Methods of

Research

By:

Dr. Eunice B. Custodio

BulSU-Graduate School

Philippines
Concepts of Research
– Research is a term used liberally for any
kind of investigation that is intended to
uncover interesting or new facts.
– As with all activities,the rigour with which this
activity is carried out will be reflected in the
quality of the results (Nicholas Walliman,
2011).
– Research is the labor of finding knowledge and
information, either where it was hidden, hard to
reach, or unknown.
– It is exhaustive and is used to prove or disprove a
statement, a systematic investigation to establish facts
and to test phenomena (any observable occurrence).
– Research is conducted without any practical end in
mind, although it may have unexpected results
pointing to practical applications.
Operation Deep Scope's submersible vessel
Deep Sea Discoveries of Canada's
East Coast
Freaks of the deep: New marine study finds
thousands of amazing new species
– Research is a human activity based on
intellectual investigation and is
aimed at discovering, interpreting,
and revising human knowledge on
different aspects of the world.
– Research is about acquiring
knowledge and developing
understanding, collecting facts and
interpreting them to build up a
picture of the world around us, and
even within us.
 Pweor of The Hmuan Mnid
– Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde
Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the
Itteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is
taht the frist and Isat Itteer be at the rghit pclae.
The rset can be a total mses and you can sitll
raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the
huamn mnid deos not raed ervey Iteter by istlef,
but the wrod as a wlohe.
– Research can use the scientific method; a subset
of invention; an empirical research.
– Research was considered as an activity that
preceded applied research, which in turn
preceded development into practical
applications.
CHARACTERISTICS
OF RESEARCH
1. The research problem or topic must be chosen by the
researcher/s himself.
2. It must be within the interest of the researcher/s.
3. It must be with the competence of the researcher/s to
tackle or discuss.
4. It must be within the ability of the researcher/s to
finance.
5. It is researchable and manageable.
CHARACTERISTICS
OF RESEARCH
6. It must specificand measurable.The variable is
measurable when there is an instrument (standardized
questionnaire) that maybe used in order to test it.
7. Quantifiable. If no available instrument, then the next
question is, are you willing to create one?If the
variable is non-quantifiable, better not to include it in
your research. Example of unquantifiable variable:
creativity (can we measure this? Is there a test that can
be used to quantify this?)
CHARACTERISTICS OF
RESEARCH
8. Presents a conjecture (assumed relationship) between or
among phenomena (ex. Length of Service, and Teaching
Performance).
9. Does not present moral and ethical issues (because this
is very subjective, & will not apply to everyone).

Ethical Consideration
HOW TO SELECT A
RESEARCH PROBLEM
1. Prevention of unnecessary duplication. The problem must
not have been investigated before. If the problem is
investigated before, it may be the subject of another study
but with different assumptions, different methods, or
different ways of analyzing data.
2. Practical value of the problem. The result of the research
study should use to improve practices and concepts. It can
use of those who may want to make use it.
3. Researcher’s interest in the problem. The researcher
should select a problem not because of research
popularity or someone wants him to investigate it but
because it appeals to his interest.
4. Availability of data on the problem. A fruitful results
yield if data on the problem is available.
5. Special qualification of the researcher to tackle the
problem. The researcher whose field is medicine is
eminently qualified to investigate problems in medicine;
we cannot say that he is qualified to undertake research in
other field.
6. Time required to investigate the problem. The
research should be conducted within a reasonable period
of time.
7. Cost of investigating the problem. Conducting a
research project needs the expenditure of money such as
questionnaires, tools, xerox, etc. The cost should be
reasonable meaning it is within the means of the
researcher.
The Selection of a Research Approach

Research approaches are plans and the procedures for research

that span the steps from broad assumptions to detailed methods of
data collection, analysis, and interpretation.
This plan involves several decisions, and they need not be taken
in the order in which they make sense as well as the order of their
presentation. The overall decision involves which approach
should be used to study a topic. Informing this decision should be
the philosophical assumptions the researcher brings to the study;
procedures of inquiry (called research designs); and specific
research methods of data collection, analysis, and interpretation.
The Selection of a Research Approach

