Nature of Inquiry and Research Week 1

Content Standards
The learners demonstrate a n understanding of the characteristics, strengths, weaknesses, and
kinds ofquantitative research.

Performance Standards
The learners should be able to decide on suitable quantitative research in different areas of interest.

Most Essential Learning Competencies

To describe characteristics, strengths, weaknesses, and kinds of quantitative research.

Lesson Presentation/Discussion

Terminologies

● Quantitative Research -Quantitative research designs use numbers in stating generalizations about
a given problem or inquiry in contrast to qualitative research that hardly uses statistical treatment
instating generalizations
● Replication – the action of copying or reproducing something.
● Researcher – a person who carries out academic or scientific research.
● Objective – not influenced by personal feelings or opinions in considering and representing facts.

Nature of inquiry and research

What do we research?

We research people and their behavior, opinions, attitudes, trends, and patterns, also politics, animals, health,
and illness. Research can be conducted informally for our benefit, through asking questions, watching,

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Nature of Inquiry and Research Week 1

counting, or reading, and formally, for medical or academic purposes, as a marketing strategy, to inform and
influence politics and policy.

Research may be carried out in our own lives, through the media, in our place of work, with our friends and
family, or through reading past research. Our views - personal, social, community, and worldwide - and our
own identities are socially constructed through our theorizing.

Research gives us information about:

1. Thoughts and opinions
2. Attitudes
3. Habits
4. Culture
5. Norms
6. Scientific facts
7. Medical information

What do we do with research?

1. Have it as an interesting fact
2. Use it to make decisions
3. Use it to persuade and influence other
4. Use it to affect change
5. Use it to change behavior

Quantitative Research

Quantitative research designs use numbers in stating generalizations about a given problem or
inquiry in contrast to qualitative research which hardly uses statistical treatment in stating generalizations.
The numbers in quantitative research are the results of objective scales of measurements of the units of
analysis called variables.

Characteristics of Quantitative Research

1. Objective. Quantitative research seeks accurate measurement and analysis of target concepts. It is
not based on mere intuition and guesses. Data is gathered before proposing a conclusion or solution to a
problem.

2. Clearly Defined Research Questions. The researchers know in advance what they are looking for. The
research questions are well-defined for which objective answers are sought. All aspects of the study
arecarefully designed before data are gathered.

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3. Structured Research Instruments. Standardized instruments guide data collection, thus ensuring the
accuracy, reliability, and validity of data. Data are normally gathered using structured research tools such
as questionnaires to collect measurable characteristics of the population like age, socio-economic status,
and numberof children, among others.
4. Numerical Data. Figures, tables, or graphs showcase summarized data collection to show trends,
relationships, or differences among variables. In sum, the charts and tables allow you to see the
evidencecollected.

5. Large Sample Sizes. To arrive at a more reliable data analysis, a normal population distribution curve is
preferred. This requires a large sample size, depending on how the characteristics of the population
vary.Random sampling is recommended in determining the sample size to avoid the researcher’s bias in
interpretingthe results.

6. Replication. Quantitative methods can be repeated to verify findings in another setting, thus
strengtheningand reinforcing the validity of findings and eliminating the possibility of spurious conclusions.

7. Future Outcomes. By using complex mathematical calculations and with the aid of computers, if-then
scenarios may be formulated thus predicting future results. Quantitative research emphasizes proof,
rather than discovery.

STRENGTHS and WEAKNESSES OF QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH

Strengths of Quantitative Research

The advantages of quantitative research include the following:
1. It is objective.
2. The use of statistical techniques facilitates sophisticated analyses and allows you to
comprehend a huge number of vital characteristics of data.
3. It is real and unbiased.
4. Numerical data can be analyzed quickly and easily.
5. Quantitative studies are replicable.
6. Quantitative experiments are useful for testing the results gained by a series of qualitative
experiments, leading to a final answer, and narrowing down possible directions to follow.

Weaknesses of Quantitative Research

The disadvantages of quantitative research are as follows:
1. Quantitative research requires many respondents.
2. It is costly.
3. The information is contextual factors to help interpret the results or to explain variations that
are usuallyignored.
4. Much information is difficult to gather using structured research instruments, specifically on
sensitive issues like pre-marital sex, and domestic violence, among others.
5. If not done seriously and correctly, data from questionnaires may be incomplete and inaccurate.

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Kinds of Quantitative Research Designs

The research design refers to the overall strategy that you choose to integrate the different
components of the study coherently and logically, thereby ensuring you will effectively address the
research problem. Furthermore, a research design constitutes the blueprint for the selection,
measurement, and analysis of data. The research problem determines the research you should do.

