PRACTICAL RESEARCH 2 MSU-SHS

Lesson 4 NON-EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH

Definition of Non-Experimental Research

Non-experimental research is a way of finding out truths about a subject by
describing the collected data such subject and determining their relationships or
connections with one another. Any treatment or condition is not involved in this type of
research but there is measuring of variables here. Hence, once you do non-experimental
research, you deal with both qualitative and quantitative data. Your desire to discover
people’s thoughts, views, feelings, and attitudes about a certain societal issue, object,
place, or event causes you to use non-experimental research.
Characteristics
1. It is incapable of establishing cause-effect relationships. By itself, it can take place in
conjunction with other experimental and quasi-experimental research methods.
2. It involves various ways of data analysis:
 Primary – analysis of data collected by the researcher himself
 Secondary – examination of data collected by the other people
 Meta-analysis – analysis of data expressed numerically
3. It uses research methods that are applicable to both quantitative and qualitative data.
It collects data through survey, observation, historical studies, case studies,
documentary analysis, and so on (Suter 2012; Sarantakot 2013).
Research Design of non-Experimental Research
Any plan you have about non-experimental research must have the following aspects
that take place in a sequential manner:
1. Specify the problem or topic of your research.
2. Formulate the research problem or hypotheses.
3. Determine the dependent and independent variables.
4. Select the participants or subjects.
5. Decide on the specific type of experimental research, whether it will be a true
experimental or quasi-experimental research.
6. Conduct the experiment.
7. Collect, analyze, and interpret the results.
In conducting an experimental research, give a pre-test first to examine the initial
condition of both groups in relation to a variable, condition, or factor; second, apply a new
condition to the control group; and third, give the latter group a post-test to determine the
effects or influence of the treatment or condition applied on them.
There are many ways of letting a variable, factor, or condition intervene or have an
application on the subjects, and of later determining the effects of such intervention. Some of
 PRACTICAL RESEARCH 2 MSU-SHS

these methods are treatment evaluation and pre-test and post-test of multiple treatments or
conditions. The first one is called ex post facto or after the fact—meaning, evaluation comes
after the treatment. Multiple treatment, on the other hand, makes you apply on the subjects,
not just one, but also varied treatment methods like using books, interview, or social
networking. You resort to this method when you want to discover the extent of student
learning by means of these sources of data (De May, 2013; Cresweel, 2014).
Definition of Survey Research
Many immediately come to think of survey research the moment they hear or read the
expression, non-experimental research. This is so because survey research is the most used
non-experimental research in the field of Sociology, Psychology, and Humanities. Inquiries,
investigations, and experiments also happen in this type of non-experimental research, but in
terms of types and analysis of data, survey research follows a standard that is applicable to
social sciences (Schreiber & Ashner-Self, 2011).
Survey research is a method of research that aims at knowing what a big number of
people think and feel about some sociological issues. The data it collects from these people
serving as “representatives or informants” explain or describe the society’s thoughts, attitudes,
and feelings toward environmental issues. Although survey research is a very old research
technique that began in the period of the ancient Egyptians rulers, many still consider this as a
very popular means of social inquiry (Babbie, 2013).
The extensive use of survey research is proven by the fact that more than one-third of
published research online in Sociology, Psychology, and Humanities were done through survey
research. Usually use by researchers to study issues affecting a large population survey research
requires data gathering techniques such as interview, questionnaire, online survey, and
telephone interview that primarily consider the size of the group being studied (Schutt & Engel,
2013). Here, the researcher selects a sample of respondents from a small/large population and
provide the chosen subjects a formalized questionnaire.
In the field of business, especially in Marketing, survey research is often done to
determine the exact market for a certain product, to discover the right ways of selling goods,
and to know the buyers’ interests, attitudes, styles, financial literacy, and practices in spending
their money for a particular product. Through the results of the survey research, the customers,
buyers, and the public become inclined to creating relationships with one another.
Purposes of Survey Research
1. To obtain information about people’s opinions and feelings about an issue
2. To identify present condition, needs, or problems of people in short span of time
3. To seek answers to social problems
4. To give school officials pointers on curricular offerings, guidance and counseling
services, teacher evaluation, and others
Planning a Survey Research
 PRACTICAL RESEARCH 2 MSU-SHS

