Inquiry

• Inquiry - to look for information by asking various questions about the thing you are curious about.
• Refers to the learning process that motivates you to obtain knowledge or information about people,
things, places or events.
• Requires asking questions, collecting data, analysing, and making inferences/conclusions.
• It enhances your abilities in establishing connections, listening, and observing-skills needed in doing
qualitative research.

•How is INQUIRY related to RESEARCH?

What is Research?
• Research is defined as the scientific investigation of phenomena which includes collection, presentation,
analysis, and interpretation of facts that lines an individual's speculate on with reality.
• This refers to the systematic study and discovery of truths by investigating your chosen topic
scientifically.
• It includes the systematic collection of data, documentation of important information, analysis and
interpretation of information, and identifying the implication or uses of the information discovered.

The purpose of research is to:

• Evaluate the truthfulness of an assumption.
• To assemble a body of knowledge and findings for sharing.
• To generate more questions for further inquiry.

Characteristics of Research:

1. Empirical - research is based on direct experience or observation by the researcher.

2. Logical-research is based on valid procedures and principles.
3. Cyclical-research is a cyclical process because it starts with a problem and ends with a problem.

4. Analytical - research utilizes proven analytical procedures in gathering the data, whether historical,
descriptive and experimental and case study.
5. Critical- research exhibits careful and precise judgment.
6. Methodical - research is conducted in a methodical manner without bias using systematic method and
procedures.
7. Replicability - the research design and procedures are replicated or repeated to enable the researcher to
arrive at valid and conclusive results.

Factors to consider in selecting a Research Problem/Topic:

• Researcher's area of interest
• Availability of funds
• Investigator's ability and training

Ethics in Research:

• Ethics is generally considered to deal with beliefs of what is RIGHT and WRONG, proper or improper,
good or bad.

• To be ethical is to conform or abide by accepted professional practice.

Ethical Codes and Policies for Research (Resnik, 2007)

1. Honesty - maintain all communication. Data should not be faked.

2. Objectivity - Avoid biases in experimental designs, data analysis, interpretation, expert testimony, and
other aspects of research.

3. Integrity - keep your promises and agreements.

4. Carefulness - avoid careless errors and negligence.

5. Openness - share data, results, ideas, and tools. Be open to criticism and new ideas.

6. Confidentiality - protect confidential communication.

7. Responsible Publication - avoid duplicating publications.

8. Responsible Mentoring - help to educate, mentor, and advise others.

9. Respect Colleagues - treat all peers fairly.

[Link] Responsibility - strive to promote social good. Avoid social harm.

[Link]-discrimination - avoid discrimination against colleagues or students on the basis of sex, races,
ethnicity, and or others.

[Link] - be informed and obey relevant laws and institutional government policies.
[Link] Intellectual Property - give proper acknowledgement or credits to all researchers.

14. Human Subject - minimize risks that involve human lives, dignity, and privacy.

Unethical Practices in Conducting Research and what should be corrected:

1. Deceiving a respondent about the true purpose of a study

2. Asking a respondent questions that cause him extreme embarrassment, guilt, emotional turmoil, and
recalling of trauma

3. Invading the privacy of a respondent. Confidentiality and anonymity should be observed.

4. Studying the respondents or research subjects without their knowledge. Informed consent should be a
prime responsibility of the researcher before starting the conduct of the study.

6. When analysing data - revealing only part of the facts, presenting facts out of context, falsifying findings,
or offering misleading presentation such as lying with statistics. Honesty is a must.

7. The knowledge gap between participant and researcher must be considered.

8. Participants must be given the option of rejecting data-gathering devices such as camcorders, audio
recorders etc.

9. For convenience & comprehension, questionnaires must be designed in the native language of the
participants.

10. Prioritize the safety of the participants and of yourself as researcher always.

[Link] the cultural, religious, economic, psychological, spiritual, physiological, biological, political,
social, and other issues of the participant.

Quantitative Research

• Quantitative research is a type of educational research in which the researcher decides what to study;
asks specific & narrow questions; collects quantifiable data from participants; analyses these numbers
using statistics; and conducts the inquiry in an unbiased, objective manner.

