Research Plan and Design

by

Denn A. Agatep

College of Engineering
Cagayan State University

ESSENCE OF RESEARCH
Research - the systematic collection and
analysis of data to increase our understanding
of a phenomenon

involves
interpretation
of data

Research

yields new
information or
understanding

MISCONCEPTIONS ON RESEARCH
Research is mere collection of information.
(e.g. Getting information in the library)

Research is mere relocation of facts.

(e.g. Summarizing a novel)

Research is merely searching for information.

(e.g. Finding market value of houses)

Research is a catchword to get attention.

(e.g. Giving sales talk to sell a product)

No interpretation of information is made

CHARACTERISTICS OF RESEARCH
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Research starts with a question or problem.

Research requires a clear statement of problem.
Research follows a carefully planned design.
Research usually breaks the main problem into subproblems.
Research is directed by the specific research question or hypothesis.
Research states a number of valid assumptions.
Research requires the collection and interpretation of data.
Research is a cyclical or helical process.

THE RESEARCH PROCESS

1. A question with no known solution is conceptualized.
2. The research problem is stated clearly and completely.
3. A tentative hypothesis is formulated.
4. The literature is searched for a possible solution to the research problem.
5. More resources are located to resolve the research problem.
6. Data related to the research problem are located.
7. The data are scrutinized to reveal their meaning.
8. The data are interpreted and conclusion is suggested.
9. The data may resolve or may not resolve the research problem.
10. The data either support or do not support the hypothesis.

GENERAL TOOLS OF RESEARCH

1. The library and its resources

4. Statistics

2. The computer and its software

5. The human mind

3. Techniques of measurement

6. Facility with language

THE LIBRARY AS RESEARCH TOOL

Library Resources

Library catalogs
Indexes and abstracts
The reference librarian
Browsing the library shelves

THE COMPUTER AS RESEARCH TOOL

Features of the Internet
World wide web
Telnet
File transfer protocol
Electronic mail
News

MEASUREMENT AS RESEARCH TOOL

Measurement limiting the data of a phenomenon so that those
data may be interpreted and compared to standards

Types of Phenomena
Substantial - tangibles

Insubstantial - intangibles

Scales of Measurement
Non-interval scales

Interval scales
Interval scale
Ratio scale

Nominal scale
Ordinal scale

Terms Associated with Measurement

Validity - credibility
Reliability - consistency

STATISTICS AS RESEARCH TOOL

Principal Functions of Statistics
1. Descriptive summarize the general nature of the data
collected

2. Inferential help the researcher make decisions about the data

THE HUMAN MIND AS RESEARCH TOOL

Cognitive Tools

Deductive logic
Inductive logic

The scientific method

Critical thinking

LANGUAGE AS RESEARCH TOOL

Guidelines on effective writing
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Write exactly what you mean

Relate your discussion to your research problem
Give an overview of the topics to be discussed
Organize ideas with the use of headings and subheadings
Provide transitional words
Give examples to illustrate an abstract idea
Use the correct punctuation
Present information in figure or table form as much as possible
Revise your work several times over

METHODS OF RESEARCH
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Action research
Case study
Casual-comparative research
Content analysis
Computational research
Correlational research
Descriptive of normative survey
Descriptive quantitative research

9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.

Developmental research
Ethnography
Experimental research
Exploratory research
Grounded theory research
Historical research
Observation study
Phenomenological research
Quasi-experimental research

UNSUITABLE RESEARCH PROBLEMS

1. Research projects that simply inform about what is already known
2. Problems whose only objective is to compare two sets of data
3. Research that calculates a coefficient of correlation between two sets of data to show a relationship between them
4. Problems answerable with yes or no

These lack the interpretation of data

IDENTIFYING RESEARCH PROBLEMS

1. Read previous studies
2. Attend conferences
3. Ask the advice of experts

STATING THE RESEARCH PROBLEM

1. State the research problem clearly and completely
2. Consider the practical aspects of the research problem
3. Write exactly what you mean
4. Review and edit your statement of the problem

SUBPROBLEMS
Subproblems integral part of the main problem
Pseudoproblems problems that look like
subproblems but are nothing more than procedural
issues

Charateristics of Subproblems

A subproblem should be a researchable unit

A subproblem must be tied to data interpretation
The subproblems must add up to the totality of the research problem
Subproblems should be small in number

DELINEATION OF THE RESEARCH

Stating the Hypotheses
Hypotheses tentative, intelligent guesses that would guide
the researcher toward suitable data
Null hypothesis tentative, educated guess stated in a
negative way

Delimiting the Research

Delimitations statements that indicate what is relevant and
what is not relevant to the research problem

Defining the Terms

Definitions must be operative, i.e., description of the term as
it is used in relation to the research problem

Stating the Assumptions

All assumptions that have a material bearing on the research
problem should be set forth.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The reasons for doing the study
The use or good of the study
The benefits or practical values the study has

FUNCTIONS OF LITERATURE REVIEW

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

It increases your confidence in your topic.