The research design of a survey research is similar to that of the experimental research.
However, when it comes to data collection method and instrument, survey research goes
through the following phases:
1. Explanation of objectives clearly
2. Formulation of research questions or hypotheses to predict relationships of variables
3. Determination of the exact kind of data referred to by the hypotheses or research
questions
4. Assurance of the population or group of people to which the findings will be applied to
5. Finalization of the sampling method for selecting the participants
6. Identification of the method or instrument in collecting data, that is, whether it is a
questionnaire on paper, through phone, via computer, or face to face.
Strengths of Survey Research
Stressing the effectiveness and usefulness of survey research, Schutt and Engel (2013)
gives its following plus features:
1. Versatility. It can tackle any issue affecting society.
2. Efficiency. It is not costly in terms of money and time, assuming there is excellent
communication or postal system.
3. Generality. It can get a good representation or sample of a large group of people.
4. Confidentiality. It is capable of safeguarding the privacy or anonymity of the
respondents.
Here are the weak points of survey research that appear in several books about this
type of quasi-experimental research:
1. It cannot provide sufficient evidence about the relationships of variables.
2. It cannot examine the significance of some issues affecting people’s social life.
3. It cannot get data reflecting the effects of the interconnectedness of environmental
features on the research study.
4. It cannot consider man’s naturalistic tendencies as the basis of human behavior unless
his ways or styles of living are related to his surroundings.
5. It cannot promote interpretative and creative thinking unless its formulation of ideas
results from scientific thinking.
6. It cannot have an effective application on all topics of research.
7. It cannot use a questioning or coding method that can accurately register differences
among the participants’ responses.
8. It cannot diffuse the main researcher’s abilities to control and manipulate some factors
affecting the study.
9. It cannot account for real or actual happenings, but it can give ideas on respondents’
views, beliefs, concepts, and emotions.
Ethical Principles and Rules in Survey Research
 PRACTICAL RESEARCH 2 MSU-SHS

You are in higher education institution called college or university that always considers
academic excellence as its number one goal. Be academically competent by producing excellent
research paper that will mirror not only your intellectual abilities but your valuing system as
well. Considering the importance of honesty and integrity in conducting a research paper, keep
in mind the following ethical principles and rules in producing an honest-to-goodness research
paper (Ransome, 2013; Corti, 2014):
1. Respect whatever decision a person has about your research work because his/her
participation in your study comes solely from his or her decision-making p[powers.
2. Make sure that your study will be instrumental in elevating the living conditions of
people around you or in bringing about world progress.
3. Conduct your research work in a way that the respondents will be safe from any injury
or damage that may arise from their physical and emotional involvement in the study.
4. Practice honesty and truthfulness in reporting about the results of your study.
5. Accept the reality that the nature, kind, and extent of responses to your questions
depend solely on the dispositions of the respondents.
6. Decide properly which information should go public or confidential.
7. Stick to your promise of safeguarding the secrecy of some information you obtained
from the respondents.
 PRACTICAL RESEARCH 2 MSU-SHS

Activity 1
Give the meaning of the underlined word in each sentence. Be guided by the contextual clues.
1. How could the light be diffused all over the place if it was placed between the two
posts?
2. Give me a concrete evidence of the veracity of your latest musical composition to make
me say yes to your offer right away.
3. A greedy man tends to manipulate things for his own benefit.
4. Being a versatile actor, he is able to give an excellent portrayal of various character
roles.
5. Try to understand the poem in conjunction with the picture near its title.
Activity 2
Write the letter of the expression in B that matches the one in A.
A B
1. Involves treatment a. data gathering instrument
2. Statistical studies b. confidentiality
3. Stress on one’s views c. where most survey research happen
4. Phone, e-mail, questionnaire d. points to exact data
5. Variable predictors e. meta-analysis
6. Data types and analysis f. generality
7. Secret identity of the subject g. makes survey different from others
8. Social Sciences h. true experimental research
9. Research questions i. hypothesis
10. Stands for lots of people j. variables
k. survey research
Activity 3
Fill in the blanks with the correct answer.
True experimental and ______________________ are the two types of experimental research.
__________________ selection of the subjects happens in true experimental research;
purposive selection occurs in a _______________. Another basis of ____________________
experimental research is _____________________ the experimental is done. If the study
happens in a place surrounded by walls, it is a __________________ but if it is
_________________, it is a field experiment. Actually, the only thing that makes the two types
of experimental research ___________________ from each other is the method of
____________________ the subjects. If the selection is randomized, it is definitely a
_________________.
 PRACTICAL RESEARCH 2 MSU-SHS