The selection of a research approach is also based on the nature

of the research problem or issue being addressed, the
researchers’ personal experiences, and the audiences for the
study.
Research approaches, research designs, and
research methods are three key terms that represent a
perspective about research that presents information in a
successive way from broad constructions of research to the
narrow procedures of methods.
APPROACHES IN RESEARCH

The different approaches in research which can be

used are:
(a)Quantitative Research;
(b) Qualitative Research; and
(c) Mixed Method Research.
A. QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
Quantitative research primarily involve the analysis of numbers
in order to answer the research question or hypothesis.
It is descriptive which provides hard data on the numbers of people
exhibiting certain behaviors and attitudes.
descriptive-survey method –
descriptive-
correlational study/method
-survey questionnaire
-5 0r 4 Likert Scale –
Very poor.
It is, however, structured and does not yield the reasons behind
behavior or why people hold certain attitudes.
A. QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH (CONT.)

– Quantitative research is an approach for testing objective

theories by examining the relationship among variables.
These variables, in turn, can be measured, typically on
instruments, so that numbered data can be analyzed using
statistical procedures. The final written report has a set
structure consisting of introduction, literature and theory,
methods, results, and discussion
 Techniques commonly used include:
– postal surveys (particularly appropriate in the case of student
populations where name and address information is
available),
– telephone surveys (appropriate for surveys of employers)
– on-line or web-based surveys (very cost-effective for
reaching audiences where e-mail penetration is high, such as
students and university/college staff)
– Google Forms
– mystery shopping.
QUANTITATIVE
RESEARCH DESIGN
A research design is the framework or guide used
for the planning, implementation, and analysis of a study. It
is the plan for answering the research question or
hypothesis.
Different types of questions or hypotheses demand
different types of research designs, so it is important to
have a broad preparation and understanding of the different
types of research designs available.
1. HISTORICAL RESEARCH
Historical research is different from other researches as it stands alone
being the initial and basic knowledge of any topic to be researched. However, it
also includes qualitative research/ approach.
It’s also different because it deals with the past of an occurrence or
happening of an experiment, incident, progress or a forecast- (future
prediction).
Its methodology of reporting and record keeping acquires more time
and persistence from the researcher to gain authentic results through primary
and secondary sources.
The historical method comprises the techniques and guidelines by
which historians use historical sources and other evidence to research and then
to write history.
– Wiersma (1986) defines historical research as a process
of critical inquiry into past events, in order to produce an
accurate description and interpretation of those events.
– Sources of historical information are commonly classified
as PRIMARY or SECONDARY.
– PRIMARY sources are firsthand access of the events or
experience under study. Use this whenever possible to
locate them -
– SECONDARY sources are accounts at least one level
removed from the events or experience
 There are various history guidelines commonly used by
historians in their work, under the headings of external
criticism, internal criticism, and synthesis. This includes
higher criticism and textual criticism.
External criticism: authenticity and provenance (origin or
source) – evaluates the validity of the document
 When was the source, written or unwritten, produced (date)?
 Where was it produced (localization)? By whom was it
produced (authorship)?
 From what pre-existing material was it produced (analysis)?
 In what original form was it produced (integrity)?
 What is the evidential value of its contents (credibility)?
– Internal Criticism
– Evaluates the meaning accuracy, and trustworthiness of the content of the document
(Wiersoma 1886)
– Sythesis of Information
– The central ideas of concepts must be pulled together and continuity between them is
developed. As a substantial period of time-say, several years-is covered ny the
research study, the ideas can often be organized choronologically
 Though items may vary depending on the subject matter
and researcher, the following concepts are usually part of most
formal historical research:
 Identification of origin date;
 Evidence of localization;
 Recognition of authorship;
 Analysis of data;
 Identification of integrity; and
 Attribution of credibility.
Example

