hypothesis is a statement describing relationship among variables that is tentatively
assumed to be true.

Ex. A researcher interested

To know the increase of the student task behavior

He might hypothesize

That positive that positive teacher feedback increases on task behavior.

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH RESEARCH ASPECTS QUANTITATIVE

RESEARCH

Discover ideas with general COMMON PURPOSE Test hypothesis or specific

research objects research question

Observe and interpret APPROACH Measure and test

Unstructured or free form DATA COLLECTION Structured response

APPROACH categories provided

Research is intimately RESEARCHER Researcher uninvolved

involved. Results are INDEPENDENCE observer. Results are
subjective objective

Small sample – often in SAMPLES Large sample to produce

natural settings generalizable results [results
that apply to other situations]
 Lesson 2: Quantitative Research Design

RESEARCH Classified into 2

Experimental Research

• Involves a study that effect of the systematic manipulation of one variable(s) on another
variable.

• The manipulated variable is called experimental treatment or the independent

variable (cause)

• The observed and measured variable is called the dependent variable (effect)

Non - Experimental Research

• The researcher identifies variables and may look for relationships among them but does
not manipulate variables.

• Major forms of non-experimental research are relationship studies including ex post

facto and correlational research and survey research.

Quantitative Approaches – Experimental

Example:

o Assume a university researcher wanted to investigate the effect of providing online

feedback to students immediately following course examination.

o Using two sections of economics taught by the same professor, the researcher using a
random procedure would select

✓ one section to receive immediate online feedback about their performance on

test questions;

✓ the other section would receive feedback during their next class session
(independent variables).

o The researcher would compare the two sections’ exam scores and their final grades in
the course (dependent variable).

o If test scores and final grade were higher than could be accounted for by chances in the
section receiving online feedback the researcher could tentatively conclude that there is
evidence the online feedback (treatment or independent variable) contributed to greater
learning than the in-class feedback.
 ▪ True Experimental Design

▪ Manipulates the experimental variables, One Experimental and one control group

▪ Pretest – Posttest, Posttest only, Solomon four-group

• Quasi Experimental

▪ No control group

▪ Subject are randomly assigned to groups

• Pre-Experimental

▪ One-shot case study

▪ One-group pretest-posttest

Quantitative Approaches – Non-Experimental

➢ In non-experimental quantitative research, the researcher identifies variables and may

look for relationships among them but not manipulate the variables.

Significant forms of non-experimental research are relationship studies, including ex post and
correlational research and survey research.

➢ Non-experimental research designs include

➢ Ex post facto research,

➢ Correlational Relational, and

➢ Survey (Descriptive) Research.

• Survey
▪ Conducted through self-report
▪ Uses questionnaire and interviews
▪ Aims to describe characteristics and opinions as they exist in a population

• Correlational
▪ Gathers data from individuals on two or more variables
▪ Seeks to determine if the variables are related (correlated)
▪ Coefficient of correlation
 Lesson 3: stages of research

The systematic investigation into and study of materials and sources in order to establish facts
and reach new conclusions.

Stages of research

Variables

variables are any characteristics that can take on different values, such as height, age,
temperature, or test scores.

Kinds of variables

• Variables according to the number of categories:

▪ Categorical

▪ Dichotomous

▪ Polychotomous

▪ Continuous
• Variables used in an experiment

▪ Independent

▪ Dependent

• Variables according to their nature

▪ Concrete variable

▪ Abstract variable

• Variable according to the number being studies

▪ Univariate

▪ Bivariate

▪ Polyvariate
 Lesson 4: Introduction to Quantitative Research

Research

• “a systematic attempt to provide answers to questions” (Tuckman, 1999, p. 4)

• “the more formal, systematic, and intensive process of carrying on a scientific method of
analysis” (Best and Kahn, 1986, p. 18).

Quantitative Research

Quantitative research is ‘Explaining phenomena by collecting numerical data that are

analyzed using mathematically based methods (in particular statistics).’ (Aliaga and Gunderson
(2002) in Muijs (2004))

Types of Research

EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH

Type of research that allows the researcher to establish a causal relationship between
independent and dependent variables by controlling extraneous variables.

Types of Research

 Correlational Research - to determine relationship among two or more

variables.