Lesson 5 VARIABLES

Definition
Variables are “changing qualities or characteristics” of persons or things like age,
gender, intelligence, ideas, achievements, confidence, and others that are involved in your
research study. Made up of the root or base word “vary,” which means to undergo changes or
to differ from, variables have different or varying values in relation to time and situation. Where
you are afflicted with a disease or have no means of reading or no access to any sources of
knowledge, your intelligence tends to decrease (Suter, 2012).
In research, especially in a quantitative research, one important thing you have to focus
on at the start of your study is to determine the variables involved in your study. Unless you
spend some time pondering on variables in your research, your work has no chance of attaining
its goals. Your research problem or research topic to which you devote much of your initial
research time finalizing has a good standing I it has wordings on the basic variables involved in
your study.
Basic Types
Basically, variables are two types: independent variables and dependent variables.
Independent variables are those that cause changes in the subject, while dependent variables
are those that bear or manifest the effects caused by the independent variables. Hence, in a
causal relationship, the cause comes from the independent variables while the effects come
from the dependent variables.
In experimental research, the independent variables as the condition or treatment
applied to the experiment group is under the control, direction, or manipulation of the
researcher or experimenter. For instance, to determine the positive effects of one modern
grammar theory called SFG (Systematic Function Grammar) in IC (Intercultural Competence),
you apply this theory in varied ways like realizing this in a collaborative, oral, written ideas. In
this case, the SFG that focuses on language use for acquiring and expressing ideas, for
developing interpersonal relationships, and for organizing ideas strategically, serves as the
independent variable and the IC. That pertains to excellent relationships of people from various
cultural groups, as the dependent variables.
Variable Relationships
 PRACTICAL RESEARCH 2 MSU-SHS

In a scientific way of studying cause-effect relationships, these two variables,

independent and dependent are part and parcel of the research because the first one is the
cause and the second is the effect that you can subject to any form of measurement. However,
as you carry out the research, it is possible that one, two, or more variables or extra variables
crop up to create an impact on the relationship between the independent and dependent
variables. Being extra variables, they form this other type of variables called extraneous
variables.
For example, the case of SFG vs. IC (the first as the independent variable; the second as
the dependent variable), extraneous variables like age, gender, or personality traits may
suddenly surface to create effects on the relationships of the two basic variables. Such
extraneous variables are called participant variables if they refer to the moods, emotions, or
intelligence of the subject; they are situational variables if they pertain to nature of the place:
smelly, chilly, cold, hot, spacious and the like.
Other types of Variables
Extraneous variables are to be controlled by you, the experimenter. But if they do not
give in to your control, they become confounding variables that can strongly influence your
study. Dealing with these types of variables gives you difficulty in determining the real case of
changes in the dependent variables, that is, whether it is due only to the independent variable
or to the combination between the confounding and the independent variables. The
involvement of confounding variables in the research results in the production of “mixed up,
confusing, or bewildering results.” Involved not within the research situation but outside the
research process, the extraneous variables exist as “nuisance variables,” which potency need to
go down to prevent it from affecting the results negatively (Scheiber & Asner-Self, 2011; Suter,
2013; Thomas, 2012).
Other types of variables are as follows (Babbie, 2013; Russell, 2013):
1. Constant – do not undergo any changes during an experiment
2. Attitude – characteristics of people: intelligence, creativity, anxiety, learning, and styles,
among other
3. Covariate – included in the research study to create interactions with the independent
and dependent variables
4. Continuous – quantitative in nature and I used in interval or ratio scale of measurement
5. Dichotomous – has only two possible results: one or zero
6. Latent – cannot be directly observed like personality traits
7. Manifest – can be directly observed to give proofs to latent variables
8. Exogenous – found outside an identified model
9. Endogenous – found inside as a part of identified model
 PRACTICAL RESEARCH 2 MSU-SHS

Activity 1
Individual Work. Keeping in mind the meaning of variables in research, check all words in the
list that can operate as variables in any research study.
____ water ____ voice ____ academic grades
____ skills ____ ghost ____ aspirations
____ ghost ____ handwriting ____ textbooks
____ experience ____ guardian angel ____ academic grades
____ world ____ life plans ____ economic status
____ dreams ____ class size ____ mental pictures
____ reading comprehension ____ physical exercise

Activity 2
Write C if the sentence is correct or W if not.
______ 1. The experimenter relates himself/herself with the independent variable.
______ 2. Extraneous variables are nuisance variables.
______ 3. Extraneous variables are as significant as independent variables.
______ 4. All variables are prone to changes or violations.
______ 5. All variables are controllable.
______ 6. The effects of something on dependent variables are measurable.
______ 7. Only words can express the effects of variables on dependent variables.
______ 8. The effects of something can be shown through fractions and percentages.
______ 9. It is wrong to expose the variables to changeable factors.
______ 10. Attribute variables have the same meaning as participants’ variables.
 PRACTICAL RESEARCH 2 MSU-SHS

