Republic of the Philippines

Department of Education
ILOCOS NORTE COLLEGE OF ARTS AND TRADES
Laoag City

LECTURE IN PRACTICAL RESEARCH I

CHAPTER 1: Nature of Inquiry and Research

Research has been recognized as a vital tool for solving man’s multifarious problems and in
making his life richer and fuller. In fact, modern conveniences we are enjoying today are products
of researches undertaken by scientists and professionals from various disciplines. Today, research
has become an integral part of all learning areas known to man. Private and public, educational,
business, and industrial organizations have been touched by the research process.

MEANING OF RESEARCH

 It is derived from prefix re, which means to repeat or redo, and the root word search, which
means to find or look for. Thus, research literally means to repeat looking for something which
had been in existence before.
 It is a studious inquiry; especially: investigation or experimentation aimed at the discovery and
interpretation of facts, or revision of accepted theories or laws in the light of new facts, or
practical application of such new or revised theories or laws (Merriam - Webster dictionary).
 It is a systematic investigation designed to develop or contribute to generalizable knowledge
(Code of Federal Regulations).
 It is a systematic search for knowledge or answers to questions (Mason & Bramble, 1989).
 It is a systematic and empirical approach to answering questions (Bieger & Gail, 1996). It is
concerned with understanding a phenomenon, within the context of our theories and
experiences regarding the phenomenon.
 It is the process of obtaining knowledge through techniques, where truth, accuracy, validity,
reliability, and other criteria can be ascertained (Genato, et al., 1993).
 It aims to “extend human knowledge of the physical, biological, or social world beyond what is
already known (National Academy of Sciences).”
 It is a continuous discovery and exploration of the known and the unknown. It entails an
investigation of new facts, leading to the discovery of new ideas, methods or improvements.

Research involves inductive and deductive methods (Babbie, 1998). Inductive methods
analyze the observed phenomenon and identify the general principles, structures, or processes
underlying the phenomenon observed; deductive methods verify the hypothesized principles
through observations. The purposes are different: one is to develop explanations, and the other is
to test the validity of the explanations.

IMPORTANCE OF RESEARCH IN DAILY LIFE

 Improve the Standard of Living

Only through research can new inventions and discoveries come into life. With the world
facing more crises each day, we need researchers to find new solutions to tackle them.

 Means to Understand Matters

 Television shows and movies ooze with research - both on the part of the writer(s) and the
actors. Some film and TV actors would take time to interview detectives, boxers, scientists,
business owners, criminals, and teachers, among others. Others even go through immersion to
make them understand the issues of their respective characters better, such as living in jail or in a
drug rehabilitation center. Many would read literature, biographies, or journals to have a better
view or context of the story.

 Profitability Purposes / Business

Research benefits business. Many successful companies, such as those producing consumer
goods or mass-market items, invest in research and development. Different business industries
with science and engineering processes like agriculture, food and beverage, manufacturing,
healthcare and pharmaceuticals, information and communication technology, robotics, aerospace,
and energy have high expenditure in research and development because it is critical to product
innovation and to improving services.

Research and development also helps secure a vantage point over competitors. Finding out
what could differentiate them from others that offer similar products and services can raise the
company’s market value.

 Race to Improved Health

Research has made ground breaking discoveries and development in the field of health,
nutrition, food technology and medicine. These things have improved the life expectancy and
health conditions of human race in all parts of the world and helped eradicate diseases like polio,
smallpox completely. Diseases that were untreatable are now history, as new and new inventions
and research in the field of medicine have led to the advent of drugs that not only treat the once-
incurable diseases, but also prevent them from recurring.

 Open Opportunities

Research helps people nurture ones potential and achieve goals through various
opportunities. These can be in the form of securing employment, scholarships, training grants,
project funding, business collaboration, and traveling without spending much, among others.
Doing research also benefit civil society and its members. Funding for projects and research
initiatives has been a top concern for those who want to address social issues.

