When you start to think “ I wonder why and started looking for answer using your critical

thinking then you are already starting a research. But if you just stop their in wondering and you
don’t do anything and just said “bahala na’ so your not on a mind set of research. Research is
asking questions and looking for answers to these questions. When we are comparing and
contrasting things, when we are searching for more information, and when we are finding what
people think and want then we are already engaging ourselves into research.

Research signifies finding the truth again about the ideas and problems which were in existence
before in different perspective. It is widely recognized as an important tool for solving man’s
various problem and in making our lives as human being more convenient. Technology we have
today those gadgets, medicines that give us relief, the tool and equipment that make our task
more easier are all products of research. As a whole research can help us:

 understand and assess the things and occurrences around us

 provides us with rationale and justification for decisions and actions
 gives us various means of identifying problems, find new ways of dealing with life
challenges
 come up with innovate materials and mechanism that can improve the quality of our lives

One form of research which is more disciplined in methodology and more scientific in its
procedure is called academic research. Under academic research there were two approaches
involve the qualitative research which you already discuss in your practical research 1 and the
quantitative research.

Quantitative research is more concerned with numbers and its relationship. Data are analysed
through numerical comparisons and statistical interferences. Data are gathered in numerical form
which can be put into categories, or in rank order, or measured in units of measurement. This
type of data can be used to construct graphs and tables of raw data and reported through
statistical analyses.

What are the characteristics of quantitative Research?

 Objective
 it must have clearly defined questions
 structured research instruments which means it use standardized, pre-tested instruments
guide data collection to ensure the accuracy, reliability and validity of data.
 data are in the form of statistics and presented using tables, charts, graphs which shows
relationships or differences among variables
 it must have a large sample size if you want to have an accurate result. The number of
respondents you need depends on your survey goals and how confident and accurate you
want to be in your results.
 Researchers can repeat the quantitative method to verify or confirm the findings in
another setting or test repeatedly with another setting to verify or confirm the correctness
or validity of the result Through this way you can come up valid findings and eliminate
the possibility false conclusions
 You can used digital or electronic instruments to measure or gather data from the field.
  Quantitative models or formula derived from data analysis can predict outcomes. If-then
scenarios can be constructed using complex mathematical computations with the aid of
computers.

What is the advantage using the quantitative research?

 Since it provides numerical data, it cannot be easily misinterpreted. Since quantitative

uses numerical data it can be analyzed in a quick and easy way.
 It is also allows you to comprehend a huge amount of vital characteristics of data because
it use statistical techniques.

If there is advantage there is also disadvantage so what are this disadvantages using this kind of
approach?

First it’s very costly, because you need a large amount of respondents so you also need to spend
much in your materials specially on reproducing the questionnaires. Respondents cannot
elaborate further information on the question given. And if it’s not done seriously and correctly
data from questionnaires might be incomplete and inaccurate.

Under quantitative research there are 6 kinds of quantitative research. And choosing what kind of
quantitative research depends on the researcher’s aim in conducting the study and the extent to
which findings will be used.

What are the six kinds of quantitative research?

1. Descriptive research is concerned in describing the nature, characteristics and

components of the population it may be characterized as simply the attempt to determine,
describe or identify. Research questions in descriptive studies typically start with ‘What
is…. Used to describe characteristics and/or behaviour of sample population. Examples
of research questions in descriptive studies may include the following:
What is the impact of the martial law in the economic industry in Mindanao.
2. Correlational research describes the co-relationship that exist between two variables. In
identifying the relationship it can be useful in making predictions.
Example:
height and weight: Taller people tend to be heavier.
Sex and mathematical ability: males have higher mathematical ability compared to
females.

3. Evaluation research is to assess the effects and impacts or outcomes of practices, policies
or programs.
Example: is the K2 12 program will decrease the higher number of unemployment in our
country
Is the attitude of the teachers affect the learning process of the students.
4. Survey research used to gather information from groups of people. Example online
surveys like the applications in your phone you will rate on how much the application
useful to you. Using a rating scale
5. Causal-Comparative research attempt to determine the cause or consequences of
differences that already exist between or among groups of individual. It can be the
exploration of effect, exploration of causes or exploration of consequences.
Example:
How does pre-school attendance affect social maturity at the end of the first grade?
How does having a working mother affect a child’s school absenteeism?
6. Experimental research establish cause and effect
Example:
A teacher would like to know if the new teaching strategy is effective or not. So what she
did she teaches the other section using the new strategy and the other without using the
new strategy. Then at the end of the school year she conducted an achievement test. The
manipulated independent variables was the new teaching strategy which has an affect on
the dependent variable which is the achievement test.