Activity 3
Identify the independent and dependent variables in each research problem. Write your
answer on the right column.
Research Query Independent Variable Dependent Variable
1. How does logical
thinking develop
critical thinking?
2. What are the effects
of koreanovelas on
the Filipino value
system?
3. In what way does
collaborative learning
increase
communicative
competence?
4. To what extent does
texting decrease
students’ grammatical
competence?
5. What corrupt
practices trigger off
one’s resignation?
 PRACTICAL RESEARCH 2 MSU-SHS

Lesson 6 QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH PROBLEM

Nature of Quantitative Research Problem

Life is not always a bed of roses. It is made up of both negative and positive aspects.
Experiencing something negative or making you fail to aver or affirm the existence of a thin you
expected to see or happen is a natural occurrence in life. The situation where you find difficulty
in knowing or finding answers or solutions to questions causing you worries, or perplexities is
called a problem. By nature, you or any person on earth do not want to stay long in a
problematic kind of life. Once you encounter a problem, as an inquisitive, speculative, and
creative person, you immediately would like to find ways and means to free yourself from such
conundrum in your life.
Sparked by your curiosity or interest, you get to ponder on a problem that needs answers. You
resort to thinking of what to solve, whom to ask, where to go, and how to do all the things you
want to happen to find answer o your problem. Behaving this way, you are then confronted
with a research problem. A research problem is something difficult or uncertain that nurtures in
your mind, enough to push you to do an empirical investigation whereby you search for
answers to a problem by collecting and analyzing data or information through which you can
find the right answer or solution.
Requiring you to adopt an empirical attitude toward your problem in a way that you
depend on your sensory experience, conduct experimentation, or perform a scientific method
in arriving at the truth about something makes your problem a researchable problem.
Therefore, it becomes a Quantitative Research Problem, not a qualitative research problem that
people consider nit researchable because it is more inclined to explaining or describing people’s
views, values, attitudes, opinions, and other subjective traits. Unlike a quantitative research
problem that is not only characterized by precision, specificity, or stability, but also geared
toward a possible result, qualitative research problem is described as expansive, widespread,
and developing and it is focused more on processes rather than on outcomes (Matthews &
Ross, 2010; Schreiber & Ashner-Self, 2011).
Sources of Quantitative Research Problem
What are the things around you that could trigger your mind to mull over one problematic
area in your life that you want to look into empirically? One of the following could give rise to a
quantitative research problem (Edmonds & Kennedy, 2013; Punch, 2014):
 PRACTICAL RESEARCH 2 MSU-SHS

1. Agencies of the government or any non-government institutions

2. Your experience or genuine interest in something
3. Previous research findings that you want to validate or consider as studies suffering
from some inconsistencies or discrepancies
4. Present political social or economic issues in society
5. Review of related literature
Research Questions vs. Quantitative Research Problem
Several reasons prod you to define or finalize a research problem or a research topic.
But this does not mean that after spending time thinking about research problem, immediately,
you plunge into carrying out an investigation or collecting and analyzing data. Thinking of a
research problem or a topic to research on is a beginning act in research. Another initial
research act is asking a set of specific questions or identifying sub-problems about your
research problem.
These specific or sub question, called Research Questions to specify the scope and the
method in collecting and analyzing data, give you the right direction in your research. In
addition, they are questions to give further definition or explanation of the research problem by
stressing the fact that they elicit answers to clarify or solve the research problem, which is the
main problem of the research. Here are examples of statements to show the relationship
between a quantitative research problem and research questions (Layder, 2013; Thomas,
2013).
Research Problem
Interrogative statement: What percentage of private universities in Manila considers the
use of grammar textbooks as the most effective way to help college students attain
communicative competence?
Declarative statement: The main objective of this study is to find out the percentage of
Manila private universities considering the use of grammar textbooks as the most effective way
to help college students attain communicative competence.
Research Questions
Interrogative statements:
1. What is an English grammar textbook?
2. What is communicative competence?
3. What components of the grammar textbook work for communicative competence
development?
4. How many Manila private universities require the use of grammar textbooks?
5. How many Manila private universities use grammar textbooks as references only?
6. To what extent do Manila private universities find grammar textbook effective n helping
college students attain communicative competence?
Declarative statements:
 PRACTICAL RESEARCH 2 MSU-SHS

