RESEARCH OVERVIEW

Principles of Research Ethics

1. Minimize the risk of harm

a. Will it harm participants?
b. Will it cause discomfort and distress?
c. Will it exploit social disadvantage>
d. Will it harm the identity and anonymity of the respondents?
e. Will it cause financial burden to all the participants?

2. Get permission/ obtain informed consent

a. Participants/informants are volunteers
b. Write a letter
c. Permission to go undercover
d. Cite and refer

3. Protect anonymity and confidentiality (Data Privacy Act of 2012)

4. Avoid deceptive practices
a. Making false promises to informants/ respondents
b. Faking your data

QUANTITATIVE VS QUALITATIVE

Quantitative research is expressed in numbers and graphs. It is used to test or confirm theories and
assumptions. This type of research can be used to establish generalizable facts about a topic.

Common quantitative methods include experiments, observations recorded as number and surveys with
closed-ended questions.

 Surveys (online, paper, phone)

 Audits
 Points of purchase (purchase transactions

Qualitative Research is express in words. It is used to understand concept, thoughts or experiences. This
type of research enables you to understand concept, thoughts or experiences. This type of research
enables you to gather in-depth insight on topics that are not well understood.

Common qualitative methods include interviews with open-ended questions, observations described in
words, and literature reviews that explore concepts and theories.

 Ethnographic participation/ observation

 Interviews
  Focus Groups

Types of Qualitative Research Design

As a researcher, you have to choose the best and most appropriate research design for your study.
Oftentimes, it is based on the study’s problem, objectives, and delimitations. There are six types of
research designs involved in qualitative research. These will help you find a logical framework for the
relationships of the variables under investigation.

1. Case Study
This type of design involves the in-depth examination of a case, which can be an individual, an event, a
group or organization, an activity or a process (Creswell 2013). In addition, a case study uses one or
more multiple methods of data collection and analysis (Astalin 2013). It can be a descriptive or an
exploratory study that serves as a multipurpose research method. Hence, researchers can use surveys,
interviews, observation, and other types of data collection at their disposal (Astalin 2013). The goal of a
case study is to give a holistic and complete picture of the phenomenon (Marczyk and DeMatteo 2005).

What are the limitations of a case study?

As a researcher, this type of research design can be used by describing and analyzing an entity’s
characteristics or matters that interest you as a researcher. Here, you cannot control the variables;
instead, you have the opportunity to study them in their most natural setting through observation or
other methods of inquiry. It provides a rich source of information of an individual or a unit’s functional,
behavioral, and sociocultural processes and their relationships, but this information cannot be
generalized for a larger group.

Examples of topics using case study:

● A Case Study on the Life of a Bulimic: Career, Family, and Life Struggles
● Crisis Counseling: A Case Study on Collaborative Counseling with Abused Children
● A Case Study on Advertising Strategies of ABC Company

2. Phenomenology
Phenomenology as a research design is the study of a “phenomenon,” which involves describing and
analyzing the events that lead to a particular phenomenon or series of events. Formally defined, in the
context of research, phenomenology describes how a research participant feels about a certain event,
activity, or a matter of interest (Leonard 2019).

As a researcher, if you will pursue a phenomenological study, you will have to describe and analyze how
an individual or individuals perceive or experience an event, which can either be important or ordinary.
In addition, you will have to explain how your participants’ experiences relate to the overall experience
of the population who have also experienced the event (Vandersotep, and Johnston 2009).
Research questions that are mostly in phenomenological studies include: “What is the true essence of
regret?”, “How do people feel regret in a certain situation?”, “What makes regret long-lasting etc.?”
Phenomenological questions deal with the essence of events and situations. Like case studies, a wide
range of data collection tools can be used to collect data, such as interviews, testing, observation, and
more.

Examples of topics using phenomenology:

● Working in Isolation: Analyzing the Experiences of Work-At-Home Employees
● The Smell of Rain: Experiences of Farmers of Bukidnon during the Rainy Season
● The Importance of Writer’s Block and Meditation for Creative Writers of Fiction: A
Phenomenological Critique

3. Ethnography
Derived from the word ethnic, ethnography deals with the study of culture of a group of people. Most
often, the participants involved in the study are from remote communities. Using a formal definition,
ethnography refers to the scientific description of different human societies (Astalin 2013). This includes
rural and urban communities and settings.

