The nature of inquiry

The Process of conducting research using

quantitative and qualitative approaches
Natalia Anggrarini, M.Pd.
Wiralodra University
What is research?
• Research is a process in which you engage in a small set of logical
steps.
• Research is a process of steps used to collect and analyze information
to increase our understanding of a topic or issue. At a general level,
research consists of three steps:
1. Pose a question.
2. Collect data to answer the question.
3. Present an answer to the question.
The importance of research
1. Research adds to our knowledge
2. Research improve practice
3. Research inform policy debates
In educational field, research is important:
• Educational research plays a crucial role in knowledge advancement across different fields of study. 
• It provides answers to practical educational challenges using scientific methods.
• Findings from educational research; especially applied research, are instrumental in policy
reformulation. 
• For the researcher and other parties involved in this research approach, educational research improves
learning, knowledge, skills, and understanding.
• Educational research improves teaching and learning methods by empowering you with data to help
you teach and lead more strategically and effectively.
• Educational research helps students apply their knowledge to practical situations.
Several problems with research today
1. The results show contradictory or vague findings
2. The issue of questionable data
Main reasons for doing the research
• Find solution for the problems in educational context
• Support professional learning of knowledge, skills and understanding
• To connect with the information and network of professional support
The research process: characteristics and
requirements
• From these definitions it is clear that research is a process for
collecting, analysing and interpreting information to answer
questions. But to qualify as research, the process must have certain
characteristics: it must, as far as possible, be controlled, rigorous,
systematic, valid and verifiable, empirical and critical.
1. Controlled
• In real life there are many factors that affect an outcome. A particular
event is seldom the result of a one-to-one relationship. Some
relationships are more complex than others. Most outcomes are a
sequel to the interplay of a multiplicity of relationships and
interacting factors.
• In a study of cause-and-effect relationships it is important to be able
to link the effect(s) with the cause(s) and vice versa. In the study of
causation, the establishment of this linkage is essential; however, in
practice, particularly in the social sciences, it is extremely difficult –
and often impossible – to make the link.
2. Rigorous
• You must be scrupulous in ensuring that the procedures followed to
find answers to questions are relevant, appropriate and justified.
Again, the degree of rigour varies markedly between the physical and
the social sciences and within the social sciences.
3. Systematic
• This implies that the procedures adopted to undertake an
investigation follow a certain logical sequence. The different steps
cannot be taken in a haphazard way. Some procedures must follow
others.
4. Valid and verifiable
• This concept implies that whatever you conclude on the basis of your
findings is correct and can be verified by you and others.
5. Empirical
• This means that any conclusions drawn are based upon hard evidence
gathered from information collected from real-life experiences or
observations.
6. Critical
• Critical scrutiny of the procedures used and the methods employed is
crucial to a research enquiry. The process of investigation must be
foolproof and free from any drawbacks. The process adopted and the
procedures used must be able to withstand critical scrutiny.
Type of research
• Types of research can be looked at from three different perspectives
1. applications of the findings of the research study;
2. objectives of the study;
3. mode of enquiry used in conducting the study.
Types of research: application perspective
• From the application perspective, it is divided into pure research and
applied research.
• Pure research is also concerned with developing, examining, verifying,
and refining research methods, procedures, techniques and tools that
form the body of research methodology. Examples of pure research
include developing a sampling technique that can be applied to a
particular situation; developing a methodology to assess the validity of
a procedure; developing an instrument, say, to measure the stress level
in people; and finding the best way of measuring people’s attitudes.
The knowledge produced through pure research is sought to add to the
existing knowledge of research methods.
Types of research: objectives perspective
• If you examine a research study from the perspective of its objectives,
broadly a research endeavour can be classified as descriptive,
correlational, explanatory or exploratory.
• descriptive study attempts to describe systematically a situation,
problem, phenomenon, service or programme, or provides
information about, say, the living conditions of a community, or
describes attitudes towards an issue.
• a correlational study emphasis to discover or establish the existence
of a relationship/association/interdependence between two or more
aspects of a situation.
• Explanatory research attempts to clarify why and how there is a
relationship between two aspects of a situation or phenomenon. This
type of research attempts to explain, for example, why stressful living
results in heart attacks; why a decline in mortality is followed by a
fertility decline; or how the home environment affects children’s level
of academic achievement.
Types of research: mode of enquiry
perspective
• The third perspective in our typology of research concerns the
process you adopt to find answers to your research questions.
