CHOOSING

APPROPRIATE
QUANTITATIVE
RESEARCH DESIGN

PRACTICAL RESEARCH 2
Research Design
• Research Design – refers to the overall plan and
scheme for conducting the study. Thus, the
researcher may utilize a descriptive research
design, experimental research design, or
historical research design.
Types of Quantitative Research Design

A. Descriptive Research Designs

B. Experimental Research Designs
C. Historical Research Designs
Descriptive Research Design

• Descriptive Normative Survey

• Correlational Research Studies
• Descriptive Evaluative Studies
• Descriptive Comparative Studies
• Assessment/Evaluation Studies
Experimental Research Design

• Pretest/Post-test Control Group Design

• Single Group Pre-test/Post-test Design
• Solomon Four Group Design
A. Descriptive Research Design
- Descriptive research design is used to gather
information on current situations and conditions. It
helps provide answers to the questions of who, what,
when, where and how of a particular research study.
- This design leads to logical conclusions and pertinent
recommendations. However, the descriptive research
design is dependent to a high degree on data collection
instrumentation for the measurement of data and
analysis.
Descriptive Research Design
- The purpose of this design is to describe the
status of an identified variable such as events,
people or subjects as they exist.
- Descriptive research usually makes some type of
comparison, contrasts, correlation and sometimes,
in carefully planned and orchestrated descriptive
researches, cause-effect relationships may be
established to some extent.
A. Descriptive Research Design
Descriptive Normative Survey
- Survey designs are procedures in quantitative
research in which you administer a survey
questionnaire to a small group of people (called
the sample) to identify trends in attitudes, opinions,
behaviors, or characteristics of a large group of
people (called the population).
A. Descriptive Research Design
Descriptive Normative Survey
- The survey research design is usually used in
securing opinions and trends through the use of
questionnaires and interviews. A survey is used in
gathering data from institutions, government and
businesses to help in decision-making regarding
change strategies, improving practices, analyzing
views on choice of products or market research.
A. Descriptive Research Design
Descriptive Normative Survey
- The descriptive-normative survey approach
attempts to establish norms or standards based on
a wide class of survey data. The survey data may
be demographic data (age, sex, educational
attainment, IQ, languages spoken, civil status,
average family size) or they may include also data
on “average perceptions” of a set of respondents.
A. Descriptive Research Design
Descriptive Normative Survey
- In order to make the presentation clear and more
interactive, you should present both univariate tables
(frequency counts for single variable) and
multivariate tables (frequency for cross-
classifications). For example a table, on sex
distribution of the Principals or a two-way table
representing the sex and education qualification of
A. Descriptive Research Design
Correlational Research
- Correlation research design is used for research studies aimed
to determine the existence of a relationship. If you intend to
estimate the extent to which different variables are related to
one another in the population of interest, make use of
correlational studies.
- In this design you will have two or more quantitative variables
from the same group of subjects. You will determine if there is a
relationship (or covariation) between the 2 variables (a
similarity between them, not a difference between their means).
A. Descriptive Research Design
Correlational Research
- Examples of correlational research involving two (2)
quantitative variables that can be correlated are: mental
ability and grade in math; gender and math performance;
advertising costs and sales; income and expenses.
- In correlation studies, you may make use of the results of the
descriptive normative surveys. For example if it is desired to
determine the extent of the relationship between managerial
effectiveness and the variables age, educational attainment,
and mental ability.
A. Descriptive Research Design
Correlational Research
- Correlation does not mean causation. When two
variables are correlated you can use the
relationship to predict the value on one variable
for a participant if you know that participant’s
value on the other variable. Thus, correlation
implies prediction not causation.
A. Descriptive Research Design
Descriptive Evaluative Studies
- The purpose of the descriptive evaluative study is
to judge the “goodness of criterion measure”.
- Longitudinal studies establish the changes in that
criterion measure over a long period of time. Thus,
if one were to study the changes in the IQ levels of
children 9-10 years over a five-year period.
A. Descriptive Research Design
Descriptive Comparative Studies
- Descriptive-comparative studies endeavor to
establish significant differences between two or
more groups of subjects on the basis of a criterion
measure. No attempts to control the effects of
extraneous factors are made. For example, it may
be desired to compare the managerial effectiveness
of three groups of managers A, B, and C.
A. Descriptive Research Design
Descriptive Comparative Studies
- This type of research usually involves group comparisons.
The groups in the study make up the values of the independent
variable; for example, gender (male vs. female), pre-school
attendance, or children with a working mother versus
children without a working mother.
- In comparative research the independent variable is not
under the researchers’ control. That is, the researcher cannot
randomly assign the participants to a gender classification
(male or female) or socio-economic class.
A. Descriptive Research Design
Assessment/Evaluation Studies
- Assessment evaluation studies attempt to
determine the effectiveness or efficiency of certain
practices or policies when applied to a group of
respondents.
- Assessment studies imply measurement of certain
key indicators without attaching any judgement to
them.
A. Descriptive Research Design
Assessment/Evaluation Studies
- Evaluation implies putting judgement and valuing
to the measurements obtained and is therefore at a
much deeper level than assessment. Evaluation
research is conducted to elicit useful feedback from
a variety of respondents from various fields to aid
in decision making or policy formulation.
Assessment/Evaluation Studies
1. Formative Evaluation
It is used to determine the quality of implementation of a
