THE IMPORTANCE OF QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH ACROSS FIELDS

This section covers the importance of quantitative

research across fields and covers:
 Politics, governance and public administration
 Business, management, and economics
 Environment and development studies
 Education, psychology, and sociology

People do research to find solutions, even tentative ones, to problems, in order to improve or enhance ways of doing
things, to disprove or provide a new hypothesis, or simply to find answers to questions or solutions to problems in daily life.
Research findings can affect people’s lives, ways of doing things, laws, rules and regulations, as well as policies, among others.
Widely, quantitative research is often used because of its emphasis on proof rather than discovery.
In recent times, research studies are gaining an unprecedented focus and attention. Then, only the faculty in higher
education has so much interest and conduct researchers, but now even the teachers in the basic education are engrossed in
researches and devote time and effort in conducting researches to improve educational practices that may lead to more quality
learning of the students. Many teachers do action researches because there is a serious need to identify the problems of the
deteriorating quality of education. By doing so, they can address systematically and make educational decisions regarding the
problems met. Innovative teaching strategies are product of research.
In the natural and social sciences, quantitative research is the systematic, empirical investigation of observable phenomena
via statistical, mathematical or computational techniques. The objective of quantitative research is to develop and employ
mathematical models, theories and/or hypotheses pertaining to phenomena. The process of measurement is central to quantitative
research because it provides the fundamental connection between empirical observation and mathematical expression of
quantitative relationships.
Quantitative methods are used across different disciplines, such as political science, economics, sociology, demography,
psychology, business and management, development studies, and law. It allows academics and practitioners to produce new
knowledge and come up with solutions to existing societal problems. In this section, we will discuss examples of how quantitative
methods that are used across different fields.

Politics, Governance and Public Administration

Quantitative methods are an indispensable tool for many political scientists and practitioners of politics. It is preferred
among political scientists who work with empirical studies involving large numbers of people or countries over long periods of time.
For this purpose, datasets on political indicators collected and archived by organizations such as Varieties of Democracy, Freedom
House, Polity IV, and others are invaluable. Many political candidates, contributors,
and supporters rely on the results of political surveys in order to assess their chances of winning and to determine the areas where
they need to develop support.
One example is the study on the effect of campaign advertising on voters in an attempt to resolve contending views. Some
political scientists argue that advertising has little effect on voters, while others suggested that campaign strategies, including
advertisements, kindle the interests of the voters, and increase the voting turnout (Johnson and Reynolds 2012).
Government organizations also use quantitative methods to systematically us to gain a better understanding of poverty,
unemployment, education, and other aspects of the national situation. These are the products of regular censuses and surveys
commissioned by the government. These data provide the government with a concrete basis for planning its programs and policies.
For example, the Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan is based on these data findings
Quantitative methods are also used to systematically evaluate the effectiveness of government assistance programs toward
the rehabilitation of areas devastated by Typhoon Yolanda in 2013 can be assessed through quantitative methods. It can also be
used to assess whether government antipoverty programs like Conditional Cash Transfers (CCCTs) are attaining its objectives of
reducing poverty or for determining whether the increase of sin taxes for alcohol and tobacco products (under the Sin Tax Law of
2012) succeeded in reducing overall alcohol and tobacco consumption.

Business, Management, and Economics

Quantitative methods are widely used in business. It is often used to collect and analyze information on customer
preference and product performance as well as overall business performance. For example, companies who wish to improve the
sales of their products typically hire research specialists to collect information on which products are in demand, which groups tend
to buy the products, and what improvements potential customers want to see in their products. Using this information, companies
are able to come up with better marketing strategies and better products and actually monitor if they are successful.
Most research in economics also use quantitative methods. economic deals with the production, distribution, and
consumption of goods and services, so much of the information covered in economics is numerical such as: per capita income,
economic growth rate, interest rates, gross domestic product, etc. The use quantitative methods to analyze data is especially
dominant in econometrics, a subfield of economics that specifically uses statistics.
Both public and private institutions employ economist’s adept at quantitative methods to collect and analyze data. Banks
and investment companies rely on analysis and predictions in making business decisions. For example, they may ask economists to
determine which industries and companies are likely to be profitable and to make good investments.

