RESEARCH IN EDUCATION 1

I. The Nature of Research: Meaning, Objectives, Characteristics and

Uses
1.1 Meaning and Definition
Have you tried asking yourself why there are inventions, discoveries, new
decisions, new ways of doing things, fast and rapid changes in transactions in
offices and establishments, new developments, quick production of commodities,
increase in yield of agricultural products, changes and innovations in curriculum,
etc.? Many would agree that these resulted from doing research. Also, we cannot
deny the fact that these contributed a lot to our way of life. Perhaps, one may
ask, “Why do we need changes and innovations?”, “why do we need new
development?” and “Why do we need to increase production?” Are we lagging
behind in our current practices? Are we facing a problem? When one is
confronted with a problem or interested in understanding a situation, he/she
naturally seeks a solution to address it or explore the phenomenon in order to
gain deeper knowledge about it.
One’s idea is credible or people would believe it if it is grounded or based
on factual information or data. Of course, people may not consider one’s idea if it
is not based on empirical data. If ideas are based on research, these are
considered facts and conclusions. Thus, data is vital in generating and disclosing
facts and conclusions derived from doing research. What could be more fitting
for research undertaking? What kind of research should be conceptualized? What
process should be done to arrive at valid conclusions? How data should be
collected? What process should be done to generate desired, appropriate and
valid data? After finding the solution to research, is this the until? Are there
possibilities to conduct related research based on a concluded finding/result?
From the foregoing ideas and notions about doing research, it is hoped
that you are able to have a grasp of what research is.
What is research?
 Systematic process of collecting and analyzing information (data) in order
to increase our understanding of the phenomenon with which we are
concerned or interested.
 systematic investigation into and study of materials and sources in order to
establish facts and reach new conclusions (Oxford)
 creation of new knowledge and/or use of existing knowledge in a new and
creative way so as to generate new concepts, methodologies and
understandings. This includes synthesis and analysis of previous research
to the extent that it leads to new and creative outcomes. (Western Sydney
University)
 formed by two words namely RE and SEARCH. The prefix RE means to
repeat again while the noun SEARCH means to investigate or to look for.
 systematic process of critical inquiry leading to valid proposition and
conclusion that are common to others

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  intellectual inquiry or examination; especially: investigation or
experimentation aimed at the discovery and interpretation of facts,
revision of accepted theories or laws in the of new facts, or practical
application of such new revised theories or laws following a certain
structural process.
 Research is a systematic inquiry that investigates hypotheses, suggests
new interpretations of data or texts, and poses new questions for future
research to explore (Jolla, 2015).
 Systematic and objective analysis and recording of controlled observations
that may lead to development of generalizations, principles, or theories,
resulting in prediction and possibly ultimate control or events. (Best)
What main concepts/thoughts/notions are drawn from the definitions
and meanings/implications of research?
 Involves three main stages namely planning, data collection and analysis.
 Solve problems that have no known solution by anyone.
 Poses new questions for future research to explore.
 Generate and revise theories (laws, principles, methodologies, smart
decision etc.)
 Fills the gap of knowledge (Best)
 Contributes to the body of knowledge
Other notions concepts/thoughts/notions are drawn from the definitions
and meanings/implications of research
(https://www.academia.edu/33194801/
RESEARCH_is_a_SYSTEMATIC_and_ORGANIZED_way_to_FIND_ANSWERS_to_QUES
TIONS)

 SYSTEMATIC
o definite set of procedures and steps which you will follow

o relevant considerations in the research process which are always done in

order to get the most accurate results.
 ORGANIZED
o structure or method in the process of doing research.

o planned procedure, not a spontaneous one.

o focused and limited to a specific scope.

 FINDING ANSWERS
o end of research

o whether it is the answer to a hypothesis or even a simple question.

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o research is successful when we find answers. Sometimes the answer is no!
"But it is still an answer.
 QUESTIONS
o are central to research
o if there is no question! then the answer is of no use.
o research is focused on relevant, useful, and important questions.
o without a question, research has no focus, drive, or purpose.

Example
It is a common observation that many are poor readers in a particular school
and there was a call for reading test to determine the reading ability of
learners. As a result, a reading program was developed by pool of researchers
of the school. When testing new reading program, researchers have a concept
of how they want to be. They also have a picture of how they want the
program to affect student’s reading ability and also how to plan to measure
the effect. By conducting research, they taught that there is an increase in the
likelihood that the reading program will reliably produce competent readers
over time.
Why Do We Do Research?
1. Intellectual ambition
 desire to know and understand the world (classroom, school, family,
community, etc,)
 appreciate the best that has been said and thought on the topics that grip
our imaginations
 pure pursuit of knowledge for its own sake. (A question universities need to
answer: why do we research? (theconversation.com)
2. Curiosity
 Make observations
 Entertaining a problem
3. Existence of a problem.
 look for an answer to specific questions
 solve an existing problem so that there will be a bigger number of people
that will support the research and to solve the problem immediately
(Serapio, M.A, 2016)
4. Gain a better understanding of something or someone or situations to
provide a solution to a problem.
Benefits We Get from Conducting Research
Why should you consider getting involved in research and creative
scholarship?

