Prof. ir. Panchito M.

Labay

Based on Process or
Approach
Qualitative

Research

relies on qualitative data or

descriptive data that cannot
be reduced to numerical
terms.
Quantitative Research
relies
primarily
on
numerical data as the basis
of analysis.
Mixed Method Research
a process that involve the
mixing or combination of
the two approaches.
We hate numbers and
estimates, we like realities!

Aspect
General
Description

Process

Researchers role

Quantitative

Qualitative

Facts have objective reality.

Facts are just around & ready to
be perceived by the researcher

Facts are social constructs.

Facts are constructed by the
researcher

Variables (sometimes limited) are

identified & relationships are
derived

Variables are complex,

interwoven & difficult to
measure

Etic (researcher is an outsider

to have objective results)

Emic (researcher is an insider

with subjective results)

To predict

To postdict

Deductive-begins with
hypotheses & theories

Inductive-arrives at hypotheses
& theories

Seeks consensus

Seeks pluralism, complexity

Applies empiricism-scientific
method through experimentation

Applies a naturalistic mode-as

the process goes

Detached & impartial

Involved & partial

Objective portrayal

Subjective understanding

Aspect

Quantitative

Qualitative

Focus

Narrow angle lens (deals with

limited variables, which in reality
not really occurring)

Wide & deep angle lens (deals

with complex variables, which
are naturalistic examining the
breath & the depth of the
phenomena

Nature of data

Variables, numerical

Words, images, meanings,

categories

Methods of data
collection

Collect quantitative data based on Collect qualitative data based

measurement
on in-depth interviews,
ethnography, field notes. The
researcher is the prime
instrument.

Data analysis

Identify statistical relationships

Look for patterns, themes and

holistic features

Results & final

reports

Statistical report (correlations,

statistical significance, etc.).
Generalised findings

Narrative report with contextual

descriptive and direct
quotations. Particularistic
findings

Quantitative

Mixed

Qualitative

Scientific
method

Deductive or topdown. The

researcher tests
hypothesis & theory
with data

Deductive
inductive

& Inductive or bottom-up.

The researcher
generates new
hypothesis & grounded
theory from collected
data during the
fieldwork

View of
human
behaviour

Behaviour is regular
& predictable

Behaviour
somewhat
predictable

is Behaviour is fluid,
dynamic, situational,
contextual & personal

Research
objectives

Description,
explanation &
prediction

Multiple objectives Exploration, description

& discovery

Focus

Narrow angle lens,

testing specific
hypothesis

Multi-lens focus

Wide & deep angle lens

focus, examining the
breadth & depth of
phenomena to learn
more

Nature of
observation

Study behaviour
under controlled
conditions

Study behaviour
under more than
one context or
condition

Study behaviour in
natural environments.
Study the context in
which behaviour occurs

Nature of
reality

Objective (different observers agree on what

is observed

Commonsense
realism and
pragmatic view of
world (what works
is what is real &
true)

Subjective, personal &

socially constructed

Nature of
data

Variables

Mixture of variables,
images & words

Words,
categories

Manner of
collecting
data

Quantitative based on
measurement, scales,
ratings, etc.

Mixture of
qualitative &
quantitative

Qualitative based on indepth interviews,

participant-observation
approach, field notes,
narratives, etc. The
researcher is the primary
instrument (data collector).

Data
analysis

Statistical
between
measured

Results

Generalised findings

Corroborated
findings may
generalise

Particularistic findings.
Represent the insiders
point of view or emic

Form of
final report

Statistical (reporting
the correlations,
comparisons, etc. of
the statistical
significance of findings)

Eclectic & pragmatic

Narrative with contextual

description

relation Mixture of
variables qualitative &
quantitative

images

Look for forms, patterns,

themes & holistic features

&

Polit et. al., (2001) at methodological level

quantitative research is generally associated with
the philosophical traditions of positivism and
qualitative research, most commonly allied with
post-positivist and post-modernist philosophies.