project, the efficiency and effectiveness of a program,
assessment of organizational processes such as procedures,
policies, guidelines, human resource development and the
like.
2. Summative assessment
Is done after the implementation of the program. It
examines the outcomes, products or effects of the program.
Formative Evaluation
a. Needs Assessment. Evaluates the need for the
program or project. For example, who needs the
program? How great is the need for a remedial class
in Mathematics?
b. Process Evaluation. Evaluates the process of
implementation of a program. For example, you may
want to conduct a study on the implementation of the
Student Information System (SIS) in you school.
Formative Evaluation
c. Implementation Evaluation. Evaluates the efficiency
or effectiveness of a project or program. For example,
how effective is the scholarship program in school?
d. Program Monitoring. Evaluates the performance and
implementation of an unfinished program. The evaluation
is done prior to the completion of the program. It helps
improve implementation and achieve best results. The
initial implementation of the K-12 program is a very good
topic for evaluation under this type of research design.
Summative Assessment
a. Secondary Data Analysis. You may examine existing
data for analysis. For example, you may want to find out
the influence of gender and mental ability in the results of
the National Achievement Test (NAT) in your school or in
your region.
b. Impact Evaluation. This is used to evaluate the overall
effect of the program in its entirety. For example, you may
want to determine the effect of remedial classes on the
performance of students in mathematics in your school.
Summative Assessment
c. Cost-Effectiveness Evaluation. This is done to determine if the
program has caused useful effects based on target outcomes. For
example, you may want to determine if a leadership training
program for officers of student organizations of a certain public
secondary school have enhanced the leadership skills of the
participants.
d. Cost-effectiveness Evaluation. Also called cost-benefit analysis,
it compares the relative costs to the outcomes or results of some
courses of action. For example, you may conduct a study on the
value for money returns of a company brought about by an intensive
training investment for employees in the Sales department.
B. Experimental Research Design
- Experimental studies are also known as
longitudinal or repeated-measures studies, for
obvious reasons.
- Experimental research design uses the scientific
method to establish the cause-effect relationship
among a group of variables that make up a study.
Experimental Research Design
- The true experiment is often thought of as a laboratory
study, but this not always the case; a laboratory setting
has nothing to do with it. A true experiment is any study
where an effort is made to identify an impose control
over all other variables except one. An independent
variables is manipulated to determine the effects on the
dependent variables. Subjects are randomly assigned to
experimental treatments rather than identified in
naturally occurring groups.
Experimental Research Design
- If the treatment effect is unlikely to wash out
between measurements, a control group has to be
used. In this designs, all subjects are measured, but
only the experimental group receives the treatment.
All subjects are then measured again, and the
change in the experimental group is compared with
the change in the control group.
Experimental Research Design
- A factor called treatment is introduced into the
research investigation and the researcher attempts
to isolate the effects of such treatment by means of
control.
- The whole point of all experimental designs is to
make sure that the effects of the treatment is
carefully isolated or measured.
B. Experimental Research Design
Pre-test/Post-test Control Group Design
- The design requires two groups of equivalent
standing in terms of a criterion measure e.g.
achievement or mental ability. The first group is
designated as the control group while the second
group is the experimental group.
B. Experimental Research Design
Pre-test/Post-test Control Group Design
- Both groups are given the same pre-test. The
control group is not subjected to a treatment while
the experimental group is given the treatment factor.
After the experimental period, both groups are again
given the same post-test. The researcher may now
conduct a comparison of the post-test results or gain
in scores (posttest-pretest) between the experimental
B. Experimental Research Design
Pre-test/Post-test Control Group Design
- This design is threatened by certain factors:
maturation (or the aging of the subjects from the
pretest to the posttest period); test-wiseness (or
memorizing the contents of the pretest to score
high score on the posttest); and natural attrition
(death of subjects or drop-outs from the
experiment).
B. Experimental Research Design
Single Group Pre-test/Post-test Design
- In experimental conditions where a limited number of
subjects are available, the single group pretest-posttest
design may be used.
- The group is first given a pretest followed by the
usual treatment and then a posttest is administered. A
new pretest is then administered to the group followed
by the experimental treatment factor and a final
B. Experimental Research Design
Single Group Pre-test/Post-test Design
- This design is very delicate because the
researcher must see to it that situations are
equivalent before and during the experimental
factor is introduced. As one might suspect, this
design is more open to threats to internal validity
such as Hawthorne effect (or test-wiseness),
maturation and attrition.
B. Experimental Research Design
Solomon Four Group Design
- The Solomon four group design makes use of four
equivalent groups. The first two groups follow the
pretest-posttest control group design. The third group is
given no pretest with treatment and a posttest. The last
group is given no pretest, no treatment but with posttest.
- The design eliminates the Hawthorne effect, effects of
maturation and attrition but has the main disadvantage
of requiring a large number of respondents.
B. Experimental Research Design
Solomon Four Group Design
- In this design the subjects are randomly assigned
to two study groups and two control groups.
Pretest measures are used for one of the study
groups, and one of the control groups. Following
exposure of the study groups to the intervention or
experiment, posttest measures are collected on all
four groups.
 B. Experimental Research Design
Solomon Four Group Design
Time
Period 1 (Pre) Treatment Period 2 (Post)