– Pinatubo eruption
– Japanese Regime
2. DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH
Involves collecting data in order to test hypotheses or
answer questions regarding the subjects of the study. In
contrast with the qualitative approach, the data are numerical.
The data are typically collected through a
questionnaire, an interview, or through observation.
In descriptive research, the researcher/investigator
reports the numerical results for one or more variables on the
subjects of the study.
What is Descriptive Research?
Descriptive research seeks to depict what already exists
in a group or population. An example of this type of research
would be an opinion poll to determine which Presidential
candidate people plan to vote for in the next election.
Descriptive studies do not seek to measure the effect of a
variable; they seek only to describe.
 Gay (1998) emphasizes that descriptive research is a
method of investigation involves collection of data in order to test
hypothesis or to answer questions concerning the current status of
the study.
Fanollera (1993) stated that descriptive method involves
descriptive recording analysis and interpretation of conditions that
concurrently exists.
Leedy (1993), descriptive statistics describes the shape of
the data. Frequency and distribution are forms of descriptive
statistics that can provide opportunities for insight.
The steps in conducting descriptive
research are the following:

a. Define the Problems. This is where we give an accurate

description of the given problem and by doing so will set the
stage in coming up with an adequate solution.
b. State/formulate the Hypothesis .We need to formulate a
hypothesis as the starting point where we want the research to
begin, in this study, we used an assumption as a guide in testing
the effectiveness of the proposed solution.
c. Select the Appropriate Subjects/Source Materials. The
researcher will now determine the needed source of
information and the way of determining the sufficient number
of respondents needed in the study.
d. Select/develop the Data Gathering Instruments. The study
needs to have the necessary instruments to solicit
information. This could be implemented through the use of
direct methods like questionnaires, document analysis and
opinionnaires. Or it could be through indirect methods like
tests, interviews and observations.
e. Validate the Instruments. The study needs to have a function
where it will validate the contents of the developed instrument.
f. Data Collection. This is where we collate the data in order to
prepare its conversion into useful information.
g. Analyze and interpret the data. With the available statistical
methods, we now find meaning on the collected data and express
it in meaningful terms.
h. Write the descriptive report. The final stage is a thorough
representation of the gathered data, the methodologies employed
to assess the information and the presentation of a viable solution.
Types of Descriptive
Research
The following are the different types of descriptive
research:
a. Surveys (by questionnaires, interview). Survey studies assess the
characteristics of whole populations of people or situations.
b. Case Studies. Probes in depth into an individual situation or
personality with the intent of diagnosing a particular condition
and recommending corrective measures
c. Job Analyses. Used to gather information to be used in
structuring a training program for a particular job.
d. Documentary Analysis. Closely akin to historical
research; deals with documenting present situations.
e. Developmental Studies. Developmental studies are
concerned with the existing status and
interrelationships of phenomena and changes that take
place as a function of time.
3. EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH
The experiment is the method that can be used to
demonstrate a cause and effect relationship between two
variables. When researchers want to know about the
cause of a behavior or mental process, they should do an
experiment.
In an experiment, the researcher manipulates or
changes the environment in a controlled way, then
measures the effect of that manipulation.
 For example, it is through experiments that we
know that drinking alcohol causes slower reaction times.
The experimenter can give a set amount of alcohol to a
group of participants, then measure their reaction times. If
their time slows down after drinking the alcohol, we know
the alcohol caused that effect.
The Control and Experimental
Group
In a simple experiment, study participants are randomly
assigned to one of two groups. Generally, one group is the control
group and receives no treatment, while the other group is the
experimental group and receives the treatment.
Like causal-comparative research attempts to establish
cause-effect relationship among the groups of subjects that make
up the independent variable of the study, but in the case of
experimental research, the cause (the independent variable) is
under the control of the experimenter.
That is, the experimenter can randomly assign subjects to the
groups that make up the independent variable in the study.
In the typical experimental research design the
experimenter randomly assigns subjects to the groups or
conditions that constitute the independent variable of the study
and then measures the effect this group membership has on
another variable, the dependent variable of the study.
Parts of a Simple
Experiment
1. The Experimental Hypothesis. A statement that predicts
that the treatment will cause an effect. The experimental
hypothesis will always be phrased as a cause-and-effect
statement.
2. The Null Hypothesis. A hypothesis that the experimental
treatment will have no effect on the participants or dependent
variables. It is important to note that failing to find an effect
of the treatment does not mean that there is no effect. The
treatment might impact another variable that the researchers
are not measuring in the current experiment.
3. The Independent Variable (IV). Refers to the treatment
variable that is manipulated by the experimenter.
4. The Dependent Variable (DV). The response that the
experimenter is measuring.
5. The Control Group.Made up of individuals who are
randomly assigned to a group but do not receive the
treatment. The measures takes from the control group are
then compared to those in the experimental group to
determine if the treatment had an effect.
6. The Experimental Group. Made up of individuals who are
randomly assigned to the group and then receive the treatment.
The scores of these participants are compared to those in the
control group to determine if the treatment had an effect.
Let’s do some examples. For each hypothesis listed below,
I will label the independent variable and the dependent variable,
then briefly describe the method.
Hypothesis: Drinking alcohol slows reaction times.
IV – Alcohol
DV - Reaction times
 The experimenter would randomly divide a group of
participants into two groups. He or she would give one group a
drink with alcohol and the other group a drink with no alcohol.
After everybody drinks the beverage, the experimenter
measures their reaction time to a task.
For example, the time to press a button in response to a
sound. If the participants who drank alcohol had a slower
average time than those who did not drink alcohol, we can say
that the alcohol caused the slower reaction times
Determining the Results of a
Simple Experiment
Once the data from the simple experiment has been
gathered, researchers then compare the results of the experimental
group to those of the control group to determine if the treatment
had an effect. But how do researchers determine this effect? Due to
the always present possibility of errors, we can never be 100% sure
of the relationship between two variables. However, there are ways
to determine if there most likely is a meaningful relationship.
 Experimenters use inferential statistics to determine
if the results of an experiment are meaningful. Inferential
statistics is a branch of science that deals with drawing
inferences about a population based upon measures taken
from a representative sample of that population.
The key to determining if a treatment had an effect
is to measure the statistical significance. Statistical
significance shows that the relationship between the
variables is probably not due to mere chance and that a real
relationship most likely exists between the two variables.
 Statistical significance is often represented like this:
p< .05 - significant

