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Module 4

Understanding Data
and Ways to
Systematically
Collect Data

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WHAT THIS MODULE ALL ABOUT?

A lot of data from different sources preoccupy your mind as you go through the
several stages of research. To understand the data; that is, to find meanings in them
in relation to your study, you have to conduct an orderly manner of gathering,
identifying, and grouping them. A set-by-set arrangement of facts and information is a
must in research, because in arriving at a conclusion about your study on the basis of
the collected data, you don’t only deal with lone proof or evidence but also with several
proofs hinging upon a common theme, concept or theory.

WHAT DO YOU EXPECT TO LEARN?

After studying this module, you are expected to:

 explain the meaning of quantitative research design;

 compare and contrast the types of quantitative research designs;
 classify the types of quantitative research designs;
 outline the experimental research-design stages;
 present a graphical look of the experimental research-design stages;
 explain the meaning of quantitative data;
 differentiate the quantitative-data collection techniques;
 describe each quantitative data-collection instrument;
 specify the appropriate data-collection instruments for each data-collection
method; and
 evaluate the effectiveness of interview questions.

LESSON 9:
QUANTITATIVE RESEACH DESIGNS

Meaning of Quantitative Research Design

There are a lot of things that you want to do in life. You want to be a Dean’s
Lister, to be in other parts of the world, to be a millionaire, to be a renowned scientist,
engineer, surgeon, and so forth. To realize one, two, or three of these things you want
to happen in your life, first, envisage any of these in your mind then have a vision of
what to do and how to do such thing. Doing this is seeing in your mind the order or
arrangement of things involved in the activity you want to perform. This is an act of
designing wherein a plan or an outline of your activities is conceived in your mind. It is
a design that takes a certain shape the moment you use symbols to lay its structure
or components on a piece of paper.

In any research type, much more, in a quantitative research where you do a

great deal of abstraction and scientific or logical thinking, a research design is a part
and parcel of your study. By means of your research design, you are able to make
these aspects of your research clear: your methods or techniques in finding answers
to your research questions and in collecting data.

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Coming out with the design of your research is not an initial act of your study.
It is not the starting period of your research that makes you pour much of your time in
mulling over your research problem and in obtaining background knowledge about
your research topic. Preparing the design of your research work takes place after
finalizing your mind on these major aspects of your research: research topic,
background of the study, research questions, hypotheses, and research strategy like:
case study, experimentation, survey, and action research, among others, that would
introduce you to the different data-collecting techniques of interview, observation, and
questionnaire. Simply stated, quantitative research focuses on numbers, statistics,
and relationships between variables. (Punch 2014; Edmonds 2013; Lapan 2012)

Types of Quantitative Research Designs

Experimental Research Design

1. Definition

Experimental research design is a quantitative research design that bases its

research method on a scientific activity called experiment, in which a test or
examination of a thing under a manipulated or controlled environment is done to
determine the validity or truthfulness of such thing. This design involves two groups of
subjects: the experimental group on which the condition, treatment, or intervention is
applied and the control group that is not given any treatment or condition.

Following this experimental design, you conduct two kinds of tests: pre-test for
both groups and post-test for the experimental or treatment group to see the difference
between them based on the effects of the treatment or condition given to the
experimental group. (Picardie 2014; Yin 2012)

2. Types

There are two types of experimental research designs: the true experimental
design and the quasi-experimental design. (De Mey 2013; Creswell 2013)

a. True Experimental Design – What proves this as a true experimental design is

its random selection of participants. It is a bias-free selection that ensures
objectivity of results. This design is the best way to examine causal
relationships.

b. Quasi-experimental Design – The term quasi (pronounced as kwahz-eye)

means partly, partially, pseudo, or almost. The non-adherence of this research
design to random selection of participants is the reason it got the name, quasi-
experimental research, which means a research with the capacity to yield
findings that are seemingly or more or less true. Prone to bias caused by your
purposive, rather than random selection of participants, quasi-experimental
design is incapable of establishing cause-effect relationships. Trying to
approximate or to be like the true experimental design, this research design
comes in different types such as the following:

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 Matched comparison group design

In this quasi-experimental design, instead of selecting participants for

the control group, you get a set of participants that shows close similarities with
the experimental or treatment group based on one or more important variables.

