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IPASJ International Journal of Information Technology (IIJIT)

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A Publisher for Research Motivation ........ Email:editoriijit@ipasj.org
Volume 6, Issue 10, October 2018 ISSN 2321-5976

Comparative analysis of various tests applied on


Quantitative Research
Haweliya J.1, Choudhary S.2 and Hate M.3
1
Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Engg., IET, DAVV, Indore
2
MBA Student, Department of Management , SGSITS, Indore

3
Trainer, HitBullsEye, Nagpur

ABSTRACT
The term research has gained much importance now these days, as to make everything a successful venture
research has to be done for that. Research is important in every field especially in fields like education, business,
economics, for inventions and discoveries, archaeology etc. Various types of researches are conducted and the data
collected during the survey is analysed and various statistical operations are conducted on it, especially in
quantitative research. Interpretation of the results derived from these statistical tools gives us the effectiveness of
whole research process. And on the basis of the results of these tools only the researcher can draw conclusion about
his research topic. In this paper research process is explained in detail as well as some of the parametric statistical
tests are compared and explained.
Keywords: Research tests, Quantitative research, Qualitative research, Research Process.

I. INTRODUCTION
Research is a scientific and systematic search for pertinent information on a specific topic. [ 1 ] In fact, research is an
art of scientific investigation. Redman and Mory define research as a “systematized effort to gain new knowledge.”2
According to Clifford Woody research comprises defining and redefining problems, formulating hypothesis or
suggested solutions; collecting, organising and evaluating data; making deductions and reaching conclusions; and at
last carefully testing the conclusions to determine whether they fit the formulating hypothesis. As the name suggests
research is re-searching something or re-discovering something that adds to the knowledge of the researcher and also to
the society or particular groups of society. Research is, thus, an original contribution to the existing stock of knowledge
making for its advancement. Research is done to serve some individual purpose or for searching the truths about some
business phenomenon. It is a systematic enquiry about a particular topic in a well-defined process.
The importance or significance of research is different for each researcher. Research inculcates scientific and inductive
thinking and it promotes the development of logical habits of thinking and organisation. The role of research in several
fields of applied economics, whether related to business or to the economy as a whole, has greatly increased in modern
times. There can be several objectives of research and accordingly its significance increases. Some of the major points
of significance for research are as follows:
• For Business: In business research is done for various purposes and it is of utmost importance for
businessman/entrepreneur to conduct research for enhancement and betterment of his business. Researches to identify
level of competition in market, customer satisfaction, to modify existing product and practices, to improve sustainability
of existing product/process/service, to check technical, financial and market feasibility before launching a new product,
etc. Many successful companies, such as those producing consumer goods or mass-market items, invest in research and
development or R&D.
• For Academic purposes: In academics research is of very much importance. Students pursuing PhDs M.Tech, MBA
etc. have to conduct research on some topic during their thesis writing. They need to study their research topic in
depth so that they can derive some fruitful results from their research that can serve the society or for a particular
organization.
• For Government: Government of any country, state or district can conduct research before designing any policy,
rules or regulations for the citizens. Objectives of research conducted by government can be to regulate the market,
to allocate various resources among different sectors, to study the economic trends and effects of various
government policies on economy, to search for solutions to eradicate various problems in the country, etc.

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IPASJ International Journal of Information Technology (IIJIT)
Web Site: http://www.ipasj.org/IIJIT/IIJIT.htm
A Publisher for Research Motivation ........ Email:editoriijit@ipasj.org
Volume 6, Issue 10, October 2018 ISSN 2321-5976

• For Social workers/ NGOs: To study the problems persisting in the society and to find solutions to bring people out
of those curses, the social workers may do research.
• For Technological up gradation: For scientific and technological development and progress continuous up gradation
has to be done bringing changes in technology and the scope and probable effects of that change in life of humans.
• To trigger inventions and discoveries: Inventions and discoveries are the products of research only. Various
archaeologists, scientists, doctors, engineers etc. keep themselves busy in research and development activities in
order to bring some new invention in this world or to discover something unique that no one else has noticed till
date.
• For other purposes: The aims and objectives of research can be different for each researcher and that too different
from the points discussed above and accordingly its importance may vary from person to person.

II. RESEARCH PROCESS


The whole process of research is divided into eleven concise steps. The order of each step is very important because of
dependency among the steps. Below diagram represent all the steps.

