1

QUANTITATIVE & QUALITATIVE

EDU702
 2

INTRODUCTION
• Two types research in education
• Differ in the nature data is collected
• Quantitative and Qualitative
• Also known as Positivist & Postpositivist
respectively
• Qualitative is sometimes called case study
 3

Quantitative & Qualitative

• Knowledge is developed by
collecting numerical data on
Quantitative observable behaviors
• The data is subjected to
numerical analysis

• Knowledge is developed by
primarily verbal data through
Qualitative intensive study of cases
• The data is subjected to
analytical analysis
 4

Quantitative & Qualitative

• Quantitative focuses on populations and
samples
• Qualitative focuses on the study of cases
 5

Quantitative vs Qualitative
• Is one approach better than the other?
• Do they complement each other in some way?
• Do they produce conflicting findings?

Answers:
• Qualitative – best to discover themes and
relationship at case level (discovery)
• Quantitative – bet used to validate those
themes and relationships in samples and
population (confirmatory)
 6
Learning Styles

Qualitative •Visual
•Auditory
•Reading /
Writing
preference
Interview
•Kinesthetic

Quantitative
•Visual
•Auditory
•Reading /
Create & Writing
Distribute Survey preference
•Kinesthetic
 7

DIFFERENCES

Quantitative Qualitative

Social reality is
Assume an
constructed by
objective social
the participants
role
in it

Social reality is Social reality is

relatively continuously
constant over constructed in
time local situations
 8

DIFFERENCES
Quantitative Qualitative

View causal
relationship among
Causal relationship
social phenomena
is human intention
from a mechanistic
perspective

Detached,
objective from
Personally involved
participants &
setting
 9

DIFFERENCES

Quantitative Qualitative

Study
populations & Study cases
samples

Study meanings
Study behavior
created and
& observable
internal
phenomenon
phenomenon
 10

DIFFERENCES
Quantitative Qualitative

Analyze social
Make holistic
realities into
observations
variables

Use preconceived
concepts & Discover concepts
theories to & theories after
determine data to data collected
collect
 11

DIFFERENCES
Quantitative Qualitative

Generate Generate
numerical verbal &
data pictorial data

Use statistical Use analytic

method to induction to
analyze data analyze data
 12

DIFFERENCES

Quantitative Qualitative

Use statistical inference Generalize case findings

procedure to generalize by searching for other
findings similar cases

Prepare intepretive report

Prepare impersonal, that reflect
objective report of researchers’construction
research findings of the data & awareness
that readears will form
 13

QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
METHODOLOGIES

Methodologies

• Experimental
• Single subject
• Correlational
• Causal comparative
• Survey
 14

Experimental Research
• Attempts to influence/manipulate a variable
• Best for testing hypotheses of cause-and-effect
relationship
• In education – use to test effects of various
practices e.g.:
▫ Teaching techniques
▫ Organization of curriculum
▫ Content
▫ Instructional programs etc
• On outcomes e.g.:
▫ Academic achievement
▫ School climate etc.
 15

EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH
• Looking at the effect(s) of independent
variable(s) on 1 or more dependent variables
• Independent variable aka:
▫ Experimental, treatment, intervention
• Dependent variable aka:
▫ Criterion, posttest
• Involves:
▫ One group receiving the experimental treatment-
experimental group
▫ One comparison group not receiving the
treatment – control group
 16

EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH

A new reading
Experimental program

Post-Test
Post
Pre-test
test

Control Regular reading

program
 17

EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH
• Randomization a key element
▫ Random assignment of students to experimental
and control group
▫ To make the groups equivalent – differ only by
chance
 18

VALIDITY PROBLEMS
• Problem in establishing suitable controls – that the
posttest result is only influence by the treatment
• Control against or elimination of extraneous
variables
▫ Affect the internal validity of the experiment
• Extraneous varibale
▫ Any variable other than the treatment variable that,
if not controlled, can affect the experimental
outcome
• Internal validity
▫ The extent to which extraneous variables have been
controlled by the researcher so that any observed
effect can be attributed solely to the treatment
variable
 19

EXTRANEOUS VARIABLES
• Influence of other events
History

• Physical & psychological

Maturation changes

• Test – wise
Testing

• Tend to be biased in marking

Instrumentation the posttest
 20

EXTRANEOUS VARIABLES
Statistical • When using the same pre and
Regression post test

Differential • No random selection

Selection

Experimental • Drop out, missed test, absent

Mortality

Selection Maturation • Difference in age

Interaction
 21

EXTRANEOUS VARIABLES
Experimental Treatment • Control group seek access to
Diffusion treatment

Compensatory Rivalry by • Control group work to perfom

Control Group better – John Henry Effect

Compensatory Equalization • CG given something equal

of Treatments

Resentful Demoralizartion • CG become discouraged,

of CG affect post test
 22

TYPES OF EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN

• One shot case study
Single Group • One group pre-post test
• Time-series

True • Randomized pre-post test control group design

Experimental • Randomized posttest only control group

Quasi- • Static-group
Experimental • Nonequivalent control-group

• Two factor
Factorial • Three factor
 23

CORRELATIONAL RESEARCH
• Purpose – to discover relationships between
variables through correlational statistic

