MODULE 1

LESSON 1: The Importance of Research in Daily Life

In this section, help the students appreciate the importance of research in daily life. Tell them to
compose an essay regarding the use of research in their daily life as a student. This is an important skill that
should be developed in every student. This is necessary in order for them to realize the value of research.

LESSON 2: The Characteristics, Processes, and Ethics of Research

Research is defined as the scientific investigation of phenomena which includes collection,

presentation, analysis and interpretation of facts that lines an individual‘s speculation with reality.

Characteristics of Research
1. Empirical. Research is based on direct experience or observation by the researcher.
2. Logical. Research is based on valid procedures and principles.
3. Cyclical. Research is a cyclical process because it starts with a problem and ends with a problem.
4. Analytical. Research utilizes proven analytical procedures in gathering the data, whether historical,
descriptive, and experimental and case study.
5. Critical. Research exhibits careful and precise judgment.
6. Methodical. Research is conducted in a methodical manner without bias using systematic method
and procedures.
7. Replicability. The research design and procedures are replicated or repeated to enable the researcher
to arrive at valid and conclusive results.

Research process:
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 Selecting a Research Problem

1. Researcher‘s area of interest
2. Availability of funds
3. Investigator‘s ability and training

Ethics in Research
Ethics generally is considered to deal with beliefs about what is right or wrong, proper or improper,
good or bad. According to a dictionary definition (Webster‘s 1968), to be ethical is to conform to accepted
professional practice.

Ethical considerations in conducting research

1. Objectivity and integrity
2. Respect of the research subjects‘ right to privacy and dignity and protection of subjects from personal harm
3. Presentation of research findings
4. Misuse of research role
5. Acknowledgement of research collaboration and assistance
6. Distortions of findings by sponsor

Unethical practices in conducting research

1. Deceiving a respondent about the true purpose of a study
2. Asking a respondent questions that cause him or her extreme embarrassment; guilt emotional turmoil
by remaining him or her of an unpleasant experience
3. Invading the privacy of a respondent
4. Studying the respondents or research subjects without their knowledge
5. When analysing the data—revealing only part of the facts, presenting facts out of context, falsifying findings
or offering misleading presentation such as lying with statistics

LESSON 3: Quantitative and Qualitative Research

Definition of Quantitative and Qualitative Research

Quantitative research is 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 is a type of educational research in which the researcher relies on the views of
participants; asks broad, general questions; collects data consisting largely words (text) from participants;
describes and analyzes these words for themes; and conducts the inquiry in a subjective, biased manner.
LESSON 4: The Kinds of Research Across Fields

Determine if the students are familiar with different researches in various areas of interest (arts,
humanities, sports, science, business, agriculture and fisheries, information and communication technology,
and social inquiry). This is done to facilitate the teaching and learning process. In doing this activity, the
students will be exposed to different researches across fields. Tell the students that as they go through this
lesson, they have to think of the following essential questions for understanding the different examples of
researches: What are the different researches that you have read? Why do we need to determine the different
research areas?

To strengthen student‘s knowledge of the kinds of researches across fields, discuss and show examples of
researches conducted across fields. Finally, tell the students to look for published or unpublished researches in
different areas of interest: arts, humanities, sports, science, business, agriculture and fisheries, information and
communication technology, and social inquiry.

Note: Please visit the sites below if researches in arts, humanities, sports, science, business, agriculture and
fisheries, information and communication technology, and social inquiry are not available in the library.

1. http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rqrs21/current

2. http://www.tandfonline.com/action/doSearch?quickLinkJournal=&jo
urnalText=&AllField=qualitative+research+in+arts&publication=433 68657 (Sports)

3. http://www.tandfonline.com/action/doSearch?AllField=qualitative+r esearch+in+business (Business)

4. http://www.tandfonline.com/action/doSearch?AllField=qualitative+r esearch+in+agricultural+and+fisheries
(agriculture and fisheries)

5. http://www.tandfonline.com/action/doSearch?AllField=qualitative+r
esearch+in+information+and+communication+technology (ICT)

6. http://www.tandfonline.com/action/doSearch?AllField=qualitative+r esearch+in+social+inquiry+ (Social

Inquiry)

Module 2
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH AND ITS IMPORTANCE IN DAILY LIFE
LESSON 1, 2, 3, & 4: The Value of Qualitative Research—
Its Kinds, Characteristics, Uses, Strengths, and Weaknesses and the Importance of Qualitative Research Across
Fields of Inquiry

Major Characteristics of Qualitative Research

Naturalistic inquiry Studying real-world situations as they unfold naturally; non-manipulative, unobtrusive, and
non-controlling; openness to whatever emerges—lack of predetermined constraints on outcomes.