1. Formulating Research Problem: The first and foremost step in research is to formulate
research problem or topic on which the complete research would be based. This is the main objective of the research.
2. Extensive Literature Survey: Literature survey is a very essential process in research because this gives an idea
about the already existing and available data and reports on similar or related topic as chosen by the researcher in
step one. With the help of literature review the researcher can get a background which helps in forming a good
research design.

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Volume 6, Issue 10, October 2018 ISSN 2321-5976

3. Developing working Hypothesis: A hypothesis may be defined as a proposition or a set of proposition set forth as
an explanation for the occurrence of some specified group of phenomena either asserted merely as a provisional
conjecture or a tentative assumption to guide some investigation or accepted as highly probable in the light of
established facts. Quite often a research hypothesis is a predictive statement, capable of being tested by scientific
methods to find relation between an independent variable and some dependent variable. Usually, we call the
hypothesis that you support (your prediction) the alternative hypothesis, and we call the hypothesis that describes
the remaining possible outcomes the null hypothesis. Sometimes we use a notation like HA or H1 to represent the
alternative hypothesis or your prediction, and HO or H0 to represent the null case. A null hypothesis is made with
an intention where the researcher wants to disapprove, reject or nullify a null hypothesis to confirm a relationship
between the variables. A null hypothesis is usually made with a reverse strategy- to prove it wrong in order to
confirm that there is a relationship between the variables.
4. Preparing research design: The preparation of design of research project is called a Research design. “A research
design is the arrangement of conditions for collection and analysis of data in a manner that aims to combine
relevance to the research purpose with economy in procedure.”3 It is the blueprint of the research which
constitutes sample design, Data collection design and Analysis design.
5. Determining Sample design: A sample design is a well-defined plan for obtaining a sample from a given
population. It refers to the technique or the procedure that the researcher would adopt in selecting items for the
sample. Factors constituting a good sample design are type of universe, sampling unit, source list, and size of
sample, parameters of interest, budget, sampling procedure and techniques. There are several sampling techniques
likes simple random sampling, cluster sampling, probability sampling, non-probability sampling, stratified
sampling, etc. any of these techniques can be used to obtain a perfect sample for the survey.
6. Collection of data: Data is of two types Primary and Secondary. There are several methods of collecting primary
data, particularly in surveys and descriptive researches these are used: (i) observation method, (ii) interview
method, (iii) through questionnaires, (iv) through schedules, and (v) other methods which include (a) warranty
cards; (b) distributor audits; (c) pantry audits; (d) consumer panels; (e) using mechanical devices; (f) through
projective techniques; (g) depth interviews, and (h) content analysis. Obtaining Secondary data is quite less
troublesome process. Secondary data means data that are already available i.e., they refer to the data which have
already been collected and analysed by someone else. Researcher has to look into various sources from where he
can obtain secondary data. Usually data published in journals, magazines, newspapers, reports by recognised
organisations, public records, statistics and observations etc. are good source to obtain secondary data.
7. Execution of Project: This is the time when the actual research work is done and execution of all steps those are
pre-planned in blueprint is done.
8. Analysis of data: Data that is collected in above steps is now has to be analysed. It is this step in which the
collected data is studied, examined by applying different statistical tools like those discussed further in this paper,
and some fruitful information is derived by analysing the results of those methods.
9. Hypothesis Testing: Hypothesis testing determines the validity of the assumption (technically described as null
hypothesis) with a view to choose between two conflicting hypotheses about the value of a population parameter.
Hypothesis testing helps to decide on the basis of a sample data, whether a hypothesis about the population is
likely to be true or false. There are several statistical techniques to test the hypothesis of the research, commonly
categorised as: (a) Parametric tests or standard tests of hypotheses; and (b) Non-parametric tests or distribution-
free test of hypotheses. Generally parametric tests are applied on data which is in the form of ratio or interval
scale and non-parametric tests are applied on data in the form of nominal or ordinal scales. Tests like T-test, Z-
test, ANOVA, Chi square test, etc are some examples of parametric tests. Non-parametric tests are Spearman’s
correlation coefficient, Wilcoxen signed rank, Mann-Whitney Test etc. are examples of non-parametric tests.
10. Generalization and Interpretation: Interpretation means the task of drawing inferences from the collected facts
after an analytical and/or experimental study. In fact, it is a search for broader meaning of research findings. This
is the step where the results obtained in previous step from analysis of data by applying various techniques are
interpreted and meaningful conclusions are drawn. With this the researcher comes to know whether his objectives
of conduction research on research topic are achieved or not. Also he can now in this step conclude whether he
has derived some solution to the research problem he aimed to be solved by conducting this research. Conclusions
are drawn in general form so that any user can understand the terms and results of the research which can be
useful for him and/or for society.
11. Preparation of Report: Research report is considered a major component of the research study in other words, the
research task remains incomplete till the report has been presented and/or written. The purpose of research is not

