Practical Research 1 Quarter 1 - Module 1: Nature of Inquiry and Research

Lesson 1 - IMPORTANCE OF RESEARCH IN DAILY LIFE

What is RESEARCH?

Research is an organized investigation and study of materials and sources to create facts and reach new
inferences. Research has come up with developing appropriate solutions to improve the individual’s
quality of life. Although it may take place in a different setting and may use different methods, scientific
research is universally a systematic and objective search for reliable knowledge (Walker, 2010).

Research is a verified approach of thinking and employing legalized instruments and steps to obtain a
more adequate solution to a problem that is otherwise impossible to address under ordinary means
(Crawford, as cited by Alcantara & Espina, 1995).

In most cases, research helps society to answer the WHAT and HOW questions. It must be a proper
investigation and should reach a valid conclusion that would facilitate the finding of answers to the
questions. Some of these questions are: How can research affect society? What is the impact of the
research to daily life?

Research can be categorized into two:

Basic Research

This is the type of research that is a purely direct application but increasing the nature of understanding
about the problem. It develops the scientific theories to be more understandable to the readers.

Applied Research

It is a type of research that needs an answer to a specific question. It provides solutions and validation in
order to apply to the real setting.

Lesson 2 FORMULATING RECOMMENDATIONS BASED ON CONCLUSIONS

CHARACTERISTICS, PROCESSES, AND ETHICS IN RESEARCH

Prieto, et.al. (2017) stated that the following are the major characteristics of research:

1. EMPIRICAL - is based on observations and experiments of theories.

2. SYSTEMATIC - follows orderly and sequential procedures, based on valid procedures and principles.
3. CONTROLLED - In research, all variables, except those that are tested/ experimented on, are kept
constant.
4. EMPLOYS HYPOTHESIS - refers to a search for facts, answers to questions and solutions to problems.
5. ANALYTICAL - shows analytical procedures in gathering the data, whether historical, descriptive, and
or case study.
6. OBJECTIVE - it is unbiased and logical. All findings are logically based on real-life situations.
7. ORIGINAL WORK - it requires its own examination and produces the data needed to complete the
study. It is said that research can be done in different ways. It can be either a well-planned and
methodical process that is based on keen observation and concrete and valid evaluation. Integration is
the best way to evaluate the validity of a certain study.
Prieto, et.al. (2017) also added that the following are involved in the Research Processes:

1. DEFINE RESEARCH PROBLEM: What is the problem?

2. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE: What evidence is already presented?
3. FORMULATING HYPOTHESIS: How are we going to find/look for the answer to questions being
studied?
4. RESEARCH DESIGN: Where will the study be shown and with what population?
5. COLLECTING DATA: Are we ready to gather the data? Where do we find the data?
6. ANALYZING DATA: How do the data answer the research queries?
7. INTERPRET AND REPORT: What are the implications of the results?

Ethical Codes and Policies for Research, Resnik, 2007

Given the importance of ethics in the conduct of a research, you will follow codes and policies for
research:
 Honesty - Maintain all communication. Data should not be faked.
 Objectivity - Avoid biases in experimental designs, data analysis, interpretation, expert
testimony, and other aspects of research.
 Integrity - Keep your promises and agreements.
 Carefulness - Avoid careless errors and negligence.
 Openness - Share data, results, ideas and tools. Be open to criticism and new ideas.
 Confidentiality - Protect confidential communication.
 Responsible Publication - Avoid duplicating publications.
 Responsible Mentoring - Help to educate, mentor, and advise others.
 Respect Colleagues - Treat all peers fairly. Social Responsibility Strive to promote social good.
Avoid social harm.
 Non- Discrimination - Avoid discrimination against colleagues or students on the basis of sex,
races, ethnicity, and or others.
 Legality - Be informed and obey relevant laws and institutional governmental policies.
 Respect of Intellectual Property - Give proper acknowledgment or credits to all researchers.
 Human Subject - Minimize risks that involve human lives, dignity, and privacy.