It provides you with new ideas and approaches.
It informs about other researchers doing work in your topic.
It shows how others handled methodological and design issues.
It reveals new sources of data.
It introduces you to measurement tools other researchers developed and used.
It reveals methods of solving related problems.
It helps you interpret your findings and tie your results to previous studies.

RESOURCES FOR LITERATURE REVIEW

The librarys book collection

Government publications

General references such as indexes and abstracts

The world wide web

On-line searches

Literature reviews of previous related studies

DOING A LITERATURE SEARCH

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Write your research problem at the top of a sheet of paper.

Write each subproblem across the page.
Identify the keywords in each subproblem.
Use these keywords as your agenda as you search the literature.
Go the library to locate resources related to your agenda.
Read, read, and read!
Stop your literature search when repetitive patterns start to appear

SYNTHESIZING LITERATURE REVIEW

Compare and contrast different views on your topic.

Show how approaches to your topic changed over time.
Describe general trends in research findings related to your topic.
Identify contradictory findings on your topic and suggest possible explanations.
Identify general themes of related studies in the literature

SOLID LITERATURE REVIEW

On writing a clear and cohesive literature review
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Know exactly what literature review means

Plan the organizational scheme of your literature review
Always connect the discussion of the literature with your research problem
Do not reproduce the literature review
Give the meaning of your discussion of the literature in relation to your own problem
Expect to write multiple drafts of your literature review
Ask others for advice and feedback

RESEARCH PLANNING/METHODOLOGY
Research Planning the complete
strategy of attack on the central
research problem
Research Methodology the specific
methods used to collect and analyze
data related to the research problem

GENERAL CRITERIA FOR RESEARCH

Universality a feature of having a research project that can be done by a competent person
Replication a feature of having a possibility to repeat the research project
Control a feature of assigning a factor that is central to the research problem
Measurement a feature of limiting research data to reveal their meaning

DATA IN RESEARCH
Data manifestations of reality
Data are transient and ever-changing
Primary data are those closest to the truth; secondary data are those derived from primary data
Criteria for the admissibility of data are restrictions placed on the data

VALIDITY OF INSTRUMENTS
Face validity extent to which an instrument looks like its measuring a characteristic
Content validity extent to which an instrument represents the content area being measured
Criterion validity extent to which the results of an instrument correlate with another
Construct validity extent to which an instrument measures an inferred characteristic

RELIABILITY OF INSTRUMENTS
Interrater reliability extent to which several individuals evaluating the same product give the same

judgments
Internal consistency reliability extent to which all items within an instrument yield similar results
Equivalent forms reliability extent to which two versions of the same instrument yield similar results
Test-retest reliability extent to which the same instrument yields the same result on two occasions

BROAD CATEGORIES OF RESEARCH

Characteristics of Quantitative and Qualitative Methods
Item
Purpose

Process

Data

Collection
Analysis
Reporting
Findings

Quantitative

To explain and predict

To confirm and validate
To test theory
Focused
Known variables
Established guidelines
Static design
Context-free
Detached view
Representative, large sample
Standardized instruments
Deductive analysis
Numbers
Statistics, aggregated data
Formal voice, scientific style

Qualitative

To describe and explain

To explore and interpret
To build theory
Holistic
Unknown variables
Flexible guidelines
Emergent design
Context-bound
Personal view
Informative, small sample
Observations, interviews
Inductive analysis
Words
Narratives, individual quotes
Personal voice, literary style

VALIDITY OF METHODOLOGY
Internal Validity conclusions are warranted from study
conducted
Strategies that enhance internal validity
A controlled laboratory study Unobtrusive measures
A double-blind experiment
Triangulation
External Validity conclusions can be generalized to other
contexts
Strategies that enhance external validity
A real-life setting
A representative sample
Replication in a different context

VALIDITY IN QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

Additional Strategies Used
Extensive time in the field
Negative case analysis
Thick description

Feedback from others

Respondent validation

ETHICAL ISSUES IN RESEARCH

Protection from harm
Informed consent
Right to privacy
Honesty with professional colleagues

PLAN OF DATA COLLECTION

Questions to Consider
What data are needed?

How will the data be secured?

Where are the data collected

How will the data be interpreted?

