QUANTITATIVE
RESEARCH DESIGNS
• Quantitative research is more systematic and controlled than qualitative.
However, both research methods have a statement of the problem to
investigate. At this point, it is assumed that you are already done stating your
research problem, the background of the study, scope and delimitation,
hypothesis, conceptual framework, and review of related literature and studies.
• Each type of research has a unique design to follow that will also lead the
direction of sampling procedure, data gathering, and data analysis. Each
research type also aims to answer specific research questions; how it will be
answered is determined by its design.
• Important considerations also are the variables of the study. The
type of variables provides paradigm (your conceptual framework),
which helps the researcher decide on what will be the design of the
study.
• So it is very important that you have completed the previous tasks
diligently to maximize your learning in this Module. In this lesson,
you will be taught how to select an appropriate quantitative research
design.
MEANING OF QUANTITATIVE
RESEARCH DESIGNS
• Research design is defined as the logical and coherent overall
strategy that the researcher uses to integrate all the components of the
research study (Barrot, 2017, p 102). In order to find meaning in the overall
process of doing your research study, a step-by-step process will be
helpful to you.
• In quantitative research, you are going to have a great deal of
abstraction and numerical analysis. According to Fraenkel and Wallen
(2007, p 15), the research designs in quantitative research are mostly pre-
established. Hence having an appropriate research design in quantitative
research, the researcher will have a clearer comprehension of what he is
trying to analyze and interpret.
TYPES OF
QUANTITATIVE
RESEARCH DESIGN
QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH DESIGNS HAVE
FIVE GENERAL CLASSIFICATIONS:
1. DESCRIPTIVE
2. CORRELATIONAL
3. EX POST FACTO
[Link]-EXPERIMENTAL
5. EXPERIMENTAL
• Descriptive Research. When little is known about the research problem, then it is
appropriate to use descriptive research design. It is a design that is exploratory in nature. The
purpose of descriptive research is basically to answer questions such as who, what, where,
when, and how much. So this design is best used when the main objective of the study is just to
observe and report a certain phenomenon as it is happening.
• Correlational Research. The main goal of this design is to determine if variable increases or
decreases as another variable increases or decreases. This design seeks to establish an
association between variables. It does not seek cause and effect relationship like
descriptive research; it measures variables as it occurs. It has two major purposes: (a) to
clarify the relationship between variables and (b) predict the magnitude of the association.
However, the extent of the purpose of correlational research depends on the scope and
delimitation of the study.
• Ex Post Facto. If the objective of the study is to measure a cause from a
pre-existing effects, then Ex Post Facto research design is more appropriate to
use. In this design, the researcher has no control over the variables in the
research study. Thus, one cannot conclude that the changes measured happen
during the actual conduct of the study.
• The last two types of quantitative research designs are identifiable for the
existence of treatment or intervention applied to the current research study.
Intervention or treatment pertains to controlling or manipulating the
independent variable in an experiment. It is assumed that the changes in
dependent variables were caused by the independent variable.
THERE ARE ALSO TWO GROUPS OF SUBJECTS,
PARTICIPANTS, OR RESPONDENTS IN QUASI-
EXPERIMENTAL AND EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH.
THE TREATMENT GROUP REFERS TO THE GROUP
SUBJECTED TO TREATMENT OR INTERVENTION.
THE GROUP NOT SUBJECT TO TREATMENT OR
INTERVENTION IS CALLED THE CONTROL GROUP.
• Quasi-Experimental. The term means partly, partially, or almost – pronounced as kwahz-eye. This
research design aims to measure the causal relationship between variables. The effect measured is
considered to have occurred during the conduct of the current study. The partiality of quasi-experimental
design comes from assigning subjects, participants, or respondents into their groups. The groups are
known to be already established before the study, such as age educational background and nationality.
Since the assignment of subjects, participants, or respondents are not randomly assigned into an
experimental or control groups, the conclusion of results is limited.
•
• Experimental Research. This research design is based on the scientific method called experiment with a
procedure of gathering data under a controlled or manipulated environment. It is also known as true
experimental design since it applies treatment and manipulation more extensively compared to quasi-
experimental design. Random assignment of subjects or participants into treatment and control group is
done increasing the validity of the study. Experimental research, therefore, attempts to affect a certain variable
by directly manipulating the independent variable.