Likewise, this study aims to answers the following specific objectives

1. To define a grammar textbook;
2. To explain the meaning of communicative competence;
3. To identify the components of the grammar textbook work for communicative
competence development;
4. To determine the number of Manila private universities requiring the use of
grammar textbooks;
5. To determine the number of Manila private universities using grammar textbooks as
references only; and
6. To determine the extent of Manila private universities considering grammar
textbook as the means by which they can help college students attain
communicative competence.
Guidelines in Formulating Quantitative Research Problem and Research Questions
1. Formulate a research problem that is researchable—meaning, open to empirical
investigation.
2. See to it that you sate your quantitative research problem clearly, concisely, and
possibly if under APA referencing style, it should not be more than 12 words.
3. Have your research problem focus on a general understanding of your research topic.
4. Construct a research problem that mirrors the importance of carrying out the research
for finding answers or solutions to a problem.
5. Construct an introductory statement to present your research problem, which is the
main problem of your research.
6. State your research questions or sub-problems not in the form of yes-or-no questions,
but in informative questions.
7. Express your research problem and research questions either in an interrogative or
declarative manner, but some research books say that the former is more effective than
the latter (Babbie, 2013; Punch, 2014; Walliman, 2014).
Research Problems in Experimental Research
You came to know through the previous lessons in this book that quantitative research
may either be non-experimental or experimental, and that the latter is of two types: true
experimental or quasi-experimental research. In most aspects of experimental research, both of
these have similarities, like both include selection of subjects, pre- and post-tests, and the use
of treatment or control group. Among these three keys aspects of experimental research,
randomized selection is its leading characteristics, so much so that the absence of random
selection of participants denies its identity as a true experimental and coverts it into a quasi-
experimental or semi-experimental research in which the selection process takes place not by
chance but by the experimenter’s purpose or decision.
Regardless of several contrasting characteristics of true and quasi-experimental
research, both tackle research problems that require you to deal with four basic elements of
experiments (Schreiber & Ashner-Self, 2012):
 PRACTICAL RESEARCH 2 MSU-SHS

1. Subjects or objects (people, places, things, and events, among others)

2. The subject’s condition before the actual experiment
3. The treatment, intervention, or condition applied on the subject
4. The subjects’ condition after the treatment
Types of Quantitative Research Questions
A quantitative research problem can generate a set of research questions or sub-problems
that fall under any of these types of research questions:
1. Descriptive research questions – ask questions on the kind, qualifications, and
categories of the subjects or participants
2. Relation questions – are questions about the nature and manner of connection between
or among variables
3. Casual questions – reasons behind the effects of the independent variables on the
dependent variables are the focus of these types of research questions
Approaches to Quantitative Research Questions
Likewise, you may start asking research problems or research questions based on any of
these approaches:
1. Deductive Approach

Your questions begin from “Hunches or predictions” or expectations about the

outcome of your research. Ask questions that center on a theory or concept, discover
the accuracy of the theory, ponder on variables to represent the extent of the
application of the theory, and make up your mind on which variable to study through
observation, interview, or experimentation. Explaining the meaning of a variable based
on its involvement or role in the research process, particularly, in the measurement,
manipulation, or control of the concept application, is giving such term its operational
definition.

2. Inductive Approach
Deductive approach goes from bigger ideas, such as theories or concepts, to
smaller ideas. Conversely, inductive approach starts from smaller and simpler ideas to
bigger or more complex ones. Inductively formulated research questions focus on the
description of things to prove an idea or a system. Central to this approach are specific
details to prove the validity of a certain theory or concept (Walsh, 2010).
 PRACTICAL RESEARCH 2 MSU-SHS

Activity 1

Give the meaning of the underlined word in each cluster oof words. Let the other words in the
set serve as clues to the meaning of the word.

1. Maintain, assert, aver, warrant

2. Perplexities, difficulties, problems, confusions
3. Puzzle, enigma, problem, conundrum
4. Approximate, near, close, adjacent
5. Treasures, cherish, nurtures, sustains
6. Exactness, peculiarity, specificity, definiteness
7. Direct, geared, fit, control
8. Drive, goad, urge, prod
9. Thrust, dive, plunge, jump
10. Think, mull over, ponder, reflect

Activity 2

Using number 1 to 5, rank the following chronologically

1. _____ collecting data

_____ formulating research questions
_____ stating a research problem
_____ being interested in something
_____ analyzing data

2. _____ pre-test
_____ population issue
_____ post-test
_____ sampling process
_____ treatment or interview

Activity 3

In what Condition are you now? What do you mean by problem?