Inductive analysis
Immersion in the details and specifics of the data to discover important categories, dimensions, and
interrelationships; begin by exploring genuinely open questions rather than testing theoretically derived
(deductive) hypotheses.

Holistic perspective
The whole phenomenon under study is understood as a complex system that is more than the sum of its parts;
focus is on complex interdependencies not meaningfully reduced to a few discrete variables and linear, cause-
effect relationships.
Qualitative data
Detailed, thick description; inquiry in depth; direct quotations capturing people‘s personal perspectives and
experiences.

Personal contact and insight

The researcher has direct contact with and gets close to the people, situation, and phenomenon under study;
researcher‘s personal experiences and insights are important part of the inquiry and critical to understanding
the phenomenon.

Dynamic systems
Attention to process; assumes change is constant and on-going whether the focus is on an individual or an
entire culture. Unique case orientation. Assumes each case is special and unique; the first level of inquiry is
being true to, respecting, and capturing the details of the individual cases being studied; cross-case analysis
follows from and depends on the quality of individual case studies.

Context sensitivity
Places findings in a social, historical, and temporal context; dubious of the possibility or meaningfulness of
generalization across time and space.

Emphatic neutrality
Complete objectivity is impossible; pure subjectivity undermines credibility; the researcher‘s passion is
understanding the world in all its complexity – not proving something, not advocating, not advancing personal
agenda, but understanding; the researcher includes personal experience and empathic insight as part of the
relevant data, while taking a neutral non-judgmental stance toward whatever content may emerge.

Design flexibility
Open to adapting inquiry as understanding deepens and/or situations change; avoids getting locked into rigid
designs that eliminate responsiveness; pursues new paths of discovery as they emerge.

TYPES OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

Phenomenology
It is an approach to philosophy and not specifically a method of inquiry; this has often been misunderstood. It is
first and foremost philosophy, the approach employed to pursue a particular study should emerge from the
philosophical implications inherent in the question.

Ethnography
It is the direct description of a group, culture or community. Nevertheless, the meaning of the word
ethnography can be ambiguous; it is an overall term for a number of approaches. Sometimes researchers use
it as synonymous with qualitative research in general, while at other times it‘s meaning is more specific.

Grounded theory
It is a development of theory directly based and grounded in the data collected by the researcher. It is a
research methodology for discovering theory in a substantive area.

Case Study
It is used for a research approach with specific boundaries and can be both qualitative and quantitative. In
addition, it is an entity studied as a single unit, and it has clear confines and a specific focus and is bound to
context.

Historical Research
A narrative description or analysis of events that occurred in the remote or recent past.

Critical Social Theory

Critical theorists and constructivists
-see/view reality from a dynamic standpoint; reality is shaped by social, political, cultural, economic, ethnic
and gender values
-a philosophy of science based on a belief that revealing the unrecognized forces that control human
behavior will liberate and empower individuals

Participatory Action Research

-process of critical inquiry is informed by and responds to the experiences and needs of oppressed people
Module 3
IDENTIFYING AND STATING THE PROBLEM

In this lesson the students are expected to demonstrate understanding of the range of research topics in
the area of inquiry, the value of research in the area of interest and the specificity and feasibility of the
problem posed. Specifically, the students should be able to design a research project related to daily life,
write a research title, describe the justifications/reasons for conducting the research, state research
questions, indicate scope and delimitation of research, cite benefits and beneficiaries of research and
present written statement of the problem.

In addition, discuss to students the strengths and weaknesses of qualitative research. Below are sample
strengths and weakness of qualitative research

Strengths of Qualitative Research

1. Issues can be examined in detail and in depth.
2. Interviews are not restricted to specific questions and can be guided/redirected by the researcher in real
time.
3. The research framework and direction can be quickly revised as new information emerges.
4. The obtained data based on human experience is powerful and sometimes more compelling than
quantitative data.
5. Subtleties and complexities about the research subjects and/or topic are discovered that are often missed by
more positivistic inquiries.
6. 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.

Limitations of Qualitative Research

1. Research quality is heavily dependent on the individual skills of the researcher and more easily influenced
by the researcher's personal biases and idiosyncrasies.
2. Rigor (Define rigor: harsh inflexibility in opinion, temper, or judgment: severity) is more difficult to maintain,
assess, and demonstrate.
3. The volume of data makes analysis and interpretation time consuming.
4. It is sometimes not as well understood and accepted as quantitative research within the scientific community
5. The researcher's presence during data gathering, which is often unavoidable in qualitative research, can
affect the subjects' responses.
6. Issues of anonymity and confidentiality can bring/result to problems when presenting findings
7. Findings can be more difficult and time consuming to characterize in a visual way.