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 Gain hands-on experience completing a research or creative project.
 Work closely with a faculty mentor and have the opportunity to connect
with other faculty and other student researchers who work in your area of
interest.
 Earn academic credit, scholarships, stipends and/or other awards for
having conducted research.
 Hone your leadership and teamwork skills as you collaborate with others.
 Gain academic credentials that will help create a well-rounded resume,
publishing your work and working with a research team.
 Learn valuable life skills for life and class such as professionalism, time
management, learning how to use online research tools.
 Learn valuable skills for life and class (professionalism, time management,
multi-tasking, online research tools).
 Learn to effectively communicate your ideas and how to analyze and
critique the work of others.
 Assisting in research gives you hands-on experience in your field.
 You gain a deeper understanding of the scientific process... develop
research questions and form and test your hypotheses.
 You learn what it’s like to work in a lab and learn about the planning of
experiments, writing grants and how to report findings.
 You can get paid. Sometimes as an employee and sometimes as a
scholarship
 You can publish your work. If you help a faculty member they will mention
your work, or you
 An excellent opportunity to develop relationships with faculty members
who work in your area of interest and make connections with other
students working on research. You will build a strong working relationship
with a faculty mentor and be able to ask for a letter of recommendation.
 An opportunity to hone your leadership and teamwork skills as you
collaborate with others.
 Opportunity to discover new knowledge and expand about what you
already know.
 Create a well-rounded resume--you will show "hands-on" experience. You
know how to produce results.
Source: https://www.umt.edu/ugresearch/research/why-research.php
Characteristics of Research
 Empirical – research is based on direct experience or observation by the
researcher.
 Logical – research is based on valid procedures and principles.

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 Cyclical – research starts with a problem and ends with a problem.
 Analytical – research utilizes proven analytical procedures in gathering
data, whether historical, descriptive, experimental, and case study.
 Critical – research exhibits careful and precise judgement.
 Methodological – research is conducted in a methodical manner without
bias using systematic method and procedures.
 Replicability – research design and procedures are repeated to enable the
researcher to arrive at valid and conclusive results
 Ethical

Characteristics of the Researcher

 Intellectual Curiosity – researcher undertakes deep thinking and inquiry of
the things, problems, and situations around him.
 Prudence – researcher is careful to conduct his study at the right time and
at the right place wisely, efficiently, and economically.
 Healthy Criticism – the researcher is always doubtful as to the truthfulness
of the results.
 Intellectual Honesty – researcher is honest to collect or gather data or facts
in order to arrive at honest results.
 Intellectual Creativity – a resourceful investigator always creates new
researches.
II. Areas and Types of Research
Areas of Research
 Social Research
investigate the behavior of humans in the social life (behavioral and social
sciences, e.g. mathematics education, science education, psychology,
sociology, anthropology, etc.)
 Scientific Research
natural sciences (physics, chemistry, biology, agriculture, pure
mathematics, etc.)
Types of Research
 The type of knowledge you aim to produce
 The type of data you will collect and analyze
 The sampling methods, timescale and location of the research
Types of research aims

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  The first thing to consider is what kind of knowledge your research aims to
contribute.

Types of research aims

Type of What’s the difference? What to consider
research
Basic vs Basic research aims to develop Do you want to expand scientific
applied knowledge, theories and understanding or solve a practical
predictions, while applied research problem?
aims to develop techniques,
products and procedures.
Explorator Exploratory research aims to explore How much is already known about
y vs the main aspects of an under- your research problem? Are you
explanator researched problem, while conducting initial research on a
y explanatory research aims newly-identified issue, or seeking
to explain the causes and precise conclusions about an
consequences of a well-defined established issue?
problem.
Inductive Inductive research aims to develop Is there already some theory on
vs a theory, while deductive research your research problem that you can
deductive aims to test a theory. use to develop hypotheses, or do
you want to propose new theories
based on your findings?

