CHARACTERISTICS, STRENGTHS, WEAKNESSES, AND KINDS OF QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH

Characteristics of Quantitative Research:

 The data is usually gathered using structured research instruments.
 The results are based on larger sample sizes that are representative of the population.
 The research study can usually be replicated or repeated, given its high reliability.
 Researchers have a clearly defined research question to which objective answers are sought.
 All aspects of the study are carefully designed before data is collected.
 Data are in the form of numbers and statistics, often arranged in tables, charts, figures, or other non-
textual forms.
 Researchers use tools, such as questionnaires or computer software, to collect numerical data.

Strengths of Quantitative Research:

 Since quantitative research is objective and provides numerical data, it cannot be easily misinterpreted.
 Statistical techniques were used to facilitate sophisticated analysis and allow the researchers to
comprehend a huge amount of vital information.
 The data in quantitative research can be analyzed in a quick and easy way. With the use of statistically
valid random models, tests, standardized instruments, questionnaires and checklists, findings can be
generalized to the population about which information is necessary.
 Replicable. This research can be replicated but with different areas of concern and location.
Dimensions can also be an additive factor to improve the previous research.
 It must be persistent and leisured to ensure that the research has accuracy, reliability and validity as it is
very useful for studying a large number of people.

Weaknesses of Quantitative Research:

 It requires a large number of respondents. The larger sample size, the more or better the statistical
findings are, but some studies have difficulty gathering the data.
 It is costly. Due to the very large sample, the expenses will be greater in reaching out to these people
and in reproducing the questionnaires.
 The produced knowledge could be so abstract and general for direct application to specific local
situations, contexts, and individuals.
 Researchers must be watchful on respondents who are just guessing in answering the research
instrument as some of them may not reveal the real response due to ethical issues
 The researcher might miss out on phenomena occurring because of the focus on theory or hypothesis
testing rather than on theory or hypothesis generation (called the confirmation bias).

Kinds of Quantitative Research:

Research design refers to the overall strategy that you choose in order to integrate the different
components of the study in a coherent and logical way, thereby ensuring you will effectively address the
research problem. Furthermore, a research design constitutes the blueprint for the selection, measurement and
analysis of data. The research problem determines the research you should.

According to April Klazema (2014), there are four kinds of quantitative research for students and researchers.
These kinds are Descriptive Research, Correlational Research, Causal-Comparative Research, and
Experimental Research. The ideas were explained in these manners:

1. Descriptive Research. It uses interviews, questionnaires, and sampling polls to get a sense of behavior with
intense precision. It allows researchers to judge behavior and then present the findings in an accurate way. This
is usually expressed in a frequent count or a percentage. Survey research can be conducted around one
group specifically or used to compare several groups. When conducting survey research it is important that the
people questioned are sampled at random. This allows for more accurate findings across a greater spectrum of
respondents.

2. Correlational Research. It tests for the association between two variables. Performing correlational research is
done to establish what the effect of one on the other might be and how that affects the relationship.
Correlational research is conducted in order to explain a noticed occurrence. In correlational research the
survey is conducted on a minimum of two groups. In most correlational research there is a level of manipulation
involved with the specific variables being researched. Once the information is compiled it is then analyzed
statistically to draw conclusions about the effect that one has on the other.

3. Causal-Comparative Research. It looks to uncover a cause and effect relationship. This research is not
conducted between the two groups. Rather than look solely for a statistical relationship between two variables
it tries to identify, specifically, how the different groups are affected by the same circumstance. Causal-
comparative research involves 'comparison.' In causal-comparative research the study of two or more groups is
done without focusing on their relationship. As always the use of statistical analysis is engaged to synthesize the
data in a clear method for presentation.

4. Experimental Research. Though questions may be posed in the other forms of research, experimental
research is guided specifically by a hypothesis. Sometimes experimental research can have several
hypotheses. A hypothesis is a statement to be proven or disproved. Once that statement is made experiments
will be conducted to find out whether the statement is true or not. This type of research is the bedrock of most
sciences, in particular the natural sciences. If natural sciences, such as biology, are something you are
interested in you should check out Udemy's course on writing an A+ Biology Paper. It will help you use the types
of quantitative research to great effect.

