PRACTICAL

RESEARCH 2
DEFINITIONS OF RESEARCH

• Etymologically, the word research itself is derived from French

word “recherche” which means to travel through a survey.

• UNESCO (1962) defined research as “the orderly investigation

of a subject matter fro the purpose of adding to knowledge”.

• Kerlinger (1972) defined research as a “systematic, controlled,

empirical, and critical investigation of hypothetical prepositions
about the presumed relations among natural phenomena”
• According to Rekha Koul (2008), the nature of educational
research is analogous to the nature of research itself, which is a
“careful, systematic, reliable, and valid method of investigating
knowledge and solving problems.”

• Leedy (1997) defines research as the systematic process of

collecting and analyzing information(data) in order to increase
our understanding of the phenomenon with which we are
connected or interested.

• According to Leedy, research is an activity or process through

which we attempt to systematically and with the support of
data, give an answer to a question, a resolution of a problem
or a greater understanding of a phenomenon.
Characteristics of Research Process
• Research originates with a question or problem.
• Researchers require a clear articulation of a goal.
• Researcher requires specific plan or procedure.
• Researcher usually divides the principal problems into more
manageable sub-problems.
• Research accepts certain critical assumptions.
• Research requires collection and interpretation of data in
attempting to resolve the problem that initiated the research.
• Research by its nature is cyclical or more exactly helical.
Importance of Research

• Determine the accuracy or otherwise and validity of popular

beliefs, and religious practices by submitting them to systematic
scrutiny.

• To enhance, modify or refine our knowledge of phenomenon

or various theories surrounding our environment and society.

• To generate new concepts and explanations of existing rules

and policies, beliefs and practices, economics, political or
social system.
Importance of Research

• To find answers to particular existing questions through

investigation.

• Evaluate the findings of other researches/studies or build on

where they stopped.

• To bring the legacy left behind by early scholars as well as

the contributions of modern scholars to the limelight.
Quantitative Research

-is a design use numbers in stating generalizations about

given problem or inquiry in contrast to qualitative
research that hardly uses statistical treatment in stating
generalizations. These numbers are the results of
objective scale of measurements of units of analysis
called variables. Research findings are subjected to
statistical treatment to determine significant relationships
or differences between variables, the results of which are
the bases for generalization about phenomena.
Characteristics of Quantitative Research

• Methods or procedures of data gathering include items like

age, gender, educational status, among others that call for
measurable characteristics of the population.
• Standardized instruments guide data collection, thus,
ensuring the accuracy, reliability, and validity of data.
• Figures, tables, or graphs showcase summarized data
collected in order to show trends, relationships or
differences among variables. In sum, the charts and tables
allow you to see the evidence collected.
Characteristics of Quantitative Research

• A large population yields more reliable data, but principles of

random sampling must be strictly followed to prevent
research’s bias.
• Quantitative methods can be repeated to verify findings in
another setting, thus, reinforcing validity of findings.
• Quantitative research puts emphasis on proof, rather than
discovery.
Strengths of Quantitative Research
• Quantitative research design is the most reliable and valid way
of concluding results, giving way to a new hypothesis or to
disproving it.
• Because of the bigger number of population, the results or
generalizations are more reliable and valid.
• Quantitative experiments filter out external factors, if properly
designed, and so the results gained can be seen, as real and
unbiased. Quantitative experiments are useful for testing the
results gained by a series of quantitative experiments, leading to
a final answer, and a narrowing down of possible directions to
follow.
Weaknesses of Quantitative Research
• Quantitative research can be costly and time-consuming-difficult
because most researches are non-mathematics.
• Quantitative studies require extensive statistical treatment, requiring
stringent standards more so with confirmation of results. When
ambiguities in some findings surface, retesting and refinement of the
design call for another investment in time and resources to polish the
results.
• Quantitative methods also tend to turn out only proved or unproven
results, leaving room for uncertainty, or grey areas. For the social
sciences, education, anthropology, and psychology, human nature
is a lot more complex than just a simple yes or no response.
(http://explorable.com/quantitative-research-design.)
Kinds of Quantitative Research Design
Research design refers to overall strategy that you choose in order
to integrate the different components of the study in a coherent and
logical way, 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 design you should use.
Quantitative methods emphasize objective measurements and
the statistical, mathematical, or numerical analysis of data collected
through polls, questionnaires and surveys, or by manipulating pre-
existing statistical data using computational techniques.
Quantitative Research Design

Experimental Research Design allows the researcher to

control the situation. In so doing, it allows the researcher to
answer the question, “What causes something to occur?” This
kind of research also allows the researcher to identify cause and
effect relationships between variables and to distinguish
placebo effects from treatment effects. Further this research
design supports the ability to limit alternative explanations and
to infer direct casual relationships in the study; the approach
provides the highest level of evidence for singe studies.
Two Classes of Experimental Design

1. Quasi-experimental Design- the researcher can collect more

data, either by scheduling more observations or finding more
observations or finding more existing measures.