Environment and Development Studies

Quantitative methods are widely used in the field of development studies Development goals, such as the United Nation's
Millennium Development Goals (MDG) of 2000-2015 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of 2015-2030 are such
examples. Both provide specific quantifiable targets which countries use to track and monitor their progress. This includes the
certain SDG: zero people living in extreme poverty (below USD 1.25/day) and reducing the global maternal mortality ratio to less
than 70 per 100,000 live births, among many others.
The UN, member countries, and concerned development organizations become aware of their performance and how close
or far they are in achieving their development goals by conducting surveys, censuses, and other data-gathering activities. The data
obtained can be used for development programs and projects. Afterward, these organizations use quantitative methods to monitor
progress and evaluate their impact and effectiveness.
 Quantitative methods are also used in environmental studies. It is useful for measuring and studying environmental issues
such as the depletion rate of forest covers, the impacts of increasing greenhouse gases, the effects of dynamite fishing on the
environment and communities, and even the status of different animal species, among others. For example, the conservation
classification of animal species by the International Union for the Conservation "near threatened," and "least concern" are based on
quantitative studies. For of Nature-into "extinct" "critically endangered," "endangered," "vulnerable," example, critically endangered
species are classified as those with populations Quantitative methods are used in education research. One of the most common
applications is in educational assessment which measures the learning less than 50 mature individuals in the wild.

Education, Sociology, and Psychology

Quantitative methods are used in education research. One of the most common applications is educational assessment
which measures the learning and performance of individuals and groups. It is also used to assess and compare the effectiveness of
different teaching or pedagogical approaches. It can also be used to compare academic performance.
One example of a quantitative research in the field of education is Danes, Huddleston-Casas, and Boyce (1999, 26) study on
the impact of financial planning curriculum on high school students. Studying a national sample of 4,107 students, they discovered
that there were statistically significant changes in the behavior, knowledge, and self-efficacy of students after finishing the financial
planning curriculum and the effects were detectable even after three months. They found that "about half the teens had gains in
knowledge, a third had gains in behavior, and 40% increased their confidence in managing their money".
Quantitative methods are also used in psychology especially in the subfield of psychometrics, a branch of psychology
concerned with the measurement of traits like intelligence, skills, knowledge, attitudes, personality traits, and educational
achievement. IQ and personality tests are some of the instruments used in this field. As well, quantitative research is also widely
used in other subfields of this discipline.
One example in psychology is the research of Davis (2003) on characters in commercial cartoons broadcasted in the US. The
method used was content analysis-a technique that quantitatively assesses the presence of specific themes and features of a subject
in a systematic fashion (Brymann 2012). The focus of the investigation was the extent to which the cartoon characters show sex-
roles stereotyping.
Brymann (2003: 411) deduced some hypotheses from similar studies: "characters in major roles will be likely to be male
than characters in minor roles"; the characters will be more likely to be male if the activity is an individual activity than a group
activity; and characters in activities with high amounts of movement will be more likely to be male than those characters who are
portrayed with low amounts of movements (2003: 411). The study analysed 167 cartoons and 478 characters and confirmed
previous findings that cartoon advertisements aimed at children employ sex-role stereotyping (ibid).
In sociology, quantitative methods are used to discover trends and patterns in the behavior of individuals or groups of
people, as well as the underlying rules that govern them. Research instruments such as surveys allow us to get a sense of prevailing
social attitudes or beliefs on different topics such as charity, racism, health, and many others. Censuses allow us to understand
demographic patterns observed in big groups and populations. Integrating sociological phenomenon with economics and
behaviorism is a common field for quantitative researchers interested in sociology.
A sociodemographic example is the study of Atkinson and Kintrea (2001). They were interested to know what living or
working in a particular area does to life chances and attitudes. The researchers focused on underprivileged people and asked: "Is the
experience of poverty worse if one lives in a poor area than in an economically-mixed area?” They surveyed the economically
disadvantaged people from poorer areas and from socioeconomically mixed areas in Glasgow and Edinburg. The researchers
concluded that it is indeed worse to be poor in a "poor area" in relation to areas with a mix of socioeconomic classes.
Another example is The British Household Panel Survey that started in 1991 and focused on six main areas: household
organization, labor market behaviour income and wealth, housing, health, and socioeconomic values (Brymann 2012). The study has
interviewed a national representative sample of 10, 264 individuals in 5,538 households. Aside from censuses, topics or problems
related to growth and development