RESEARCH PROCESS

Chapter 1
Intro to Research
Prepared by:
Eva Marie P. Gacasan, Phd
 Getting to Know You

Tell us your
 Name

 Work and affiliation

 Degree/ program

 What is your motivation in pursuing MA

 Hi, I am Eva!

Phd in Psychology BS in Psychology (Cum

(Organisational Laude)
Psychology)

MA in Psychology • Assistant Professor

(Industrial - • Chairperson,
Organisational Psychology Dept.
Psychology) • University Public
Information Officer
Interests:
Research, research- and outcomes-based training, empowering
people and nurturing meaningful relationships
33
House Rules

4
 What are your expectations?

 Of the subject or course?

 Of the teacher?

 Of yourself?
 Overview of the Course

 Course Outline and Timetable

 Course Requirements

 Course Materials
 Course Outline and Timetable

Chapter Date
Chapter 1. Overview and Nature of Educational Research 1
Chapter 2. The Research Topic 1
Chapter 3. Review of Related Literature/ The Use of Theory 1
Chapter 4. The Research Question and Hypotheses 1
Chapter 5. Writing the Introduction, Strategies, and Ethics 2
Consideration
Chapter 6: Research Methodology and Designs 2
Chapter 7. Experimental Research 2
 Course Outline and Timetable

Chapter 8. Ex Post Facto Research 2

Chapter 9. Correlational Research 3
Chapter 10 – Survey Research 3
Chapter 11 – Qualitative Research 4
Chapter 12 – Methods of Data Collection 4
Chapter 13. Interpretation and Report Writing 5
 Course Requirements

 Attendance
 Assessment 1 – Research Topic
 Assessment 2 – List of 20 Articles/ References in APA
format
 Assessment 3 – Research Problem and Questions/
Conceptual Framework
 Assessment 4 (Midterm): Oral Presentation & Hard
Copy of Ch. 1. Research Introduction
 Assessment 5 – Ch. 2. Review of Related Literature
 Assessment 6 – Ch. 3. Research Methodology
 Assessment 7 (Final Term): Oral Presentation & Hard
Copy of Full Proposal Ch. 1 - 3
 Course Materials

 Edmodo

 American Psychological Association (2010). Publication Manual (6th Ed.). Washington,

DC: APA.
 Ary, D., Jacobs, L.C., & Sorensen, C. (2002). Introduction to research in education (8 th Ed).
Australia: Wadsworth Thomson Learning
 Bordens, K.S. & Abbott, B.B. (2011). Research design and methods: A process approach
(8th Ed.). NY: McGraw-Hill.
 Cargill, M. & O’Connor, P. (2013). Writing scientific research articles: Strategy and steps
(2nd Ed.). UK: Wiley-Blackwell.
 Creswell, J.W. (2014). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods
approaches. Los Angeles: SAGE.
 Kothari, C.R. (2004). Research methodology: Methods and Techniques (2 nd Revised Ed.). New
Delhi: New Age International Publishers.
 Chapter Outline

Chapter 1: An Introduction to Research Course

Sources of Knowledge
What is Research?
Objectives of Research
Assumptions Made by Scientists
Attitudes Expected of Scientists
Class Exercise
Research Approaches
Three Types of Research Designs
Comparison Between Quantitative and Qualitative Research
Questions to Ask
Basic and Applied Research
Language in Research
The Interrelatedness of Terms
The Research Process
Criteria of a Good Research
 Sources of Knowledge

_ X _ _ R _ E _ C _

 _ U_ H _R_ _ Y

_ E _ U _ T _ _ E R _ A _ O _ I _G
I _ D _ C _ I _ E _ E _ S _ N _ N _

_ E _ E _ R _ _

Ary, jacobs, Sorensen (2010)

 Research

• Search for knowledge

• Scientific and systematic search for pertinent
information on a specific topic
• Art of scientific investigation
• A careful investigation or inquiry specially
through search for new facts in any branch of
knowledge

Kothari, 2004
For Educational Research:

 Educational research is the application of the

scientific approach to the study of educational
problems.
 Educational research is the way in which people
acquire dependable and useful information about
the educative process.

