Philosophical Groundings in Research

¶ … theory-building, applied research is conducted to solve a problem. Action research is conducted to solve an immediate problem experienced by a practitioner; the problems that are addressed through action research exist in the context or environment in which they conduct their professional work. A construct is an abstraction -- an idea that exists in the mind; if an abstraction is based on something concrete or tangible, it is a concept, but if it is based on something hypothetical or inferential, then the abstraction is a construct.

The most important difference between qualitative research and quantitative research is that quantitative research is deductive in relation to the hypothesis, which is determined before the research has actually begun. Quantitative research uses a deductive approach that moves from the general case to the specific. In this manner, the deductive approach considers the potential cause of some phenomenon and explores whether its effect can be verified. Any cause and effect relationship is examined for the strength between the associated variables.

A strong relationship can exist between two variables, which makes it very probable that there is a true cause and effect relationship. Independent variables are factors or activities or some phenomenon that influence or change a dependent variable in some way. A hypothesis is a tentative assumption in the form of a statement or a question that the research will verify or negate. There are two hypothesis statements in quantitative research: One hypothesis is called the null hypothesis, or Ho.

A researcher does not expect the null hypothesis to be true. At the conclusion of the research process, the researcher will analyze the data collected -- testing the hypothesis -- and either accept or reject the null hypothesis. The second hypothesis is called the alternative hypothesis, or Ha. The researcher assumes the alternative hypothesis is true. Rejecting the null hypothesis suggests that the alternative hypothesis may be true. Qualitative research begins with the specific and moves toward the general. The data collecting process in qualitative research is field-based and personal.

Patterns emerge from the data during the process of analysis. Throughout the data collecting process, researchers typically record their thoughts and impressions about the emerging data patterns. Qualitative researchers gather data about their research from many different sources, using a process called triangulation to ensure that data can be verified. When enough data has been collected, the researcher will interpret the data. A research study includes an abstract, a very brief introduction, and a literature research of relevant theoretical articles that serves as the larger introduction to the research.

The methodology section includes the statement of purpose, researchable questions, the research design, the instrumentation, the participants, the data collection methods and the procedures for analysis. The discussion section includes the results of the.