WHAT’S IN
• Remember when you were taught how to write your
scope and delimitation, you stated the subjects,
participants, or respondents of your study. You also
described their characteristics which qualify them to
be the source of your research data.
• The next question you have to answer is, how many of
the subjects, participants, or respondents should be
selected as a source of data?
• This lesson will teach you how to describe
sampling procedures in quantitative research.
• Note that the sampling procedure should be
aligned to your chosen research design. Since
you have already decided the research design of
your study, then you are ready for this lesson.
WHAT I NEED TO
KNOW
POPULATION AND SAMPLE
The first step in determining the sample size is identifying the
population of the topic of interest. The population is the
totality of all the objects, elements, persons, and
characteristics under consideration. It is understood that
this population possesses common characteristics about
which the research aims to explore.
TWO TYPES OF
POPULATION
TARGET POPULATION
The actual population is the target population.
For example:
All Senior High School Students enrolled in Science,
Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) in
the Division of Cagayan de Oro City.
ACCESSIBLE POPULATION
The accessible population is the portion of the population
in which the researcher has reasonable access.
For example:
All Senior High School enrolled, STEM strand at
Marayon Science High School – X.
SAMPLING
• When the whole population is too costly or time-consuming or
impractical to consider, then, a sample representative is identified.
Sampling pertains to the systematic process of selecting the group
to be analyzed in the research study.
• The goal is to get information from a group that represents the
target population.
• Once a good sample is obtained, the generalizability and
applicability of findings increases.
SAMPLE
• The representative subset of the population refers to the sample.
• All the 240 Senior High School Students enrolled in Science, Technology,
Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Strand in a school,
For example
Constitute the population; 60 of those students constitute the sample.
A good sample should have characteristics of the represented population –
characteristics that are within the scope of the study with fair accuracy.
Generally, the larger the sample, the more reliable the sample be, but still, it
will depend on the scope and delimitation and research design of the study.
WHAT IS IT
APPROACHES IN IDENTIFYING
THE SAMPLE SIZE
HEURISTICS. THIS APPROACH REFERS TO THE RULE OF THE THUMB FOR SAMPLE SIZE.
THE EARLY ESTABLISHED APPROACH BY GAY (1976) STATED BY CRISTOBAL AND DELA
CRUZ-CRISTOBAL (2017, P 172), SAMPLE SIZES FOR DIFFERENT RESEARCH DESIGNS
ARE THE FOLLOWING:
Research Design Number of
Subjects/Participants
Descriptive Research 10% to 20% maybe required
Comparative Research 15 subjects or
groups
LUNENBERG AND IRBY (2008), AS CITED BY BARROT (2017, P 107), ALSO
SUGGESTED DIFFERENT SAMPLE SIZES FOR EACH QUANTITATIVE
RESEARCH DESIGN.
Research Design Number of Subjects/Participants
Survey 800
Correlational 100 to 200
Ex post facto 30+
Experimental 30 or more
LITERATURE REVIEW
• Another approach is by reading similar or related literature and
studies to your current research study.
• Since you are done writing your review of related literature and
studies, you might want to recall how these studies determine
sample size.
• Using this approach increases the validity of your sampling
procedure.
FORMULAS. FORMULAS ARE ALSO BEING ESTABLISHED FOR THE
COMPUTATION OF AN ACCEPTABLE SAMPLE SIZE. THE COMMON FORMULA
IS SLOVIN’S FORMULA.
n= N
1+ Ne2
where: n is the sample size
N is the population size
E is the desired margin of error
n= 600
1+600 (0.05)2
¿ ____600
1+ 600(0.0025)
¿ 600
1+1.5
¿ 240
POWER ANALYSIS
This approach is founded on the principle of
power analysis. There are two principles you need
to consider if you are going to use this approach:
these are statistical power and effect size.
• The probability of rejecting the null hypothesis is called statistical power.
• It suggests that indeed there is a relationship between the independent and
dependent variables of the research study.
• The ideal statistical power of a research study is 80%. With the statistical
power, it will be used to identify the sufficient sample size for measuring the
effect size of a certain treatment.
• The level of difference between the experimental group and the control group
refers to effect size.