Ary et al., 2010

 Objectives of Research

Describe – Explain - Predict - Control

To describe means:
 To gain familiarity with a phenomenon or to achieve new insights into
it (exploratory or formulative research studies)
 To portray accurately the characteristics of a particular individual,
situation, or a group (descriptive studies)
 To determine the frequency with which something occurs or with
which it is associated with something else (diagnostic research)
 To test a hypothesis of causal or correlational relationship between
variables (hypothesis-testing research studies)
Kothari, 2004
 Objectives of Research

Describe – Explain - Predict - Control

To explain means:
 To be able to see the relationships between two or more variables; to
explain about the cause and effects

To predict means:
 To be able to tell what would most likely occur

To control means:
 To be able to present or omit certain variables from showing their
influence
Kothari, 2004
 Assumptions in Science

1. Universal Determinism – events are lawful and

ordered; Science tells us what usually happens,
most of the time and in most cases – 95%; 99%

2. Reliable knowledge is based on direct and objective

observation (Only phenomena that are subject to
observation lie within the realm of scientific
investigation)

Ary, et al., 2010

 Attitudes Expected of
Scientists
1. Scientists are essentially doubters, who maintain a
highly skeptical attitude toward the data of science .

2. Scientists are objective and impartial.

3. Scientists deal with facts, not values .

4. Scientists are not satisfied with isolated facts but

seek to integrate and systematize their findings .

Ary, et al., 2010

 Exercise 1
Match the term on the left with the definition on the right.

a. Proceeding from general to

specific knowledge through
logical argument
1. Universal determinism
b. Deriving general
conclusions through direct
2. Inductive reasoning observation

3. Deductive reasoning c. A statement describing

relationships among
4. Hypothesis variables that is tentatively
assumed to be true

d. The assumption that all

natural phenomenal have
antecedent factors

Ary, et al., 2010

Answer Key

1. d
2. b
3. a
4. c
Throughout history, mankind has sought to explain the source of the
sun’s heat. The following are among the proposed explanations:
a. The sun is a god miraculously creating heat.
b. The heat comes from combustion like a log burning in a fi replace.
c. The sun is an enormous ball of gas. The pressure created by gravity
on this great mass creates great heat.
d. The sun’s heat comes from atomic fusion as in the hydrogen bomb.
Questions:
1. Which of the explanations are subject to disproof through
observation?
2. Which are scientific theories?
3. Most scientific textbooks in the 19th century gave answer c as the
best explanation of the sun’s heat. Later, it was shown that if c was
true, the sun could only produce heat for a short period of time.
Should the publishers of these textbooks apologize for publishing c
because it has now been shown to be inadequate for explaining the
phenomenon?
4. Current texts present answer d as the best explanation of the sun’s
heat. Have we finally reached the correct explanation?
Ary et al., 2010
 Answer Key

1. b, c, d

2. b, c, d

3. No. Science is dynamic, never claiming that a theory is the

ultimate truth. There is no shame

in embracing a theory and then discarding it when a better

explanation comes along.

4. We do not know. Currently, it fi ts the facts. It may be the

ultimate answer, but scientists

remain open to the possibility that future research may produce a

better explanation.
 Research Approaches in
Education
 Quantitative research uses objective measurement
to gather numeric data that are used to answer
questions or test predetermined hypotheses. It
generally requires a well-controlled setting.
 Qualitative research, in contrast, focuses on
understanding social phenomena from the
perspective of the human participants in natural
settings. It does not begin with formal hypotheses,
but it may result in hypotheses as the study unfolds.