Volume 6, Issue 10, October 2018 Page 12


IPASJ International Journal of Information Technology (IIJIT)
Web Site: http://www.ipasj.org/IIJIT/IIJIT.htm
A Publisher for Research Motivation ........ Email:editoriijit@ipasj.org
Volume 6, Issue 10, October 2018 ISSN 2321-5976

well served unless the findings are made known to others. Report writing should be considered as an integral part
of the research process. As a matter of fact even the most brilliant hypothesis, highly well designed and conducted
research study, and the most striking generalizations and findings are of little value unless they are effectively
communicated to others.

III. LITERATURE REVIEW


In [2] Hara, Katsuko has given the concepts of qualitative and quantitative approach. Both approaches have their pros
and cons. Each approach is particularly appropriate for certain research goals. Most commonly used research approach
is qualitative. In [3] A. Fletcher, Ian A.Cliffe, Colin T.Dourish, has given the definitive classification of receptor and
the full characterization of its pharmacology have awaited the development of highly selective 5-HT1A receptor
antagonists. The only compounds available until recently have been either nonselective or partial 5-HT1A receptor
agonists (or a combination of both). In [4] V. Fuchs, K. Kurppa, H. Huhtala , M. Maki, L. Kekkonen and K.
Kaukinen has uses the chi-square test to diagnosis’ of diseases. In [5] X. Zhou, D. Hristova, A. Noulas, C. Mascolo
uses One-way ANOVA to analysis, and find that urban areas with high cultural investment and deprivation level show
significantly higher values in network properties than those areas with low cultural investment and deprivation level,
which suggests that [H1] is true.

IV. TYPES OF RESEARCH


There are various classifications of research like Descriptive, Exploratory, Experimental, Empirical, Applied,
Fundamental, Conceptual, and many more. The two main classifications of research to be considered are Quantitative
and Qualitative Research. Qualitative Research is primarily exploratory research. It is used to gain an understanding of
underlying reasons, opinions, and motivations. It helps to develop ideas or hypotheses for potential quantitative
research. It is concerned with qualitative phenomenon, i.e., phenomena relating to or involving quality or kind. In
Qualitative research data is collected that seeks to describe a topic more than to measure it. Qualitative research is
especially important in the behavioural sciences to discover the underlying motives of human behaviour. Through such
research we can analyse the various factors which motivate people to behave in a particular manner or which make
people like or dislike a particular thing. On the other hand, quantitative research is explaining phenomena by collecting
numerical data that are analysed using mathematically based or statistical methods. It is used to quantify the problem
by generating numerical data or data that can be transformed into usable statistics. It is used to quantify qualitative
factors such as attitudes, opinions, behaviours, and other defined variables – and generalize results from a larger
sample population. Quantitative Research uses measurable data to formulate facts and uncover patterns in research.
Quantitative data collection methods are much more structured than Qualitative data collection methods.
There are various techniques and statistical tools used to analyse the data collected in quantitative research. There is a
set of parametric and non-parametric tests that are based on statistics. These statistical tests can be manually performed
as it had been done traditionally since decades, but now there are various software’s available that help to perform this
electronically on computer as data is now collected through information technology and is stored in digital database.
The popular software’s on which research testing tools can be applied are EXCEL and SPSS (Statistical Package for
the Social Sciences). The following tests are compared in this paper:
• T-test
• Z-test
• Chi square test
• Simple Linear Regression
• Multiple Linear Regression
• One way ANOVA
• Two ways ANOVA

Volume 6, Issue 10, October 2018 Page 13


No. of
Applied No. of

V.
Selection Independe Population Sample
when data Dependent Purpose

on
Criteria nt Variance size
type variables

Basis of
comparis
variables

If the p-value is Interval - - To test whether or not the difference Unknown Less than
less than 0.05, scale between two groups’ averages most likely 30
we reject the reflects a “real” difference in the
null hypothesis. population from which the groups were T-Test
sampled.