A p-value of less than .05 indicates that the possibility that the
results are due merely to chance is less than 5%.
Occasionally, smaller p-values are seen such as:
p< .01. - highly significant
There are a number of different means of measuring statistical
significance. The type of statistical test used depends largely upon the type
of research design that was used.
Here is an Example of an
Experiment
Pretest Treatment Posttest
O1 XE O2
O1 XC O2
Where:
E - stands for the experimental group (e.g., new
teaching approach)
C - stands for the control or comparison group (e.g.,
the old or standard teaching approach)
 Because the best way to make the two groups similar in
the above research design is to randomly assign the participants
to the experimental and control groups, let’s assume that we
have a convenience sample of 50 people and that we randomly
assign them to the two groups in our experiment.
First, we made our groups approximately the same at
the start of the study by using random assignment (i.e., the
groups are “equated”).
 You pretest the participants to see how much they
know. Next, you manipulate the independent variable by using
the new teaching approach with the experimental group
and using the old teaching approach for the control group.
Now (after the manipulation) you measure the
participants’ knowledge to see how much they know after
having participated in our experiment. Let’s say that the
people in the experimental group show more knowledge
improvement than those in the control group. What would you
conclude?
 In this case, we can conclude that there is a causal
relationship between the IV, teaching method, and the
DV,knowledge, and specifically we can conclude that the new
teaching approach is better than the old teaching approach.
let’s say that in the above experiment we could not use
random assignment to equate our groups. Let’s say that, instead, we
had our best teacher (Mr. Juan Dela Cruz) use the new teaching
approach with her students in her 5period class and we had a newer
and less experienced teacher (Ms. Juana Makabayan) use the old
teaching approach with his 5th period class. Let’s again say that the
experimental group did better than the control group. Do you see
any problems with claiming that the reason for the difference
between the two groups is because of the teaching method?
 The problem is that there are alternative explanations.
First, perhaps the difference is because Mr.Dela Cruz is the
better teacher. Second, perhaps Ms. Makabayan had the smarter
students (remember the students were not randomly assignment
to the two groups; instead, we used two intact classrooms).
In particular, it is very possible that the difference we
saw between the two groups was due to variables other than the
IV. In particular, the difference might have been due to the
teacher or to the IQ levels of the groups. We have a special
name for these kinds of variables. They are called extraneous
variable.
 It is important to remember the definition of an extraneous
variable because they can destroy the integrity of a research study
that claims to show a cause and effect relationship. An extraneous
variable is a variable that may compete with the independent
variable in explaining the outcome.
If you are ever interested in identifying cause and effect
relationships you must always determine whether there are any
extraneous variables you need to worry about. If an extraneous
variable really is the reason for an outcome (rather than the IV)
then we sometimes like to call it a confounding variable because
it has confused or confounded the relationship we are interested in.
4. CORRELATIONAL RESEARCH
Attempts to determine whether and to what degree, a
relationship exists between two or more quantifiable (numerical)
variables. However, it is important to remember that just because
there is a significant relationship between two variables, it does not
follow that one variable causes the other.
When two variables are correlated you can use the
relationship to predict the value on one variable for a subject if you
know that subject’s value on the other variable. Correlation implies
prediction but not causation. The investigator frequently uses the
correlation coefficient to report the results of correlational
research.
 The correlation is a way to measure how associated or
related two variables are. The researcher looks at things that
already exist and determines if and in what way those things are
related to each other. The purpose of doing correlations is to
allow us to make a prediction about one variable based on what
we know about another variable.
For example, there is a correlation between income and
education. We find that people with higher income have more
years of education. You can also phrase it that people with more
years of education have higher income. When we know there is
a correlation between two variables, we can make a prediction.
If we know a group’s income, we can predict their years of
education.
– CORRELATIONAL RESEARCH
– Refers to the systematic investigation or statistical study of relationships among two
or more variables, without necessarily determining cause and effects
– It seeks to establish a relation/association/correlation between two or more variables
that do not readily lend themselves to experimental manipulaltion
– For example, to test the hypothesis “Listening to music lowers blood pressure levels”
– There are two ways of conducting this research:
– EXPERIMENTAL – group samles and make one group listen to music and then compare the
bp levels
– SURVEY – ask people how they feel? How often they listen? and them compare
B. QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
Qualitative research primarily involves the
analysis of words.Verbatim quotes are used in reports
to illustrate points and this brings the subject to life for
the reader. The researcher must be good with words.
It allows an individual to explore perceptions,
attitudes and motivations and also to understand how
they are formed. It provides depth of information which
can be used in its own right or to determine what
attributes will subsequently be measured in quantitative
studies.
 Relies heavily on the skills of the moderator and is
inevitably subjective and samples are small.
Techniques include group discussions as well as
workshop sessions, paired interviews, individual in-depth
interviews and mystery shopping (ex. where the researcher
plays the role of a potential student, in order to replicate the
overall experience).