EXAMPLES OF BASIC RESEARCHES

 “Students’ Attitude and Performance Toward Science During Pandemic”
 “Content and Pedagogical Knowledge and Skills Development Among
Students in the New Normal Education”
 Students’ Engagement, Motivation and Problems Encountered in their
Academic Undertakings During Pandemic
 Teachers’ Coping Mechanisms in Teaching Mathematics in the New Normal
 Face-to-face and Virtual Learning in Mathematics: Effects on Students’
Attitude and Performance
EXAMPLES OFAPPLIED RESEARCHES
 “Development of a Contextualized Science Laboratory Manual for the New
Normal Education”
 “Crafting a Digitized Approach for Solving Quadratic Equations”
 Documentation and Packaging of Procedures for Ibanag Cuisines
 Development of Trilingual Dictionary of Science and Mathematics Terms
(Ibanag/Ilocano, Filipino and English)
EXAMPLES OF EXPLORATORY RESEARCHES

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  “Students’ Lived Experiences in their Academic life Amidst Pandemic”
 “Customs, Traditions and Beliefs of Ibanags”
 “The Vitality of Ibanag Language”
 “The Lived Experiences of CoViD 2019 Victims”
 Validity and Reliability of Students’ Performance During Pandemic:
EXAMAPLES OF EXPLANATORY RESEARCHES
 “Causes or Errors of Students in Solving Equations”
 “Predictors of Students Suicidal Attempts”
 “Determinants of Juvenile Delinquency Among Students”
EXAMPLES OF INDUCTIVE RESEARCHES
 “Students Involvement in Differentiated Classroom Modality”
 “An Evaluation of the Implementation of Flexible Learning Modality in the
New Normal Education”
 “An Evaluation of the MLCS Curriculum in Elementary Education”
 “Customs, Traditions and Beliefs of Ibanags”
EXAMPLES OF DEDUCTIVE RESEARCHES
 “Cooperative Learning and Traditional Approach in Teaching Science:
Effects on Students’ Attitude and Performance”
 “Differentiated and Traditional Approaches in Teaching Pre-school
Mathematics”
 “Academic Performance of Indigenous People in Mainstream and
Unconventional Education”
Types of research data
 The next thing to consider is what type of data you will collect. Each kind of
data is associated with a range of specific research methods and
procedures.

Types of research data

Type of What’s the difference? What to consider

research

Primary vs Primary data is collected directly How much data is already available
secondary by the researcher or by someone on your topic? Do you want to collect
else (e.g. through interviews or original data or analyze existing data
experiments or questionnare) and (e.g. through a literature review)?
there is no analysis being made,
while secondary data has already
been collected by someone
else (e.g. in government surveys or
scientific publications) and analysis

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Types of research data

Type of What’s the difference? What to consider

research

have been made.

Qualitative Qualitative research methods focus Is your research more concerned

vs on words and meanings, with measuring something or
quantitativ while quantitative research interpreting something? You can also
e methods focus on numbers and create a mixed methods research
statistics. design that has elements of both.

Descriptiv Descriptive research gathers Do you want to identify

e vs experi data without controlling any characteristics, patterns
mental variables, while experimental and correlations or test causal
research manipulates and controls relationships between variables?
variables to determine cause and
effect.

 Primary Data: Raw (scores, ratings, heights, weights, grades, etc.)

 Scores: 20, 34, 48, 15, 39,….
 Ratings: 4.3. 2.98, 3.5 . 3.67, ….
 Secondary Data: Are not raw data anymore because there is/are
analysis/analyses being made from the data.
 Example: Analysis from a research output. If a researcher
consider utilizing the data of another researcher, then this is secondary.
 Correlation coefficient, r=.89 and t-value, t= 5.89 about the
relationship between students’ attitude and performance in mathematics
and these data are being utilized in other research, then these data are
considered secondary.

Doing a meta-analysis of similar researches:

Intended, Implementation Science curriculum in Grade 7

Intended, Implementation Science curriculum in Grade 8
Intended, Implementation Science curriculum in Grade 9
Intended, Implementation Science curriculum in Grade 10

The data for the meta-analysis is considered secondary

 QUANTITATIVE
 If the data are numbers and statistics, then the research is quantitative
 Instrument: test or non-test (questionnaires for attitude, motivation, self-
efficacy, self-concept, epistemological beliefs, etc.)

 “Students’ Attitude and Performance in Science During Pandemic”

 Is there a relationship between students’ attitude and performance in
Science?

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 Needed Data: Students’ attitude ratings toward science and students’
grades in science
There is a significant difference between performance of students exposed
in cooperative learning and traditional learning.
 Needed Data: Students’ scores/grades in the achievement test/end of the
semester after the conduct of the experimental study.

