Practical Research 2: The Nature of Inquiry and Research PDF

Practical Research 2: The Nature of Inquiry and Research The Nature of Inquiry and Research Our Learning Goals: After this discussion, you are expected to have the ability to… 1. describe characteristics, strengths, and weaknesses of quantitative research; 2. differentiate kinds of variables ac...

Practical Research 2: The Nature of Inquiry and Research The Nature of Inquiry and Research Our Learning Goals: After this discussion, you are expected to have the ability to… 1. describe characteristics, strengths, and weaknesses of quantitative research; 2. differentiate kinds of variables according to scales of measure; and 3. contrast kinds of quantitative research.  1. How would you define practical research? 2. Why is it important for a SHS student to know the process of conducting research? 3. Give some examples of research opportunities or topics relevant to Let’s look both your interests and your SHS back… strand.  Research is a systematic process of collecting, analyzing, and interpreting information in order to increase our understanding of a phenomenon about which we are interested or concerned (Leedy & Ormrod, 2013). Defining Research  works with a system or unbiased; all angles method presented Research is a systematic and objective creation of knowledge. (Creswell, 2013) a creative process Present the answer Collect data to answer to the Defining question Research Pose a question  1 Add to existing knowledge. 2 Improve practice. 3 Inform policies 4 Solve problems, not emergencies. Why DO RESEARCH? Which between these two sets of statements is easier or quicker to understand? Justify your point. ▷Set A – Ninety five (95%) of the examinees passed the licensure exams. Twenty pages of the book contain grammatically incorrect sentences. ▷Set B – A big number of examinees passed the licensure exams. Several pages of the book contain grammatically incorrect sentences. QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH Definition Expressing meaning through numerals or a set of symbols indicates specificity, particularity, or exactness of something. A way of making any phenomenon or any sensory experience clearer or more meaningful by gathering and examining facts and information about such person, thing, place, or event appealing to your senses. Involving measurements and amounts, quantitative research seeks to find answers to questions starting with how many, how much, how long, to what extent, and the like. Answers to these questions come in numerals, percentages, and fractions, among others. (Suter 2012; Russell 2013) Characteristics Objective Real and factual Numerical Theorize, hypothesize, analyze, infer Classification Experimental Non-experimental Importance The importance of quantitative research lies greatly in the production of results that should reflect precise measurement and an in-depth analysis of data. A quantitative study enables people to study their surroundings as objective as they can. This kind of research is likewise an effective method to obtain information about specified personality traits of a group member or of the group as a whole as regards the extent of the relationship of their characteristics and the reason behind the instability of some people’s characteristics. (Muijs 2011; Gray 2012) Research Research VS  Purpose QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH QUALITATIVE RESEARCH To test hypotheses, look at To understand & interpret cause & effect, & make social interactions. predictions.  Group Studied QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH QUALITATIVE RESEARCH Smaller & not randomly Larger & randomly selected. selected.  Type of Data Collected QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH QUALITATIVE RESEARCH Numbers and statistics. Words, images, or objects.  Objectivity and Subjectivity QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH QUALITATIVE RESEARCH Objectivity is critical. Subjectivity is expected.  View of Human Behavior QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH QUALITATIVE RESEARCH Dynamic, situational, social, Regular & predictable. & personal.  Role of Researcher QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH QUALITATIVE RESEARCH Researcher & their biases are Researcher & their biases may not known to participants in the be known to participants in the study, & participant study, & participant characteristics are deliberately characteristics may be known to hidden from the researcher the researcher. (double blind studies).  Final Report QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH QUALITATIVE RESEARCH Statistical report with Narrative report with correlations, comparisons of contextual description & means, & statistical direct quotations from significance of findings. research participants.  In comparison to qualitative research. 1 single reality vs. multiple realities 2 establishing relationships and explaining cause of correlation vs. understanding situations in a participant’s perspective 3 pre-established design vs. emerging design 4 detached researcher vs. immersed Quantitativ researcher e Research 5 to generalize vs. to assess applicability Fraenkel & Wallen, 2009  Quantitive Research Its STRENGTHS and u m b ers i o n o fn i s ti c a l) WEAKNESSES P r ecis e ( s tat lts ✔ i fi c a n c at r e s u l o f s ign d – t h L e ve i n e ne t o t a l ✔ be d e te r m c e a l o e r s f or c a n to c h an g n u m b l y s i s t d u e m p l i n u a c y of h o f a na a r e no n e to sa I nadeq d d e pt e s s p ro ✔ c t u r e a n u r a c y i n m p l e is l pi 0 % acc n ✔ S a a n 1 0 t r u c t i o s d , e. g., e ss t h t c o ns b ia p u te ✔ L u m e n r ati o n b e c om st r i n i s t a n ysis p lin g, in d a d m E r r or c or sam an e t ho d s ✔ p l ing e r r t i ca l m s a m st a t i s are o n s i n s u m p ti stical ✔ As  A variable varies and has values. The values of variables under study are the research data. Are these variables? color, chair, shape of table, tweet, shirt style. How are these different? Quantitative and qualitative variables Discrete and continuous variables Variables ACTIVITY TWO Daily Allowance Which goes Availability of Internet Connection where? Time Temperature AGE SOCIAL STATUS GENDER Test Score Position in Student Government Cellphone Brand Height Cellphone number Class rank in the honor roll Classify the variables at the right based on their “likelihood” to the three others in the color-coded columns.  