Lesson 3 - QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH AND QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

KINDS OF RESEARCH: QUANTITATIVE VERSUS QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

There are two categories of research methodology:

 QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH - is a positivist scientific method that refers to a general set of
orderly discipline procedures to acquire information (Beck, 2004). Mostly, it is concerned with
numbers and measurement.
 QUALITATIVE RESEARCH - is defined as the “naturalistic method of research which deals with
the concern of human difficulty by discovering it straightly.” (Beck, 2004) It is concerned with
the experiences, understanding, and words of the individual.
Quantitative research

Quantitative research is expressed in numbers and graphs. It is used to test or confirm theories and
assumptions. This type of research can be used to establish generalizable facts about a topic.

Common quantitative methods include experiments, observations recorded as numbers, and surveys
with closed-ended questions.

Quantitative research is at risk for research biases including information bias, omitted variable
bias, sampling bias, or selection bias.

Qualitative research

Qualitative research is expressed in words. It is used to understand concepts, thoughts or experiences.

This type of research enables you to gather in-depth insights on topics that are not well understood.

Common qualitative methods include interviews with open-ended questions, observations described in
words, and literature reviews that explore concepts and theories.

Qualitative research is also at risk for certain research biases including the Hawthorne effect, observer
bias, recall bias, and social desirability bias.

When to use qualitative vs. quantitative research

A rule of thumb for deciding whether to use qualitative or quantitative data is:

Use quantitative research if you want to confirm or test something (a theory or hypothesis)

Use qualitative research if you want to understand something (concepts, thoughts, experiences)
For most research topics you can choose a qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods approach. Which
type you choose depends on, among other things, whether you’re taking an inductive vs. deductive
research approach; your research question(s); whether you’re doing experimental, correlational,
or descriptive research; and practical considerations such as time, money, availability of data, and access
to respondents.

Lesson 4: THE VALUE OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH: ITS KINDS, CHARACTERISTICS, USES, STRENGTHS,
AND WEAKNESSES

Kinds of Qualitative Research

Below are the kinds of qualitative research that you may venture on. Your choice of conducting a
qualitative research study depends on your interest, on the issues and concerns need to be addressed in
the community, and on your curiosity as an individual.

Phenomenology - It is the study of how people give meaning to their experiences, like the death of
loved ones, care for the people, and friendliness of the people.

Ethnography - It is understanding of how a particular cultural group goes about their daily lives which
includes their organizational set-up, internal operations, and lifestyle.

Grounded theory- This occurs when a researcher discovers a new theory based on the data collected. It
is a research methodology for discovering theory in a substantive area.

Case study - This study involves an investigation of a person, group, organization, or situation for a long
period of time to explain why such things occur to the subject under study. Some examples of this type
of study are the fields of social care, nursing, psychology, rehabilitation centers, education, etc.

Content and Discourse Analysis - This method requires the examination or analysis of the substance or
content of the communication that takes place through letters, books, journals, photos, video
recordings, short message services, online messages, emails, audio-visual materials, etc.

Historical Analysis - This is the study of primary documents to explain the connection of past events to
the present time. An example of this is explaining the happenings during the Marcos regime.

Characteristics and Uses of Qualitative Research

∙ Qualitative research takes place in a natural setting like home, school, institution, or community.
Researchers gain actual experiences of the research participants.
∙ It focuses on participants’ perceptions and experiences (Franenkel and Wallen, 1988 in Creswell, 2013)
∙ Researchers are sensitive to participants’ needs and participants are actively engaged in the process. ∙
Data are collected through observation, interviews, documents, e-mails, blogs, videos, etc.
∙ It may result in changes in research questions after new discoveries occur.
∙ It develops from a specific to a general understanding of concepts.
 ∙ It is a process of describing a situation, analyzing data for themes or categories, and making
interpretations or drawing conclusions. ∙ It may be subjected to the researcher’s personal
interpretation.
∙ The researchers, as a primary instrument in data collection, view social phenomena and situations
holistically.

Strengths of Qualitative Research

1. Issues can be analyzed through detailed and deep examination.
2. Interviews are not being delimited to specific questions and can be guided/redirected by the
researcher along the process.
3. The research framework and direction can be easily revised as new information emerges.
4. The obtained data from human experience is powerful and sometimes more interesting than
quantitative data.
5. Data usually are collected from a few cases or individuals so findings cannot be generalized to a larger
population. Findings can however be transferable to another setting.

