Practical Research 2

Unit 1: Nature of Inquiry and Quantitative Research

Inquiry:

According to Drayton & falk (2001) the ff. are the

characteristics of classrooms where teachers

emphasized inquiry-based learning:

• The inquiry capitalizes on student curiosity

•Data and information are actively used, interpreted, refined, digested and discussed.

•Community and society are connected with

the inquiry

•The teacher facilitates the process of gathering and presenting information.

•The teacher and more actively than during traditional teaching

Inquiry is a learning process that motivates you to obtain knowledge or information about people,
things, places or events. (Baraceros, 2016)

Inquiry Mode:

Planning - identify a topic area for inquiry, identify possible information sources.

Evaluating - evaluate the product, evaluate the inquiry plan, transfer learning to new situations/ beyond
school

Sharing-communicate with the audience,present new understanding.

Crediting - organize information, create a product, think about the audience, revise and edit.

Process- establish focus for inquiry, choose pertinent information, record information, make connections
and inferences.

Retrieving - locate and collect resources, select relevant information, evaluate information.

"Children must be taught how to think, not what to think.”

Research (cerchier)
-research is defined as a purposive and scientific process of gathering, analyzing, organizing, presenting
and interpreting data.

Characteristics of Research:

-Replicability
-Methodical
-Critical
-Analytical
-Cyclical
-Logical
-Empirical

Characteristics of Researcher:

• intellectual Creativity

• Intellectual Honesty

• Prudence

• Intellectual Curiosity

Functions of Research:

- research corrects perceptions

- Research gathers information on subjects or phenomena we lack or have a little knowledge
about.
- Research also develops and evaluates concepts,practices and theories.
- Research obtains knowledge for practical purposes like solving problems on population
explosion, drug addiction, juvenile delinquency and the like.

Inquiry and Research:

Scientific Method of Research

1. Determining the problem

2. Forming a hypothesis

3. Doing the Library research

4. Designing the study

5. Developing the instruments for collecting data

6. Collecting the data

7. Analyzing the data

8. Determining the implication and conclusions from findings

9. Making recommendations for future research

Quantitative Research:

Quantitative Research is a form of research that uses statistical data as the main source of knowledge.
(Francisco et. Al., 2016)

Characteristics:

1. The data is usually gathered using structured research instruments.

2. The results are based on larger sample sizes that are representative of the population.

3. The research study can usually be replicated or repeated, given its high reliability.

4. Researcher has a clearly defined research question to which objective answers are sought.

5. All aspects of the study are carefully designed before data is collected.

6. Data are in the form of numbers and statistics, often arranged in tables, charts, figures, or other non-
textual forms.

7. Project can be used to generalize concepts more widely, predict future results, or investigate causal
relationships.

8. Researcher uses tools, such as questionnaires or computer software, to collect numerical data.

Quantitative Research Designs can either be descriptive (subjects usually measured once) or
experimental (subjects measured before and after a treatment)

Quantitative Research: Strength & Weaknesses

Strength

Findings can be generalized if selection process is well-designed and sample is representative of

study population

Relatively easy to analyze

 Data can be very consistent, precise and reliable

Research can be replicated and then analyzed and compared with similar studies

Summarize vast source of information and make comparisons across categories and over time

Personal bias can be avoided by keeping a distance from participating subjects and using accepted
computational techniques

Weakness

Related secondary data is sometimes not available or accessing available data is difficult/
impossible.

Difficult to understand context of a phenomenon

Data may not be robust enough to explain complex issues

Results provide less detail on behavior, attitudes and motivation

Uses a static rigid approach and so employs an inflexible process of discovery

Quantitative data is more efficient and able to test hypothesis, but may miss contextual detail
resulting to less elaborate accounts of human perception

Quantitative Research: Across the Fields

• in psychology, approaches in quantitative psychology were first modeled on quantitative

approaches in the physical sciences by Gustav Frechner in his work of psychophysics which built
on the work of Ernst Heinrich Weber.

• In the field of health, for example, researchers might measure and study relationship between
dietary intake and measurable physiological effects such as weight loss, controlling for other key
variables such as exercise.

• Quantitative based opinion surveys are widely used in the media, with statistics such as
proportion of respondents in favor or position commonly reported

• In the field of climate science, researchers compile and compare statistics such as temperature
or atmospheric concentrations of CO_2

Quantitative Research: Importance

1. More reliable and objective

2. Can use statistics to generalize a finding

3. Often reduces and restructures a complex problem to a limited number of variables

4. Looks at relationships between variables and can establish cause and effect in highly controlled
circumstances

5. Test theories or hypotheses

6. Assumes sample is representative of the population

7. Subjectivity of researcher in methodology is recognized less

8. Less detailed than qualitative data and may miss a desired response from the participant.

The Nature of Variables

• Variable is a characteristic that takes 2 or more values which varies across individuals.

Variable

| |
Qualitative Quantitative

| |
Continuity of Values Functional Relationship

ㄴ Discrete ㄴ Independent

ㄴ Continuous ㄴ Dependent

Main types of Variable:

1. Qualitative Variable - represents differences in quality, character or kind but not in amount. It is used
in nominal scale of measurement.

2. Quantitative Variable - numerical in nature and can be ordered or ranked. It has two types (a) discrete
variable and (b) continuous variable.

Types of Quantitative Variable according to continuity of values:

1. Discrete - these are variables that can't take the form of decimals. It is also called discontinuous
variable.

2. Continuous- these are variables that can take the form of decimals.
Types of Quantitative Variable according to functional relationship:

1. Independent variable - it is anything, condition or - process which controlled and manipulated by

three researcher and applied on another thing, condition or process (usually dependent variables)
intended to have or produce a change in or reaction from the letter.

2. Dependent variable - it is anything, a condition or process exposed to or upon which treatment or

actions from the independent variables are applied.