If the statistical power tells that relationship between independent and
dependent variables, the effect size suggests the extent of the
relationship between these two variables. Henceforth, the higher the
effect size, means the greater the level difference between the
experimental and control groups.
For example:
• Your research study reveals that there is a difference in the pretest and
posttest scores of the students in the given anxiety test after
implementing a psychosocial intervention. With the effect size, you will
have an idea of how small or large the difference is.
PROBABILITY SAMPLING
IN QUANTITATIVE
RESEARCH
SIMPLE RANDOM SAMPLING
• It is a way of choosing individuals in which all members
of the accessible population are given an equal chance
to be selected. There are various ways of obtaining
samples through simple random sampling. These are
fish bowl technique, roulette wheel, or use of the table
of random numbers.
STRATIFIED RANDOM SAMPLING
• The same with simple random sampling, stratified random
sampling also gives an equal chance to all members of the
population to be chosen.
• However, the population is first divided into strata or groups
before selecting the samples. The samples are chosen from these
subgroups and not directly from the entire population. This
procedure is best used when the variables of the study are also
grouped into classes such as gender and grade level.
YOU CAN SIMPLY FOLLOW THE STEPS FROM
THIS GIVEN EXAMPLE:
A population of 600 Junior High School
students includes 180 Grade 7, 160
Grade 8, 150 Grade 9, and 110 Grade 10. If
the computed sample size is 240, the
following proportionate sampling will be as
follows.
The number of members per Sample Size per Subgroups
subgroup is divided by the 180/600 = .30x 240 = 72 Grade 7 students
total accessible sample size.
The percentage result of
members per subgroup will be 160/600 = .27x 240 = 65 Grade 8 students
multiplied from the computed
total sample size. After
150/600 = .25x 240 = 60 Grade 9 students
obtaining the sample size per
strata, then simple random
sampling will be done for the =
110/600 = .18x 240 43 Grade 10 students
selection of samples from
each group.
100% 240 respondents
CLUSTER SAMPLING
• This procedure is usually applied in large-scale studies, geographical
spread out of the population is a challenge, and gathering
information will be very time-consuming. Similar to stratified random
sampling, cluster sampling also involves grouping of the population
according to subgroups or clusters. It is a method where multiple
clusters of people from the chosen population will be created by the
researcher in order to have homogenous characteristics.
FOR EXAMPLE
A researcher would like to interview of all public senior
high school students across Mindanao. As a researcher
cluster will be selected to satisfy the plan size. In the
given example, the first cluster can be by region, the
second cluster can be by division, and the third cluster
can be by district.
ANOTHER WAY OF DOING CLUSTER SAMPLING IS ILLUSTRATED ON THE FIGURE ON
THE RIGHT SIDE.
SYSTEMATIC SAMPLING
• This procedure is as simple as selecting samples every nth (example
every 2nd, 5th) of the chosen population until arriving at a desired total
number of sample size. Therefore the selection is based on a
predetermined interval. Dividing the population size by the sample size,
the interval will be obtained. For example, from a total population of 75,
you have 25 samples; using systematic sampling, you will decide to
select every 3rd person on the list of individuals.
RESEARCH
INSTRUMENT, VALIDITY
AND RELIABILITY
QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH INSTRUMENT
What do you think will happen if tools for building a house is not
prepared meticulously? The same thing when getting information
for answers to a research problem, tools, or instruments should
be prepared carefully. In constructing a quantitative research
instrument, it is very important to remember that the tools created
should require responses or data that will be numerically
analyzed.
RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS
• are basic tools researchers used to gather data for specific research
problems. Common instruments are performance tests, questionnaires,
interviews, and observation checklist. The first two instruments are usually
used in quantitative research, while the last two instruments are often in
qualitative research. However, interviews and observation checklists can still
be used in quantitative research once the information gathered is translated
into numerical data.
ACTIVITY 1. LET’S READ
DIRECTIONS: READ AND ANALYZE THE GIVEN SCENARIO. ANSWER THE
GUIDE QUESTIONS BELOW.
• A culmination program was scheduled for Grade 12 students. The highlight of the program is the
presentation of the festival of dances. The six sections prepared for the said dance contest during the
culmination. A month before the activity, the students already started planning. Their parents were also very
supportive in the preparation of their costumes and props. The class advisers also monitored the practices in
their classrooms.
