Lesson 1: Nature Of Inquiry

Meaning of Inquiry

• Defined as the “quest for truth, information, or knowledge through questioning”.

• It implies a “need or want to know” premise

• Learning is your way of obtaining knowledge about your surroundings

Governing Principles or Foundation of Inquiry

Theory On Connected Experiences For Exploratory And Reflective Thinking

• John Dewey (1859-1952), an American educator and philosopher.

• He strongly promoted experiential learning or learning by doing.

Theory Of Zone Of Proximal Development (ZPD)

• Lev Vygostsky (1978), a renowned psychologist.

• It states that students can learn faster and more effectively if they get help from more learned or experienced people or from instructional scaffolding.

Theory Of Constructivism Or Discovery Learning

• Jerome Bruner (1915-2016), an American psychologist.

• Learning is an active process wherein those learning are able to form new ideas based on what their current knowledge is as well as their past knowledge.

Lesson 2: Nature Of Research

Unique

• Characteristics, Methodology, and Approach

Challenging

• Try new things, countless efforts and way hours of work, testing effectively

Rewarding Activity

• After long hours of work and trials we see results.

Characteristics Of Research

Accuracy

• It must give factual and exact data in which should be correct and appropriately documented or acknowledge in the footnotes, notes and bibliographical entries.

Objectivity

• Must deal with facts and not with mere opinions arising from assumptions, generalizations, prediction or conclusions.

Timeliness

• Must works on a topic that is fresh, new, and interesting to the present society.

Relevance

• Its topic must be instrumental in improving society or in solving problems affecting the lives of people in a community.

Clarity

• Must succeed in expressing its central point or discoveries by using simple, direct, concise and correct language.

Systematic

• Must take place in an organized or orderly manner.

Ethical

• Must be geared toward what are advantageous or beneficial rather than what are detrimental by respecting preferences in matters of confidentiality, independence, or freedom.

Types Of Research

Based on Application of Research Method

• Pure Research

  • Deals with ideas, principles, or abstract concepts o goal: to understand things

  • Example: Isaac Newton wanted to know why the apple is falling.

• Applied Research

  • It deals with societal problems or issues. it is conducted with the purpose of answering a question or solving a problem.

  • Example: Covid 19, AIDS

Based on Purpose

• Depending on your objective or goal in conducting a research, you do any of these types of research: descriptive, correlational, explanatory, exploratory, or action.

• Descriptive Research

  • Aims at defining or giving a verbal portrayal or picture of a person, a thing, an event, a group, or a situation among others.

• Correlational Research

  • Shows relationship or connections between two factors, circumstances, or agents called variable that affects the research.

  • Positive correlation

    • If the increase of one variable results in the increase of another variable.

  • Negative correlation

    • If the increase works to decrease the other variable.

  • Natural observation

    • Observation of variables happen in a natural environment.

  • Survey research

    • Data come from questionnaire survey.

  • Archival research

    • Analysis of data collected by others

• Exploratory Research

  • Purpose is to find out how reasonable or possible it is to conduct a research study on a certain topic.

• Action Research

  • This type of research studies an ongoing practice of a school, organization, community, or institution for the purpose of obtaining results that will bring improvement in the system.

Based on Types of Data Needed

• Reflects on whether you wish to do a quantitative research or qualitative research.

• Qualitative Research

  • Requires a non-numerical data, which means that the research uses content that highlights the human experience.

• Quantitative Research

  • Involves measurement of data that presents research findings in reference to numerical forms

  • Using percentages, fractions and numbers

  • Primary Data

    • New and original information resulting from your sensory experience.

  • Secondary Data

    • Data that have been already written about or reported on and are available for reading purposes.

Approaches To Research

Scientific of Positive Approach

• Uses numbers to express data.

• Discover and measure information as well as observe and control variable in an impersonal manner.

Naturalistic Approach

• Uses words to express data.

• Directs you to deal with qualitative data that speak of how people behave toward their surroundings.

Triangulation Approach

• Combination if the naturalistic and scientific approach.

Benefits Of Inquiry-Based Learning

Enhances Learning Experiences for Children

• Sitting in a classroom taking notes isn’t always the most effective (or fun) way to learn.

Teaches skills needed for all areas of learning

• As they explore a topic, students build critical thinking and communication skills.

Fosters curiosity in students

• An inquiry-based learning approach lets students share their own ideas and questions about a topic.

Deepens students’ understanding of topics

• Rather than simply memorizing facts, students make their own connections about what they are learning.

Allows students to take ownership of their learning

• Students have the opportunity to explore a topic, giving them more of a sense of ownership over their learning.

Increases engagement with the material

• As a form of active learning, this approach encourages students to fully engage in the learning process.