Broadly, there are two approaches to enquiry:
1 the structured approach;
2 the unstructured approach.
1. Structured Approach
• In the structured approach everything that forms the research
process – objectives, design, sample, and the questions that you plan
to ask of respondents – is predetermined.
• The structured approach to enquiry is usually classified as
quantitative research
2. Unstructured approach
• The unstructured approach, by contrast, allows flexibility in all these
aspects of the process. The structured approach is more appropriate
to determine the extent of a problem, issue or phenomenon.
• the unstructured approach is predominantly used to explore its
nature, in other words, variation/diversity per se in a phenomenon,
issue, problem or attitude towards an issue.
• unstructured as qualitative research.
• The choice between quantitative and qualitative approaches (or
structured or unstructured) should depend upon:
• Aim of your enquiry – exploration, confirmation or quantification.
• Use of the findings – policy formulation or process understanding.
Qualitative Research
• A study is classified as qualitative if the purpose of the study is
primarily to describe a situation, phenomenon, problem or event; if
the information is gathered through the use of variables measured on
nominal or ordinal scales (qualitative measurement scales); and if the
analysis is done to establish the variation in the situation,
phenomenon or problem without quantifying it. The description of an
observed situation, the historical enumeration of events, an account
of the different opinions people have about an issue, and a
description of the living conditions of a community are examples of
qualitative research.
Quantitative Research
• On the other hand, the study is classified as quantitative if you want to
quantify the variation in a phenomenon, situation, problem or issue; if
information is gathered using predominantly quantitative variables; and if the
analysis is geared to ascertain the magnitude of the variation. Examples of
quantitative aspects of a research study are: How many people have a
particular problem? How many people hold a particular attitude?
• The use of statistics is not an integral part of a quantitative study. The main
function of statistics is to act as a test to confirm or contradict the conclusions
that you have drawn on the basis of your understanding of analysed data.
Statistics, among other things, help you to quantify the magnitude of an
association or relationship, provide an indication of the confidence you can
place in your findings and help you to isolate the effect of different variables.
Paradigms of research
1. Positivist paradigm
The paradigm that is rooted in the physical sciences is called the systematic,
scientific or positivist approach.
2. Naturalistic paradigm
The qualitative, ethnographic, ecological or naturalistic approach
The characteristics of education research
• It sets out to solve a specific problem.
• Educational research adopts primary and secondary research methods in
its data collection methods. This means that in educational research, the
investigator relies on first-hand sources of information and secondary data to
arrive at a suitable conclusion. 
• Educational research relies on empirical research. This results from its largely
scientific approach.
• Educational research is objective and accurate because it measures verifiable
information.
• In educational research, the researcher adopts specific methodologies,
detailed procedures, and analysis to arrive at the most objective responses
• Educational research findings are useful in the development of
principles and theories that provide better insights into pressing
issues.
• This research approach combines structured, semi-structured, and
unstructured questions to gather verifiable data from respondents.
• Many educational research findings are documented for peer review
before their presentation. 
• Educational research is interdisciplinary in nature because it draws
from different fields and studies complex factual relations.
Research: a way to gather evidence for your
practice
• Research is one of the ways of collecting accurate, sound and reliable
information about the effectiveness of your interventions, thereby
providing you with evidence of its effectiveness.
The characteristics of quantitative and
qualitative research
Quantitative Research Characteristics
• Describing a research problem through a description of trends or a need for an explanation of
the relationship among variables
• Providing a major role for the literature through suggesting the research questions to be
asked and justifying the research problem and creating a need for the direction (purpose
statement and research questions or hypotheses) of the study
• Creating purpose statements, research questions, and hypotheses that are specific, narrow,
measurable, and observable
• Collecting numeric data from a large number of people using instruments with preset
questions and responses
• Analyzing trends, comparing groups, or relating variables using statistical analysis, and
interpreting results by comparing them with prior predictions and past research
• Writing the research report using standard, fixed structures and evaluation criteria, and taking
an objective, unbiased approach
Qualitative Research Characteristics
Exploring a problem and developing a detailed understanding of a central
phenomenon
Having the literature review play a minor role but justify the problem ◆ Stating
the purpose and research questions in a general and broad way so as to the
participants’ experiences
Collecting data based on words from a small number of individuals so that the
participants’ views are obtained
Analyzing the data for description and themes using text analysis and
interpreting the larger meaning of the findings
Writing the report using flexible, emerging structures and evaluative criteria,
and including the researchers’ subjective reflexivity and bias