 Causal-Comparative Research - to determine the cause for or the

consequences of differences between groups of people

 Survey Research - to describe characteristics of a group by means of such

instruments as interview questions, questionnaires, and tests.

Steps in Quantitative Research

1. Selecting a Problem

2. Reviewing the literature

3. Formulating Research Question

 4. Constructing Hypotheses

5. Identifying and Labeling Variables

6. Constructing Operational definitions of Variables

7. Constructing a Research Design

8. Identifying population and sample

9. Designing instruments

10. Selecting statistical test for testing the hypothesis

11. Collecting Data

12. Analyzing Data

13. Writing the Report

Population and Sample

 Population - The entire elements of interest in a particular study

 Sample - A subset of the population

 Parameter - Numerical measures of a population

 Statistic - Numerical measures of a sample

Population vs sample

population sample

the entire group that you’re is a smaller group taken from the
interested in studying. This may be a population. The sample is the group of
group of people (e.g., all adults in the US elements that you will actually collect
or all employees of a company), but it data from.
can also mean a group containing other
kinds of elements: objects, events,
organizations, countries, species,
organisms, etc.
Population vs sample

You want to identify the level of support for the death penalty among US
residents. Since the population you’re interested in is all US residents, it’s not practical
to collect data from the whole population. Instead, you use random sampling to survey
a sample of 2000 participants.

Examples of statistics vs parameters

Sample statistic

 Proportion of 2000 randomly sampled participants that support the death

penalty.

 Median income of 850 college students in Boston and Wellesley.

 Standard deviation of weights of avocados from one farm.

 Mean screen time of 3000 high school students in India.

Population parameter

 Proportion of all US residents that support the death penalty.

 Median income of all college students in Massachusetts.

 Standard deviation of weights of all avocados in the region.

 Mean screen time of all high school students in India.

Variable - A characteristic that varies

1. Independent Variable

“The factor that is measured, manipulated, or selected by the experimenter

to determine its relationship with to an observed phenomenon” (Tuckman, 1999,
p.93)

2. Dependent Variable
“a response variable or output” (Tuckman, 1999, p. 93)
In research, variables are any characteristics that can take on different values, such as
height, age, temperature, or test scores.

Researchers often manipulate or measure independent and dependent variables in

studies to test cause-and-effect relationships.

➢ The independent variable is the cause. Its value is independent of other variables
in your study.

➢ The dependent variable is the effect. Its value depends on changes in the
independent variable.

Example: Independent and dependent variables

You design a study to test whether changes in room temperature have an effect on math
test scores.

➢ Your independent variable is the temperature of the room. You vary the room
temperature by making it cooler for half the participants, and warmer for the other
half.

➢ Your dependent variable is math test scores. You measure the math skills of all
participants using a standardized test and check whether they differ based on
room temperature.
 3. Moderator Variable
“a special type of independent variable, a secondary independent variable
selected to determine if it affects the relationship between the study’s primary
independent variable and it dependent variable” (Tuckman, 1999, p. 97).

4. Control Variables
“Factors controlled by the experimenter to cancel out or neutralized any
effect they might otherwise have on observed phenomena” (Tuckman, 1999, p.
100)

5. Intervening Variable
“a factor that theoretically affects observed phenomena but cannot be seen,
measured, or manipulated; its effect must be inferred from the effects of the
independent and moderator variable on the observed phenomenon” (Tuckman,
1999, p. 101)

Main Types of Data

Different values that are associated with variable.

A.) Qualitative or Categorical Data

a. are classified in categories and not numerically measured.

B.) Quantitative or Numerical Data

a. are obtained either from a counting process (discrete data) or from a

measuring process (continuous data)
Types of Scales

 A scale is a tool or mechanism to distinguish individuals on the variables of interest

to our study (Sekaran, 1992).

There are four types of scales.

1. Nominal Scale

 is not intended to measure a variable, but to assign data into certain

categories or groups.

 does not imply order or rank

Example: gender

2. Ordinal Scale

 Contains the properties of nominal scale

 rank the categories in some meaningful way.

Example: level of education.

3. Interval Scale

 contains the properties of a nominal and an ordinal scale

 assumes the same interval among the points of scale

Example: attitude scale.

4. Ratio Scale

 contains the properties of nominal, ordinal, and interval scales.

 the ratio between two values is meaningful

 has an absolut zero point.

Example: Salary
Scales of Measurement