Theories

Hypotheses

Deduction

Induction

Patterns

Observations/
Data

Post-modernists
Qualitative Research
Symbolic Interactionist

Mixed method

Positivists
Quantitative Research
Feminist

The Research Wheel and the relationships between

the different approaches of research

Based on Discipline

Seeking the wisdom of the tribe people is the

emerging form of research known as participatory
research.

Monodisciplinary
Research
primarily
based
on
the
discipline
of
the
main
researcher.
Multidisciplinary Researchteam
of researchers are engaged in
a particular problem but
analyses are along their
respective
line
of
specialisation.
Interdisciplinary Researchteam
of researchers / scientists that
solved a particular problem by
integrating or linking their
findings holistically despite
the differences in their fields
of specializationthey come
up with a unified results.
Participatory Researcha team
of researchers involved the
wisdom or knowledge of the
local people, based from the
idea that they are more
knowledgeable about their
area than the outsiders.

Thank you, because we

have just finished Chapters
3&4
For the integration of all concepts, I
want you to choose three items from
the activity you did in Chapter 2 and
discuss on how you will conduct
research on them following the
philosophies of positivism, postpositivism, post-modernism, feminism
and symbolic interpretivism.
Is it getting tough? I hope not!
I know that you will make it. So, please
for each selected item limit your
discussions in 500 words, do it
substantially using Arial 11 as your
font.
Good luck anyway

What is a positivist, a
post-modernist and a
feminist point of view?
What
is
qualitative,
quantitative
&
mixed
methods of research?

help the researcher to refine

and specify his or her
research point of view or
philosophical underpinnings
enable the researcher to
evaluate different methodologies and methods to avoid
inappropriate
use
and
unnecessary
work
by
identifying the limitations of
particular approaches at an
early stage
help the researcher to be
creative and innovative in
either selection or adaptation
of
methods
that
were
previously outside his or her
experience.

Its me when I was assigned to do a research work

in John Hopkins University with my Ugandan
classmate.

There are three major philosophical schools that affect the

conduct of doing research:
POSITIVIST
(cornerstone
of
traditional science)stresses that
science
as
knowledge
is
ascertained
by
empirical
observations & experimentations. It
has an objectivist view that facts or
realities are not the results of
human cognition or thinking or
created in ones mind. They are
external to the observer and are
imposed
on
the
observers
consciousness from without.
It
prefers
measurement
and
replicability and making generalisations
rather
than
specific
observations.

It follows the scientific method:

Problem

Theory

Proving

Data gathering

Hypothesis

Experimentation

Challenges to the positivist / scientific /

objectivist views:
Superman is a creative social construct,
which presumed can be made in the
laboratories through the science of cloning
or genetics engineering!

1.

Truth or reality is a social construct

(subjectivism), created by human beings
& the objects of thought are merely
words (nominalism) produced by the
language we speak (a narrative,
discourse, etc.).

2. Realities are complex, which cannot be

reduced
to
measurable
simple
variables and therefore inappropriate to
come up with general governing theory.
Logocentrism is not truethere is no
such absolute truth.
3.

Experiments conducted in laboratories

are becoming redundant, because one
cannot really capture the essence of the
natural world. Though positivist is
guided by rationality, but rationality
itself is a product of social fabrications.

4.

Positivism is a hegemonic idea that

suppresses other forms of knowledges.

scientific fraud is extremely

widespread, even in most
industrialised countries.

biased and subjective nature of

scientists as human beings

material need for glory and honour,

gaining more grants and pressure to
publish outputs

doing the experimentation over and

over again to get the desired results

the nature of some researchers that

there is no prestige in re-doing other
researchers experiments. Therefore
the risk of doing fraudulent work is
very little.

History reveals that great

scientists like Ptolemy,
Galileo, Newton, Dalton
and Mendell all tampered
some of their research
data.
Source: Sutherland, 1989

Post-positivist
believes
that
pure
empiricism, e.g., deriving knowledge
only
through
observation
and
measurement, is not enough. Thus, postpositivism is built on the concept of
critical realism, that there is a real world
out there independent of our perception
of it.
It posits that data are not inherently
quantitative and cannot be bits and
pieces of almost anything.