As a researcher, you will use varied means of data collection when you employ an ethnographic research
design. This includes identifying, observing, and recording conversations, performances, rituals,
ceremonies, artifacts, jokes and gestures, and most importantly stories, and life experiences
(Vanderstoep, and Johnston 2009). The diverse and rich data that you will collect from a particular group
will be the basis in understanding culture, art, and science

As a researcher, you must avoid bias in terms of analysis and interpretation of data,
especially in ethnographic studies. You must understand and relate their history, practices
and ways of living to the environment where they grew and matured, and how technology,
urbanization, and globalization might change or preserve their ways of life.

Examples of topics using ethnography:

● Manaram: The Ethnoscience behind Midwifery
● A Business Analysis of the Moslems of Manila
● A Socio-Anthropological Study on the Gods of the Igorot

4. Grounded Theory
The purpose of grounded theory is to develop a new theory or a hypothesis based on evidence or data.
As a grounded theory researcher, you will have to base the results of your study on the data you have
collected from a large sample size to generate new theories (Astalin 2013; Leonard 2019). However,
grounded theory as a design is too advanced and is mostly used by higher-level students.

This method of study allows new theories to emerge from the data itself using varied means of data
collection such as interviews and observations, and data analysis such as coding and connecting themes
(Astalin 2013). As a researcher, the use of grounded theory is to base its data interpretation and
examination on existing theories. The gathered data creates a theory that could either validate or
invalidate an existing theory that is related to your study.

Examples of topics using grounded theory:

1. Customer’s Perspective on Local Chicken Stores: A Grounded Theory Approach
2. Exploring the Nurses’ Approach in Geriatric Homes: A Grounded Theory Study
3. The Mamba Mentality: A Grounded Theory Study of a Basketball Players’
Championship Mindset

5. Historical
Using a historical research design means studying past events to understand the present
events occurring in the society, and anticipating the future based on previous historical
events related to it (Leonard 2019). For this design, answers can be found by looking into
the deviations from the normal course of events that have happened in the past. From
these deviations or alternate courses, historical researchers can discover knowledge that
has not been applied to the present era.
Various data collection methods are also involved, mostly document analysis of primary sources of data.
As a researcher, you must read texts concerning the topic you have in mind
using this research design. These texts include old journals, photographs, paintings, and
other artifacts that will help you understand the events.

Examples of topics using historical research:

1. Lapu-Lapu: An Icon of Male Masculinity and Heroism in the Philippines
2. Arms Race in the Laboratory: Scientist’s Perspectives and the Creation of Biowarfare
3. Post-Thomasite Education: The History and Future of Philippines’ Educational System

6. Narrative
A narrative study involves the description and analysis of different sets of events within a
particular person’s life experiences, opportunities, and decisions for growth and
development (Leonard 2019). This design involves a longer period of time as compared to
other qualitative research designs, and also uses varied modes of data collection and
analysis methods. In most narrative studies, the subject is an individual whose life
experiences may be related to others. in life.

Examples of topics using narrative:

1. Leadership in Education: A Narrative Research on Female Principals and their innovation in School
Management
2. Philippines’ Top Entrepreneurs: Rising and Building Empires in 21st Century
3. Surviving Wars: How a Single Mother Survived during the American and Japanese Regime
A rule of thumb for deciding whether to use qualitative or quantitative data is:

 Use quantitative research if you want to confirm or test something (a theory or hypothesis)
 Use qualitative research if you want to understand something (concept, thoughts or
experiences)

Review of Related Literature

Where to get related literature?

 Library
 Online Computer Database access to literature and students
 Journal Publications

Standards in writing Related Literature

 Compose/ write your own words, Paraphrase if you want to apply a thought you have read from
a literature
 Cite, credit and acknowledge authors and references properly to avoid plagiarism
 APA, MLA, Chicago
 Foreign and Local literature, Foreign and Local studies
 Published researches, studies, articles, books