 Time-series quasi-experimental design

Your act of controlling the variables in this case is through multiple

observations of the subjects before and after the treatment or condition applied
to the experimental group. The purpose of serial observations is to see the
connection between the pre-test and the post-test based on the taking place of
the treatment or condition.

 Counter-balanced quasi-experimental design

Here, control is applied to one group to examine the effects of all

treatment and conditions to control variables. For instance, negative results
coming from three-time observations are counterbalanced or given weight that
is equated with positive results from four- or five-time observations.

 Single-subject quasi-experimental design

This design is used when the population is so large that you find difficulty
in choosing a group to study. So, you decide to apply the condition or treatment
to a single subject like a class of learners then later find out the effects of the
treatment on the entire class.

Experimental Research Design Stages

The true experimental and quasi-experimental designs follow the same stages in
research designing. Their difference lies only in the participant-selection process, in
that the first is randomized; the second, purposive. (Lapan 2012; Walliman 2014)

1. Clear knowledge of the research objectives that enable you to decide not only
on the kind of research you have to do, but also on the manner you have to
follow in conducting the research.

2. Formulation of hypotheses to state your guesses of what may not be true (null
hypotheses) or may be true (alternative hypotheses) about the results.

3. Method of testing your hypotheses or of examining their validity like deciding

whether you have to follow the experimental design or the quasi-experimental
design.

4. Choice of which instrument to use in collecting data; that is, whether to use
interview, observation, or questionnaire.

5. Process of selecting the subjects to compose the control group and the
experimental group.

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6. Performance of experimentation that allows control of the cropping up of

extraneous variables and of the experimenter’s bias.

7. Collection and analysis of data.

Non-Experimental Research Design

1. Definition

Non-experimental design is a quantitative research design that is capable of

giving qualitative and quantitative data, but more on qualitative data; hence, this is
often used in the field of social sciences. Unlike the experimental design that allows
manipulation or control of some aspects of the research, non-experimental research
design shuns controlling variables. Instead, it involves variables the way they naturally
exist on earth.

2. Types

The following are the types of non-experimental research designs (Schreiber

2012; Letherby 2013; Creswell 2014):

1. Descriptive – depicts an image or a picture of an individual or a group

2. Comparative – states the differences or similarities between or among people,
things, objects, etc.
3. Correlative – shows the extent and direction of variable relationships, that is,
whether a negative or positive relationship exists between or among them
4. Survey – describes the attitudes, preferences, views, feelings, views, and other
behavioral patterns of a big number of people for arriving at a certain conclusion
about societal concerns and issues
5. Ex Post Facto – translates itself into these English words, “that which is done
afterwards” and has the purpose of deriving data from things that are by nature
taking place, so as to obtain explanations about past events (Litchman 2013,
p. 42)

Activity 1. Directions: INDIVIDUAL WORK. Circle the letter of the correct answer.

1. Designing a research is thinking ___________.

a. critically c. literally
b. skillfully d. imaginatively

2. To design a research is seeing the research process in your __________.

a. paper c. library
b. mind d. book

3. Preparing in your mind how to find answers to your research questions is ________.
a. deciding on your research topic c. designing your research
b. controlling your emotions d. asking research questions

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4. These are aspects of your research: research objectives, topic, questions,

hypotheses, and methodology. You come to think of quantitative research design ___.
a. before finalizing your mind on these aspects of your research
b. after thinking of these aspects of your research
c. as you formulate hypotheses about these parts
d. as you ponder on your research problem

5. Central to experimental design is analyzing relationships that are _________.

a. specific c. hypothetical
b. causal d. stable

6. A quantitative research design that is equated with qualitative design is _________.

a. true experimental c. non-experimental
b. semi-experimental d. quasi-experimental

7. Quantitative research designs are true for all experimental designs except the
aspect on _____________.
a. subject selection c. treatment application
b. variable relationships d. variable control

8. A quantitative research design that makes you behave as a scientist is________.

a. survey research c. experimental design
b. case study d. correlative study

9. An empirical study is based on a research design that is _______________.

a. qualitative c. quantitative
b. hypothetical d. theoretical

10. These two are the leading indicators of the occurrence of true experimental design:
a. Pre-test and post-test c. treatment and condition
b. Randomization and variable control d. experimental and control group

Activity 2. Directions: Answer each question intelligently and concisely.