Module 4
LEARNING FROM OTHERS AND REVIEWING
THE LITERATURE

A literature review may consist simply of a summary of key sources. It usually has an organizational pattern
and combines both summary and synthesis, often within conceptual categories.

The teacher can outline the following features of good literature review:
- Gives a new interpretation of old material or combine new with old interpretations,
- Traces the intellectual progression of the study,
- Depending on the situation, evaluate the sources and advise the reader of the research on the most
pertinent or relevant research, or
- Usually in the conclusion of a literature review, identifies where gaps exist in how a problem has
been researched to date

The teacher can quote McMillan and Schumacher (1984) who identified five purposes of the literature
review. A literature review allows you to:

1. Define and limit a problem

If your literature review is part of a larger research project, the literature review helps to identify the parameters
of a study. Most research areas are broad: a literature review allows identification of key issues within a broad
research area so that a definition of an area of interest can be pursued.

2. Place your study in perspective

The purpose of academic research is to push out and add to the current body of knowledge within a particular
field. Unless you are aware of the work of others, you cannot build upon an established foundation. A literature
review allows the researcher to say:

3. Avoid unintentional replication of previous studies

Sometimes it is appropriate to replicate a previous study, but this should be done intentionally and for a
particular purpose. A literature review helps you to make informed choices about a research topic within a
scholarly context.
4. Select methods and measures
The success or failure of previous investigations can provide useful material for you when you are
designing your own research methodology. You can assess what has worked before (or not worked) in
previous contexts and why. You may be alerted to new methodologies and procedures and different types
of tests, technologies and measures.

5. Relate findings to previous knowledge and suggest areas for further research
The findings on ones own research need to be related back to earlier studies. This ―places‖ ones work
and can point to areas that need further investigation. The research is much more a coherent whole if
your discussion section draws on and contrasts with the literature review.

A Review of the Related Literature provides a concise summary of information and data findings
that describe current knowledge and facts. It offers a rationale for conducting future researches. An
important area of a literature review is an understanding of a gap. It is an important research question
relevant to a given domain that has not been answered adequately or at all in existing peer-reviewed
scholarship. A gap will hopefully ensure that the research will likely have valuable practical and/or
theoretical implications. Synthesis and generalization as the last important area of literature lead to the
identification and purpose of the proposed study. In all reviews, some recommendations or implications
for practice, education and research should be included.

The different elements of a typical research literature which will include the following:

1. Journals are published in issues at regular intervals usually weekly, monthly or quarterly. Because of
the regularity of publication they are also known as periodicals or serials. This regularity means that each
new issue contains articles that describe the latest research findings; this is a distinct advantage over
other publication media such as books that take longer to produce and update. There are basically two
main types of journal: 1) Research journals are published peer-reviewed articles; 2) Professional journals
are published articles on professional issues, service developments, the use of research findings in
practice and some short research articles.

2. Theses and dissertations are very detailed and comprehensive accounts of research work. They are
usually submitted for a higher degree at a university. Like reports their publicity and distribution may be
very limited.

3. Conference proceedings comprise brief summaries of research work presented at conferences. A

more detailed and complete account of the work may appear at a later date in a journal article, report or
thesis. Researchers often use conferences to present preliminary findings of their work.

4. Books and textbooks generally provide comprehensive overviews of a particular subject. In doing so
they may refer to, sometimes extensively, the research literature found in journal articles, reports,
conference proceedings or theses. They are not usually used to present new research findings. There
are, however, a few exceptions to this and some very important and influential research findings have
been published in book format.
=================================== end exam================================================

Wallace and Wray (2006, p.92) have provided a simple categorization system to help students identify the
literature they have. They describe how the literature students encounter tends to fall into one of five
categories: 1) Theoretical; 2) Research; 3) Empirical; 4) Practice; and 5) Policy.

1) Theoretical literature describes expected or anticipated relationships about the way things happen.
For example, there was a time when there was a theory that the world was flat. Then, with increased
knowledge, scientists were able to work out that this was not the case and the theory was disproven. In
health and social care, theories are often generated in response to evidence that has been gathered and
interpreted. A theory is developed that is then refined or refuted when further evidence is obtained.