10, 15, 20
Data saturation -
 Gay (1998) emphasizes that descriptive research is a
method of investigation involves collection of data in order to test
hypothesis or to answer questions concerning the current status of
the study.
Fanollera (1993) stated that descriptive method involves
descriptive recording analysis and interpretation of conditions that
concurrently exists.
Leedy (1993), descriptive statistics describes the shape of
the data. Frequency and distribution are forms of descriptive
statistics that can provide opportunities for insight.
B. Qualitative Research Approach

The qualitative approach involves the collection of

extensive narrative data in order to gain insights into
phenomena of interest wherein the data analysis includes the
coding of the data (transcribe) and production of a verbal
synthesis.
Qualitative research, also referred to as ethnographic
research, is involved in the study of current events rather than
past events.
 It involves the collection of extensive
narrative data (non-numerical data) on many
variables over an extended period of time in a
naturalistic setting.
Participant observation, where the researcher
lives with the subjects being observed is frequently
used in qualitative research. Case studies are also used
in qualitative research.
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH DESIGNS
There are several research designs in conducting
qualitative research, and these are as follows:
(1) Descriptive Study -
(2) Phenomenological study;
(3) Narrative Study;
(4) Grounded Theory Study; and
Types of Research
Case Study
Technique
Content Analysis Study
1. PHENOMENOLOGY STUDY OR
PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY
Is a research method; a specific ‘phenomena’(from the
Greek word phenomenon meaning appearance) considered any
lived experience/s.
Phenomenology does offer ways of understanding not
offered by other research methodologies. In contrast to the
scientific method it is both poetic and interpretive but those
working from an emancipatory view of the role of research
express dissatisfaction that it does not go beyond interpretation.
Research needs to do more than offer understanding about
human experience/s.
 Phenomenology is a 20th-century philosophical
movement dedicated to describing the structures of
experience as they present themselves to consciousness,
without recourse to theory, deduction, or assumptions from
other disciplines such as the natural sciences.
Phenomenology is both a philosophy and a
research method. The purpose of phenomenological
research is to describe experiences as they are lived in
phenomenological terms (to capture the "lived experience"
of study participants). The philosophers from which
phenomenology emerged include Husserl, Kierkegaard,
Heidegger and Jean Paul Sartre.
 The philosophical orientation is
that,phenomenologists view the person as integral with the
environment. The focus of phenomenological research is
people’s experience in regard to a phenomenon and how
they interpret their experiences.
“Truth is an interpretation of some phenomenon;
the more shared that interpretation is the more factual it
seems to be (Munhall: 1989).
 There are four aspects of the human experience, which
are of interest to the phenomenological researcher:
a. Lived space or Spatiality is felt space. Lived space is a category
for inquiring into the ways we experience spatial dimensions of
our day-to-day existence.
In a general sense, lived space is the existential theme that
refers us to the world or landscape in which human beings move
and find themselves at home. When we want to understand a
person we ask about his or her world, profession, interests,
background, place of birth and childhood.
Similarly, to understand "the nature of reading," "having a friendly
talk," "giving birth to a child," it is helpful to inquire into the
nature of the lived space that renders that particular experience its
quality of meaning (Manen: 2002).
b. Lived Body or Corporeality.Lived body refers to the
phenomenological fact that we are always bodily in the
world. The lived-body is your own body as experienced by
yourself, as yourself. Your own body manifests itself to you
mainly as your possibilities of acting in the world.
It is what lets you reach out and grab something, for instance,
but it also, and more importantly, allows for the possibility of
changing your point of view. This helps you differentiate one
thing from another by the experience of moving around it,
seeing new aspects of it (often referred to as making the
absent present and the present absent), and still retaining the
notion that this is the same thing that you saw other aspects
of just a moment ago (it is identical).
c. Lived Human Relationships (Communality or
Relationality).
This is the lived relation we maintain with others in
the interpersonal space that we share with them.
As we meet others, we approach them in a corporeal
way: through a handshake or by gaining an impression of
the other person in the way that he or she is physically
present to us.
 Even if we learn about another person only indirectly (by