IMPORTANCE OF QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH ACROSS FIELDS

People do research to find solutions, even tentative ones, to problems, in order to improve or enhance
ways of doing things, to disprove or provide a new hypothesis, or simply to find answers to questions or solutions
to problems in daily life. Research findings can affect people’s lives, ways of doing things, laws, rules and
regulations, as well as policies, among others. Widely, quantitative research is often used because of its
emphasis on proof rather than discovery.
In the natural and social sciences, quantitative research is the systematic, empirical investigation of
observable phenomena via statistical, mathematical or computational techniques. The objective of quantitative
research is to develop and employ mathematical models, theories and/or hypotheses pertaining to phenomena.
The process of measurement is central to quantitative research because it provides the fundamental
connection between empirical observation and mathematical expression of quantitative relationships.
Health Sciences (Medical Technology, Dentistry, Nursing, Medicine, etc.) use quantitative research
designs like descriptive, pre-experimental, quasi-experimental, true-experiment, case study, among others.

1. QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH and ANTHROPOLOGY

2. QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH and COMMUNICATION
3. QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH and SPORTS MEDICINE
4. QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH and MEDICAL EDUCATION
5. QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH and BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES
6. QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH IN EDUCATION
7. QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH and PSYCHOLOGY
8. QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH & HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY
9. QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH & ACCOUNTING, BUSINESS and MANAGEMENT (ABM)
10. QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH & SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING and MATHEMATICS (STEM)
11. QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH & HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCE (HUMSS)
12. QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH & INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT)

VARIABLES
A variable is something you are trying to measure. It can be practically anything, such as objects,
amounts of time, feelings, events, or ideas. If you are studying how people feel about different television shows,
the variables in that experiment are television shows and feelings. If you are studying how different types of
fertilizer affect how tall plants grow, the variables are type of fertilizer and plant height. There are two key
variables in every experiment: the independent variable and the dependent variable.

Variables are “changing qualities or characteristics” of persons or things like age, gender, intelligence,
ideas, achievements, confidence, and so on that are involved in your research study. Made up of the root or
base word “vary” which means to undergo changes or to differ from, variables have different or varying values
in relation to time and situation. For instance, as years go by, your age or intelligence increases. But placed in a
situation where you are afflicted with a disease or have no means of reading or no access to any sources of
knowledge, your intelligence tends to decrease. (Suter 2013, p. 137)
KINDS OF VARIABLES

 Independent variables are those that probably cause, influence, or affect outcomes. They are
invariably called treatment, manipulated, antecedent or predictor variables. This is the cause variable
or the one responsible for the conditions that act on something else to bring about changes.
 Dependent variable: What is being studied/measured or also known as the EFFECT or a force that is
affecting a certain phenomenon. This is most likely the factor that the researcher tends to solve/prove/
identify or answer in the proposed thesis work. These also depend on the independent variables; they
are the outcomes or results of the influence of the independent variable. That is why it is also called the
outcome variable.

Examples:
1. A group of teachers is interested in which teaching method will work best for developing critical thinking skills.
2. A group of health scientists are conducting a study to determine if taking vitamins improves health.
3. A company that specializes in essential oils wants to examine the effects of lavender on sleep quality.
4. A sports medicine researcher has been hired by Gatorade to test the effects of its sports drink on athletic
performance.
5. A hospital is investigating the effectiveness of a new type of chemotherapy on cancer.

QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH DESIGNS

Research Design refers to the total approach that you select in order to incorporate the different
components of the study in a comprehensible and rational way, thereby ensuring you will effectively address
the research problem. Moreover, a research design establishes the outline for the selection, measurement, and
analysis of data. The research problem defines the research you should do.

Quantitative research designs are generally categorized into experimental and non-experimental
as the following on the organizer below.

Kinds of quantitative research design that a researcher may employ:

 EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH DESIGN. It allows the researcher to control the situation. In doing so, it allows
the researcher to answer the question, “What causes something to occur?” and also allows the
researcher to identify cause and effect relationships between variables and to distinguish placebo
effects from treatment effects.

