DEFINITION, CHARACTERISTICS, AND TYPES

OF QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH

Quantitative research inquires people’s views in a structured manner so that hard evidences
and statistics that may be used, e.g. in decision making, can be generated. The researcher is
centered on collecting numerical data and s/he makes use of the data to generalize conditions
from across a group of population.
Quantitative research may also be described as follows:
 It is either descriptive, wherein subjects are measured once, or experimental, wherein
subjects are measured before and after.
 Data is gathered using structured instruments. The results are based on large sample
sizes that are representative of the population and can be replicated.
 It has clearly defined research questions to which objective answers are sought.
 It aims to classify features, count them, and construct statistical models in an attempt to
explain what is observed.

Differentiating the Quantitative and Qualitative Research Paradigms

A qualitative research is defined as “an inquiry process of understanding a social or
human problem based on building a complex, holistic picture formed with words, reporting
detailed views of informants, and conducted in a natural setting.” A quantitative research, on
the other hand, is “an inquiry into a social or human problem based on testing a theory composed
of variables, measured with numbers, and analyzed with statistical procedures in order to
determine whether the predictive generalizations of the theory hold true.”

Four Preoccupations of Quantitative Researchers

1. Measurement
Measurement is an important factor in quantitative research, which is why reliability
and validity are embedded in its methodology. Reliability speaks of consistency of a
measure of a concept. It is reliable if it contains the following factors:
a. Stability- this means there is “very little variation over time in the results obtained if it is
administered to a group and re-administered again.”
b. Internal Reliability- this means “consistency of the scale or index, whether respondents’
scores on any one indicator tend to be related to their scores on the other indicators.”
c. Inter-Observer Consistency- this means “being cautious of the possibility of the
inconsistency of observers when a great deal of subjective judgment is involved, such as
in recording of observations or translating of data into categories and when more than one
observer is involved.”
Validity, on the other hand refers to the issue whether an indicator that is developed
to measure a concept really gauges that concept.

Ways to establish validity:

 a. Face Validity- the measure reflects the content of the concept in question. This may be
undertaken by asking other people whether the measure seems to be getting at the
concept that is the focus of attention.
b. Concurrent Validity- employs criterion on which cases are known to differ and that is
relevant in question.
c. Predictive Validity- uses a future criterion measure rather than a contemporary one.
d. Construct Validity- deduces hypotheses from a theory that is relevant to the concept.
e. Convergent Validity- the validity of a measure ought to be gauged by comparing it to
measures of the same concept developed through other measures.

2. Causality
Most quantitative research is concerned about explanation. They are strong on
explaining why things happen in certain ways. Hence they are interested not only about
phenomenon of things but also the causes of it. In connection with causality, you will encounter
the concept of dependent and independent variables.

3. Generalization
Quantitative researchers are usually apprehensive about findings that cannot be
generalized. They pursue findings that can be generalized beyond the margins of a certain
context in which the research was undertaken. This area of concern reveals itself in social
survey research, in the attention that is often given to the question of how one can create a
representative sample.

4. Replication
Replication is the ability to repeat an important component of an activity. The attempt to
make the procedures highly explicit is an intervention to make an experiment capable replication.
However, replication is not a high status activity in natural and social sciences. It is most of the
time, considered as not capable of sustaining interest. In social sciences, it is difficult to warrant
that the settings in a replication are those that are referred to in the original study.

Types of Quantitative Research

1. Descriptive Research- designed to give “answers to the questions of who, what, when, and
how which are linked with a research problem.” It is applied only to describe what exists and
to gather information about the current status of a certain phenomenon. This type of research
observes a subject or situation in a “natural and unchanged environment.” It can provide a
wealth of information which can be used as basis for decision-making and improvement of
certain practices.

2. Experimental Research- a type of quantitative research that authorizes researchers to

“control the situation which allows them to answer the question, ‘What causes something to
occur?’” In addition, it also sanctions researchers to identify the cause-and-effect
relationships between variables and to distinguish placebo effects from treatment effects.
Moreover, it supports the ability to limit alternative explanations and to infer direct causal
relationships in the study.
3. Survey Research
A survey is intended to acquire information from people concerning the predominance,
distribution, and interrelations of variables within an identified group. In simple terms, surveys
are done to gather evidence of people’s knowledge, opinions, attitudes, and values on various
issues and concerns. Surveys are used for collecting data that are mainly quantitative.