A variable varies and has values. The values of variables under study are the research data. Are these variables? chair, shape of table, tweet, shirt style. Classifying Variables according to Scales of Measure Variables ORDINAL NOMINAL RATIO INTERVAL ORDINAL INTERVAL RATIO SCALE EQUAL IDENTITY MAGNITUDE ABSOLUTE ZERO INTERVALS Intervening Variables An intervening variable, sometimes called a mediator variable, is a theoretical variable the researcher uses to explain a cause or connection between other study variables—usually dependent and independent ones. They are associations instead of observations. For example, if wealth is the independent variable, and a long life span is a dependent variable, the researcher might hypothesize that access to quality healthcare is the intervening variable that links wealth and life span. Intervening Variables Moderating variables A moderating or moderator variable changes the relationship between dependent and independent variables by strengthening or weakening the intervening variable's effect. For example, in a study looking at the relationship between economic status (independent variable) and how frequently people get physical exams from a doctor (dependent variable), age is a moderating variable. That relationship might be weaker in younger individuals and stronger in older individuals. Moderating variables Control variables Control or controlling variables are characteristics that are constant and do not change during a study. They have no effect on other variables. Researchers might intentionally keep a control variable the same throughout an experiment to prevent bias. For example, in an experiment about plant development, control variables might include the amounts of fertilizer and water each plant gets. These amounts are always the same so that they do not affect the plants' growth. Extraneous variables Extraneous variables are factors that affect the dependent variable but that the researcher did not originally consider when designing the experiment. These unwanted variables can unintentionally change a study's results or how a researcher interprets those results. Take, for example, a study assessing whether private tutoring or online courses are more effective at improving students' Spanish test scores. Extraneous variables that might unintentionally influence the outcome include parental support, prior knowledge of a foreign language or socioeconomic status. Extraneous variables Quantitative variables Quantitative variables are any data sets that involve numbers or amounts. Examples might include height, distance or number of items. Researchers can further categorize quantitative variables into two types: Discrete: Any numerical variables you can realistically count, such as the coins in your wallet or the money in your savings account. Continuous: Numerical variables that you could never finish counting, such as time. Quantitative variables  Qualitative variables Qualitative, or categorical, variables are non-numerical values or groupings. Examples might include eye or hair color. Researchers can further categorize qualitative variables into three types: Binary: Variables with only two categories, such as male or female, red or blue. Nominal: Variables you can organize in more than two categories that do not follow a particular order. Take, for example, housing types: Single-family home, condominium, tiny home. Ordinal: Variables you can organize in more than two categories that follow a particular order. Take, for example, level of satisfaction: Unsatisfied, neutral, satisfied. Qualitative variables Qualitative variables Confounding variables Composite variables A composite variable is two or more variables combined to make a more complex variable. Overall health is an example of a composite variable if you use other variables, such as weight, blood pressure and chronic pain, to determine overall health in your experiment. Composite variables Quantitative Research Designs Manipulating Studying Correla Experi conditions and relationships tional mental studying effects Non- experimental research Descrip Describing tive characteristics  Quantitative Research Designs Descriptive Examples: What are the sleeping habits A cross-sectional survey Research of SHS students in DLSAU? collects information from a sample coming from Sometimes called survey What factors affected the various groups that has research, it aims to SHS track choice of SHS been drawn from a describe systematically the students? predetermined facts and characteristics of population. a given population or area Your Turn of interest, factually and Consider your chosen accurately research interest or topic. Come up with a research question that falls under descriptive research.  Quantitative Research Designs Prediction research design seeks to identify Correlational variables that will predict Explanatory Research an outcome or criterion. research design determines the Examples: extent to which two Does wearing school aims to describe and variables (or more) uniform have any measure the degree of co-vary. relationship with association between two or students’ ability to Your Turn more variables or sets of participate? Consider your chosen scores. research interest or topic. Come up with a research Is there a relationship question that falls under between phone brand correlational research. and Facebook usage among teens? Quantitative Research Designs Experimental Types Research True experiments Independent EG: R O1 x O2 variable CG: R O1 x O2 attempts to influence a Quasi-experiments particular variable EG: O1 x O2 Dependent CG: O1 x O2 variable tests hypotheses about cause-and-effect relationships ACTIVITY ONE 1. Internet availability at home and student’s Determine average sleeping time at night 2. Social media involvement and practices of the design Grade 12 HUMSS students 3. The effect of the use of on the shelf life of a product. 4. The marketability of to SHS students. 5. Children of single parents and their level of Math anxiety. A. Descriptive B. Correlational C. Experimental 6-7. Write a research title using the Descriptive research design 8-9. Write a research title using the Correlational research design 10-11. Write a research title using the Experimental research design 12. What is the independent variable in your Title #8-9? 13. What is the dependent variable in your Title #8-9? 14. What is the intervening variable in your Title #8-9? 15. What is the possible extraneous variable in your title #10-11?