Qualitative Research

• Qualitative research is a type of educational research in which the researcher relies on the views of
participants; asks broad, general questions; collects data consisting largely words (text) from participants;
describes and analyses these words for themes; and conducts the inquiry in a subjective, somewhat biased
manner.
What is Qualitative Research?

• Qualitative research is the collection, analysis, and interpretation of comprehensive narrative data in
order to gain insights into a phenomenon of interest (Bueno, 2017).

• It is very useful for describing and answering questions about participants and contexts.

• The pursue of qualitative research is to promote a deep, holistic understanding of a phenomenon. It

provides insight into the complexity of common happenings. It also provides specific concrete and
thorough details to guide understanding in a setting.

10 Characteristics of Qualitative Research:

1. Naturalistic Inquiry-qualitative observational research is naturalistic because it studies a group in its

natural setting.

2. Inductive Analysis - this characteristic is prevalent

in qualitative research because it allows the observer to become immersed in a group. The research starts
with a simple question that changes and increases as the research progresses.

3. Holistic Perspective - "a holistic approach assumes that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts"
(Patton, p. 40). In other words, almost every action or communication must be taken as a part of the whole
phenomenon of a certain community or culture.
4. Personal Contact and Insight - the researcher is responsible for becoming a part of a group to get more
in-depth study. However, the researcher also has to be aware of biases (both good & bad).

5. Dynamic Systems - Qualitative observational research is not concerned with having straightforward,
right or wrong answers. In addition, change in a study is common because the researcher is not concerned
with finding only one answer.

5. Unique Case Orientation - researchers must remember that every study is special and deserves in-depth
attention. This is especially necessary for doing cultural comparisons.

7. Context Sensitivity - researchers must realize the different variables, such as values and beliefs, that
influence cultural behaviors.

8. Empathic Neutrality - Researchers should be non-judgmental when compiling findings. However,

complete neutrality is impossible.

9. Design Flexibility - researchers can continue to do research on other topics or questions that emerge
from the initial research.

10. Qualitative Data - this is the detailed description of why a culture is the way it is. Triangulation or the
use of many data-gathering methods, such as field notes, interviews, writing samples, and other data,
helps determine the cultural phenomenon of a group.

The Different Kinds of Qualitative Research

Kinds of Qualitative Research:

1. Narrative Research - a method that includes the analysis of the characteristics of the narrative text, and
recently of the meaning of inter-human relations in social, historical, and cultural context.

➤ It focuses on people's narratives about themselves or a set of events.

Focuses more on the sequential unfolding of someone's story, with emphasis on characters rather than
looking for themes or patterns in the answers.

It is time-consuming and includes small number of cases only.

2. Phenomenological Research - a design in research that explores people's everyday life experience. It is
used when the study is about the life experiences of a concept or phenomenon experienced by one or
more individuals.

3. Grounded Theory- proposes that careful observation of the social world can lead to the construction of
theory (Rice & Ezzy, 1999). It is repetitious and evolving, aiming to construct new theory from collected
data that describes that data. - the process involves a repetitive cycle of collecting/analyzing data, forming
concepts from data, group concepts into categories, identify connections between categories, and
collecting/analyzing data once again.

4. Action Research - an emergent inquiry process that integrates theory and action to pair with scientific
knowledge and existing organizational knowledge to address real organizational problems. This is done
together with the people of the system under inquiry.

5. Case Study - this is a study where "researcher makes an in-depth exploration of a program, an event, an
activity, a process, or one or more individuals."

➤The structure of a case study should focus on the problem, the context, the issues, and the lessons
learned.

➤ It is a comprehensive description of an individual case and its analysis.

6. Ethnographical Research - this is the most intensive and in-depth observational qualitative approach.

➤ Greek word ethnos meaning folk, people, nation, and grapho meaning "I write".

➤ It is a portrait of a people, relying on anthropology.

➤ The researcher engages in prolonged observations from the group's everyday life to take note of
behaviors, values, interactions among the members of the group being studied.

7. Historical Research - a design to determine and describe how and where the study started, how it
developed during time, and where it is at the present.

