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Topic 5 - Quantitative Research Updated
Topic 5 - Quantitative Research Updated
RESEARCH
Aims of this Presentation:
Babbie, Earl R. The Practice of Social Research. 12th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage, 2010; Muijs,
Daniel. Doing Quantitative Research in Education with SPSS. 2nd edition. London: SAGE Publications, 2010.
Quantitative Research Design
▪ Type of Data
– if you are conducting a Quantitative Research, what will most likely appear in
your discussion are tables containing data in the form of numbers and
statistics.
▪ Approach
– In Quantitative Research, researchers tend to remain objectively separated from
the subject matter. This is because Quantitative Research is objective in
approach in the sense that it only seeks precise measurements and analysis of
target concepts to answer his inquiry.
Why do Quantitative
Research
When do Quantitative Research?
▪ If your study aims to find out the answer to an inquiry through numerical
evidence, then you should make use of the Quantitative Research.
▪ In general, use qualitative research at the beginning of a design process to
uncover innovations. Use quantitative research at the end of a design
process to measure improvement.
▪ French sociology Pierre Bourdieu followed a typical arc to the narrative
research by first investigating economic class in an open-ended fashion.
Once he established what he thought was going on, he tested these ideas
with large surveys.
▪ The main activity for which quantitative research is especially suited is the
testing of hypotheses.
Quantitative Data
▪ Units:
When we collect data in quantitative educational research, we have
to collect them from someone or something. The people or things
(e.g. schools) we collect data on or from are known as units or cases.
▪ Variables:
The data that we are collecting from these units are known as
variables. Variables are any characteristic of the unit we are
interested in and want to collect (e.g. gender, age, self-esteem).
Units and Variables
▪ The label ‘variable’ refers to the fact that these data will
differ
between units.
For example, achievement will differ between pupils and
schools, gender will differ between pupils, and so on.
▪ If there are no differences at all between the units we want to study,
we probably aren’t going to be able to do any interesting research
(for example, studying whether pupils are human would not yield
interesting findings).
Quantitative Research Design
5. Verify your findings. Make your final conclusions. Present your findings in an appropriate form
for your audience.
Advantages of Quantitative Research
▪ Quantitative experiments can be difficult and expensive and require a lot of time to perform.
▪ They must be carefully planned to ensure that there is complete randomization and correct
designation of control groups.
▪ Quantitative studies usually require extensive statistical analysis, which can be difficult, due to
most scientists not being statisticians. The field of statistical study is a whole scientific discipline
and can be difficult for non-mathematicians
▪ The requirements for the successful statistical confirmation of results are very stringent, with very
few experiments comprehensively proving a hypothesis; there is usually some ambiguity, which
requires retesting and refinement to the design. This means another investment of time and
resources must be committed to fine-tune the results.
▪ Quantitative research design also tends to generate only proved or unproven results, with there
being very little room for grey areas and uncertainty. For the social sciences, education,
anthropology and psychology, human nature is a lot more complex than just a simple yes or no
response.
Characteristics of Quantitative Research
Its main characteristics are:
▪ The data is usually gathered using structured research instruments.
reliability.
▪ Data are in the form of numbers and statistics, often arranged in tables, charts, figures, or other non-textual
Key Points:
Quantitative Research:
▪ Has its main purpose in quantification of data (to describe variables).
▪ To examine relationships among variables.
▪ To determine cause-and- effect interactions between variables.
▪ Allows generalizations of results from a sample to an entire
population of interest.
▪ Measurement of the incidence of various views and
opinions in a
given sample.
Worksheet
1. False
2. False
3. True
4. True