If Z score is Interval - - To determine whether two population Known More than


between -1.96 scale means are different when the variances are 30
and +1.96, your known and the sample size is large.
Z-Test

p-value will be
larger than 0.05,

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If p value is less Nominal One One To determine if there is a significant Unknown More than 5
than 5% we can scale relationship between two nominal
conclude that the (categorical) variables.
Test

variables are not


Chi Square

independent of
each other and
If the p-value is Interval One One When a single independent variable is Unknown Large
less than 0.05, scale, used to predict the value of a dependent
we reject the Likert scale variable.
Linear
Simple

null hypothesis.
Regression

If the p-value is Interval One Two or To determine the effect of two or more Unknown Large
less than 0.05, scale, more independent variables on a dependent
we reject the Likert variable.
Linear

null hypothesis. scale,


Multiple

Regression

Ordinal
scale

Table 3.1 Comparison of Tests used in Quantitative Research


The higher the Interval One One If we take only one factor and investigate Unknown Large
COMPARISON OF TEST USED IN QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH

calculated value scale, the differences amongst its various


of F is above the Ordinal categories having numerous possible
table value, the scale values.
ANOVA
One way

more definite
and sure one can
Email:editoriijit@ipasj.org

Significance Interval One Two with 2 To study the interaction or inter-relation Unknown Large
values of scale, or 3 sub between two or more independent
multiple Likert scale levels variables affecting a dependent variable.

Page 14
independent
ANOVA
ISSN 2321-5976

Two way
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variables in
relation with
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1. T-test: It is an analysis framework which is used to determine the difference between two sample means from two
normally distributed populations with unknown variances.In statistics; t-tests are a type of hypothesis test that
allows you to compare means. T-test is applied when the sample size is less than 30 units and that too on interval
scale.
2. Z-test: When the sample size is large or the population variance is known, Z-test is applied. This is a step ahead of
T-test as up to a sample size of 30 T-test can be applied and when sample size is more than 30 in interval scale Z-
test would best fit as variance is known. Data points should be independent from each other. In other words, one
data point isn’t related or doesn’t affect another data point. Here data should be normally distributed.
3. Chi-square test: Chi-square is an important non-parametric test and as such no rigid assumptions are necessary in
respect of the type of population. All the items in the sample must be independent. The null hypothesis of the Chi-
Square test is that no relationship exists on the categorical variables in the population; they are independent. The
chi-square value is often used to judge the significance of population variance. When data is in the form of
discrete series i.e. when frequency of observations is given in nominal scale then Chi-square test is applicable.
4. Simple Linear Regression: Simple linear regression is predicting the value of a variable Y (dependent variable)
based on some variable X(independent variable) provided there is a linear relationship between X and Y. It is used
when a single independent variable is used to predict the value of a dependent variable. In simple linear
regression, we predict scores on one variable from the scores on a second variable. Linear regression consists of
finding the best-fitting straight line through the points. The best-fitting line is called a regression line. The
regression analysis is a statistical method to deal with the formulation of mathematical model depicting
relationship amongst variables which can be used for the purpose of prediction of the values of dependent
variable, given the values of the independent variable.
5. Multiple Linear Regressions: It is used determine the effect of two or more independent variables on a dependent
variable. With more than one independent variable, we may make a difference between the collective effect of the
two independent variables and the individual effect of each of them taken separately. The collective effect is given
by the coefficient of multiple correlations. In multiple regression analysis, the regression coefficients become less
reliable as the degree of correlation between the independent variables increases. If there is a high degree of
correlation between independent variables, we have a problem of what is commonly described as the problem of
multi-co linearity. In such a situation we should use only one set of the independent variable to make our estimate.
Multiple linear regressions examine how multiple independent variables are related to one dependent variable.
Once each of the independent factors have been determined to predict the dependent variable, the information on
the multiple variables can be used to create an accurate prediction on the level of effect they have on the outcome
variable. This creates a relationship in the form of a straight line (linear) that best approximates all the individual
data points.
6. One way ANOVA: Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) is a perfectly descriptive name of what is actually done to
analyse sample data acquired to answer problems. Under the one-way ANOVA, we consider only one factor and
then observe that the reason for said factor to be important is that several possible types of samples can occur
within that factor. When we are comparing more than three groups based on one factor variable, then it said to be
one way ANOVA. It is similar in application to techniques such as t-test and z-test, in that it is used to compare
means and the relative variance between them. However, analysis of variance (ANOVA) is best applied where
more than 2 populations or samples are meant to be compared.
If they worked out value of F, as F-ratio, is less than the table value of F, the difference is taken as insignificant i.e., due
to chance and the null-hypothesis of no difference between sample means stands. In case the calculated value of F
happens to be either equal or more than its table value, the difference is considered as significant (which means
the samples could not have come from the same universe) and accordingly the conclusion may be drawn. The
higher the calculated value of F is above the table value, the more definite and sure one can be about his
conclusions.
7. Two ways ANOVA: Where the factor variables are more than two, then it is said to be two-way analysis of
variance (ANOVA). It is used to study the interaction or inter-relation between two or more independent variables
affecting a dependent variable. Here the independent variables are two with two or more sub levels within them.
Two-way ANOVA technique is used when the data are classified on the basis of two factors.