The following are the various kinds of quantitative research designs that a researcher may employ:

1. Non-experimental Design
In this kind of design, the researcher observes the phenomena as they occur naturally, and no
external variables are introduced. In this research design, the variables are not deliberately
manipulated nor is the setting controlled. Researchers collect data without making changes or
introducing treatments. This may also be called DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH DESIGN because it is the only one
under non-experimental design.

Descriptive Research Design’s main purpose is to observe, describe and document aspects of a
situation as it naturally occurs and sometimes to serve as a starting point for hypothesis generation or
theory development.

The types of descriptive design are as follows:

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A. Survey

It is used to gather information from groups of people by selecting and studying samples
chosen from a population. This is useful when the objective of the study is to see the general picture of
the population under investigation in terms of their social and economic characteristics, opinions, and
their knowledge about the behavior toward a certain phenomenon.

B. Correlational
It is conducted by researchers whose aim would be to find out the direction, associations,
and/or relationships between different variables or groups of respondents under study.
Correlational Research has three types; these are:

a. Bivariate Correlational Studies

It obtains scores from two variables for each subject and then uses them to calculate a
correlation coefficient. The term bivariate implies that the two variables are correlated
(variablesare selected because they are believed to be related).
Example: Children of wealthier (variable one), better educated (variable 2) parents earn higher
salaries than adults.

b. Prediction Studies
It uses a correlation coefficient to show how one variable (the predictor variable)
predictsanother (the criterion variable).
Example: Which high school applicants should be admitted to college?

c. Multiple Regression Prediction Studies

All variables in the study can contribute to the overall prediction in an equation that
addstogether the predictive power of each identified variable.
Example: Suppose the High School GPA is not the sole predictor of college GPA, what might be
othergood predictors?

C. Ex-Post Facto or Causal-Comparative

This kind of research derives conclusions from observations and manifestations that already occurred in
the past and are now compared to some dependent variables. It discusses why and how a phenomenon
occurs.
Example: A researcher is interested in how weight influences the stress-coping levels of
adults. Here the subjects would be separated into different groups (underweight, normal,
overweight) and their stress-coping levels are measured. This is an ex post facto design
because a pre-existing characteristic (weight) was used to form the groups.

Example: What is the Effect of Homeschooling on the Social Skills of Adolescents?

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2. Experimental Research Design

This allows the researcher to control the situation. In doing so, it allows the researcher to answer the
question, “What causes something to occur?” This kind of research also allows the researcher to identify the
cause-and-effect relationships between variables and to distinguish placebo effects from treatment effects.

A. Pre-Experimental Design
A type of research applies to an experimental design that has the least internal validity. One type of
pre-experiment, the simple group, pretest-posttest design, measures the group two times, before
and after the intervention. Instead of comparing the pretest with the posttest within one group, the
posttestof the treated group is compared with that of an untreated group.
Two classes of experimental design that can provide better internal validity than pre-experimental designs
arequasi-experimental and true experimental design (Dooly, 1999).

B. Quasi – Experimental Design

In this design, the researcher can collect more data, either by scheduling more observations or
finding more existing measures. Quasi-experimental design involves selecting groups, upon
which avariable is tested, without any random pre-selection processes.
For example, to perform an educational experiment, a class might be arbitrarily divided by
alphabetical selection or by seating arrangement. The division is often convenient and, especially in an
educational situation, causes as little disruption as possible. After this selection, the experiment proceeds
in a very similar way to any other experiment, with a variable being compared between different groups,
or over some time.

There are two types of quasi-experimental design, these are:

a. Non-Equivalent Control Group

This refers to the chance failure of random assignment to equalize the conditions by
convertinga true experiment into this kind of design, for analysis.

b. Interrupted Time Series Design

It employs multiple measures before and after the experimental intervention. It differs from the
single-group pre-experiment which has only one pretest and one posttest. Users of this design
assume that the time threats such as history or maturation appear as regular changes in the
measures before the intervention.

C. True-Experimental Design
It controls both time-related and group-related threats. Two features mark true experiments: two or more
differently treated groups; and random assignment to these groups. These features require that the
researchers have control over the experimental treatment and the power to place subjects in groups. The
true experimental design employs both treated and control groups to deal with time-related rival
explanations. A control group reflects changes other than those due to the treatment that occurs during
the time of the study. Such changes include the effects of outside events, maturation by the subjects,

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changes in measures, and the impact ofany pre-tests.

Conclusion/Summary
We research to understand society and social processes, as well as to test and or create theories so
that we are better able to inform about social action and potentially 'improve' social conditions.

The overarching aim of a quantitative research study is to classify features, count them, and
construct statistical models to explain what is observed.

We should be aware of the advantages and disadvantages of each study.

● Ex- post facto- After the fact

● Ensuring- to make certain sure, guarantee, or safe.
● Blueprint- a plan or model
● Interventions- the act of inserting one thing between others, like a person trying to help

Four kinds of quantitative research are survey research, correlational research, causal-comparative
research,and experimental research.

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