Creates a love of learning

• Inquiry-based learning is designed to teach students a love of learning.

Research Process

1. Define your topic

   1. The very first step in conducting a research is choosing and defining your topic.

2. Write your problem statement

   1. Your problem statement is the statement that describes what is to be tested during the entire research process or the general problem or question that the research aims to answer.

3. . Make an outline

   1. The outline serves as the first draft of your paper. Start by writing down all the relevant information you have gathered in line with your research topic. Then logically organize your outline.

4. Develop a research strategy

   1. Developing a strategy in conducting your research minimizes the time and effort you will be putting on your paper. This will serve as your guide in setting out your objectives and priorities.

5. Evaluate your sources

   1. You must check the quality and credibility of the sources you will use in your study. You may do this by considering the authority (author and publisher), currency (date of publication), and purpose (intention of the author) of the material.

6. Write and revise your paper

   1. Check the contents of your paper. Make sure that the contents are in line with your chosen topic and problem statement.

7. Document your sources

   1. Documentation of sources is important in any research for it shows the credibility of the writer. This shows whether the ideas or information are taken from another source or from the author himself or herself.

Ethics In Research

Honesty

• Strive for honesty in all scientific communications. Do not fabricate, falsify, or misrepresent data.

Objectivity

• Strive to avoid bias in experimental design, data analysis, data interpretation, peer review, personnel decisions, grant writing, expert testimony, and other aspects of research where objectivity is expected or required. Avoid or minimize bias or self-deception.

Integrity

• Keep your promises and agreements; act with sincerity; strive for consistency of thought and action.

Carefulness

• Avoid careless errors and negligence; carefully and critically examine your own work. Keep good records of research activities such as data collection, research design, and correspondence with agencies.

Openness

• Share data, results, ideas, tools, resources. Be open to criticism and new ideas.

Respect for Intellectual Property

• Honor patents, copyrights, and other forms of intellectual property. Do not use unpublished data, methods, or results without permission. Give credit where credit is due. Give proper acknowledgement or credit for all contributions to research. Never plagiarize.

Confidentiality

• Protect confidential communications and personal information of your respondents, if any.

Social Responsibility

• Strive to promote social good and prevent or mitigate social harms through research, public education, and advocacy.

Competence

• Maintain and improve your own professional competence and expertise through lifelong education and learning. \

Legality

• Know and obey relevant laws and institutional and governmental policies.

Animal Care

• Show proper respect and care for animals when using them in research. Do not conduct unnecessary or poorly designed animal experiments.

Human Subjects Protection

• When conducting research on human subjects, minimize harms and risks, and maximize benefits; respect human dignity, privacy, and autonomy; take special precautions with vulnerable populations; and strive to distribute the benefits and burdens of research fairly.

Lesson 3: Qualitative Research

Purpose Of Qualitative Research

Explore

• Identify patterns, themes, initial models that provide initial understanding of phenomenon.

Describe

• Main point and heart of qualitative research, it conveys information of the details necessary to accurately convey the experience.

Interpret

• It means that we are making sense of what goes on to our rich understanding of the phenomenon.

Characteristics Of Qualitative Research

Human Understanding and Interpretation

• Data Analysis results show an individual mental, social, and spiritual understanding of the world.

Active, Powerful and Forceful

• A lot of changes occur continuously in every stage of a qualitative research. You are not fixated to a certain plan. Changes may occur while you discover your research design.

Multiple Research Approaches and Methods

• qualitative research allows you to approach or plan your study in varied ways. It applies to all research types, being a multi-method research.

Specificity to Generalization

• specific ideas in a qualitative research are directed to a general understanding of something.

Contextualization

• goal here is to understand human behavior. It is crucial to examine the context or situation of an individual’s life – the who, what, why, how, and other circumstances – affecting the human’s way of life.

Diversified Data in Real-Life Situations

• qualitative researcher prefers collecting data in a natural setting lie observing people.

Abounds with Words and Visuals

• Words, words, and more words come in big quantities in this kind of research.

Internal Analysis

• you examine the data yielded by the internal traits of the subject individuals like their emotional, mental, and spiritual characteristics. To study people’s perception or views about the topic.

Types Of Qualitative Research

Case Study

• Usually takes place in the field of social care. nursing, psychology, rehabilitation centers, education and the like.

• Involves a long-time study of a person, group, organizations or situation.

• Example: The Lone Grade VI speed reader.

Ethnography

• Falling under the field of anthropology, ethnography is a study of a certain cultural group to get a clear understanding of its organizational setup, internal operations and lifestyles.