2) Research literature generally refers to a report of a systematic investigation that has been undertaken
in response to the need to answer a specific question, for example: ―How long do people tend to remain
in a pre-contemplative stage when anticipating behavior change or, indeed, is there any evidence that
everyone goes through a pre-contemplative stage when anticipating behavior change?‖ These questions
can only be answered by observing what happens in the real world, rather than in a theory. Research
studies are generally undertaken according to an accepted scientific method, which involves defining a
research question, identifying a method to carry out the study, followed by the presentation of results, and
finally a discussion of the results.

3) Empirical research is a research that is undertaken through the observation and measurement of the
world around us. It studies the use of observation, experience or experimentation to collect new data.
Data can be collected in a variety of ways; for example by questionnaire, interview, direct management,
and observations. Such papers tend to be organized into sections, beginning with a research question,
followed by the results and finally a discussion and conclusion.

4) Practice literature is written by practitioners about their field of expertise. This can come in many
different forms— expert opinion, discussion papers, debate, information from websites, patient information
leaflets, and reports of good practice. Students might find some overlap between research and practice
literature; that is, a lot of health and social care research is undertaken in the practice setting. The way to
distinguish between research and practice literature is to look for evidence of an explicit and systematic
research study that has a well described method by which the investigation or study has been carried out.
If no such method exits, then literature is likely to be practice literature.

5) Policy literature tells practitioners how to act in a set of circumstances. Policies and guidelines can be
written from a given set of circumstances. Policies and guidelines can be written from a local or national
perspective, or in some cases international. In an ideal context, policy is based on the results or research
evidence. The research on a particular topic is reviewed and policy and guidelines are written that are
based on these findings. Therefore when students review a policy, it is useful to explore the basis on
which it is written in order to find out the extent to which the policy is based on current research findings.

How to write a concise review of related literature

Doing the review of related literature is not the usual enumeration of references. Presentation of the data
gathered should be by topic based on the given objectives of the research. The literature should not be
too detailed or brief. Text should be based on the current edition of the American Psychological
Association (APA), Modern Language Association of America (MLA) or the Chicago Manual of Style and
other standards relevant to one‘s discipline.

The type of reference style will depend on the research studies of the student namely:
1) APA: Psychology, Education and other Social Sciences;
2) MLA: Arts and Humanities;
3) Chicago: History and many other subjects in scholarly and non-scholarly work
4) Turbian: an adoption of the Chicago Style;
5) AMA: Medicine, health, and Biological courses.

The references for each of the following styles may be seen and searched on the following websites for
references:
1) APA:
http://student.ucol.ac.nz/library/onlineresources/Docu ments/APA_guide_2015.pdf
http://web.calstatela.edu/library/guides/3apa.pdf
http://www.ecu.edu/cs-dhs/laupuslibrary/upload/apa_style_guide_6th_ed_oc t09.pdf
2) MLA:
http://www.lib.washington.edu/help/guides/44mla.pdf
http://lib.trinity.edu/research/citing/MLACitationStyle. pdf
https://www.library.unlv.edu/help/mla_2009.pdf

3) Chicago:
https://www.utica.edu/academic/library/Chicago.pdf
http://www.msvu.ca/site/media/msvu/StyleGuideChic ago(1).pdf

4) Turabian/Chicago:
https://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/PDF/chicago_tura bian_uwmadison_writingcenter_june2013.pdf
http://www.otago.ac.nz/library/pdf/chicago-turabianstyle.pdf

5) AMA:
http://www.lib.jmu.edu/citation/amaguide.pdf
http://library.stkate.edu/sites/default/files/sites/citingw riting/citeAMA.pdf

Aveyard, H. (2014) presented a list of steps to help students with their Literature Review:

1. Developing a systematic approach to searching for literature

This is vital for students undergoing literature review. It should be done in a systematic way ensuring that
they search for relevant texts on their topic.

A systematic searching strategy contains the following:

1) Look for the type of literature that will address the review question;
2) Create search terms that are valid and important to the search;
3) Using inclusion and exclusion criteria, search for literature using the search terms through all relevant
databases;
4) Fill in the electronic search by looking for the frequently cited journals as well as the reference list of the
journal articles. This approach renders a chance of looking for the maximum amount of literature. This will
avoid ‗cherry-picking‘ the literature and entering the first appropriate literature that comes across.

2. Identify the literature that will address students review question

Initially students must develop a strategy to articulate the focus of literature that will seek to answer their
questions. For example, if they are looking to find out whether the newly invented kind of gasoline is
efficient or not in lowering fuel costs of people using cars, then finding out about car users experiences of
the new gasoline will not help students answer their questions, although it will be useful data.