Nicanor Reyes St.

, Sampaloc, Manila
Accountancy, Business, and Management

Practical Research 1

Lesson 1:
INTRODUCTION TO RESEARCH

Learning Objectives:
At the end of the lesson, students are expected to:
1. understand the meaning and importance of research
2. understand the types of research
3. demonstrate the applicability of research in everyday life

Research
- process of collecting, analyzing, and interpreting information to answer a question.
- the systematic study of materials and sources in order to establish facts and reach new
conclusions (Oxford English Dictionary, 2002).
- a systematic study or investigation of something for the purpose of answering questions posed
by the researcher (Parel, n.d.).

Through research we can provide:

• explanations,
• descriptions,
• interpretations, and
• answers to questions

Purpose of Research
- according to Havana (1989); Valisno (2000); and Bernales (2006), research is a fundamental
mission and function of higher education.
- to answer a specific question, to solve a particular controversy or issue.

Objectives of Research
• knowledge production
• governance
• provide useful information in the form of verified data (Chan, et al., 2008)

Importance of Research
• Article XIV, Section 10 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution:
“The state shall give priority to research and development, invention, and innovation…”
• Research is a vehicle for mobility and progress
• Research is important in decision-making
• Research is critical to lending credibility to arguments
 • A simple term paper can be a form of research, which can be expanded to a more comprehensive
topic in senior high school or college.

Types of Research
Research can be classified according to different categories. They may be grouped according to:
• Importance,
• Method,
• Locale

A. According to Importance:
• Basic Research
- designed to advance knowledge with no application to existing problems in view.
- driven by a scientist's curiosity or interest in a scientific question. The main motivation is to
expand man's knowledge, not to create or invent something.
- there is no obvious commercial value to the discoveries that result from basic research.
Example of questions asked:
- How did the universe begin?
- What are protons, neutrons, and electrons composed of?
- How do slime mold reproduce?
- What is the specific genetic code of the fruit fly?

• Applied Research
- designed to help solve particular, existing problems, so there is a much larger audience eager
to support research that is likely to be profitable or solve problems of immediate concern.
- designed to solve practical problems of the modern world, rather than to acquire knowledge for
knowledge's sake. One might say that the goal of the applied scientist is to improve the human
condition.
- applied research can be further classified as survey research or marketing research.

B. According to method:
• Qualitative Research
- an umbrella term covering an array of interpretive techniques which seek to describe, decode,
translate, and otherwise come to terms with the meaning, not the frequency, of certain more or
less naturally occurring phenomena in the social world (Merriam, 2009).

Types of Qualitative Research

A. Phenomenological Studies
B. Ethnography Studies
C. Grounded Theory Studies
D. Historical Studies
E. Case Studies
F. Action Research Studies

• Quantitative Research
- according to Creswell (1994), it is a type of research that is, “explaining phenomena by
collecting numerical data that are analyzed using mathematically based methods (in particular
statistics)”.

Types of Quantitative Research

• Experimental Research

2
 - involves a study of the effect of the systematic manipulation of one variable or another
variable.
• Independent variable- the manipulated variable; also called as experimental
treatment.
• Dependent Variable- the observed and measured variable
• Non-experimental Research
- in non-experimental quantitative research, the researcher identifies variables and may look
for relationships among them, but does not manipulate the variables.

Forms of non-experimental research:

A. Ex post facto research (casual comparative research)
- similar to an experiment, except the researcher does not manipulate the
independent variable, which has already occurred in the natural course of events.
B. Correlational research
- seeks to examine the strength and direction of relationships among two or more
variables. The extent of the relationship is expressed in numerical index.

C. According to Locale:
• Library Research
• Field Research
• Experimental Research
• Laboratory Research

Characteristics of Research
• Empirical- research is based on direct experience or observation by the researcher; it includes data
gathering.
• Logical- research is based on valid procedures and principles; it should be reasonable.
• Cyclical- research starts with a problem and ends with a problem.
• Analytical- utilizes proven analytical procedures in gathering the data, whether historical,
descriptive, experimental, or case study.
• Replicability- the research designs and procedures are replicated to enable the researcher to arrive
at valid and conclusive results. The more replications of researches, the more valid and conclusive
the results would be.
• Critical- research exhibits careful and precise judgment.