1. What should you be thinking of before designing your research?

__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

2. Does your research still follow a quantitative research design despite its non-use of
random selection of subjects? Why? Why not?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

3. How do you know that one is applying a quantitative research design?

__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

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4. Supposing you cannot apply a true experimental design but you still want to follow
a quantitative research design, what research can you do? Give reasons for your
answer.
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

5. What do you mean by experimental and control group?

__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
6. Should the experimental and control group always be selected randomly? Why?
Why not?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

7. Why do some people resort to applying quasi-experimental design rather

than true experimental design?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

8. Do you agree that the best research results come from experimental designs?
Justify your point?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

9. If you were to conduct a quantitative research, which quantitative research design

would you follow? Explain your answer.
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

10. Do you know of some people around who did a research study using a quantitative
research design? Describe this person in relation to his/her study.
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

Concept-Learning Assessment

Think of the concepts or ideas about quantitative research designs that you
learned through this lesson. Classify these ideas based on the extent of your
understanding of these concepts. List them down in the right column.

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LESSON 10:
QUANTITATIVE DATA-COLLECTION TECHNIQUES

Definition of Quantitative Data

Data are pieces of information or facts known by people in this world. Appearing
measurable, numerical, and related to a metrical system, they are called quantitative
data. These data result from sensory experiences whose descriptive qualities such as
age, shape, speed, amount, weight, height, number, positions, and the like are
measurable. Denoting quantity, these words appear in records in numerical forms that
are either discrete (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6...) or continuum (amount of flour...). However, these
quantitative data become useful only in so far as they give answers to your research
questions. (Russell 2013; Creswell 2013).

Techniques in Collecting Quantitative Data

Collecting data is one major component of any type of research. Undermining

its importance would result in the production of inaccurate data sufficient to render
your research study invalid. Hence, in collecting quantitative data, stress is given to
the accuracy or appropriateness of your data-gathering technique as well as of the
right instrument to collect the data. The following are the most used quantitative data
gathering techniques along with the data-gathering instruments for each technique.
(Matthews 2010; Badke 2012; Thomas 2013; Woodwell 2014)

1. Observation

Using your sense organs, you gather facts or information about people, things,
places, events, and so on, by watching and listening to them; then, record the results
of the functioning of your eyes and ears. Expressing these sensory experiences to
quantitative data, you record them with the use of numbers. For instance, watching
patients lining up at a medical clinic, instead of centering your eyes on the looks of the
people, you focus your attention on the number, weight, and height of every patient
standing up at the door of the medical clinic.

As a researcher preoccupied with collecting quantitative data through

observation, you begin to count the number of patients and get the measurement of
their height and weight. These numbers representing the results of your counting and
measurement are then jotted down in your record notebook. Seeing, touching, and
hearing the sources of data personally, you engage yourself in direct observation. It is
an indirect observation, if you see and hear them, not through your own eyes and ears,
but by means of technological and electronic gadgets like audiotapes, video records,
and other recording devices used to capture earlier events, images, or sounds.

2. Survey

Survey is a data-gathering technique that makes you obtain facts or information

about the subject or object of your research through the data gathering instruments of
interview and questionnaire. This is the most popular data-gathering technique in

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quantitative and qualitative researcher studies for the researchers are free to use not
just one survey instrument but also these two following data-gathering instruments of
the research including the relationships of these research features.

Questionnaire

Questionnaire is a paper containing series of questions formulated for an

individual and independent answering by several respondents for obtaining statistical
information. Each question offers a number of probable answers from which the
respondents, on the basis or their own judgment, will choose the best answer. Making
up a questionnaire are factual and opinionated questions. Questions to elicit factual
answers are formulated in a multiple-choice type and those to ask about the
respondents’ views, attitudes, preferences, and other opinionated answers are
provided with sufficient space where the respondents could write their sentential
answers to opinionated questions.

Responses yielded by this instrument are given their numerical forms

(numbers, fractions, percentages) and categories and are subjected to statistical
analysis. Questionnaire is good for collecting data from a big number of respondents
situated in different places because all you have to do is either to hand the paper to
the respondents or to send it to them through postal or electronic mail. However,
ironically, your act of sending the questionnaires to respondents, especially to those
in remote areas, is susceptible to waste of money, time, and effort for you do not have
any assurance of the return of all or a large number of fully accomplished
questionnaires.