• During the contest, the PE teacher invited teachers from other schools to serve as a judge. The
performances were exemplary, especially the section Rydberg. The section was also a crowd favorite.
However, another group that performed poorly compared to Rydberg was pronounced as the winner. Due to
the result of the contest, Rydberg and other sections wanted to know the bases for judging. After conducting
an investigation, it turned out that no clear criteria were set, and no rating sheets were used.
GUIDE QUESTIONS:
1. What do you think must have been done to avoid the
said situation?
2. What can you say about the result of investigation?
3. How will you relate the scenario to the conduct of a
quantitative research study?
In constructing the research instrument of the study, there are many
factors to be considered. The type of instrument, reasons for
choosing the type, and the description and conceptual definition of
its parts are some of the factors that need to be decided before
constructing a research instrument. Furthermore, it is also very
important to understand the concepts of scales of research
instruments and how to establish validity and reliability of
instruments.
CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD RESEARCH INSTRUMENT
• Concise. Have you tried answering a very long test, and because of its
length, you just pick the answer without even reading it? A good research
instrument is concise in length yet can elicit the needed data.
• Sequential. Questions or items must be arranged well. It is recommended
to arrange it from simplest to the most complex. In this way, the instrument will
be more favorable to the respondents to answer.
• Valid and reliable. The instrument should pass the tests of
validity and reliability to get more appropriate and accurate
information.
• Easily tabulated. Since you will be constructing an instrument for
quantitative research, this factor should be considered. Hence,
before crafting the instruments, the researcher makes sure that the
variable and research questions are established. These will be an
important basis for making items in the research instruments.
WAYS IN DEVELOPING
RESEARCH INSTRUMENT
• There are three ways you can consider in developing the research
instrument for your study. First is adopting an instrument from the
already utilized instruments from previous related studies. The second
way is modifying an existing instrument when the available
instruments do not yield the exact data that will answer the research
problem. And the third way is when the researcher made his own
instrument that corresponds to the variable and scope of his current
study.
COMMON SCALES USED
IN QUANTITATIVE
RESEARCH
LIKERT SCALE
Items Strong Stron
Agre Disagr gly
This is the most common scale ly
Agree e ee Disag
ree
used in quantitative research.
Respondents were asked to rate or
rank statements according to the scale There would be
difficulty in
provided. communicating our
concerns to our
teacher.
Example: A Likert scale that measures
There would be many
the attitude of students towards distractions when
distance learning. learning at home
than in
school.
SEMANTIC DIFFERENTIAL
Pleasant 5 4 3 2 1 Unpleasant
• In this scale, a series of bipolar
adjectives will be rated by the
respondents. This scale seems to Enthusiastic 5 4 3 2 1 Not Enthusiastic
be more advantageous since it is
more flexible and easy to
construct.
• Example: On a description of an
Competent 5 4 3 2 1 Incompetent
active student in school activities.
VALIDITY
• A research instrument is considered valid if it measures
what it supposed to measure.
• Validity also has several types: face content, construct,
concurrent, and predictive validity
TYPES OF VALIDITY
OF INSTRUMENT
• Face Validity. It is also known as “logical validity.” It calls for
an initiative judgment of the instruments as it “appear.” Just by
looking at the instrument, the researcher decides if it is valid.
• Content Validity. An instrument that is judged with content
validity meets the objectives of the study. It is done by checking
the statements or questions if this elicits the needed information.
Experts in the field of interest can also provide specific elements
that should be measured by the instrument.
• Construct Validity. It refers to the validity of instruments
as it corresponds to the theoretical construct of the study. It is
concerning if a specific measure relates to other measures.
• Concurrent Validity. When the instrument can predict
results similar to those similar tests already validated, it has
concurrent validity.
• Predictive Validity. When the instrument is able to
produce results similar to those similar tests that will be
employed in the future, it has predictive validity. This is
particularly useful for the aptitude test.
RELIABILITY OF INSTRUMENT
Reliability refers to the consistency of the measures or results of the instrument.
Test-retest Reliability. It is achieved by giving the same test to the same group
of respondents twice. The consistency of the two scores will be checked.