A. True experimental research is the most accurate type, and may simply be called experimental
research. It manipulates a control group towards a group of randomly selected subjects and
records the effect of this manipulation. True experimental research can be further classified into the
following groups:
 The posttest-only control group
 The pretest-posttest control group

B. The Quasi type of experimental research is similar to true experimental research but uses carefully
selected rather than randomized subjects.
 Time series
 No equivalent control group design

 NON-EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN. In this design, the researcher observes the phenomena as they occur
naturally and no external variables are introduced. In this research design, the variables are not
deliberately manipulated nor is the setting controlled. Researchers collect data without making
 changes or introducing treatments. It is also known as DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH DESIGN because it is the
only one under non-experimental design.

A. Survey - It is used to gather information from groups of people by selecting and studying
samples chosen from a population. This is useful when the objective of the study is to see a
general picture of the population under investigation in terms of their social and economic
characteristics, opinions, and knowledge about the behavior towards a certain
phenomenon.
B. Correlational. It is conducted by researchers whose aim would be to find out the
direction, association, and/or relationship between different variables or groups of
respondents under study.
C. Ex-Post Facto or Causal-Comparative. This kind of research design derives conclusions
from observations and manifestations that already occurred in the past and are now
compared to some dependent variables. It discusses why and how a phenomenon occurs.
Example: A researcher is interested in how weight influences the anxiety-coping level of
adults. Here the subjects would be separated into different groups (underweight, normal,
overweight) and their stress-coping levels measured. This is an ex post facto design because
a pre-existing characteristic (weight) was used to form the groups.
D.
IDENTIFYING A RESEARCH TOPI

1. Select a topic within the parameters set by the assignment. Many times your instructor will give
you clear guidelines as to what you can and cannot write about. Failure to work within these
guidelines may result in your proposed paper being deemed unacceptable by your instructor.
2. Select a topic of personal interest to you and learn more about it. The research for and writing of
a paper will be more enjoyable if you are writing about something that you find interesting.
3. Select a topic for which you can find a manageable amount of information. Do a preliminary
search of information sources to determine whether existing sources will meet your needs. If you
find too much information, you may need to narrow your topic; if you find too little, you may
need to broaden your topic.
4. Be original. Your instructor reads hundreds of research papers every year, and many of them are
on the same topics (topics in the news at the time, controversial issues, subjects for which there is
ample and easily accessed information). Stand out from your classmates by selecting an
interesting and off-the-beaten-path topic.

PRELIMINARY PAGES

1. TITLE PAGE
The following should be strictly observed to come up with a strong research title:
• The title should describe contents clearly and precisely so that it catches readers’ attention effortlessly.
• The independent and dependent variables should be identifiable as they read the title.
• The title should NOT be too broad and too short and the title should have a maximum of 18 words.

2. APPROVAL SHEET
Every research paper should have an official document that has been signed and approved by the
research adviser and/or people who are part of the research field. The approval page should only be
approved after the research topic has been presented and approved by the respected panels during
the title defense. This is where the names of proper signatories will be written down (Thesis Chairperson;
Panelists; Thesis Adviser)

3. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Acknowledgment is the section where we include recognition of people who guide and help researchers
through the success of their research paper.

4. DEDICATION
This is where the researchers will include the names of those people to whom they dedicated the final
manuscript

5. ABSTRACT

An abstract is a concise summary of a research paper. It is an original work, not an excerpted passage.
An abstract must be fully self-contained and make sense by itself, without further reference to outside
sources or to the actual paper.

6. TABLE OF CONTENTS
The table of contents is a common page present in any written and published document.

7. LIST OF TABLES
It is the table of contents version of all the tables which can be found in the research paper
8. LIST OF FIGURES and GRAPHS
It is the table of contents version of all the figures, charts and graphs which can be found in the research
paper

CHAPTER 1: THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

This chapter aims to give the reader an insight of what will be the flow of the whole thesis. The Introduction,
Background of the study, Statement of the problem, Significance of the study, Statement of the hypothesis, and
Scope and delimitation are found here. It is in this chapter where the whole thesis revolves. These are the parts
of chapter 1:

 Introduction – part of chapter I that provides detailed information about what was the arising problem
or the problem to discuss in the manuscript.

