CHAPTER 2: THE RESEARCH PROCESS
COMING TO TERMS
1. Research problem in quantitative and qualitative research.
Research problems are the educational issues, controversies, concerned
studies by researchers.
Tend to use quantitative research if your research problem requires you to:
Measure variables
Assess the impact of these variables on an outcome
Test theories or broad explanations
Apply results to a large number of people
Tend to use qualitative research if your research problem requires you to:
Learn about the views of individuals
Assess a process over time
Generate theories based on participant perspectives
Obtain detailed information about a few people or research sites
2. Variables
A variable is characteristic or attribute of an individual or an organization
that:
a. can be measured, observed, manipulated or controlled by the
researcher
b. varies among individuals or organizations studied with at least 2
levels or values
c. would be used for different purposes
Variable represent a class of outcomes that can take on more than one value
A variable is a concept – a noun that stands for variation with a class of
objects, such as gender, eye color, achievement, motivation, or running
speed.
3. Types of Variables
Type of Variable Definition Other Terms You Might See
Dependent (DV) A variable that is measured to Outcome variable
see whether the treatment or Results variables
manipulation of the Criterion variables
independent variable had an
effect.
Independent (IV) A variable that is Treatment variable
manipulated to examine its Factor variable
impact on a dependent Predictor variable
variable
Control (CV) A variable that is related to Restricting variable
the dependent variable, the
fluence of which needs to be
removed
Extraneous (EV) A variable that is related to Threatening variable
the dependent variable or
independent variable that is
not part of the experiment
Moderator (MV) A variable that is related to Interacting variable
the dependent variable or
independent variable and has
impact on the dependent
variable
A dependent variable represents the measure that reflects the outcomes of
a research study.
The dependent variable is that which is examined as the outcome of
an experiment or a research project.
A dependent variable is a variable that is measured to see whether
the treatment or manipulation of the independent variable had an
effect.
An independent variable (treatment variable) represents the treatments
or conditions that researcher has either direct or indirect control over to test
their effects on a particular outcome.
The independent variable is that which is manipulated or changed to
examine its effect upon the dependent variable.
An independent variable is a variable that is manipulated to examine
its impact on a dependent variable.
Independent variables must take on at least two levels or values.
E.g: Read the titles below and identify the dependent variables and the
independent variables
a. The effect of the teacher’s reading aloud on the reading comprehension of
EFL students
b. The role of digital and social media marketing in consumer behavior.
c. An Experimental Study on the Effectiveness of Multimedia in College
English Teaching.
Confouding variables are those that affect other variables in a way that
produces spurious or distorted associations between two variables. They
confound the “true” relationship between two variables.
For example, if we have an association between two variables (X and Y),
and that association is due entirely to the fact that both X and Y are affected
by a third variable (Z), then we would say that the association between X
and Y is spurious and that is a result of the effect of a confounding variable
(Z).
Example:
You collect data on sunburns and ice cream consumption. You find a
higher ice cream consumption is associated with a higher probability
of sunburn. Does that mean ice cream consumption causes sunburn?
Here, the confounding variable is temperature: high temperatures
cause people to both eat more ice cream and spend more time
outdoors under the sun, resulting in more sunburns.
Intervening variable:
Link the independent and dependent variables.
The case, or independent variable will have the assumed effect only
in the presence of an intervening variable.
Suppose you want to study the relationships between fertility and mortality.
Your aim is to explore what happens to fertility when mortality declines.
The history of demographic transition has shown that a reduction in the
fertility level follows a decline in the mortality level, though the time taken
to attain the same level of reduction in fertility varied markedly from
country to country. As such there is no direct relationship between fertility
and mortality. With the reduction in mortality, fertility will decline only if
multiplicity of reasons, people have used one method or another to control
their fertility, resulting in lower fertility levels. It is thus the intervention of
contraceptive methods that completes the relationship: the greater the use o
contraceptives, the greater the decline in the fertility level and the sooner
adoption of contraceptive methods by people, the sooner the decline. The
extent of the use of contraceptives is also affected by a number of other
factors, for example attitudes towards contraception, level of education,
socioeconomic status and age, religion, and provision and quality of health
services. These are classified as extraneous variables.
Other types of variables:
A control variable (CV) is variable that has potential influence on
the dependent variable; consequently, the influence must be removed
and controlled.
E.g: the relationship between reading speed and reading
comprehension => need to control for differences in
intelligence, topic familiarity, ….
An extraneous variable (EV) is variable that has an unpredictable
impact upon the dependent variable. => extraneous variables are
independent variables that have not been controlled.
A moderator variable (interacting variable) is as variable that is
related to the variables of interest (such as the dependent and
independent variable), making the true relationship between the
independent and dependent variable.
4. Hypothesis
Hypothesis:
is a statement that can be tested by scientific research
is a prediction about the expected relationships among variables
provides a transition from a problem statement or question into a
form that is more amenable to testing using the research methods we
are discussing.
is a prediction of the possible outcomes of a study.
Four steps to formulate a hypothesis:
a. Read about the topic of interest.
b. Gain sufficient information about your topic
c. Narrow or limit the topic
d. Form the research questions
Types of hypothesis:
Null hypothesis
Research hypothesis
Directional research hypothesis
Nondirectional research hypothesis
Null hypothesis (H0)
is a prediction that, no relationships or no significant difference
exists between groups on a variable in the general population
is a statement of equality
E.g: There will be no difference in the average score of 9th
graders and the average score of 12th graders on the ABC
memory test
Research hypothesis:
is a definite statement of the relationship between two variables
is a statement of inequality
includes two different forms: directional and nondirectional
a prediction that there is a relationship or a significant difference
between groups on a variable in the sample.
Non-directional hypotheses & Directional hypotheses
A nondirectional research is a prediction that there is a difference
between groups on a variable, but the direction of the difference is
not specified. Variables will be correlated but don’t state whether the
relationship will be positive or negative.
A directional research is a prediction that there is a difference
between groups on a variable, and the direction of the differnece is
specified. The hypothesis compares the two groups/conditions and
states which on will have more/less, be quicker/slower, etc ….
Good hypotheses:
Reflect the theory or literature upon which they are based
Be brief and to the point
Be testable