Equivalent Forms Reliability. It is established by administering two identical
tests except for wordings to the same group of respondents.
Internal Consistency Reliability. It determines how well the items measure the
same construct. It is reasonable that when a respondent gets a high score in one
item, he will also get one in similar items. There are three ways to measure the
internal consistency; through the split-half coefficient, Cronbach’s alpha, and
Kuder-Richardson formula.
RESEARCH
INTERVENTION
WHAT’S IN
• In the previous discussion on quantitative research designs, you were
taught about quasi-experimental and experimental designs.
• Its uniqueness from other research designs was also described.
Remember that experimental research design controls or
manipulates the independent variable.
• This is done by applying particular conditions or treatments or what is
called research intervention.
• In this lesson, the focus is on how to describe your research
intervention in your research paper.
NATURE OF RESEARCH
INTERVENTION
• In experimental research, the researcher decides the nature of intervention or
treatment. Intervention pertains to what is going to happen to the subjects of the
study. This decision covers who will receive the intervention and to what
extent it will be applied to them.
• For example, in a study of determining the effects of special tutorial program
to learners’ at risk of failing (LARF), researcher decides the group of LARF who
will receive intervention. In this example, a special tutorial program is the
research intervention. Furthermore, the extent to which the program will be
administered to the learners is determined.
STEPS IN DESCRIBING THE
RESEARCH INTERVENTION
PROCESS
• Write the Background Information. It is an introductory
paragraph that explains the relevance of the intervention to the
study conducted. It also includes the context and duration of the
treatment.
• Describe the Differences and Similarities between the
Experimental and Control Group. State what will happen and
what will not both in the experimental and control groups. This will
clearly illustrate the parameters of the research groups.
• Describe the Procedures of the Intervention. In particular,
describe how will the experimental group receive or experience the
condition. It includes how will the intervention happens to achieve the
desired result of the study. For example, how will the special tutorial
program will take place?
• Explain the Basis of Procedures. The reason for choosing the
intervention and process should clear and concrete reasons. The
researcher explains why the procedures are necessary. In addition, the
theoretical and conceptual basis for choosing the procedures is
presented to establish the validity of the procedures.
PLANNING DATA COLLECTION
PROCEDURE
QUANTITATIVE DATA
• Generally, data are any pieces of information or facts that people have known.
Once these data answers the research problem, it becomes helpful to research.
• When research data appears to be measurable in the numerical form, it is
considered quantitative data.
• However, some qualitative data can also be useful to quantitative research once it
is given a numerical value.
• For example, if you study about adjustment experiences of students to distant
learning, if it is categorized and numbered accordingly, then it can be quantified
during analysis.
•
TECHNIQUES IN COLLECTING
QUANTITATIVE DATA
OBSERVATION
• It is gathering information about a certain condition by using
senses. The researcher records the observation as seen
and heard.
• This is done by direct observation or indirect observation by
the use of gadgets or apparatus. An observation checklist
aid the researcher in recording the data gathered.
SURVEY
Data gathering is done through interview or questionnaire. By means of questionnaire
you use series of questions or statements that respondents will have to answer.
Basically, respondents write or choose their answer from given choices.
On the other hand, interview is when you ask respondents orally to tell you the
responses. Since you are doing quantitative research, it is expected that responses
have numerical value either it is nominal or ordinal in form.
EXPERIMENT
• When your study is an experimental design, it was already
discussed in the previous lesson that it would use treatment
or intervention.
• After the chosen subjects, participants, or respondents
undergone the intervention, the effects of such treatment will
be measured.
THREE PHASES IN DATA
COLLECTION
In doing research, data collection is a major component of research. Neglecting to clarify
the collection procedure would result in acquiring inaccurate data that will make you
research study invalid. Hence, the data collection procedure is given meticulous attention
to gather appropriate data. You are making sure that data you will gather answers to your
research questions.
The data gathering procedure is presented in a paragraph format in your research paper.
Basically, the contents are the steps you are going to follow:
(1) before you will gather the data,
(2) what to do during the actual gathering of data, and
(3) the things to consider after data has been gathered. The following are the suggested
steps but not limited to it, are the procedures in gathering quantitative data.
