LESSON 01: NATURE AND INQUIRY OF RESEARCH

1.1. Research and Its Importance 

Research is a systematic inquiry that explains or describes a phenomenon, predicts an

outcome, and poses questions for further studies. It involves looking into a phenomenon which has
not been investigated yet or is underexplored, gathering data to address and answer problems, and
reporting results to an audience. The two main purposes of research are to gather evidence and to
gain knowledge. 
Research may be done inductively or deductively. Research is done inductively if it starts
with analyzing a phenomenon and ends with identifying its underlying principles, theories, or
processes. On the other hand, the deductive approach begins with specifying hypotheses and
continues with verifying these through evidence or data. Whichever your approach is, you should
produce a research paper as the final output of your academic investigation. 

Characteristics of Research 

Effective research possess the following characteristics: 

1. Research is recursive because it involves performing steps in a cyclical and non-
linear way. This means that you can go back to earlier stages of writing to ensure that
your ideas are aligned with one another. 
2. Research is empirical because it is based on verifiable evidence, observation, or
experiences. 
3. Research is logical because it is based on sound principles and a systematic
procedure. 
4. Research requires higher-order thinking skills. It involves interpreting data and
drawing conclusions from the gathered data. 
5. Research is replicable. This means that it can be repeated by other researchers as
long methodology is sufficiently detailed. 
6. Research is solution-oriented because it aims to address a particular problem. 
7. Research is objective because it requires accurate recording of data through
observation interviews, experiments, and other means. 
8. Research requires sufficient sources of data. 

The Importance of Research

Our world cannot advance without research. Its importance transcends even to the smallest
detail of our everyday lives. Research is critical to our economic, sociopolitical, environmental, and
medical development. Economically, research can be used in developing human capital, new
products, technology, and services. In turn, these can help improve the quality of life. In terms of
sociopolitical development, research can provide information relevant to policymaking and
governance, as well as the improvement of relations among people. Research can also help us better
understand our culture and values, as well as those of others. From an environmental perspective,
research findings provide necessary information on how to attain sustainable development without
degrading our natural resources. Finally, there are research studies that promote a better
understanding of health issues and lead to advancements in medical practices. 

As a student, you will reap personal and academic benefits from doing research. First, it will
increase your understanding of phenomena that you find interesting and relevant. Let's say you
want to understand why many people in your community experience gambling addiction. You may
survey your neighbors to identify ways to help them overcome their addiction. Second, research will
instill in you the values of discipline, resourcefulness, hardwork, and patience. When conducting
research, you need to strictly follow your timeline and procedure and be resourceful enough in
gathering necessary information for your study. In some cases, these pieces of information may be
hard to find; you need to practice patience and hard work to overcome such a challenge. Third,
research will instill academic honesty in you. Finally, it will improve your communicative,
organizational, and other practical skills. 

1.2. Research Process

As mentioned earlier, research is a recursive and complex process that involves a series of
steps. The first step of this process is the selection of the research topic. When selecting a topic, it
should be relevant (i.e., addresses a need or problem), interesting, and manageable in terms of your
ability, required time of completion, and the availability of resources. After selecting potential topics,
these should be narrowed down to your actual topic through freewriting, clustering, or listing.
Freewriting involves randomly writing your research ideas on a sheet of paper; clustering involves
generating ideas through visuals; and listing involves enumerating concepts that are related to your
topic. 
Afterwards, you may conduct preliminary research on your chosen topic. When conducting
preliminary research, consult updated and reliable references such as scholarly books and journals.
The information that you will gather during this stage will be useful in formulating your thesis
statement and research questions. The thesis statement is the central idea of your research paper
while your research questions are the specific inquiries that you would like to investigate on. 
After identifying your thesis and research questions, draft a preliminary outline for your
paper and use it as a guide in gathering additional references. At this stage, you should be able to
get model papers. A model paper is a research paper that is similar to yours in terms of topic and
methodology. Use this model paper and your references as a guide in writing your introduction and
literature review. 
The next major step that you need to embark on is planning your methodology. Here, you
will specify your research design, participants, the context of your study, the instruments you will
use, and the procedure for gathering and analyzing the data. 
Then, develop your research instruments. Instruments are tools used for gathering data.
They vary depending on the type of research you are conducting. Research instruments can be self-
made, modified, or adopted. Self-made instruments are prepared by the researchers themselves;
modified instruments are existing instruments slightly modified to cater to the study; and adapted
instruments are existing instruments that are used without any modification. 
 Once you have developed your research instruments, you may start gathering your data. The
encode, tally, tabulate, and analyze your data. Revisit your introduction and literature review if there
are other important concepts, principles, theories, or research findings that you need to add in light
of the data you have gathered. This way, you can make your discussion and literature review
consistent with each other. 
After revisiting and refining your literature review, begin writing your results and discussion.
Make sure that the presentation of your results and discussion matches the flow of your specific
research questions or objectives. Once you have completed your results and discussion, begin
writing you summary, conclusions, and recommendations. Then, put all the parts of your paper
together and edit them. The research process ends with the dissemination of your research findings,
be it through a paper presentation or through a publication. 