Weaknesses of Qualitative Research

1. Research quality is heavily dependent on the researcher’s skills and may be influenced by the
researcher's outlooks.
2. The volume of data makes analysis and interpretation time-consuming.
3. It is sometimes hard to prove.
4. The researcher's presence during data gathering, which is often unavoidable in qualitative research,
can affect the subjects' attitudes towards the process.
5. Issues of anonymity and confidentiality can bring/result in problems when presenting findings.
6. Findings can be more difficult and take time to visualize.

Lesson 5: IMPORTANCE OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH ACROSS FIELDS OF INQUIRY

Schools, hospitals, social media, and media (radio and television) are among the beneficiaries of
qualitative research. These institutions have contributed largely to sustain a society.

Qualitative research has been found to be an effective method in finding answers to phenomena in the
context of different disciplines like education, technical communication, and business, social and
behavioral sciences advertising, and social work. Further, the latest developments of these disciplines
are relatively contributed by qualitative study.

Importance of Qualitative Research across Different Fields

Qualitative Research in Education

To better understand research in education, Green and Bloome (1997) gave a distinction between
Ethnography of education and Ethnography in education.

Ethnography of education seeks to understand what counts as education for members of a particular
group while ethnography in education studies about social and cultural dynamics of a school or
classroom. An example is how teaching styles match the learning styles of students.
They concluded that ethnographic practice-like any set of social and cultural practices are ways that
people in a certain place react to each other to pursue an agenda: including research agenda,
educational agenda, and social, cultural, and instructional change agenda. An example of this study is
how students react to the evaluation of their academic performance. Qualitative research is important
as it navigates towards the improvement of performance in education.

Qualitative Research in Technical Communication

Qualitative research can also be used in studying the effective use of technology in the workplace to
ensure a smooth flow of communication. This can be conducted using focus groups.
Technical communications under study can be in the forms of e-mail, fax messaging, video and voice
conferencing, intranet and extranet, jargon, and graphics.
The advancement in technical communication is a product of exploration using qualitative research.

Qualitative Research in Psychology

According to Braun and Clarke (2013), the qualitative research paradigm in psychology has been
emerging since the second half of the nineteenth century.
Psychology has been strongly shaped by the behavioral and cognitive traditions within which psychology
should seek to understand and determine an observable, objective psychological reality. An example of
this is, psychologists seek to understand why some students lack the motivation to go to school and why
some students resort to bullying and the like.
Understanding the psychological processes and how they affect society is the contribution of qualitative
research.

Qualitative Research in Advertising

Morrison et al. say that great advertising comes along from an understanding of consumer’s wants and
needs. Further, they say that qualitative research approaches, or methods useful in advertising have
been used by advertising researchers.
The stated connection of understanding the connection between advertising and consumers’
preferences can be explained through qualitative research.

Qualitative Research in Social Work

Conducting research under social work means studying people’s experiences especially what they found
traumatic and painful. This can be done by analyzing interview data and narratives which has four broad
categories:
1. Knowledge-direct remembering and reliving, with complete details of the events
2. Awareness of mental process: awareness of emotions and of cognitive processes
3. Awareness of identity- awareness of values and the construction of personal characteristics of each
partner and of the couple as a unit
4. Alienation-refusal to observe, reflect or remember

Qualitative Research in Marketing

Historically, qualitative research in marketing is influenced by social research and has embedded
projective devices within the approach of in-depth interview.
The more modern qualitative marketing studies use the grounded theory approach. For example, Flint,
Woodruff, and Guardial (2002, as cited in Belk, 20016) studied customers at different levels in US
automobile manufacturing.
Thus, by thorough investigation through research, marketing strategies are improved for better return of
investment.

Qualitative Research in International Business

Business establishments use methods like participant observation, content analysis focus groups,
narrative interviews, and “hidden” methods such as archival research (Marschan, Pekkari & Welch,
2004).
In this manner, business establishments can collect reliable information and come to a decision of
improving their ways and processes