Some hobbies and interests are expensive to pursue. One of these is traveling. For budget-
conscious tourists, searching for airfare and hotel promos, discount rides, and cheap markets is
certainly a must to maximize the value of their money.

Seizing opportunities can broaden one's social network, raise one's awareness, or secure
the support one direly needs to start a project or a business. Indeed, research contributes to a
person's ability to make life-changing decisions. It encourages self-growth, participation in
worthwhile causes, and living productively.

 Value of Information
 With the wide array of ideas available, people involved in research are able to share
information with a larger audience. Some view this process as ego-boosting, while others see it as a
means to stimulate interest and encourage further studies about certain issues or situations.

As literacy is integral in improving a person's social and economic mobility and in increasing
awareness, research then hones necessary basic life skills and makes learning a life-long endeavor.

 Explore History

Research about our planets history and human history has enabled us to learn and
understand more about our forefathers and helped us learn from their mistakes and absorb good
things from their life. Research about the planet’s history and existence has told us a lot about how
things will shape up in years to come and how we need to respect our planet and work closely
together to stop global warming and other scenarios of destruction.

 Make Changes

Sometimes, there are in-built problems in a process or a project that is hard to discover.
Research helps us find the root cause and associated elements of a process. The end result of such
a research invokes a demand for change and sometimes is successful in producing changes as well.
For example, many U.N researches have paved way for changes in environmental policies.

 Exercise of the Mind

Curiosity may kill not just the cat, but the human as well. Yet, it is the same curiosity that
fuels the mind to seek for answers. The College Admissions Partners (n.d.) notes how scientific
research in particular "helps students develop critical reasoning skills... Such search or the thinking
process is food for the brain, allowing creativity and logic to remain active.

Indeed, research and doing research encourage people to explore possibilities, to

understand existing issues, and to disclose truths and fabricated ones. Without research,
technological advancement and other developments could have remained a fantasy. Reading,
writing, observing, analyzing, and interacting with others facilitate an inquisitive mind's quest for
knowledge and efficient learning. Research serves as an instrument to achieve that goal.

 Needs Satisfaction

Modern facilities that satisfy man’s needs are all products of research. Research reduces the
burden of work.

 Tool for Efficient Learning

Research is required not just for students and academics, but for all professionals. It is also
important for writers, both offline and online. Among professionals and scribes, finding an
interesting topic to discuss and/or to write about should go beyond personal experience.
Determining either what the general public may want to know about or what researchers want
others to realize or to think about can serve as a reason to do research.
 Support Truth & Prove Lies
 Doing research reveals lies or truths. Scientists deal with research to test the validity and
reliability of their claims or those of other scientists'. Their integrity and competence depend on
the quality - and not just quantity - of their research. Nonetheless, not everything scientists come
up with get accepted or learned by everyone, especially when factors like religion, state
suppression, and access to resources and social services (e.g., education and adequate health
programs) either feed the poor majority with lies or deter them from knowing truths to preserve
the status quo.

FOUR TYPES OF KNOWLEDGE THAT RESEARCH CONTRIBUTED

Gall, Borg and Gall (1996) proposed four types of knowledge that research contributed to
education as follows:

 Description: Results of research can describe natural or social phenomenon, such as its form,
structure, activity, change over time, relationship to other phenomena. It results in our
understanding of what happened.

 Prediction: Prediction research is intended to predict a phenomenon that will occur at time Y
from information at an earlier time X.

 Improvement: This type of research is mainly concerned with the effectiveness of intervention.
The research approach includes experimental design and evaluation research.

 Explanation: This type research subsumes the other three. If the researchers are able to explain
a phenomenon, it means that they can describe, can predict its consequences, and know how
to intervene to change those consequences.