 Background of the Study – part of chapter I that provides detailed information about how the research
was done. It provides the context and purpose of the study. Usually, it includes a review of the area being
researched, current information surrounding the issue, previous studies on the issue, and relevant history
on the issue.

The background should engage your readers with broad themes and topics. This involves connecting
details to concepts. The "history" of your topic should be easy to read and compelling both for its
relevance and for its fresh approach.

 Statement of the Problem - part of chapter I where the general statement of the problem and the sub-
problems are stated. These are the main pieces of your research project because they explain what
your study will discover to the reader. These are the questions that fuels the study. It should identify a
relationship between two variables.

Parts: General and Specific Statement of the Problem

Steps how to write it:
First sentence: Write the general statement of the problem. (Paraphrase the research title).
Second sentence: Introduce the specific questions.
Third: Itemize the specific questions. You may use the convention below:

SOP 1: Include the IV of the study

SOP 2: Include the DV of the study
SOP 3: Combination of IV-DV (significant relationship/difference)
Sample:

General Problem
This research aims to determine the Values Integration in Teaching Mathematics: Its Effect to Academic
Performance of Grade 11 SHS students.

The following sub-problems are:

1. What is the perceived level of values integration in teaching Mathematics to the students?
2. What is the level of academic performance in Mathematics of the students?
3. Is there a significant relationship between the perceived levels of values integration in
teaching Mathematics and the academic performance of the students?

How To Formulate A Good Research Question?

 Choose a general topic of interest, and conduct preliminary research on this topic in current periodicals
and journals to see what research has already been done. This will help determine what kinds of
questions the topic generates.
 Once you have conducted preliminary research, consider: Who is the audience? Is it an academic
essay, or will it be read by a more general public? Once you have conducted preliminary research,
start asking open ended "How?" "What?" and Why?" questions. Then evaluate possible responses to
those questions. (Duke Writing Studio, 2014)

Examples:

Say, for instance, you want to focus on social networking sites. After reading current research, you want
to examine to what degree social networking sites are harmful. The Writing Center at George Mason University
provides the following examples and explanations:

Possible Question: Why are social networking sites harmful?

 An evaluation of this question reveals that the question is unclear: it does not specify which social
networking sites or state what harm is being caused. Moreover, this question takes as a given that this "harm"
exists. A clearer question would be the following:

Revised Question: How are online users experiencing or addressing privacy issues on such social
networking sites as Facebook and Twitter?

This version not only specifies the sites (Facebook and Twitter), but also the type of harm (privacy issues)
and who is harmed (online users). While a good research question allows the writer to take an arguable
position, it DOES NOT leave room for ambiguity.

Hypothesis of the Study – the assumption of the study NULL if (No/Not) ALTERNATE if (Yes)
*note: ALWAYS use the NULL hypothesis when formulating one.

Quantitative Research Hypothesis

• Hypothesis is formed separately for the independent variable, dependent variable, and the assumed
relationship between these variables.
• It usually follows after the statement of the problem.
• The number of hypotheses depends on the number of measurable variables in the study.
• It is presented in a directional format.
• It states a possible direction of the relationship or association between/ among variables

For quantitative research, the hypothesis should contain the following components:
• Null hypothesis (𝑯𝟎) – Null hypothesis is the value or statement claimed to be accepted as true.
• Alternative hypothesis (𝑯𝟏) – Alternative hypothesis is the value or statement to be accepted when the null
hypothesis is rejected.
*note: ALWAYS use the NULL hypothesis when formulating one.
Sample:
Watching basketball games does not motivate the selected students of SBSN to personally involve themselves in
playing basketball. Watching these basketball games may not give inspiration or interest to its watchers in terms
of personal involvement.

 Scope and Delimitation – part of chapter I that sets the boundaries of the entire research process. Presents
the coverage and boundaries of the research in terms of population, setting, and method used to forecast
results. Phuba also explained that the delimitation of study is the explanation of the scope of study. This section
allows the writer to explain why certain aspects of a subject were chosen and why others were excluded. It
is also common for a writer to explain the chosen research method in this section and explain why certain
theories were applied to the data.
 Significance of the Study – part of chapter I that is stating the importance of the entire research. It gives you
an opportunity to prove the study’s impact on your field of research, the new knowledge it contributes, and
the people who will benefit from it. (micro to macro)