• Example: The preferred sizes of hand bags of Urban Office girls. A Study of the Most Liked Coffee Aroma Among Manila Residents

Phenomenology

• Primary goal is to make people understand their experiences. Like a story telling type of memorable experiences.

• Example: Travails of Seniors Citizen at the LRT Stations

Content and Discourse Analysis

• Requires an analysis or examination of the substance or content of the mode of communication.

• Historical Analysis

  • varied data to make you understand the connection of past events to present time.

• Grounded Theory

  • Takes place when you discover a new theory to underlie you study.

• Example: A Discourse Analysis on the Impact of the Modern Technologies on Communication

Lesson 4: Qualitative Research In Different Areas Of Knowledge

Hard Science

• Chemistry, biology, physics, astronomy, and geology, among others.

• The “hardness of these subjects lies not in the nature of their contents but in the ways research studies happen in these areas of knowledge

• quantitative research.

Soft Science

• Are subjects under Social Science: psychology, sociology, political science and anthropology.

• Qualitative research that also relies on scientific investigation.

Lesson 5: Identifying The Inquiry And Stating The Problem

Guidelines In Choosing A Research Topic

Interest in the Subject matter

• Your interest in a topic may be caused by your rich background knowledge about it and by its novelty, meaning, its unfamiliarity to you.

Availability of Information

• Collecting a lot of information as evidence to support your claims about your subject matter from varied forms of literature like books, journal, newspaper among others.

Timeliness and Relevance of the Topic

• The topic is relevant if it yields result that are instrumental in societal improvement.

Limitations on the Subject

• Certain guidelines or restrictions are given.

Personal Resources

• Before sticking to your final choice, assess your research abilities in terms of your financial standing, health condition, mental capacity, needed facilities, and time allotment to enable you to complete your research.

Research Topic To Be Avoided

Controversial Topic

• Topics that depend greatly on the writer’s opinion, which may tend to be biased or prejudiced.

Highly Technical Subjects

• Researching on topics requiring an advanced study, technical knowledge, and great experience is very difficult task.

Hard-to-Investigate Subjects

• It is hard to investigate if there are no available reading materials about it and if such materials are not up-to-date.

Too Broad Subjects

• Topic that are too broad will prevent you from giving a concentrated or an in-depth analysis in the subject matter of the paper.

Too Narrow Subjects

• These subjects are so limited or specific that an extensive research or through searching or reading for information about these are unnecessary.

Vague Subjects

• Choosing topics like these will prevent you from having a clear focus on your paper.

Lesson 6: Research Problem And Research Questions

Statement of the Problem

• Defines and describes the research hypothesis or question(s). along with the broad method that will be used to solve the problem.

How To Write SOP

General Problem

• States the main problem or core issue.

• It deals with stating the core issue of the research.

• Stated in Declarative Form.

Specific Problem

• Contains the RESEARCH QUESTIONS

• In a QUESTION FORM or ends with a question mark.

Research Question

• Questions that a study or research project aims to answer.

• These questions often address an issue or a problem which, through analysis and interpretation of data are answered in the study's conclusion.

Lesson 7: Review Of Related Literature

Style Of Approached Of RRL

Traditional RRL

• To do the traditional ways of RRL, summarize present forms of knowledge on a specific subject.

• The aim is to give an expanded or new understanding of an existing work.

• Conceptual Review

  • Analysis of concepts or ideas to give meaning to some national or world issues.

• Critical Review

  • Focuses on theories or hypotheses and examines meanings and results of their application to situations.

• State-of-the-Art Review

  • Makes the researcher deal with the latest research studies on the subject.

• Expert review

  • Encourages a well-known expert to do the RRL because of the influence of a certain ideology, paradigm, or belief on him/her.

• Scoping review

  • Prepares a situation for a future research work in the form of project making about community development, government policies, and health services, among others.

Systematic RRL

• It is a style of RRL that involves sequential acts of a review or related literature.

• Steps of Systematic RRL

1. Have a clear understanding of the research questions.

2. Plan your manner of obtaining the data.

3. Do the literature search.

4. Using a certain standard, determine which data, studies, or sources of knowledge are valuable or not.

5. Determine the methodological soundness of the research studies.

6. Summarize what you have gathered from various sources of data.

Structure Of The RRL

• the structure of the RRL indicates the organizational pattern or order of the components of the summary of the RRL results.

Traditional Review

• The structure of the summary resembles that of an essay where series of united sentences presents the RRL results. However, this structure varies based on subject and area of specialization.

Systematic Review

• The structure is based on research questions.

Introduction

• Explain the organizational method of your literature review.

Heading and Subheadings

• Indicate the right placement of your supporting statements.

Summary

• To concisely restate your main point.

Characteristics Of RRL

1. Relevant

2. Recent

3. Sufficient