• Relationship between
anxiety & self-esteem
Explanatory • Between intelligence &
academic achievement

• SPM results and college

CGPA
Prediction • Level of education and
potential income
 24

CORRELATIONAL RESEARCH
• Relationship can be postive or negative
• Relationship is presented in a scattergram
(scatter plot)
 25

CORRELATIONAL RESEARCH
Positive Negative
Correlation Correlation

Absence of
Correlation
 26

CORRELATIONAL RESEARCH
• The more education people have, the greater
the income
▫ Positive or negative relationship?
• As people get older, they often lose their
memory
▫ Positive or negative relationship?
• Can we say:
▫ Education causes higher income?
▫ Aging causes memory loss?
 27

CORRELATIONAL RESEARCH
•NO
• Correlation is not equal to causation
• All we can say is that there’s is a relationship
between these two variables
• Although we think the relationship is causal, we
cannot assume without conducting experiment
 28

CAUSAL COMPARATIVE
• The study of cause-and-effect relationship
• To explain educational phenomenons
• Attempts to determine the cause, or reason, for
pre-existing differences in groups of individuals
• Also called ‘ex post facto’ (Latin – after the fact)
• Both the effect and the alleged cause have already
occurred and must be studied in retrospect
• The basic causal-comparative approach involves
starting with an effect and seeking possible causes
• Another approach starts with cause and
investigates its effects on some variable
 29

CAUSAL COMPARATIVE
• The presumed cause – independent variables
• The presumed effect – dependent variables
• Example:
▫ Introduction of KPI on teachers’ morale
▫ Introduction of KPI– independent variables
▫ Teachers’ morale – dependent variables
• Or
▫ Teachers’ morale – independent variable
▫ Absenteeism – dependent variable
• Different from experimental, causal
comparative does not manipulate variables
(sex, ethnicity etc)
 30

CAUSAL COMPARATIVE
• IV: presumed cause
▫ Groups formed on the basis of how much TV they
watch, and compared on academic achievement
(GPA).
• DV: presumed effect
▫ Groups formed on the basis of gender, and
compared on strength of career aspirations.
 31

CAUSAL COMPARATIVE
• IV: presumed effect
▫ Groups formed on the basis of whether they
dropped out of high school, and compared on
lack of mentoring relationship.
• DV: presumed cause
▫ Groups formed on the basis of difficulty in
learning to read, and compared on time parent
spent reading to child.
 32

CAUSAL COMPARATIVE
When to use:
1. When it is unethical to manipulate an
independent variable (e.g. diet)

2. When the independent variable CANNOT be

manipulated (e.g. sex, ethnicity, etc.)

3. When the independent variable not been

changed due to ignorance or negligence (e.g.
teaching methods)
 33

CAUSAL COMPARATIVE
• Examples:
▫ A researcher measured the mathematical
reasoning ability of young children who had
enrolled in Montessori schools and compared the
scores with a group of similar children who had
not been to Montessori schools.

▫ A researcher measured the frequency of

students’ misbehavior at schools which use
corporal punishment and compared that to
schools which did not use corporal punishment.
 34

CAUSAL COMPARATIVE
• How do you analyze:
▫ t tests, ANOVA, ANCOVA when two or more groups
are being compared.
▫ Regression analysis when there are multiple
independent variables.
▫ MANOVA, and multivariate regression, when
there are multiple dependent variables.
▫ Path analysis and structural equation modeling
when the theoretical causal paths are being
investigated.
 35

CAUSAL COMPARATIVE
• Which of the following questions would lend
themselves well to causal-comparative research?
1. How many students were enrolled in PSYC101 this
semester?
2. Which subject do high school students like least?
3. How do elementary school teachers teach phonics?
4. Are two-year-old girls more aggressive than two-
year-old boys?
5. How might Jimmy Thomas be helped to read?
6. Is teacher enthusiasm related to student success in
academic classes?
7. What is the best way to teach arithmetic?
8. Do female students perform better in literature
classes than male students?
9. Does sleep (amount of time) affect academic
performance of students at college
 36

CAUSAL COMPARATIVE
• Example ( Green & Jaquess)
▫ The effect of part-time employment on high
school students’ academic achievement
▫ Sample – 44 high school juniors, employed and
not employed (have already occurred, you do not
make them work – unethical)
 37

SURVEY RESEARCH
• Also known as Descriptive Research
• Purpose – to describe the natural or man-made
phenomena
▫ The form, actions, changes over time,
similarities with other phenomena
• In education – it involves making careful
description of educational phenomena
• Concerned primarily with determining “what
is”
 38

SURVEY RESEARCH
• Examples:
▫ How many teachers in the state of Selangor hold
favourable attitudes toward ETeMS?
▫ How do adolescent spend their time?
▫ What have been the reactions of school
administrators to innovations in teaching physical
science?
 39

