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. This slideshow presentation will be made available through the trainer’s website: mathbychua.weebly.com. Download the document to use it as reference. Let’s look back… 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 both your interests and your SHS 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 Defining Research (Leedy & Ormrod, 2013). ▷When is a research practical? Practical research means actual doing or using of something rather than theories and ideas. It involves inquiry methods and immersion activities in order to achieve the correct information. ▷The Scientific Method ▷1. Ask a question- state the problem ▷2. Research- collect sources ▷3. Hypothesis- an educated guess (If I will…it will…) ▷4. Experiment- design and perform to test hypothesis and variables ▷5. Data/Analysis- record observations, analyze the data, prepare a graph or table ▷6. Conclusion- accept or reject hypothesis, communicate results works with a system or method unbiased; all angles presented Research is a systematic and objective creation of knowledge. (Creswell, 2013) a creative Present the answer Defining Research process Collect data to answer to the question Pose a question Group Activity Add to existing knowledge. Improve practice. Inform policies Solve problems, not emergencies. Why DO RESEARCH? 5 . Summarize the idea of every group 6. Ask questions in every group Add to existing knowledge. Improve practice. Inform policies Solve problems, not emergencies. Why DO RESEARCH? QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH VS. QUALITATIVE RESEARCH In comparison to qualitative research. single reality vs. multiple realities establishing relationships and explaining cause of correlation vs. understanding situations in a participant’s perspective pre-established design vs. emerging design Quantitativ e Research detached researcher vs. immersed researcher to generalize vs. to assess applicability Fraenkel & Wallen, 2009 Characteristics of Quantitative Research 1.Objective- impartial, unbiased and neutral 2.Clearly defined questions (What, Which, how much) 3.Structured research instruments (surveys, questionnaires, software) 4.Numerical data and statistical treatment (unbiased results) 5.Large sample size (represents a population) 6.Replication (high reliability—stable and consistent) 7. Future outcomes (new concepts and further studies) What I have learned? Quantitive Research Its STRENGTHS and WEAKNESSES 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 A variable varies and has values. The values of variables under study are the research data. Are these variables? chair, shape of table, shirt style. Classifying Variables according to Scales of Measure Variables ORDINAL NOMINAL RATIO INTERVAL IDENTITY MAGNITUDE EQUAL INTERVALS ABSOLUTE ZERO Nominal scale is characterized by data that consist of names, labels, or categories only. Variables A common example of nominal data is gender; male and female. Other examples include eye color and hair color NOMINAL Ordinal scale involves data that may be arranged in some order but differences between data values either cannot be determined or meaningless. This can be explained in terms of positions in a race (1st, 2nd, 3rd etc). This is ordinal data because the runners are placed in order of who completed the race in the fastest time to the slowest time, but there is no standardised difference in time between the scores. For example the difference in time between the runners in first place and second place is by no means the same as the difference in time between the runners in second and third place. Variables ORDINAL Interval scale is data for which we can determine meaningful amounts of differences between data. However there is no inherent zero starting point The most common example of interval data is temperature, the difference in temperature between 10-20 degrees is the same as the difference in temperature between 20-30 degrees. Variables INTERVAL Ratio scale is the interval scale to include the inherent zero starting point. For these values, differences and ratios are both meaningful. However, in order for data to be considered ratio data it must have a true zero, meaning it is not possible to have negative values in ratio data. An example of ratio data is measurements of height be that centimetres, metres, inches or feet. It is not possible to have a negative height. When comparing this to temperature it is easy to consider the difference between interval and ratio (which may be a little confusing at first!), as it is possible for the temperature to be -10 degrees, but nothing can be – 10 inches tall. Variables RATIO • • ACTIVITY TWO Which goes where? AGE GRADE LEVEL GENDER • • • • • • • • Daily Allowance Availability of Internet Connection Time Temperature 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. Quantitative Research Variables 1. Discrete- variable that can only take on a certain number of values. In short, these are variables that are countable where the range of specified values is complete. a. Classroom attendance b. Grade level of students c. Number of cars in a parking lot d. Baby’s age in months 2. Continuous- a variable that has an infinite number of possible values. In short, these are variables that are obtained by measuring. a. Person’s weight/age/height b. Travel time from Boac to Gasan c. Price of commodities d. Family income 3. Independent variable - is a variable in research that causes a change esp. on other variables. It can be controlled to monitor such changes. 4. Dependent variables - result from the independent variables - the variable being tested and monitored. Quantitative Research Designs Studying relationships Correla tional Nonexperimental research Describing characteristics Descrip tive Experi mental Manipulating conditions and studying effects Quantitative Research Designs A cross-sectional survey collects information from a sample coming from various groups that has been drawn from a predetermined population. Descriptive Research Examples: What are the sleeping habits of SHS students in DLSAU? Sometimes called survey research, it aims to describe systematically the facts and characteristics of a given population or area of interest, factually and accurately What factors affected the SHS track choice of SHS students? Your Turn Consider your chosen research interest or topic. Come up with a research question that falls under descriptive research. Quantitative Research Designs Explanatory research design determines the extent to which two variables (or more) covary. Your Turn Consider your chosen research interest or topic. Come up with a research question that falls under correlational research. Correlational Research aims to describe and measure the degree of association between two or more variables or sets of scores. Prediction Examples: research design Does wearing seeks to school identify variables uniform that have willany predict an outcome relationship or criterion. with students’ ability to participate? Is there a relationship between phone brand and Facebook usage among teens? Quantitative Research Designs Experimental Research Independent variable attempts to influence a particular variable Dependent variable tests hypotheses about cause-and-effect relationships Types True experiments EG: R O1 x O2 CG: R O1 x O2 Quasi-experiments EG: O1 x O2 CG: O1 x O2 ACTIVITY ONE Determine the design • Internet availability at home and student’s average sleeping time at night • Social media involvement and practices of Grade 12 HUMSS students • The effect of the use of <a local packaging material> on the shelf life of a product. • The marketability of <innovative product> to SHS students. • Children of single parents and their level of Math anxiety. As a group, decide on a researchable topic leading to a quantitative research suited to the level of SHS students.