Interview

Survey as a data-gathering technique likewise uses interview as its data-gathering

instrument. Similar to a questionnaire, interview makes you ask a set of questions,
only that, this time, you do it orally. Some, however, say that with the advent of modern
technology, oral interview is already a traditional way of interviewing, and the modern
ways happen through the use of modern electronic devices such as mobile phones,
telephones, smart phones, and other wireless devices.

 Order of Interview Questions

In asking interview questions, you see to it that you do this sequentially; meaning,
let your questions follow a certain order such as the following: (Sarantakos 2013;
Fraenbel 2012)

First set of questions – opening questions to establish friendly relationships,

like questions about the place, the time, the physical appearance of the participant, or
other non-verbal things not for audio recording

Second set of questions – generative questions to encourage open-ended

questions like those that ask about the respondents’ inferences, views, or opinions
about the interview topic

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Third set of questions – directive questions or close-ended questions to elicit

specific answers like those that are answerable with yes or no, with one type of an
object, or with definite period of time and the like

Fourth set of questions – ending questions that give the respondents the
chance to air their satisfaction, wants, likes, dislikes, reactions, or comments about the
interview. Included here are also closing statements to give the respondents some
ideas or clues on your next move or activity about the results of the interview

 Guidelines in Formulating Interview Questions

From the varied books on research are these tips on interview question formulation
that you have to keep in mind to construct effective questions to elicit the desired data
for your research study:

a. Use clear and simple language.

b. Avoid using acronyms, abbreviations, jargons, and highfalutin terms.
c. Let one question elicit only one answer; no double-barrel question.
d. Express your point in exact, specific, bias-free, and gender-free language.
e. Give way to how your respondents want themselves to be identified.
f. Establish continuity or free flow of the respondents’ thoughts by using
appropriate follow-up questions (e.g., Could you give an example of it? Would
you mind narrating what happened next?).
g. Ask questions in a sequential manner; determine which should be your
opening, middle, or closing questions.

3. Experiment

An experiment is a scientific method of collecting data whereby you give the

subjects a sort of treatment or condition then evaluate the results to find out the
manner by which the treatment affected the subjects and to discover the reasons
behind the effects of such treatment on the subjects. This quantitative data-gathering
technique aims at manipulating or controlling conditions to show which condition or
treatment has effects on the subjects and to determine how much condition or
treatment operates or functions to yield a certain outcome.

The process of collecting data through experimentation involves selection of

subjects or participants, pre-testing the subjects prior to the application of any
treatment or condition, and giving the subjects post-test to determine the effects of the
treatment on them. These components of experiment operate in various ways.
Consider the following combination or mixture of the components that some research
studies adopt:

a. Treatment → evaluation
b. Pre-test → Treatment → Post-test
c. Pre-test → Multiple Treatments → Post-test
d. Pre-test → Treatment → Immediate Post-test → 6-mos.
Post-test → 1-yr. → Post-test

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These three words: treatment, intervention, and condition, mean the same thing
in relation to experimentation. These are the terms to mean the things given or applied
to the subjects to yield certain effects or changes on the said subjects. For instance,
in finding out the extent of the communicative competence of the subjects, put these
participants in a learning condition where they will perform varied communicative
activities such as dramatizing a story, round-table discussions, interviewing people,
table-topic conversation, and the like.

Dealing with or treating their communicative abilities in two or more modes of

communication is giving them multiple treatments. The basic elements of experiment
which are subjects, pre-test, treatment, and post-test do not operate only for examining
causal relationships but also for discovering, verifying, and illustrating theories,
hypotheses, or facts. (Edmonds 2013; Morgan 2014; Picardie 2014)

4. Content Analysis

Content analysis is another quantitative data-collection technique that makes

you search through several oral or written forms of communication to find answers to
your research questions. Used in quantitative and qualitative research studies, this
data-collection method is not only for examining printed materials but also for
analyzing information coming from non-book materials like photographs, films, video
tapes, paintings, drawings, and the like. Here, you focus your study on a single subject
or on two entities to determine their comparative features. Any content analysis you
want to do is preceded by your thorough understanding of your research questions
because these are the questions to guide you in determining which aspect of the
content of the communication should you focus on to find the answers to the main
problem of your research.