2. True Experimental Design controls for both time-related and

group-related threats. Two features mark true experiments- two
or more differently treated groups and random assignment to
these group. These features require that the researches have
control over the experimental treatment and the power to
place subjects in groups.
• True experimental design employs both treated and control groups to
deal with time-related rival explanations.
• A group reflects changes other than those due to the treatment that
occur during the time of study. Such changes include effects of outside
events, maturation by the subjects, changes in measures and impact of
any pre-tests.
• True experimental design offers the highest internal validity designs.
Quasi-experimental design differs from true experimental design by the
absence of random assignment of subjects to different conditions. What
quasi-experiments have in common with true experiments is that some
subjects receive an intervention and provide data likely to reflect its
impact.
Types of Quasi-Experimental Design
1. Non-equivalent Control Group design refers to the chance
failure of random assignment to equalize the conditions by
converting a true experiment into this kind of design, for purpose
of analysis.

2. Interrupted Time Series design employs multiple measures

before and after the experimental intervention. It differs from
single-group pre-experiment that has only one pretest and one
posttest. Users of this design assure that the time threats such as
history or maturation appear as regular changes in the measures
prior to the intervention.
Non-experimental Research 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.
Researches collect data without making changes or
introducing treatments.
• The descriptive 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
(www.drjeyeshpatidar.blogspot.com).
Types of Descriptive Research Design

1. Survey- a research design used when the researcher intends

to provide a quantitative or numeric description or trends,
attitudes or opinions of a population by studying a sample
of that population (Creswell, 2003). For example, universities
regularly float survey to determine costumer’s satisfaction,
that is, the students’ attitudes toward or opinions regarding
student services like the canteen, clinic, security, the
guidance and counseling services, and the like.
2. Correlational

 Bivariate Correlational Studies- obtain scores from two variables for each
subject, then use them to calculate a correlation coefficient. The term
bivariate implies that the two variables are correlated (variables are
selected because they believed to be related).

Example: Children of wealthier (variable #1), better educated

(variable #2) parents earn higher salaries as adults.

 Prediction Studies- use correlation co-efficient to show how one variable

(the predicator variable) predicts the other (the criterion variable).

Example: Which high school applicants should be admitted in college?

 Multiple Regression Prediction Studies- suppose the high school GPA is
not the sole predicator of college GPA, what might be other good
predicators? All of these variables can contribute to the overall
prediction in an equation that adds together the predictive power of
each identified variable.

3. Ex-Post Facto Research Design- is a non-experimental design that is

used to investigate causal relationships. They examine whether one or
more pre-existing conditions could possibly have caused subsequent
differences in groups of subjects. Researchers attempt to discover
whether differences between groups have results in an observed
difference in the independent variables.
(www.genesep.edu/esham/educ.604/research.pdf)

Example: What is the effect of home schooling on the social skills of the
adolescents?
4. Comparative Design- involves comparing and contrasting two or more
samples of study subjects on one or more variables, often at a single point
of time. Specifically, this design is used two distinct groups on the basis of
selected attributes such as knowledge level, perceptions, and attitudes,
physical or psychological symptoms.

Example: A comparative study on the health problems among rural

and urban older people from district Mehsana, Gujarat
(www.dryayeshpatidat.blogspot.com)

5. Methodological- in this approach, the implementation of the variety of

methodologies forms a critical part of achieving the goal of developing a
scale-matched approach, where data from different disciplines can be
integrated.
6. Evaluative Research- seeks and assesses or judge in some way providing
information about something other than might be gleaned in mere
observation or investigation of relationships.

For example, where a test of children in school is used to assess the

effectiveness of teaching or deployment of a curriculum.

There are various types of evaluation depending on the purpose of the

study. Formative and summative evaluation types are most commonly
used in research.

Formative evaluation is used to determine the quality of implementation

of a project, the efficiency and effectiveness of a program, assessment
of organizational processes like procedures, policies, guidelines, human
resource development and the like.