Volume 6, Issue 10, October 2018 Page 15


IPASJ International Journal of Information Technology (IIJIT)
Web Site: http://www.ipasj.org/IIJIT/IIJIT.htm
A Publisher for Research Motivation ........ Email:editoriijit@ipasj.org
Volume 6, Issue 10, October 2018 ISSN 2321-5976

V. CONCLUSION
Research is something done to serve some individual purpose or for searching the truths about some business
phenomenon. It is a systematic enquiry about a particular topic in a well-defined process. To test the credibility of a
quantitative research we use many parametric tests and tools like regression, ANOVA, t-test, z-test, Chi square test etc.
and thus on the basis of that, we test our pre-defined hypothesis (tentative assumptions). In this paper the research
process is deeply explained so that a researcher may not find any difficulty in creating his/her research design.
Comparison of various tests on different parameter, give complete idea about which test will be the best for your
problem domain.

References:
[1] C.R. Kothari, Research Methodology- methods and techniques, p-18.
[2] Hara, Katsuko. "Quantitative and qualitative research approaches in education." Education, vol. 115, no. ,
1995, pp 351-358.
[3] A. Fletcher, Ian A.Cliffe, Colin T.Dourish, “Silent 5-HT1A receptor antagonists: utility as research tools and
therapeutic agents”, Volume 14, Issue 12, December 1993, Pages 441-448.
[4] V. Fuchs, K. Kurppa, H. Huhtala , M. Maki, L. Kekkonen and K. Kaukinen, “Delayed celiac disease
diagnosis predisposes to reduced quality of life and incremental use of health care services and medicines: A
prospective nationwide study”, United European Gastroenterology Journal 6(4), Jan 2018, pp 565-575.
[5] Xiao Zhou, Desislava Hristova, Anastasios Noulas, Cecilia Mascolo,” Detecting Socio-Economic Impact of
Cultural Investment Through Geo-Social Network Analysis”, July 2018.
[6] L.V. Redman and A.V.H. Mory, The Romance of Research, 1923, p-10.
[7] Claire Selltiz and others, Research Methods in Social Sciences, 1962, p. 50.
[8] http://103.248.208.114:8080/dspace/bitstream/123456789/1061/1/Research Methodology M %26 T.pdf,
[9] http://www.modares.ac.ir/uploads/Agr.Oth.Lib.17.pdf
[10] Qualitative data analysis: http://class.classmatandread.net/qual/-qualanalysis%282%29.pdf
[11] Quantitative research spss book: http://www.modares.ac.ir/uploads/Agr.Oth.Lib.23.pdf
[12]Research methods base: http://www.anatomyfacts.com/research/researchmethodsknowledgebase.pdf
[13] Research definition: https://www.questionpro.com/blog/what-is-research/
[14] T-test: http://docs.statwing.com/examples-and-definitions/t-test/statistical-significance/
[15] https://researchrundowns.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/rrsignificancettest_71709.pdf
[16] Multiple linear correlation IIT Kanpur: http://home.iitk.ac.in/~shalab/econometrics/Chapter3-Econometrics-
MultipleLinearRegressionModel.pdf
[17] ANOVA: https://www.calvin.edu/~scofield/courses/m143/materials/handouts/anova1And2.pdf
[18] Dawson, Catherine, 2002, Practical Research Methods, New Delhi, UBS Publishers’Distributors.
[19] Kothari, C.R., 1985, Research Methodology- Methods and Techniques, New Delhi, Wiley Eastern Limited.
[20] Kumar, Ranjit, 2005, Research Methodology-A Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners,(2nd.ed.),Singapore, Pearson
Education.

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