Research Methods: Simple, Short, and Straightforward Way Of Learning
Methods of Research
Copyright 2016
Sherwyn D. Allibang
Edition License Notes
This book is authorized
for your own personal use. This book may not be re-sold or offered away to other
individuals. Much thanks to you for regarding the diligent work of the author.
Introduction
This book is intended for beginners
in research. This book uses Simple
words, Short sentences and Straightforward paragraphs. The triple
S and the simplest way of learning methods of research. Research in general
refers to a search for knowledge. The topics covered in this book includes a
brief introduction to research, research approaches, research designs, data
gathering techniques, sampling, and guides and tips in writing a research paper.
This book includes data and information needed by students who are taking the
course who will eventually write their research paper. This book is full of examples
along with the discussion of each topic. Those familiar with writings about
methods of research may notice that many of the important ideas, concepts, and
principles found in this book came from many authoritative sources with
incorporated original ideas of the author. The author is therefore, expressing
his thanks and gratitude to all those authors whose ideas, concepts, and
principles have been used to enrich the content of this book. TO GOD BE THE GLORY!
Table
of Contents
What is Research?
What are the Objectives of
Research?
What Makes People do Research?
Research Approaches
Qualitative
Quantitative
Research Process
Descriptive Design
Co-relational Design
Causal-Comparative Design
Developmental Design
Interview
Observation
Questionnaire
Likert Scale
Thurstone Scale
Guttman Scale
Semantic Differential Scale
Types of sampling
Probability sampling
Non-probability sampling
Statistical tools in sampling
Slovin formula
Lynch formula
Chapter 1 - INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Statement of the Problem/Objective
Theoretical Framework
Conceptual Framework/Paradigm
Assumption(s)/Hypotheses
Scope and Delimitation
Significance of the Study
Definition of Terms
Chapter 2- REVIEW OF LITERATURE
AND STUDIES
Related Literature
Related Studies
Chapter 3- RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research Design
Sources of Data
Instrumentation and Data Collection
Tools for Data Analysis
Chapter 4- FINDINGS, PRESENTATION,
ANALYSIS, AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA
Chapter 5- SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
The author wishes to express his
heartfelt gratitude to the Almighty God for His grace, wisdom, and guidance and
for giving the author the determination to write this book. This book would not
have been possible without the support and help of several individuals who in
one way or another contributed and extended their valuable assistance in the
preparation and completion of this material.
The author dedicates
this book to the ALMIGHTY GOD.
This chapter presents a brief
overview and the fundamentals of research.
What
is Research?
Research in general refers to a
search for knowledge. Research may be Applied
or Basic. The purpose of applied
(action) research is to solve an immediate, practical problem, while the basic
(Pure) research doesn't necessarily provide results of immediate, practical
use.
Let's look at some definition of
research from credible sources.
Merriam-Webster.
Research is a careful study that
is done to find and report new knowledge about something. It is the activity of
getting information about a subject.
OECD (2002) Frascati Manual.
Research comprises “creative work
undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge,
including knowledge of man, culture and society, and the use of this stock of
knowledge to devise new applications.
Martyn Shuttleworth.
In the broadest sense of the word,
the definition of research includes any gathering of data, information and
facts for the advancement of knowledge.
Creswell.
“Research is a process of steps
used to collect and analyze information to increase our understanding of a
topic or issue”. It consists of three steps: Pose a question, collect data to
answer the question, and present an answer to the question.
Based from the above mentioned
definitions, when someone asks you to research on a certain topic, and then you
search for answers, and found the answers on the web, books, or other
literatures, what you have done is not research, instead, what you have done is
called literature review.
Looking at the research
definitions above, a research is an
activity conducted in order to contribute into the existing body or stock of
knowledge. For an instance, you need to determine which among the two
brands of cars is better. When, you use Google or other sources to look for
answers, and you found the answer that brand A is better than Brand B, the
activity conducted is called literature review. However, if you verified the
truthfulness of the literature, tested the two brands on the same condition,
and document the testing made, the findings, and you formulated a conclusion,
then that's the time it is called a research. Most likely, a research has
findings and conclusions, and this is how the activity contributes to the
existing body of knowledge because the conditions, the findings, the date and
time it is conducted, and the conclusions derived are new knowledge that
contributes to the existing stock of knowledge.
What
are the Objectives of Research?
The prime objectives of research
are:
1. to discover new facts;
2. to verify and test important facts;
3. to analyze an event or process
or phenomenon to identify the cause and effect relationship;
4. to develop new scientific
tools, concepts and theories to solve and understand scientific and
nonscientific problems;
5. to find solutions to
scientific, nonscientific and social problems; and
6. to overcome or solve the
problems occurring in our daily life.
What
Makes People do Research?
This is a fundamentally important
question. No person would like to do research unless there are some motivating
factors . Some of the motivations are the following:
1. to get a research degree
(Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)) along with its benefits like better employment,
promotion, increase in salary, etc;
2. to get a research degree and
then to get a teaching position in a college or university or become a
scientist in a research institution;
3. to get a research or teaching
positions;
4. to solve the unsolved and
challenging problems;
5. to get joy of doing some
creative work;
6. to acquire respectability;
7. to get recognition;
8. curiosity to find out the
unknown facts of an event;
9. curiosity to find new things;
and
10. to serve the society by
solving social problems.
Research
Approaches
In any form of research, the
researcher will be required to either count things and/or talk to people.
Research approaches can be classified using this distinction which are Qualitative and Quantitative.
Qualitative.
This approach is concerned with the
quality of information as it attempt to gain an understanding of the underlying
reasons and motivations for actions. It establish how people interpret their
experiences and the world around them and provide insights into the setting of
a problem, generating ideas and/or hypotheses. Most likely, qualitative relies
on the perceptions of someone on given or observed facts.
Quantitative.
This approach is concerned with
trying to quantify things as it asks questions such as ‘how long’, ‘how many’
or ‘the degree to which’. It quantify data and generalize results from a sample
of the population of interest. Researcher may look to measure the incidence of
various views and opinions in a chosen sample or aggregate results.
To make things more clearer, let's
go back to the example about determining which among the two brand of cars is
better. Let's say, we tested both car's driving performance on the same road
condition. First, it is essential to define the car models. The car models that
should be used must be of the same year and as much as possible their release
dates is close to each other. In this process, the scope and coverage of the
research is being specified.
In qualitative approach, if the
two cars is tested by one driver, and the driver states that Brand A is better
over Brand B which is based from the driver's perception on his/her convenience
in driving, acceleration, steering, brakes, etc, and the findings and
conclusions derived are based from these, thus, the research conducted is
called qualitative approach. The problem with qualitative research is that
mostly, it relies on one's perception, hence in the example, the driver's perception
can vary from driver to driver, hence making the reliability of the research
output questionable. Typically, the data gathering tools used in qualitative
approach, includes questionnaire and interview. Now, to make the research
output more reliable, we should include quantitative approach.
In quantitative approach, we can use
a more structured questionnaire that has the same criterion but should be
quantified into numbers, having 1 as poor performance, and 5 as best
performance for each of criterion given which includes the convenience in
driving, acceleration, steering, breaks, etc. Also, we may ought to consider
more drivers as test subjects. For instance, 10 drivers undergone the testing,
and 8 out of 10 states that Brand A is better than Brand B. This gives more
reliability on the research results. If you notice, in quantitative, it covers
counting things and involves statistical treatment, hence, this may lead to a
more accurate and reliable result. Moreover, a good research may cover both
approach to make things more reliable.
Table 1.1 presents the difference
of qualitative and quantitative.
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