Measurement Scales for Quantitative Data

In quantitative research, measurements of data expressed in numerical forms

form in a scale or one that consists series of graduated quantities, values, degrees,
numbers, and so on. Thinking about the type and scale of measurement that you have
to use in your quantitative research is important because your measurement choices
tell you the type of statistical analysis to use in your study. Not knowing which scale of
measurement to use may result in your erroneous examination of the data.

There are two categories of scales of measurement: qualitative scales of

measurement and quantitative scales of measurement. Under quantitative scales of
measurement are these two: the nominal scale to show the classification of things
based on a certain criterion such as gender, origin, brand, etc., and the ordinal scale
to indicate the rank or hierarchical order of things. The quantitative scales of
measurement are the interval scale for showing equal differences or intervals between
points on the scale in an arbitrary manner (showing differences in attitudes,
inclinations, feelings, ideas, fears, opinions, etc.) and the ratio scale, like the interval
scale, that shows equal differences or intervals between points on the scale. However,
these two quantitative scales of measurement are not exactly the same, in that, the

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latter gives value to zero, while the former does not give any value to zero for the value
depends solely on the respondent. (Schreiber 2011; Letherby 2013)

Examples:

1. Nominal Scale – categorizing people based on gender, religion, position, etc.

(one point for each)
religion – Catholic, Buddhist, Protestant, Muslim
gender – male, female
position – CEO, vice-president, director, manager, assistant manager
Summing up the points per variable, you will arrive at a certain total that you
can express in terms of percentages, fractions, or decimals like: 30% of males,
25% of females, 10% of Catholics, 405 of Buddhists, and so forth.

2. Ordinal Scale – ranking or arranging the classified variables to determine who

should be the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc., in the group

3. Interval Scale – showing equal intervals or differences of people’s views or

attitudes like this one example of a scale called Likert Attitude Scale:

Reading is important.

4. Ratio Scale – rating something from zero to a certain point

Performance in Math subject – a grade of 89% (from 0 to 100%)

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Activity 3. Directions: Using the table below, compare and contrast each pair of
expressions.

Concept-Learning Assessment

Using the space below, write a reflective essay about your learning experience
on the quantitative data-collection techniques. Let your essay reveal how much you
learned about each concept behind each topic dealt with in this lesson. Express which
concepts are the most understood, slightly understood, and the least understood ones .

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REFERENCES

Baraceros, Esther L. Practical Research 2. Manila: Rex Book Store, Inc., 2016.

Badke, W. B. 2012. Teaching research process: The faculty’s role in the development
of skilled student researchers. New Delhi: CP Chados Publishing.

Creswell, J. 2014. Research design: qualitative, quantitative, and mixed method

approaches. 4th ed. Los Angeles: Sage.

De Mey, L. Dr. and Smith, D. Dr. 2013. Advanced research methods. London: Sage.

Edmonds, A. and Kennedy, T. 2013. An applied reference guide to research designs:

Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed method. Los Angeles: Sage.

Fraenbel, J. Wallen, N., and Hyun, H. 2012. How to design and evaluate research in
education. 2012. USA: Mc-Graw-Hill.

Lapan, S., Quartaroli, M., and Riemer, F. 2012. An introduction to research methods
and designs. USA: Jossey-Bass, A Wiley Imprint.

Letherby, G., Scott, J., and Williams, M. 2013. Objectivity and subjectivity in social
research. Los Angeles: Sage.

Litchman, M. 2013. Qualitative research in education. 3rd ed. Los Angeles: Sage

Matthews, B. and Ross, L. 2010. Research Method: A practical guide for the social
research. New York: Pearson.

Picardie, C. and Masick, K. D. 2014. Research methods (designing and conduction

research with a real-world focus). Los Angeles: Sage.

Prieto, Nelia G, Naval, Victoria C. and Carey, Teresita G. Practical Research 2, For
Senior High School, Lorimar Publishing Inc, 2017

Russell, B. 2013. Social research methods: Qualitative and quantitative approaches.

Los Angeles: Sage.

Sarantakos, S. 2013. Social research. 4th ed. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Schreiber, J. K. and Ashner-Self, K. 2011. Educational research. USA: John Wiley and
Sons.

Walliman, N. 2014. Your undergraduate dissertation. 2nd ed. Los Angeles: Sage.

Woodwell, R. 2014. Research foundation. Los Angeles: Sage.

Yin, R. K. 2012. Application of case studies research. Los Angeles: Sage.

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