 QUALITATIVE
What are the lived experiences of students during this pandemic
in their academic life?
Conduct interview/observation/open ended questions – words,
phrases, sentences
Description of the feeling of individual

“I have difficulty understanding my lesson”

“I am demoralized because I cant attend virtual classes”

MIXED METHOD

“Students’ Attitude and Performance in Science During Pandemic”

Is there a relationship between students’ attitude and performance in
science?
What are students’ experiences in learning science during pandemic?

 Descriptive vs experimental

 Descriptive: What is level of performance of the students enrolled
in research 1?
 Very high
 What is the performance of the students enrolled in
research 1?
Very satisfactory, outstanding
What are lived experience of students in the normal in their
academic life?

 Experimental: Testing hypothesis

 Is there a difference between the performance of students
exposed in cooperative learning and those exposed to traditional learning?
Experimental Group Control Group
Cooperative Learning Traditional Learning

 Hypothesis: There is a significant difference between the

performance of students exposed in cooperative learning and those
exposed to traditional learning?

 Experimental Grp: students exposed in cooperative learning

 Control Group: students exposed in traditional learning



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  Types of sampling, timescale and location
 Finally, you have to consider three closely related questions: how will you
select the subjects or participants of the research? When and how often
will you collect data from your subjects? And where will the research take
place?

Types of research subjects, timescales and locations

Type of What’s the difference? What to consider

research

Probability Probability sampling allows you Do you want to

vs non- to generalize your findings to a produce generalizable knowledge
probability broader population, while non- that applies to many contexts or
sampling probability sampling allows you to detailed knowledge about a specific
draw conclusions only about the context (e.g. in a case study)?
specific subjects of the research.

Cross- Cross-sectional studies gather data Is your research question focused on

sectional v at a single point in time, while understanding the current situation
s longitudinal studies gather data at or tracking changes over time?
longitudin several points in time.
al
Field vs Field research takes place in a Do you want to find out how
laboratory natural or real-world setting, something occurs in the real world
while laboratory research takes place or draw firm conclusions about
in a controlled and constructed cause and effect? Laboratory
setting. experiments have higher internal
validity but lower external validity.

Fixed vs In a fixed research design the Do you want to test hypotheses and
flexible subjects, timescale and location establish generalizable facts, or
are set before data explore concepts and develop
collection begins, while in a flexible understanding? For measuring,
design these aspects may develop testing and making generalizations,
through the data collection a fixed research design has
process. higher validity and reliability.

Uses of Research
 Research expands your knowledge base
o opens up new opportunities for learning and growth.
 Research gives you the latest information
o most recent available information

 Research helps you know what you’re up against

o researching/knowing your competitors
 Research builds your credibility
o speak with confidence

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 o boost your morale
 Research helps you narrow your scope
 Research teaches you better discernment
 Research introduces you to new ideas
 Research helps with problem-solving
 Research helps you reach people
 Research encourages curiosity

REFERENCES
 https://www.academia.edu/33194801/
RESEARCH_is_a_SYSTEMATIC_and_ORGANIZED_way_to_FIND_ANSWERS_to_
QUESTIONS
 https://www.quora.com/Why-is-research-conducted?share=1
 https://www.umt.edu/ugresearch/research/why-research.php
 https://www.slideshare.net/jhim1022/characteristics-ofresearch
 https://www.differencebetween.com/difference-between-social-research-
and-vs-scientific-research/
 https://www.discoverphds.com/blog/types-of-research
 https://t4tutorials.com/classification-of-research-research-methodology/
 https://www.scribbr.com/methodology/types-of-research/
 https://www.formpl.us/blog/basic-research#:~:text=Examples%20of
%20basic%20research%
ROLE OF THEORY IN RESEARCH

1. What is the role of theory in research?

 According to google.com, a theory is a set of accepted beliefs or organized
principles that explain and guide analysis and one of the ways that theory is
defined is that it is different from practice, when certain principles are tested.
 According to google.com, research is the systematic investigation into and
study of materials and sources in order to establish facts and reach new
conclusions.

A theory plays a great role in research processes, it was formulated to explain, predict,
and understand phenomena and, in many cases, to challenge and extend existing
knowledge within the limits of critical bounding assumptions. Furthermore, it is
usually used to help design a research question, guide the selection relevant data and
propose explanations of the underlying causes or influences of observed phenomena.
In conclusion, theory is part of research and it would never be successful and reliable
without a theory.

2. Which comes first, research or theory? Defend your answer.

Research and theory are actually two parallel processes having a symbiotic
relationship. But research comes after research simply because it is the research which
is done before and the findings are used to formulate theories.

References:

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libguides.usc.edu, www.bmj.com, www.academia.edu
www.google.com

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