letter, telephone, or book) we often already have formed a physical
impression of the person which later may get confirmed or negated
when we find out, to our surprise, that the person looks very alike
or different from the way we expected.
As we meet the other we are able to develop a
conversational relation which allows us to transcend ourselves. In a
larger existential sense human beings have searched in this
experience of the other, the communal, the social for a sense of
purpose in life, meaningfulness, grounds for living, as in the
religious experience of the absolute Other, God.
d. Lived time.Lived time (Temporality) is subjective time as
opposed to clock time or objective time.
Lived time is the time that appears to speed up when we
enjoy ourselves, or slow down when we feel bored during an
uninteresting lecture or when we are sit anxiously in the dentist's
chair. Lived time is also our temporal way of being in the world--as
a young person oriented to an open and beckoning future, or as an
elderly person recollecting the past. Here again, when we want to
get to know a person we ask about his or her personal life history
and where they feel they are going -what their project is in life.
The temporal dimensions of past, present, and future
constitute the horizons of a person's temporal landscape.
2. NARRATIVE STUDY
Is a spoken or written text giving an account of an
event/action or series of actions chronologically connected.
Narrative analysis collects description of events of
happenings and then configures them into a story using a
plotline.
Analysis of narrative creates descriptions of themes
that hold across stories of taxonomies of story types.
a. Biography. A form of narrative study wherein the researcher
writes and records the experience of another.
b. Autobiography. Is a form of narrative study written and recorded
by the individual who are the subject of the study.
c. Life History. Is a form of narrative study wherein it portrays an
individual life history.
d. Personal Experience Story. Is a form of narrative study of
someone’s personal experience in single or multiple episodes.
4. GROUNDED THEORY
Is a qualitative approach to generating and developing a theory from
data that the researcher collects. It involves looking atthe common process to
all cases with a view to developing a THEORY grounded or derived from
participant data (relying on Multiple Respondents).
For an example, you might collect data from parents who have pulled their children
out of public schools and develop a theory to explain how and why this
phenomenon occurs, ultimately developing a theory of school pull-out.
Grounded theory is an inductive technique developed for health-
related topics by Glaser and Strauss (1967). It emerged from the discipline of
sociology. The term grounded means that the theory developed from the
research is "grounded" or has its roots in the data from which it was derived.
 Philosophical Orientation.Grounded theory is based on
symbolic interaction theory. This theory holds many views in
common with phenomenology. George Herbert Mead (1934), a
social psychologist was a leader in the development of this theory.
Briefly, though symbolic interactionism explores how
people define reality and how their beliefs are related to their
actions.
Reality is created by people through attaching meaning to
situations. Meaning is expressed by symbols such as words,
religious objects, and clothing. These symbolic meanings are the
basis for actions and interactions.
Unfortunately, symbolic meanings are different for each
individual.
CASE STUDY
Involves a detailed description of the case, the setting of the case
within a contextual condition and a presentation that may not be
chronological and relying on multiple data sources.
Case studies are constructed to richly describe, explain, or assess
and evaluate a phenomenon (e.g., event, person, program (Gall, Borg, &
Gall, 1996).
The “case” is studied onsite within its natural context. The data
gathering process is often interactive as the researcher or researchers
associate with persons involved in the “case” under study. Data is collected
primarily by fieldwork, but secondary data collection is usually employed as
well. It is important that the researcher(s) understand the phenomenon from
the perspective of the participants.
 For the Data Analysis, Gall et al. (1996) outlined three approaches
to case data analysis:
a. Interpretational Analysis: When employing this strategy, the researcher
is looking for patterns (threads, constructs, commonalities, etc.) within the
data to explain the phenomenon.
b. Structural Analysis: Investigating patterns which may be found in
conversations, text, activities, with little or no explication as to pattern
meaning.
c. Reflective Analysis: According to Leedy, researchers using the reflective
analysis strategy try to draw their readers into the participants’ experiences
by using emotive writings, poems, etc.
Sources may come from: (1) Single-Instrumental - one case,
one issue or one setting; (2) Multiple or Collective Case; and (3) Intrinsic
Case (inherent, natural).