Einstein is not only a positivist but also

a post-positivist & post-modernist

The metaphysical as being beyond the

scope of science, it was increasingly
accepted
by
post-positivists
that
although a real world driven by natural
causes exists, it is impossible for
humans to truly perceive it with their
imperfect sensory and mental capacity.

Antipo is a cultural practice during Lenten

Season, which is a good subject for research
following the post-positivist mode of inquiry.

The post-positivist approaches

assume that reality is multiple,
subjective,
and
mentally
constructed by individuals. The
use of flexible and multiple
methods is desirable as a way of
studying a small sample in depth
over time that can establish
warranted
assertability
as
opposed to absolute truth. The
researcher interacts with those
being researched, and findings
are the outcome of this
interactive process with a focus
on

Letourneau and Allen (1999) state that post-positivist

approaches give way to both qualitative and
quantitative methods or triangulation methods. This is
described as critical multiplism (Guba and Lincoln
1998). Critical implies that, as in positivism, the need for
rigour, precision, logical reasoning and attention to
evidence is required, but unlike positivism, this is not
confined to what can be physically observed.
Multiplism refers to the fact that research can generally
be approached from several perspectives. Multiple
perspectives can be used to define research goals, to
choose research questions, methods and analyses, and
to interpret results (Cook 1985).

It follows the inductive method:

Problem

Theory

Introspection

Fieldwork /
Data gathering

Contextualising

Brokeback Mountain speaks about reality!

POST-MODERNISTquestions

the
belief in reason & rationality of the
positivist. It argues that reality is a
social construct in the form of words
language, stories, narratives, discourses,
etc.
It favours observation from the inside in
favour of vision, in which the researcher
and the observed are not clearly
distinguished. Thus, the researcher is the
prime instrument.
It prefers an introspective, subjective
interpretation.
It dissolves the boundaries between
disciplines, since realities can be drawn
from different angles (relativism &
methodological pluralism). Creativity will
grow if this will not be put inside the
black box.

Questions to the post-modernist

views:
1.

Rise of knowledge anarchy, a

disorder world of explaining a
social, natural, physical, etc.
phenomena. Rejects meta- and
grand narratives of the world and
reinforces our sensitivity to
differences.

2.

The rules of logic are nothing, but

all social construct that are
prescribed for ways of thinking.

3. It is a counter hegemonic concept

to positivism that demystifies the
rhetorical acceptance of modern
science.
The problem of traditional science in solving some of
our present problems gives rise to post-positivist and
post-modernist points of view.

SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONIST
follows the post-modernist
view, both in theory and practice,
but is more concerned on
explaining society in terms of its
overall structure.
It believes that we are living in a
semiotic
world,
wherein
symbols and communication
(linguistic & gestural) are created
and given with meanings &
identities
in all our daily
interactions
with
our
environments.

We live in a world of words, languages, signs and

structures which we give them identities and meanings.

It upholds the cause & effect

analysis to describe social reality
from within, like in interpreting
the views, feelings and actions of
those involved in a given
situation or lifestyle.

FEMINISTfollows traditional science, both in

theory and practice but
should be fair to women.
It is an emerging philosophical school guided by
feminist theory. It is really
not a method, but a
perspective that recognises diversity, open to
cross discipline, so as to
avoid the marginalisation
of women.

Women need not be confined only in

household chores, but must also a part
of social change

The scientific ethos of research prevails

as of today and still survives due to
the following ideals:
Universalism. Ideas and bodies of
knowledge must be evaluated on the
basis of merit that it established.
Communalism. Knowledge is not
knowledge if it is not shared, because
the search for knowledge is a human
act for public use.
Skepticism. Ones work must be
scrutinized and challenged. Scientific
authority must be appraised and
reappraised regularly.
Empiricism. Observations of the natural
and social worlds are based on facts
that can be apprehended by humans
senses.
Impartiality. Scientists must have a
sense of impartiality and openmindedness.

Thank you, because we have just

finished Chapter 3
TUTOR MARKED ACTIVITY
For the integration of all concepts, please do the following activities:
1.

In the internet (www.google.com) , search for two published

research papers that applied the concepts of a positivist, a postmodernist or a feminist.

2.

In no more than 500 words describe their peculiarities.

Date of submission: