NATURE AND

CHARACTERISTICS OF
RESEARCH
TOPICS

Meaning of Research
Characteristics of the Researcher
Qualities of a Good Researcher
Man's Major Problems Demand Research
Research Standing in the Philippines
Values of Research to Man
Characteristics of Research
Types of Research
TOPICS

Classification of Research
Meaning of Variable
Types of Variable
Components of the Research Process
Exercises
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Examples of Pure Researches are as follows:

1. Einstein's Theory of Relativity

2. Newton's Law
3. Archimedes' Principle
4. Hooke's Law
5. Boyle's Law
6. Charle's Law
Examples of Pure Researches:

1. Research using a variety of rice for the purpose of

producing more rice.
2. Population Explosion
3. Treat or cure a specific disease
4. Improve the energy efficiency of homes, offices, or
modes of transportation.
5. Diagnose the very low use of certain collection in the
library.
Examples of Action Research

• Control of Dengue in the Philippines

• Use of Group work to improve class 7th student's
ability to speak English.
What's missing?

• CHANGE IS THE ONLY THING THAT IS ___________IN

THIS WORLD.
• SUCCESS IS ___________ ON EFFORT. - Sophocles

• Cause all I know is we said HELLO and your eyes looks

like coming home. All i know is a simple name AND
EVERYTHING HAS ____________.
INDEPENDENT VARIABLE

If the scientist conducts an experiment to test

the theory that a vitamin could extend a
person's life expectancy, then:
The independent variable is the amount of
vitamin that is given to the subjects within
the experiment.
This controlled by the experimenting scientist.
Dependent Variable

If the scientist conducts an experiment to test

the theory that a vitamin could extend a
person's life expectancy, then:

Then dependent variable, or the variable

being affected by the independent variable, is
the life span.
• A moderator is a variable that affects the strength of the
relation between the predictor and criterion variable.
• Moderators specify when a relation will hold. It can be
qualitative (e.g., sex, race, class…) or quantitative (e.g.,
drug dosage or level of reward).
• Moderating variable are typically an interaction term in
statistical models.
• For instance, imagine researchers are evaluating the effects of a
new cholesterol drug. The researchers vary the participants in
minutes of daily exercise (predictor/independent variable) and
measure their cholesterol levels after 30 days (criterion/dependent
variable). They find that at low drug doses, there is a small
association between exercise and cholesterol levels, but at high
drug doses, there is a huge association between exercise and
cholesterol levels. Drug dosage moderates the association
between exercise and cholesterol levels.
• A moderating variable is one that has a strong contingent
effect on the independent variable-dependent variable
relationship.
• That is, the presence of a third variable (the moderating
variable) modifies the original relationship between the
independent and the dependent variable.
For an instance:

• Typical moderator variables in TESL and

language acquisition research (when they are
not the major focus of the study) include the
sex, age, culture or language proficiency of
the subjects.
Intervening Variables

• A mediating variable explains the relation between the

independent (predictor) and the dependent (criterion)
variable. It explains how or why there is a relation
between two variables.
• A mediator can be a potential mechanism by which an
independent variable can produce changes on a
dependent variable. When you fully account for the effect
of the mediator, the relation between independent and
dependent variables may go away.
• For instance, imagine that you find a positive association
between note-taking and performance on an exam. This
association may be explained by number of hours
studying, which would be the mediating variable.
• In general, a given variable may be said to function as a
mediator to the extent that it accounts for the relation
between the predictor and the criterion.
• Mediators explain how external physical events take on
internal psychological significance.
• Whereas moderator variables specify when certain
effects will hold, mediators speak to how or why such
effects occur.
• Another way to think about this issue is that a moderator
variable is one that influences the strength of a
relationship between two other variables, and a mediator
variable is one that explains the relationship between the
two other variables.
 In language learning and teaching, they are usually inside
the subject's heads, including various language learning
processses which the researcher cannot observe.

 For example: If the use of a particular technique is the

independent variable and the mastery of the objectives is
the dependent variable, then the language learning
processes used by the subjects are the intervening
variables.
Extraneous variables

• Extraneous variables are any variables that you are not

intentionally studying in your experiment or test. When
you run an experiment, you’re looking to see if one
variable (the independent variable) has an effect on
another variable (the dependent variable).
• Other variables, perhaps ones that never crossed your
mind, might influence the outcome of an experiment.
These undesirable variables are called extraneous
variables.
• Types of Extraneous Variables
• Demand characteristics: environmental clues which tell the
participant how to behave, like features in the surrounding or
researcher’s non-verbal behavior.
• Experimenter / Investigator Effects: where the researcher
unintentionally affects the outcome by giving clues to the
participants about how they should behave.
• Participant variables, like prior knowledge, health status or any
other individual characteristic that could affect the outcome.
• Situational variables, like noise, lighting or temperature in the
environment.
Confounding Extraneous Variable
• One type of extraneous variable is called a confounding variable.
Confounding variables directly affect how the independent
variable acts on the dependent variable. It can muddle your
results, leading you to think that there is cause and effect when in
fact there is not.
– In the above example, a confounding variable could be introduced if the
researcher gave the text book to students in a low income school, and
assigned online learning to students in a higher income school. As
students in higher income schools typically take more challenging
coursework than students in lower income schools, pre-knowledge
becomes a confounding extraneous variable.
• Extraneous variables should be controlled if possible.
One way to control extraneous variables is with random
sampling. Random sampling does not eliminate any
extraneous variable, it only ensures it is equal between all
groups. If random sampling isn’t used, the effect that an
extraneous variable can have on the study results
become a lot more of a concern.
Exercises:
1. A botanist wants to see how different colored light waves influence the
growth of pea plants. She puts the same number of seeds into three
identical pots with the same kind and amount of soil. She then gives them
the same amount of water every three days for the length of the experiment.
One pot is placed into a dark windowless closet. Another pot is left on the
windowsill, and the third is placed under a lamp with a green bulb. She
records the height of each plant every day for three months.

What is the independent variable in this experiment?

a. the amount of soil in the pots
b. the color of the light given to the plants
c. the amount of water given to the plants
d. the amount of time the experiment was conducted
Exercises:

• Based on the hypothesis below, what is the independent

variable?
• If carrots are eaten daily, then there will be an
improvement in vision.
a. improvement in vision
b. carrots eaten
2. In an investigation you put a beaker of water in the sun
and measure the temperature every 10 minutes for 1 hour.
• What is the dependent variable?
The temperature is dependent variable.
3. A student studies three types of bread. He measures the
time it takes to grow mold.
Independent Variable:
Dependent Variable:
IV: type of bread DV: time it takes mold to grow
• Different rose bushes are grown in a greenhouse for two
months. The number of flowers on each bush is counted
at the end of the experiment.
• IV different rose bushes DV number of flowers.
• CV same greenhouse, time (two months)
• You water three sunflower plants with salt water. Each
plant receives a different concentration of salt solutions. A
fourth plant receives pure water. After a two-week period,
the height is measured.
• IV different concentrations of salt solutions DV height.
• CV plant type (all sunflowers), time (two months) - plant
receiving pure water is also considered a control group
since it does not receive salt at all
Worksheet: Identifying Controls & Variables
• Independent Variable – the variable you purposely change –
variable “I” control – also called the “manipulated” variable. THINK
OF THIS AS THE CAUSE IN THE EXPERIMENT.
• Dependent Variable – the factor that you measure or may change
as a result of the manipulated variable – “depends” on the
independent – also called the “responding” variable. THINK OF
THIS AS THE EFFECT IN THE EXPERIMENT.
• Control Variable – anything that is kept constant. Sometimes an
individual or group is kept from the independent variable
completely – then it is called a Control Group.
Seatwork: 1/2 cw

1. This is the factor in an experiment that can change if

other factors are changed:
1.the independent variable
2.the constant/control group
3.hypothesis
4.the dependent variable
2. A dependent variable is:
• 1.The result you are measuring
• 2.The variable that the scientist changes
• 3.The amount of something you add to a mixture
• 4.The group you do not change
3. The masses of the rats were measured after they
were fed different types of cheese.
Independent Variable:
Dependent Variable:

4. A student changes the number of hours he studies

for a test to see how it affects his test score.
Independent Variable:
Dependent Variable:
5. Determine the independent and dependent variables
from the following hypothesis.
• The more grams of salt a person eats, the higher their
blood pressure.
Independent Variable:
Dependent Variable:
6. Three redwood trees are kept at different humidity levels inside a
greenhouse for 12 weeks. One tree is left outside in normal
conditions. The heights of the trees are measured once a week.

7. Pea plant clones are giving different amounts of water for three-
week period. The first pea plant receives 400 milliliters a day. The
second pea plant receives 200 milliliters a day. The third pea plant
receives 100 milliliters a day. The fourth pea plant does not receive
any extra water: the plant only receives natural ways of receiving
water. The heights of the pea plants are recorded daily.
8. One tank of gold fish is fed the normal amount of food
once a day. A second tank is fed twice a day. A third tank is
fed four times a day during a six week study. The fish’s
weight is recorded daily.
Components of the Research Process