Experimental Group 1 Random Assignment Observation 1 w/ treatment Observation 3

Control Group 1 Random Assignment Observation 2 w/o treatment Observation 4
Experimental Group 2 Random Assignment w/ treatment Observation 5
Control Group 2 Random Assignment w/o treatment Observation 6
Factors Affecting the Experimental
Plan
1. History. Specific events which occur between the first and second
measurement in addition to the experimental variable may affect the
result of the experiment. Example: Researcher collects gross sales
data before and after a 5-day 50% off sale. During the sale a super
typhoon occurs and the results of the study may be affected because of
the calamity, not the sale.
2. Maturation. The process of maturing either biological or
physiological that takes place in the individuals (subjects) during the
experiment regardless of event can affect experimental outcomes. An
example of this is when subjects are tired after completing the
training session and their responses on the post-test are affected.
Factors Affecting the Experimental
Plan
3. Testing. Subjects may be more aware of the contents of the
posttest given to pretest. In other words, the pre-test becomes a
form of post-test. Example: Subjects take a pretest and think
about some of the items. On the post-test they change to answers
they feel are more acceptable. So, the experimental group learns
from the pretest.
4. Mortality. Subject may drop out of the experimental plan either
voluntarily or involuntarily. The loss of subjects from comparison
groups could greatly affect the comparison of unique
characteristics of those subjects. Groups to be compared need to
be the same before and after the experiment.
Factors Affecting the Experimental
Plan
5. Interaction effects. The interaction of the experimental variable
and extraneous factors such as setting, time and conditions of the
experimental set-up. Combination of these factors may interact
especially in multiple group comparisons to produce erroneous
measurements and interpretation that the treatment caused the effect.
6. Measuring instruments. Changes in instruments calibration of
instruments, observers, or scorers may cause changes in the
measurements. Example: Interviewers are very careful with their
first two of three interviews but on the 4th, 5th and 6th interview
becomes tiresome and boring thus, interviewers are less careful and
make errors.
Factors Affecting the Experimental
Plan
7. Statistical regression. Because of extreme scores of
measurements, groups are chosen. Those scores or measurements
tend to move toward the mean with repeated measurements even
without an experimental variable.
8. Differential selection. Different individuals or groups would
have different previous knowledge or ability which would affect
the final measurement if not taken into account. Example: A
group of subjects who has viewed a TV programs is compared
with a group which has not. There is no way of knowing that the
groups would have been equivalent since they were not randomly
assigned to view the TV program.
Factors Affecting the Experimental
Plan
9. 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.
It is an experimental bias which pertains to the
tendency of the subjects in the control group to
perceive themselves at a disadvantage, thus
working harder to outperform the experimental
group.
C. Historical Research Design
- The purpose of historical research design is to
collect, verify, and synthesize evidence from the past to
establish facts that defend or refute your hypothesis.
- It uses secondary sources and a variety of primary
documentary evidence, such as logs, diaries, official
records, reports, archives, and non-textual information
like maps, pictures, audio and visual recordings. The
limitation is that the sources must be both authentic
and valid.
Historical Research Design
- Sometimes, quantitative history is called
cliometrics by economic historians. These
historians also called social scientist to make
historical research and consciously examine the
temporal nature of the social phenomena they
explored.
Historical Research Design
- An example of this is the development of the field of
ecological regression, particularly for analysis of electoral
patterns. Political scientists can supplement analysis of
election results with surveys of individual voters. Indeed the
National Election Survey, conducted since 1948, has itself
become a historical source of changing electoral behavior.
But historians cannot go back and survey voters from the
election of 1860, and thus must make use of the aggregate
election results and the ecological characteristics of the
voting units – e.g., precincts, districts or counties-that
Major Process of Historical Research
1. Data collection. The historian collects data from the past
through relics, fossils or documents found in the activities or
through personal interviews with key informants. Old newspaper
clippings, memoirs, diaries and the like are rich source of
historical data.
2. Analysis of data. The historian brings together the data
collected to the state of knowledge about the past event and use
simple to complex statistical tools for analysis.
3. Report of findings. The historian reports his/her findings by
carefully explaining discrepancies noted and the probable causes