PR 1 | Nature of Inquiry in Research & Qualititative vs Quantitative Research

Research

a systematic process of collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data to increase our understanding of a phenomenon of concern/interest and to solve problems and contribute to people’s overall quality of life and general welfare

Formal Research

one is expected to disseminate their discovery to the larger scientific community

Reasons for Research | Country

• addressing pressing national problems

• to improve competitiveness

• to enhance the quality and delivery of servoces

• to adapt an existing solution, practice, or strategy to new domains

• to meet the basic needs of a community or sector

Reasons for Research | Institution

• mission vision

• prestige

• accreditation

• grants

• community service

Reasons for Research | Yourself

• self-preservation

• academic requirement

• professional growth

• passion and interest

• community service

Importance of Research

• acquire more knowledge

• address gaps in learning

• address issues and problems

• recognize and explain a phenomenon or an event

• explore the unknown

• challenge and validate information

• improve present practices and technologies

Characteristics of Research

• originates with research questions

• requires clear articulation of a research goal

• divides the main problem into sub-problems

• guided by the specific research problem, question, or hypothesis

• requires a specific plan

• rests on a critical assumption

• requires data collection and interpretation to answer the research question

• is cyclical or helical

Qualitative Research | Definition

• collects and analyzes non-numerical data to search for patterns, themes, and holistic features /characteristics

• uses observable facts and words and focuses on interpretation by the researchers

• describes of how people experience an issue

• gives an overview of the human side of an issue in terms of behaviors, beliefs, opinions, emotions, and their relationships with intangible factors

• emphasizes the stance that human knowledge is always contextualized or local

• arranging and presenting information to find meaning in the data

• some form of counting is always involved

Quantitative Research | Definition

• collects and analyzes numerical data and assigns concepts to numerical values

• uses statistical methods to measure hard facts

• emphasizes objectivity and the control of contextual factors that may affect the results

• states hypotheses and relies on statistical analysis to support conclusions

• discusses a difference but not why there is

• collects a small amount of data from a large number of people and allows generalization for a population

Mixed Methods

• pure quantitative/qualitative is insufficient to fully understand the problem

• one can explore before administering and developing instruments by gathering qualitative data

• one can talk to others to explain statistical results and improve their prototypes and experiments

• to see quantitative and qualitative results match

Qualitative Research | Strengths

• done in natural settings

• emphasizes informant interpretations and meaning and seeks deep understanding of their work

• humanizes the research process

• high levels of flexibility

Qualitative Research | Weaknesses

• not as reliable and difficult to replicate

• subjective nature of data collection and analysis

• observations may be selectively reported

• risks of collecting meaningless and useless information from participants

• objectivity vs detachment

• ethical concerns and time-consuming

Quantitative Research | Strengths

• can deal with high amounts of cases

• can examine complex patterns of interaction between variables

• can verify cause and effect relationships

Quantitative Research | Weaknesses

• lacks in-depth information

• ignores individual perspectives and experiences

• can be built on pre-existing biases

Experimental Research

done in controlled environments, uses at least one variables that are isolated, manipulated, and controlled to understand its effect on a dependent variable

Descriptive Research

describes the data and characteristics of variables of a phenomenon without manipulating them

Survey Research

collects data on preferences, thoughts, attitudes, opinions, concerns, or interests through questionnaire and interviews

Narrative Research

explores human experiences as expressed in collected lived and told stories

Ethnographic Research

focuses on an entire cultural group to describe their shared patterns of behavior, values, language, and culture, usually explored in field work

Qualitative Research | Data Collection

is open-ended and is done through interviews, observations, documents, and AV materials

Quantitative Research | Data Collection

is close-ended and done in the form of surveys, behavioral checklists, secondary data, and data sets

Interviews

done to elicit people’s views in a detailed and comprehensive manner through open-ended questions that provide direct quotations

Participant Observation

collects data by observing the sample in their natural environment

Qualitative Research | Data Analysis

uses text and image data for coding and developing & relating themes

Quantitative Research | Data Analysis

uses numeric data for description, comparing groups, and relating variables