SURVEY RESEARCH
Types of survey:
• Cross-sectional
• Longitudinal
 40

SURVEY RESEARCH
• Cross - sectional
▫ Data are obtained at one point in time but
groups of different ages, or different stages of
development
• Example:
▫ How students’ attitude towards art change from
Year 5 to Form 3?
▫ Samples are selected from each grade
▫ Administer a questionnaire to all of them on the
same date or within narrow range of dates
 41

SURVEY RESEARCH
• Longitudinal
▫ Collecting data from a sample at different points
in time in order to study changes and continuity
in the sample’s characteristics
• Example:
▫ The development of art appreciation among
primary school children
• Types:
▫ Trend
▫ Cohort
▫ Panel
▫ Cross sectional
 42

SURVEY RESEARCH
• Describe change by selecting a different
sample at each data collection point of

Trend same population which may change

• Attitudes of principal towards cluster
schools in Malaysia
• 2010 – one sample, 2011- another sample

Cohort • Describe change by selecting a different

sample at each data collection from
population which remains the same
Studies
 43

SURVEY RESEARCH

• Using the same sample at

different point of data collection
• Follow individuals over time to

Panel note changes

• Teaching effectives of ED725
graduate of 2012
• Data collected on same group in
2013, 2015
 44

SURVEY RESEARCH
• Measurement types
▫ Questionnaire
▫ Classroom observation checklist
▫ Standardized achievement tests
▫ Attitudes scales
▫ Interviews
 45

SURVEY RESEARCH
• Statistics in survey research
▫ Measures of central tendency

Mean

Median

Mode
▫ Measures of variability

Standard deviation

Variance

Range
46
 47

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
• General Features (may not be in all types)
▫ The natural setting is the direct source of data
and the researcher is the key instrument
▫ Qualitative data are collected in the form of
words or pictures rather than numbers
▫ Qualitative researchers are concerned with
process as well as product
▫ Qualitative researchers tend to analyze their
data inductively
▫ How people make sense of their lives is a major
concern to qualitative research
 48

QUALITATIVE – MAJOR CHARACTERISTICS

Natural inquiry

Inductive analysis

Holistic perspective

Qualitative data

Personal contact and insight

 49

QUALITATIVE – MAJOR CHARACTERISTICS

Dynamic

Unique case orientation

Context sensivity

Emphatic neutrality

Design flexibility
 50

QUALITATIVE – STEPS
1. Identification of the phenomenon
2. Identification of the participants
3. Generation of hypotheses
4. Data collection
5. Data analysis
6. Interpretations and conclusions
 51

QUALITATIVE – APPROACHES

NARRATIVE GROUNDED
PHENOMENOLOGY
RESEARCH THEORY

CASE STUDIES ETHNOGRAPHIC HISTORICAL

 52

NARRATIVE
•Study life experiences of
people
•As told to the researcher
•The participant recalls
one or more special
events (epiphany)
 53

PHENOMENOLOGY
• Reactions to or perceptions of a particular
phenomenon
• e.g. what is like to teach science in rural
school
• Data – through in-depth interview
• Seek to identify, understand & describe
commonalities of perceptions &
interpretations
• Malay students in Chinese schools
• Data collected are clustered into themes
 54

GROUNDED THEORY
• Intention is to generate theory in
data from participants who have
experienced the process
• Generalizations are developed from
the data
• Use of constant comparative method
• Data collected through one-on-one
interview, focus group, observations
 55

PROCESS OF GROUNDED THEORY

Data collected Theory More data

& analyzed suggested collected

Theory further
More data Theory
developed,
collected revised
clarified
 56

CASE STUDIES
• Objects of research are called cases
• A case – a particular instance of a
phenomenon
• Phenomenon:
• Programs
• Curricula
• Roles
• Events
 57

CASE STUDIES
•Widespread in education
•Purpose:
•To produced detailed
description of a phenomenon
•To develop explanation of it
•To evaluate it
 58

CASE STUDIES
•Example
•Dona Kagan examined the
effects of a staff development
program on the professional lives
of 4 elementary school teachers
•Audio-taped 90 minute interview
 59

ETHNOGRAPHY
• First hand, intensive study of the features of a
given culture and the patterns in those features
• If reader can understand the culture by reading
an ethnographic research, then it is a good
research
• Originally developed by anthropologist
• Data collected through, observation, interview
and documents
• Participant observation – be part of the culture
and make observation
 60

ETHNOGRAPHY
• Examples:
• The Orang Asli school
• Racial interactions in urban school
• Bullying in secondary school
• Power in the dorm
• Teachers teaching style
• Practicum trainees
 61

HISTORICAL RESEARCH
•Systematic process of data
collection to answer questions
about a phenomenon for the
purpose of gaining a better
understanding of present
institutions, practices, trends,
and issues in education
 62

HISTORICAL RESEARCH
•Examples:
•The changes in the status of
teachers in the public eyes
from 1900 – 2000
•Pondok schools
•Art curriculum over the years
 63

HISTORICAL RESEARCH
• Purpose:
• To make aware of past failures & success
• To learn from the past to improve the
present / future
• To assist making prediction
• To test hypotheses concerning
relationships or trends
• To understand present educational
policies and practices more fully
 64

HISTORICAL RESEARCH
•Sources
•Documents
•Numerical records
•Oral statements
•Relics
65