4. Correlational Research
Correlations are based on pairs of measures or scores for members of a single sample and
provide an indication of the strengths of the relationship between two variables that embody
characteristics of or performances by that group. Moreover, a “high correlation between scores
on two tests taken by a group measuring the same things indicates that there is a high level of
agreement between the two instruments. Correlations can in some cases, also be used in the
process of making predictions of values for one variable based upon the values of the other.”

5. Causal-Comparative Research
It is considered as a kind of descriptive research because it describes existing conditions.
However, unlike descriptive research, causal-comparative research endeavors to find out the
causes of existing phenomena. It is about proving the cause-effect relationships which
descriptive and correlational studies do not ascertain. This may be likened to experimental
research where cause-and-effect relationships are generated. This may also be likened to
correlational methods because both are nonexperimental since they lack manipulation of an
independent variable.

References:
Melegrito, M.F. & Mendoza, D.J. (2016). Definition, Characteristics, and Types of Quantitative
Research. Applied Research: An Introduction to Quantitative Research Methods and
Report Writing, pp. 8-30.

http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/lessons/data/b.html#close
 ACTIVITY #1: QUANTITATIVE
Poll Topic: Declaring community quarantine is the best solution to avoid the spread of Covid-
19 in the Philippines.

Quantitative
Student records the response of at least fifteen (15) members of the family or household or
classmates (can be done via chat) to the poll topic using the following scale.
1 2 3 4 5
Strongly Don’t Agree or Strongly
Agree Somewhat Disagree Somewhat
Agree Disagree Disagree

Analyzing by Averaging
Note: In order to average your findings, add up all of your responses and then divide by the
number of responses. So, if you had three different responses of 2, 3, and 1, then you would use
the following formula: 

2+3+1 = 2
3  

Analyzing by Tallying
Or, you can create a graph that shows how many students or members of the family chose
strongly agree, how many chose agree somewhat, don’t agree, or disagree, etc. It could look like
this:

Rating Strongly Agree Don’t Agree or Disagree Strongly

 Agree Somewhat Disagree Somewhat Disagree
# of students who
3 5 2 2 8
picked this rating

In the above example, a total of 20 students answered (3+5+2+2+8).

So: 
 8 students agreed, either somewhat or strongly, 
 2 had no opinion, 
 and 10 disagreed either strongly or somewhat. 
You could simply summarize these findings by saying that more people disagreed than
agreed.
Or:
 3/20 strongly agreed,
 5/20 agreed somewhat
 2/20 didn’t agree or disagree,
 2/20 disagreed somewhat,
 and 8/20 strongly disagreed.

If you convert these numbers into percentages, you could say that 15% strongly agreed, 25%
agreed somewhat, 10% didn’t agree or disagree, 10% disagreed somewhat, and 40% strongly
disagreed.
Tip: to check your math, make sure that your percentages add up to 100%.
Note: to convert fractions to percentages, divide the numerator (top number) by the denominator
(bottom number) and then move the decimal point over two places to the right.

Summary of Findings

Analyzing by Averaging
Computation:

Discussion (Results):
 Analyzing by Tallying
Strongly Agree Don’t Agree or Disagree Strongly
Rating
Agree Somewhat Disagree Somewhat Disagree
# of students who
picked this rating

Discussion (Results):

When you are finished with your calculations, answer the following questions as a group:
1. What question did you set out to answer? 
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
2. Do you feel you gained enough information to answer the question? 
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
3. Summarize your findings in one sentence. 
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
4. How did you analyze your findings? How long did it take you? Did you find that it was easy
or difficult to analyze the data? Why? 
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
5. In this study, you learned what peoples’ opinions were. Did you also learn why they felt the
way they did? If so, how? If not, why not? Did the responses you received raise any new
questions you would like to find answers to? If so, what were they? 
 ___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
6. If you were to do this poll over again, how would you improve your analysis? 
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________