Practical research review

• The learner demonstrates understanding of the importance of research in daily life, the characteristics, processes, and ethics of research, quantitative and qualitative research, and the kinds of research across fields
• Inquiry


  A seeking for truth, information or knowledge
• Research


  The systematic investigation and study of materials and sources to establish facts and reach new conclusions
• Inquiry process


  1. Research is an inquiry process

  2. It is a formal process of problem solving

  3. It is a set of procedures and stages

  4. It originates with a question or a problem

  5. Often it is an iterative process
• Significance of research


  • To gather necessary information
  • To improve standard of living
  • To have a safer life
  • To know the truth
  • To explore our history
  • To understand arts
• Research in different fields

  • How to become a skillful writer
  • Knowing the different barangays in Malabon
  • Knowing the challenges encountered by single parents and working students
  • Identifying the specific reading difficulties of each learner
  • Wondering the reasons for habitual tardiness among problem learners
• Characteristics of research


  • Empirical (based on observation and experiences)
  • Logical (objective and unbiased)
  • Cyclical (process is repeated)
  • Analytical (no error in the interpretation)
  • Critical (problematization of knowledge)
  • Methodical (systematic; follows specific procedures and principles)
  • Replicability (obtaining consistent results during validation)
• Characteristics of qualitative research


  • Concern for context and meaning
  • Naturally occurring settings
  • Humans as instruments
  • Descriptive data
  • Emergent design
  • Social
  • Historical
  • Political
  • Cultural
• Ethics in research


  Beliefs about what is right or wrong, proper or improper, good or bad. Conforming to accepted professional practice.
• Ethical considerations in conducting research

  • Objectivity and integrity
  • Respect of the research subjects' right to privacy and dignity and protection of subjects from personal harm
  • Presentation of research findings
  • Misuse of research role
  • Acknowledgement of research collaboration and assistance
  • Distortions of findings by sponsor
• Unethical practices in conducting research

  • Deceiving a respondent about the true purpose of a study
  • Asking a respondent questions that cause him or her extreme embarrassment; guilt emotional turmoil by remaining him or her of an unpleasant experience
  • Invading the privacy of a respondent
  • Studying the respondents or research subjects without their knowledge
  • Revealing only part of the facts, presenting facts out of context, falsifying findings or offering misleading presentation such as lying with statistics
• Research processes


  1. Select a general problem

  2. Review the literature of the problem

  3. Select a specific research problem, question, or hypothesis

  4. Collect data

  5. Analyze and present or display data

  6. Interpret the findings and state conclusions or generalizations regarding the problem
• Factors to consider in the research problem

  • Researcher's area of interest
  • Availability of funds
  • Investigator's ability and training
  • Validity and appropriateness to the research topic
  • Manageability including time reserved
  • Safety and ethical matters
• Quantitative research


  A type of educational research in which the researcher decides what to study, asks specific, narrow questions, collects quantifiable data from participants, analyzes these numbers using statistics, and conducts the inquiry in an unbiased, objective manner
• Qualitative research


  A type of educational research in which the researcher relies on the views of participants, asks broad, general questions, collects data consisting largely of words (text) from participants, describes and analyzes these words for themes, and conducts the inquiry in a subjective, biased manner, sees the individual and the world around him/ her as interconnected
• Mixed methods


  Combine both quantitative and qualitative methods in the same study with the belief that these methods provide a more complete explanation of the research findings than using one method alone
• Similarities between quantitative and qualitative research

  • Positive or scientific approach
  • Naturalistic approach
  • Triangulation
• Differences between quantitative and qualitative research

  • Objectives
  • Data analysis
  • Outcomes
  • Preference for precise hypothesis stated at the outset vs preference for hypotheses that emerge as the study develops
  • Preference for precise definitions stated at the outset vs preference for definitions in context or as study progresses
  • Data reduced to numerical scores vs preference for narrative description
  • Much attention to assessing and improving reliability of scores obtained from instruments vs preference for assuming that reliability of inferences is adequate
  • Assessment of validity through a variety of procedures with reliance on statistical indices vs assessment of validity through crosschecking sources of information (triangulation)
• Philosophical assumptions of quantitative and qualitative researchers

  • There exists a reality "out there," independent of us, waiting to be known vs the individuals involved in the research situations construct reality; thus, realities exist in the form of multiple mental constructions
  • Research investigations can potentially result in accurate statements about the way the world really is vs research investigations produce alternative visions of what the world is like
  • It is possible for the researcher to remove him- or herself—to stand apart—from that which is being researched vs it is impossible for the researcher to stand apart from the individuals he or she is studying
• Types of quantitative research

  • Non-experimental
  • Relation or association of two or more variables
  • Describing, determining frequency, categorizing info
  • Determining cause-effect relationship
• Types of qualitative research

  • Ethnographic study
  • Grounded theory
  • Phenomenology
• Different areas of knowledge for research

  • Physics, Chemistry Biology, Astronomy, Geology, Meteorology
  • Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology, Archaeology (some aspects)
• Classification of research according to purpose

  • Applied research
  • Basic research (fundamental or pure research)
  • Action research
  • Exploratory research