1.3. Research Ethics

Research ethics refers to the moral principles and code of conduct that define what good
and acceptable research practice is. When conducting research, you have to conform to ethics
standard to uphold integrity and maintain the good reputation of your name and your school. Below
are some of the ethical standards that you need to comply with. 
General Research Practice: 
1. Be objective in your research. Do not let your personal biases cloud your
judgment. 
2. Disclose any potential conflict of interest. 
Data Management and Plagiarism: 
1. Avoid fabricating or making up data or results. 
2. Avoid falsifying data or changing or deleting data just to prove your point. 
3. Always cite your sources. Avoid taking another person's ideas as your own. 
4. Avoid self-plagiarism or reusing your own research. 
5. Avoid ghostwriting or asking someone to write a research paper for you. 
6. Ensure confidentiality of collected data. Refrain from sharing your data to
any unauthorized person. 
Authorship: 
Remember that authorship is neither a commodity nor a gift. Avoid including someone as an
author if he or she did not have any significant contribution to the paper. A person significantly
contributes to a research work if he or she is greatly involved in conceptualizing the study,
conducting the methodology, analyzing, and interpreting the data, and writing the paper. 
Use of Humans and Animals: 
1. Inform and ask permission from the people who will be the subject of your
research. This can be done by using an informed consent form, a document that
gives the participants information regarding the study and ensures the
confidentiality of data. 
2. Refrain from inflicting harm on human participants. 
3. Animals can only be harmed if there are legitimate scientific benefits from
doing so. 
4. When it comes to personal information, collect only those that are relevant
to the study. 
5. Refrain from forcing anyone to participate in your research. 
6. Avoid choosing participants based on convenience alone. 

1.4. Types of Research

Types of Research According to Purpose 

 Research has three types according to their purpose: 
1. Basic Research – develops or tests theories and propositions by discovering
generalizations and principles regarding a phenomenon. Its aim is to expand
knowledge and satisfy curiosity. This type of research has no immediate application
to the real world; however, one should note that it can still fuel innovation and
technological breakthrough. Basic research is descriptive in nature because it
explores the whats, whys, and hows of a theoretical question. One example of basic
research is the study entitled "The Relationship between Frequency of Facebook
Use, Participation in Facebook Activities, and Student Engagement."  
2. Applied Research – similar to basic research in many respects. Both of them
use sampling techniques and make inferences about the target population. Goes
beyond developing a theory, as it tests the theory in actual problem situation to
provide potential solutions to human and societal problems. It also focuses on
addressing practical concerns. Direct its efforts toward finding a solution to a specific
problem. For example, email was created because of the need for a quick delivery of
correspondence from one person to another. Another example of applied research
is the study entitled "Using Facebook to Enhance the Academic Collaboration among
College Students in the Philippines." 
3. Action Research - focuses on solving problems within an organization or
community. Findings from this type of research should be interpreted with caution
because they are intended for local and not universal applicability. One study that is
considered action research is "Using Facebook-based e-portfolio in an English
Communication Arts Course in a Private Philippine University." This is action
research because it addresses a pressing problem in a very specific context; it is
localized in one private university. 

Qualitative and Quantitative Research 

Research can be classified as quantitative or qualitative. While these two types share similar
characteristics, they also differ in many aspects. These include the purpose, required sample size,
and methods in sampling, or the systematic selection of individuals, units, or settings to be examined
in the study. Qualitative and quantitative research also differ in terms of the relationship between
the researcher and the participants), the data needed and how they are collected and analyzed, and
the level of subjectivity, and generalizability, or the extent of the applicability of the findings not just
to the samples but to a population at large. Finally, these two types of research differ in terms of the
scientific method they use, their research setting, and the reporting of the results. 
The following summarizes the difference between the qualitative and quantitative research: 
Aspects  Qualitative Research  Quantitative Research 
Purpose  To describe and understand social To test hypotheses, establish causal
phenomena and interactions among relationship, make predictions, and
people  generalize from findings 
Sample Size Required  Small sample size  Larger sample size 
Sampling Method  Purposive sampling  Random sampling 
Relationship with the Less Formal  Formal 
Participants 
Data Needed  Verbal information, images, and Statistical information and numbers
artifacts (text-based)  (number-based) 
Data Collection Interview, observation, document Test, experiment, pretest-posttest,
Method  analysis  and any other method that requires
precise measurements 
Data Analysis  Content analysis and coding  Statistical analysis 
Level of Subjectivity  Moderate to high  Low  
Generalizability  Low generalizability  High generalizability 
Scientific Method  Exploratory, bottom-up, or inductive Confirmatory, top-down, or
(I.e., generating hypotheses or deductive (i.e., testing hypotheses or
theories from data)  theories through data) 
Research Setting  Typically in a natural setting  Typically in a controlled setting 
Reporting  Typically narrative with description of Statistical reporting 
context and examples from the
participants’ responses. 
 
Although quantitative and qualitative studies can exist on their own, these two typically
completed each other. This means that the strength of one makes up for the limitations of the other.
For example you are conducting a study on the effects of counseling on the academic performance
of juvenile delinquents. You may record their general point averages to analyze their academic
performant an aspect of quantitative research. However, it is also equally important to understand
the factors influencing their academic performance; this objective can be addressed through an in
depth interview with the participants- tool in qualitative research. 

CLASS PARTICIPATION
Bacatan 2
Escober 1
Lim 1
Majuelo 1
Sulapas 2
Tumbaga 1