Ary et al., 2010

 Three types of Research
Designs
Quantitative Qualitative Mixed Methods
True experiments Narrative research Convergent parallel
Quasi-experiments Phenomenology mixed methods
Applied behavioral Grounded Theory Explanatory sequential
analysis or single- Ethnographies mixed methods
subject experiments Case Study Exploratory sequential
Causal-comparative mixed methods
research Transformative mixed
Correlational design methods
Surveys Embedded mixed
methods
Multiphase mixed
methods

Creswell, 2014
Comparison Between Quantitative and
Qualitative Research
Quantitative Qualitative

Purpose To study relationships, To examine a

cause and effect phenomenon as it is, in
rich detail
Design Developed prior to Flexible, evolves
study during study
Approach Deductive; tests theory Inductive; may
generate theory
Tools Uses preselected The researcher is
instruments primary data
collection tool
Sample Uses large samples Uses small samples
Analysis Statistical analysis of Narrative description
numeric data and interpretation

Ary et al., 2010

 Quantitative Research

 Experimental Research

- studies the effect of the systematic manipulation of

one variable(s) {Independent Variable} on another
variable {Dependent Variable}.

- uses random assignment

 controls for extraneous variables

 Quasi – experimental – use of assembles groups or

classes

Ary et al., 2010

 Nonexperimental Research

1. Ex post facto research

e.g. What is the effect of part-time work to student’s performance?

2. Correlational research

means the extent to which the two variables vary directly (positive
correlation) or inversely (negative correlation). The degree of relationship is
expressed as a numeric index called the coefficient of correlation.

e.g. college entrance test result and first year GPA

3. Survey research

(also called descriptive research ) uses instruments such as questionnaires

and interviews to gather information from groups of individuals.

Ary et al., 2010

 Qualitative Research
Basic interpretive How are events, processes, and activities perceived by the
studies participant?
Case study What are the characteristics of this individual, organization, or
group?
Document What can be learned about this phenomenon by studying certain
analysis documents?
Ethnography What are the culture and perspectives of this group of people in its
natural setting?
Grounded theory What theory can be derived inductively about a phenomenon from
the data collected in a particular setting?
Historical studies What insights or conclusions can be reached about this past event?

Narrative inquiry What insights and understandings about an issue emerge from
examining life stories?
Phenomenological What does this experience mean for the participants in the
study experience?
Ary et al., 2010
 QUESTIONS TO ASK:

Theoretical questions
Practical questions

Your study is supposed to

address these GAPS.Ary et al., 2010
 Basic and Applied
Research
Basic research
Applied research

Ary et al., 2010

 Language in Research

 Constructs - are abstractions that cannot be

observed directly but are useful in interpreting
empirical data and in theory building. E.g.
intelligence, motivation, anxiety
 Operational definition ascribes meaning to a
construct by specifying operations that researchers
must perform to measure or manipulate the
construct. E.g. intelligence is defined as subjects’
score in Weschler Intelligence Scale for Children

Ary et al., 2010

 variable is a construct or a characteristic that can take on
different values or scores. Researchers study variables
and the relationships that exist among variables.
 Dichotomous/ categorical variables: e.g. male–female,
citizen–alien, and pass–fail
 Continuous variables: e.g. 40 to 41 inches waistline
 Independent variables are antecedents, factors,
predictors, treatment
 Dependent variable – outcome variable
Ary et al., 2010
The Interrelatedness of the
FF. Terms

Research Process

Methodology
Design

Methods

Kothari, 2004
 Research Methodology

General research strategy

 Theoretical underpinning/ logic behind the
methods in the context of our research study and
explain why we are using a particular method or
technique and why we are not using others

Kothari, 2004
Research Methods and
Techniques

Kothari, 2004
Research methods or techniques*, thus, refer to
the methods the researchers use in performing
research operations.

Kothari, 2004
Research Process

From Kothari’s book*

 Research Design

Decisions regarding what, where, when,

how much, by what means concerning an
inquiry or a research study constitute a
research design. “A research design is the
arrangement of conditions for collection and
analysis of data in a manner that aims to
combine relevance to the research purpose
with economy in procedure.”

Kothari, 2004
 Research Design

 What is the study about?

Why is the study being made?
Where will the study be carried out?
What type of data is required?
Where can the required data be found?
What periods of time will the study include? What
will be the sample design?
What techniques of data collection will be used?
How will the data be analysed?
In what style will the report be prepared?
Kothari, 2004
 Criteria of a Good
Research
1. Reliable
2. Valid
3. Parsimonious
4. Replicable

Kothari, 2004