CHARACTERISTICS OF RESEARCH

 Objective: It is not based on a guess work. This is because empirical data have to be gathered by
the researcher before making any conclusion or proposing any solution to an identified
difficulty or problem.
 Systematic: It is systematic as there are interrelated steps or procedures a researcher has to
observe in solving a problem.
 Comprehensive: If a researcher is serious about understanding a phenomenon, he has to
examine and analyze all its aspects or angles before making a generalization or conclusions.
 Critical: This means that procedures employed by the researcher must be able to withstand
critical scrutiny by other researchers.
 Cyclical: It is cyclical since research starts with a problem and ends with a problem.
 Rigorous: it is rigorous as procedures to be followed in solving a problem should be relevant,
appropriate, justified, and strictly observed.
 Empirical: It is empirical as generalization drawn by a researcher is rooted upon hard evidence
gathered from information collected from real life experiences or observation.
 Verifiable: Research is said to be verifiable as other researchers can check on the correctness of
its results by replicating the study based on the procedures employed by the researcher.
 Valid: Whenever a researcher formulates conclusions, these are based on actual findings
because validity determines the applicability of the research. Some researchers say that validity
and reliability are co-related, but the validity is much more important than reliability.
 Reliable: Reliability is the repeatability of any research, research instrument, tool or procedure.
If any research yields similar results each time it is undertaken with similar population and with
similar procedures, it is called to be a reliable research.

RESEARCH PROCESS

As a systematic process of adding to the existing body of knowledge, research is not done
haphazardly. It follows a standard procedure in a logical sequence of steps, as shown below.
Idea-Generating Phase: Research begins with an idea in which the researcher has interest. It is in this
phase where in the researcher has to identify topics that interests him most. Once a topic of interest is
already identified, the researcher has to start reading articles and books, converse with people who are
knowledgeable in the area and begin thinking about it.

Problem-Definition Phase: As the ideas generated in the first phase are very general or vague, the
researcher has to refine them. This step involves the following activities: identification and definition of the
variables to be studied; development of the frameworks of the study; formulation of general and specific
problems to be investigated and the formulation of hypothesis.

Procedures-Design Phase: The researcher has to decide on the methods and procedures he will use in the
collection and analysis of data. Activities a researcher has to undertake in this phase include the following:
decision on what research methodology to employ; selection of research participants; development and
validation of data gathering tools; specification of the procedures to be observed in the actual collection of
data and planning the analysis of the data gathered.

Data-Collection Phase: After preparing the research plan, the researcher has to proceed gathering the data
from the subjects of the study. It is in this phase where the procedures, devised in the previous step, are
implemented by the researcher rigorously.

Data-Analysis Phase: In this phase, the researcher analyzes the collected data, based on his analysis plan.
Appropriate qualitative and quantitative techniques, and procedures are then applied for the data that
have been recorded, coded, and tabulated.

Interpretation Phase: Having analyzed the data, the researcher continues to make sense out of them by
interpreting the results in terms of how they aid in responding to the research problem posed at the
beginning of the study, and how this answer contributes to knowledge in the field.

Communication Phase: After completing the data analysis and interpretation phase, the researcher has to
prepare a written or oral report of the study conducted, either for publication or presentation to
colleagues or a panel of experts. This report has to include a description of all the above steps in the
research process.

RESEARCH ETHICS
 When people think of ethics, they think of rules for distinguishing between right and wrong,
such as the Golden Rule ("Do unto others as you would have them do unto you"), a code of
conduct like the Hippocratic Oath ("First of all, do no harm"), a religious creed like the Ten
Commandments, or wise aphorisms like the sayings of Confucius. This is the most common way of
defining "ethics": norms that distinguish between acceptable and unacceptable behavior.

Research ethics provides guidelines for the responsible conduct of research. In addition, it
educates and monitors scientists conducting research to ensure a high ethical standard.

Ethical Principles

 Principle of Integrity and Honesty: Seek to preserve, extend, and communicate truth.

A. Competence in the conduct of research

Conduct all research activities in accordance with the accepted standards.
B. Accuracy of research data and reports 
Ensure the accuracy of all data presented in your research. Only the correct data,
information, and research results shall be reported.
C. Acknowledgment of sources of data/information
Do not plagiarize; that is, to present portions of another’s report as your own. Cite clearly all
sources of information and data which are not the results of your research.
D. Openness and responsibility in the conduct and presentation of research 
Keep detailed and complete records of the research undertaking. Ensure that the research
results are accessible to the public once the research is concluded.