Before During After
BEFORE
• Prepare the research instruments
• Identify the authorities that will be involved and need to ask permission Determine the samples
• size and corresponding respondents; per group if applicable.
• Ask consent form (if respondents are 18 years old above) or parent's consent (if minor).
• Pilot test the research instrument if needed.
DURING
Clear the instructions provided to the respondents.
Administer the research instrument or implement the research intervention, if applicable.
Collect or gather or take note of the responses.
AFTER
Summarize the data gathered, in a tabular form
Analyze the summarize data corresponding to the research questions.
PLANNING DATA
ANALYSIS
• Prerequisite for taking Practical Research 2 is your Statistics and
Probability subject. It is presumed that you already have a good
practice of the learning competencies needed to conduct quantitative
research. Your background statistics and probability background will
help you plan and choose your data analysis.
• In planning your data analysis in quantitative research, you also
need to consider your research problem, type of data, hypothesis, and
scale used in your research instrument. This lesson focuses on
designing your data analysis procedure.
DATA ANALYSIS
• Data analysis in research is a process in which gathered information are summarized in
such a manner that it will yield answers to the research questions. During quantitative data
analysis gathered information were break down and ordered into categories in order to draw
trends or patterns in a certain condition. In quantitative research, the numerical data collected is
not taken as a whole. In order to understand it better, it is analyze into components based on
the chosen research variables and research questions you are going to answer.
•
• These numerical data are usually subject to statistical treatment depending on the nature of
data and the type of research problem presented. The statistical treatment makes explicit the
different statistical methods and formulas needed to analyze the research data.
PLANNING YOUR DATA
ANALYSIS
Before choosing what statistical test is appropriate for your
research study it is important to determine what statistical
formation is applicable to your current study. In immersing
yourself into planning your data analysis, you have to decide
what basic descriptive statistical technique you are going to
use. Although this technique does not give you the degree of
association or effect between variables, this will help you to
code and simply tabulate your data.
Descriptive statistical technique provides a summary of the ordered or
sequenced data from your research sample. Frequency distribution,
measure of central tendencies (mean, median, mode), and standard
deviation are the sets of data from descriptive statistics.
Inferential Statistics is used when the research study focuses on
finding predictions; testing hypothesis; and finding interpretations,
generalizations, and conclusions. Since this statistical method is more
complex and has more advanced mathematical computations, you can
use computer software to aid your analysis.
• You also have to identify types of statistical analysis of variable in your
quantitative research. A univariate analysis means analysis of one variable.
Analysis of two variables such as independent and dependent variables refers to
bivariate analysis while the multivariate analysis involves analysis of the
multiple relations between multiple variables.
• Furthermore, selecting what test to use is basically done by identifying whether
you will use parametric test or non-parametric test. As these were already
discussed in your Statistics and Probability subject, a summary of what to consider
is presented below:
Points to Consider Type of Test
Interval or Ratio Parametric Tests
Ordinal or Nominal Scale Non-parametric Tests
30 or more per group Parametric Tests
Fewer than 30 Non-parametric Tests
Normal Distribution Parametric Tests
Data deviates from Normal Non-parametric Tests
Distribution
IN ADDITION, IN CHOOSING
STATISTICAL TECHNIQUES IN
QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH, THE
PURPOSE OR OBJECTIVE OF THE
RESEARCH STUDY SHOULD BE
CONSIDERED.
TEST OF RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TWO
VARIABLES
➢ Pearson’s r (parametric)
➢ Phi coefficient (non-parametric for nominal and dichotomous
➢ variables)
➢ Spearman’s rho (non-parametric for ordinal variable)
TEST OF DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TWO
DATA SETS FROM ONE GROUP
➢ T-test for dependent samples (parametric)
➢ McNemar change test (non-parametric for
nominal and dichotomous variables)
➢ Wilcoxon signed-rank test (non-parametric for
ordinal variable)
TEST OF DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TWO DATA SETS
FROM TWO DIFFERENT GROUPS
➢ T-test for independent samples (parametric)
➢ Two-way chi-square (non-parametric for nominal variable)
➢ Mann-Whitney U test (non-parametric for ordinal variable)
Test More than Two Population Means
➢ Analysis of Variance or ANOVA (parametric)
• Test the Strength of Relation or Effect or Impact
➢ Regression (parametric)