Download QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH

QUANTITATIVE
RESEARCH THE “NUMBERS GAME”
by
Dr. Ronald M. Henson
Research Consultant
What Is Quantitative Research
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scientific investigation of phenomena and
their numerical properties and their
relationships, by means of measurement to
provide the fundamental connection
between empirical observation and
numerical expression (numbers game)
* widely used in the natural sciences, social
sciences, physics, biology, sociology,
communication and education
Quanti is NUMBERS
 NUMerics
By Empirical
Relationships
Approaches in Quantitative Research
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generation of models, theories and hypotheses
development of instruments and methods for
measurement
experimental control and manipulation of variables
collection of empirical data
modeling and analysis of data
evaluation of results
categorized into correlational research, causalcomparative research and experimental research
collects numerical data in order to explain, predict and or
control phenomena of interest
data analysis is mainly statistical
Origin of Quantitative Research
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first modelled in the physical sciences
(Gustav Fechner’s psycho-physics
Ernst Heinrich Weber
Thomas Kuhn (1961) concluded that
“large amounts of qualitative work have
usually been prerequisite to fruitful
quantification in the physical sciences”
modern idea of quantitative processes
rooted in Auguste Comte's positivist
framework
Gold Standard in Quantitative
Research
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Statistics is the most widely used branch of mathematics
in quantitative research
collection of data based on a theory or hypothesis
application of descriptive or inferential statistical
methods
software packages such as SPSS, MiniTab, StatPak
causal relationships are studied by manipulating factors
opinion surveys are widely used in the media
set of structured questions and their responses are
tabulated
correlation does not imply causation
spurious relationship can exist for variables between
which covariance is found in some degree
associations may be examined between any combination
of continuous and categorical variables
Measurement in Quantitative Research
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a means by which observations are expressed
numerically in order to investigate causal
relations or associations
deterministic in nature
Rasch model and item response models in the
social sciences
psychometrics for measuring social and
psychological attributes
use of proxies as stand-ins for other quantities
that cannot be directly measured (e.g. tree-ring
width)
Quantitative Methods
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research techniques that are used to gather quantitative
data
information dealing with numbers and anything that is
measurable
schools of thought within each discipline (favor vs. scorn)
quantitative methods truly scientific
qualitative methods argue that quantitative methods tend to
obscure the reality
neglecting the non-measurable factors, which may be the
most important
use eclectic approaches, quantitative methods used with
qualitative frame
qualitative methods might be used to understand the
meaning of the numbers produced by quantitative methods
quantitative methods for precise and testable expression to
qualitative ideas
combination of quantitative and qualitative methods mixed-methods research.
Examples of Quantitative Research
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percentage amounts of all members of
audience watching soap opera
survey that concludes that the average
listener has profile of being male, with
moderate income and not highly educated
experiment in which group x was given
Math program on TV and Group y was
given Math instruction in the classroom
where each participant is randomly
assigned to one or other of the groups
Quantitative Description
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know “how many” and/or “how often”
profile a target audience and determine
proportion of the audience
survey of a large group of people
(several hundred)
structured questionnaire that contains
predominantly closed-ended, or forcedchoice, questions
Advantages of Quantification Thru
Survey
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involves a convenience sample (e.g., a mall intercept
study), data can be collected and analyzed fairly
quickly
involves a statistically valid random sample, the
results from the sample can be generalized to the
entire population if the response rate is high enough
provide reliability e (i.e., repeatable) direction for
planning programs and messages
can be anonymous, which is useful for sensitive
topics
include visual material and can be used to pretest
prototypes
can generalize findings beyond participant group
Disadvantages of Quantification Thru
Survey
limited ability to probe answers
 may share characteristics that
don’t apply to the audience as a
whole, a potential bias in the study
 can be very costly
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Common Uses of Survey
assess the proportion of your
target audience within a
community
 assess the proportion of a target
audience that practices a behavior
 assess the proportion of a target
audience that recalls a message
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Types of Quantitative Researches
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Descriptive: involves collecting data in order to test
hypotheses or answer questions concerning the current
status of the respondents, determines and reports the
way things are
Correlational: attempts to determine whether and to what
degree a relationship exists between two or more
quantifiable variables, but not a cause-effect relationship,
expressed by correlation coefficient, which is a number
between .00 and 1.00
Cause-comparative: establishes the cause-effect
relationship, compares the relationship, but the cause is
not manipulated, such as "gender."
Experimental: establishes the cause-effect relationship
and does the comparison, but the cause is manipulated,
the cause, independent variable makes the difference;
effect, dependent variable is resultant
Before Conducting a Quantitative
Research
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Research plan: makes a research to think, plan facilitates
evaluation of the proposed study
§ Introduction: a statement of the problem, a review of
related literature, and a statement of the hypothesis.
§ Method: includes subjects, instruments-- materials if
appropriate, design procedure.
§ Data analysis: description of the statistical technique or
techniques that will be sued to analyze study data.
§ Time schedule: includes a listing of major activities or
phases of the proposed study and a corresponding
expected completion time for each activity.
§ Budget: expenses of the study
Ethics In Quantitative Research
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respondents should not be harmed
in any way (physically or mentally)
respondents’ privacy should be
strictly confidential, individual
scores should never be reported, or
made public
human dignity and welfare of people
(American Psychological
Association)