 Principle of Justice and Fairness: The researcher treats his peers, colleagues, and research
participants justly and fairly.

 Principle of Safety and Beneficence: The researcher has to protect and promote the safety
and interests of the community.

A. Responsible dissemination of scientific knowledge to the public 

Inform the community of scientific knowledge pertaining to human practices, attitudes,
events, and other phenomena that present significant risk or benefit to human welfare.
B. Promotion of the interests of the community 
To the extent that is applicable or possible, conduct research that serves the needs and
promotes the best interests of the community.

 Principle of Respect for Human Rights and Dignity: One is obligated to uphold their rights,
dignity, and autonomy of participants.
 
A. Extension of equal treatment and respect towards research participants
Respect cultural, individual and role differences among research participants, including
those based on gender identity, nationality, ethnicity, disability, or socio-economic status.
B. Guarding participants’ confidentiality and autonomy rights 
Protect participants’ right to privacy and confidentiality. Ensure that informed consent is
obtained from all participants.
Reasons Why Research Ethics Are Important
 Ethics promote the aims of research, such as knowledge, truth, and avoidance of error. For
example, prohibitions against fabricating, falsifying, or misrepresenting research data promote
the truth and minimize error.
 Ethical standards promote the values that are essential to collaborative work, such as trust,
accountability, mutual respect, and fairness. For example, many ethical norms in research, such
as guidelines for authorship, copyright and patenting policies, and confidentiality rules in peer
review, are designed to protect intellectual property interests while encouraging collaboration.
 Many of the norms help to ensure that researchers can be held accountable to the public. For
instance, federal policies on research misconduct, human protection, and animal care are
necessary in order to make sure that researchers can be held accountable to the public.
 Ethical norms in research also help to build public support for research. People are more likely
to fund a research project if they can trust the quality and integrity of research.
 Many of the norms of research promote a variety of other social values, such as social
responsibility, human rights, animal welfare, compliance with the law, and public health and
safety. Ethical lapses in research can harm human and animal subjects, and the public.

Components of Ethically Valid Informed Consent

For an informed consent to be ethically valid, the following components must be present:
 Voluntariness: The participant's consent to participate in the research must be voluntary, free
of any coercion or inflated promise of benefits from participation. Care should be taken that the
consent form is administered by someone who does not hold authority over the participant.
 Consent: The potential subject must authorize his/her participation in the research study,
preferably in writing. An oral or implicit consent may also be appropriate.
 Disclosure: The potential participant must be informed as fully as possible of the nature and
purpose of the research, procedures to be used, expected benefits to the participant and/or
society, and potential risks and discomforts in participating in the research.
 Understanding: The participant must understand what has been explained and must be given
the opportunity to ask questions and have them answered. The informed consent document
must be written in lay language, avoiding any technical jargon.
 Competence: The participant must be competent to give consent. If the participant is not
competent due to mental status, disease, or emergency, a designated surrogate may provide
consent if it is in the participant's best interest to participate.

The Process of Obtaining Consent

1. Identify participant population.

2. Produce information sheet and consent document.
3. Obtain permission from the school’s ethics committee.
4. Present research information to participant and discuss its contents.
5. Answer participant’s questions.
6. Give a copy of the consent document.
7. Allow the participant time to consider.
8. Meet participant and discuss documents, to answer any more questions and to assess
participants understanding.
9. Obtain appropriate signed consent.
Example of Consent Form Letter:
 I have read the Information Sheet and have had the details of the study explained to me.
My questions have been answered to my satisfaction, and I may ask further questions at any time.

I understand I have the right to withdraw from the study at any time and decline to answer
any particular questions.

I agree to provide information to the researcher(s) on the understanding that my name will
not be used without my permission.

I agree / do not agree to the interview being recorded electronically.

I understand that I have the right to ask for the tape to be turned off at any time during the
interview.

I agree to participate in this study under the conditions set out in the information sheet.