CHOOSING A RESEARCH APPROACH

Item

Quantitative

Qualitative

Belief

Objective reality

Multiple possible realities

Audience

Familiar with quantitative

Familiar with qualitative

Research question

Confirmatory, predictive

Exploratory, interpretative

Available literature

Relatively large

Limited previous related

Research focus

Lot of breadth

In-depth study

Time

Relatively short

Relatively long

People interaction

Medium to low

High

Structure

High

Low

Reasoning skills

Deductive and statistics

Inductive and detailed

Writing skills

Technical, scientific

Literary, narrative

CONTROL IN EXPERIMENTAL DESIGNS

Strategies to Control for Confounding Variables
Keep some things constant
Include a control group
Randomly assign people to groups
Use matched pairs
Expose participants to both or all experimental conditions

PRE-EXPERIMENTAL DESIGNS
Research Objective

One-shot experimental
case study

One-group pretestposttest design

To explain a

consequence in terms of
its antecedent

To evaluate the effect of

a variable

Static group comparison To determine the effect

of a variable on one
group and not on another

Notation Paradigm
Group

Time

Grp1

Tx

Grp

Time

Grp1

Obs

Obs

Tx

Obs

Group

Time

Grp1

Tx

Obs

Grp2

Obs

Tx treatment
Obs observation

TRUE EXPERIMENTAL DESIGNS

Research Objective

Pretest-posttest control
group design

Solomon four-group
design

To study the effect of an

influence on a carefully
controlled sample

To investigate the
possible effect of
pretesting

Posttest-only control group To evaluate a situation

design

that cannot or should not

be pretested

Notation Paradigm
Grp

Time

Grp1

Obs

Tx

Obs

Grp2

Obs

Obs

Grp

Time

Grp1

Obs

Tx

Obs

Grp2

Obs

Obs

Grp3

Tx

Obs

Grp4

Obs

Group

Time

Grp1

Tx

Obs

Grp2

Obs

Tx treatment
Obs observation

QUASI-EXPERIMENTAL DESIGNS
Research Objective
Nonrandomized

control group pretestposttest design

Time-series
experiment

Control group,

time series design

To investigate a situation
in which randomness is
not possible

Grp

Time

Grp1

Obs

Tx

Obs

Grp2

Obs

Obs

To determine the effect of Grp

a variable after a series of

initial observations
Grp1

To holster the internal validity

Equivalent time-
samples design

Notation Paradigm

of the preceding design with

the addition of a control group

A variant of the preceding

design that controls better for
the effects of outside events

Time
Obs

Obs

Tx

Obs Obs

Grp

Time

Grp1

Obs

Obs

Tx

Obs Obs

Grp2

Obs

Obs

Obs Obs

Grp

Time

Grp1 Tx

Obs

Tx treatment
Obs observation

Obs

Tx

Obs

FACTORIAL DESIGNS
Approach that considers two or more independent
variables in a single study
Notation Paradigm
Group

Time
Treatment 1 Treatment 2

Group 1

Tx1

Tx2

Obs

Group 2

Tx1

Obs

Group 3

Tx2

Obs

Group 4

Obs

Tx treatment

Obs observation

ANALYSIS-OF-VARIANCE TECHNIQUE
Analysis of Variance a technique in which the total
variation is divided into meaningful components
General One-Factor Experiments

One-way analysis of variance: completely randomized design

Tests for the equality of several variances
Single-degree-of-freedom comparisons
Multiple comparisons
Comparing treatments with a control
Comparing a set of treatment in blocks
Randomized complete block designs
Graphical methods and further diagnostics
Latin Squares
Random effect models
Regression approach to analysis of variance
Power of analysis-of-variance tests

ONE-WAY ANOVA: RANDOM DESIGN

Example. Test the hypothesis 1 = 2 = 5 at the 0.05 level of
significance for the data below on absorption of moisture by various types
of cement aggregates

Absorption of Moisture in Concrete Aggregates

Aggregate:
1
2
3
4
5
551

595

639

417

563

457

580

615

449

631

450

508

511

517

522

731

583

573

438

613

499

633

648

415

656

632

517

677

555

679

Total

3320

3416

3663

2791

3664

16,854

Mean

553.33

569.33

610.50

465.17

610.67

561.80

Example-continued
Solution
H0: 1 = 2 = 5.
H1: At least two of the means are not equal
Critical region: F > 2.76 with 1 = 4 and 2 = 25 degrees of freedom
Computations:
SST = (557 - 561.8)2 + (457 - 561.8)2 + + (679 561.8)2 = 209,377
SSA = 6[(553.33 561.8)2 + (569.33 561.8)2 + + (610.67 561.8)2]
= 85,356
SSE = 209,377 85,356 = 124,021
Decision: Reject H0 and conclude that the aggregates do not have the
same absorption. The P-value for f = 4.30 is smaller than 0.01.