Document analysis
C. MIXED METHODS RESEARCH
Mixed research is a general type of research in which
quantitative and qualitative methods, techniques, or other
paradigm characteristics are mixed in one overall study.
Sequential explanatory research design
-from quantitative to qualitative - data integration/data triangulation
Sequential exploratory research design
-from qualitive to quantitative
Advantages of Mixed Research
Mixed research is new in educational research and believe it will
help qualitative and quantitative researchers to get along better and, more
importantly, it will promote the conduct of excellent educational research.
Perhaps the major goal for researcher who design and conduct
mixed research is to follow the fundamental principle of mixed research.
According to this principle, the researcher should mix quantitative and
qualitative research methods, procedures, and paradigm characteristics
in a way that the resulting mixture or combination has complementary
strengths and nonoverlapping weaknesses. The examples just listed for
mixed method and mixed model research can be viewed as following this
principle.
 Here is a metaphor for thinking about mixed research: Construct
one fish net out of several fish nets that have holes in them by laying them
on top of one another. The "new" net will not have any holes in it. The use
of multiple methods or approaches to research works the same way.
When different approaches are used to focus on the same
phenomenon and they provide the same result, you have "corroboration"
which means you have superior evidence for the result. Other important
reasons for doing mixed research are to complement one set of results with
another, to expand a set of results, or to discover something that would
have been missed if only a quantitative or a qualitative approach had been
used.
Some researchers like to conduct mixed research in a single
study, and this is what is truly called mixed research.