➤ It is a critical investigation of events, development, and experiences of the past and relate it to the
present and future.
8. Content Analysis – this is a detailed and systematic examination of the contents of a particular body of
materials for the purpose of identifying patterns, themes, or biases.

➤ This is used in analysing hymns, newspaper & magazine articles, advertisements, and political speeches.
What is a Research GAP?

• A research gap or a literature gap refers to such unexplored or underexplored areas that have scope for
further research.

Gaps in the Literature are missing pieces or insufficient information in the research literature. These are
areas that have scope for further research because they are unexplored, under-explored, or outdated.

What is a Research GAP?

Gaps can be:

• Geographical

• Population

• Limitations from previous research

What is a Research GAP?

If you do find articles, the goal is to find a gap for contributing new research.

Authors signal that there is a gap using clue words such as:

✓ has not been clarified, studied, reported, or elucidated

✓ further research is required or needed

✓ is not well reported

✓ suggestions for further research

✓ key question is or remains

✓ it is important to address

✓ poorly understood or known

✓ lack of studies.

Background of the Study

• The background of the study is the part of your paper where you inform the reader of the context of the
study. When we say context, it means the situation or circumstances within which your research topic was
conceptualized. Ideally, this part is written when you have already conducted a literature review and has a
good perception of the topic so you can articulate the importance and validity of the research problem. It
is also in this part of the paper where you justify the need to conduct a research study about the topic
selected by establishing the research gap.
• A research gap is an under or unexplored area of a topic that requires further exploration. The gap can be
in a form of other variables, conditions, population, methodology, or test subject. To identify research
gaps, an exhaustive literature review regarding the topic is required. You may have to look for similar or
related studies employing quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods from legitimate sources and
examine the gray areas. Reading through the Discussion, Conclusion, or the Recommendations sections of
the articles will help you know potential areas of study that need further attention. Identifying research ga
gaps sometimes would even make researchers modify their research problem as they get noteworthy ideas
from fellow researchers.

While both the Background of the Study and the Review of Related Literature involve reading past related
studies, they differ in some aspects. The former is at the introductory part of the paper with the purpose of
relaying the importance of your research study; the latter is more comprehensive and thoroughly discusses
the studies mentioned in the background of research.

Moreover, the background of the study answers the following questions:

1. What is already known about the topic?

2. What is not known about the topic?

3. Why do you need to address those gaps?

4. What is the rationale of your study?

While answering these questions, keep in mind that the studies you include in this part of the paper are
laid down as part of the introduction and should not be discussed in great detail. The depth and length of
the background information largely depend on how much information you think the reader needs to know
to have a full grasp of the topic being discussed.

SCOPE AND DELIMITATION

A part of a research paper that specifically indicates the important areas of focus that the study will only
look into. Particularly, the scope and delimitation will indicate the ff:

• coverage of the study

• Subjects covered in the study

• Research instrument or research apparatus and equipment

• Research issues and concerns

• Duration of the study

SCOPE

• Defines where and when the study is conducted and who are the subjects/respondents.

• Deals with the extent of concepts, questions, and topic coverage of the study to be conducted.

• Usually must indicate the WH questions.

DELIMITATIONS

• Describe the boundaries that the researcher have set for the study

• These are choices made by the researcher which should be mentioned in the study

• Things that you are NOT doing as a researcher (and why you have chosen NOT to do them)

• The literature that you will no longer review (and why not)

• The population you are not studying or will not be including as your participants (and why not)

• Methodological procedures that you will not use in this study (and why you will not use them)

LIMITATIONS

• Shortcomings, conditions, or influences that can't be controlled by the researcher that place restrictions
on the methodology and conclusions of the study.

• Any limitations that might influence the results should be mentioned in the study.
SCOPE AND DELIMITATION

The components include (but are nit limited to) the following:

• Topic of the study

• Objectives of the study and the issues it will address

• Time frame in which the study will be conducted

• Locale or area where the study will be conducted

• Characteristics of the participants in the study (age, sex, education, economic status, civil status, and
other traits), the population and sampling

• Research design, instrument and method

Helpful Phrases in writing the Scope & Delimitation!

• This study covers...

• This study focuses on...

• The coverage of this study is...

• This study is limited to..

• This study does not cover...