LESSON 5.

PLANNING DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURES

You have learned the important factors in developing your research instruments in lesson 3 of
this Module. You can now identify the steps you are going to undertake in your actual gathering of
data. In this lesson, three phases in data collection will be presented so that you can clearly plan your
data collection procedure in your current research.

Quantitative Data
Generally, data are any pieces of information or facts that people have known. Once these
data answers the research problem, it becomes helpful to research. When research data appears to
be measurable in the numerical form, it is considered quantitative data. However, some qualitative
data can also be useful to quantitative research once it is given a numerical value. For example, if you
study about adjustment experiences of students to distant learning, if it is categorized and numbered
accordingly, then it can be quantified during analysis.

Techniques in Collecting Quantitative Data

The following are the common quantitative data gathering technique. Each technique
corresponds to specific instrument which will be further discussed in Module 5.

Observation. It is gathering information about a certain condition by using senses. The

researcher records the observation as seen and heard. This is done by direct observation or indirect
observation by the use of gadgets or apparatus. An observation checklist aid the researcher in
recording the data gathered.
Survey. Data gathering is done through interview or questionnaire. By means of questionnaire
you use series of questions or statements that respondents will have to answer. Basically,
respondents write or choose their answer from given choices. On the other hand, interview is when
you ask respondents orally to tell you the responses. Since you are doing quantitative research, it is
expected that responses have numerical value either it is nominal or ordinal in form.
Experiment. When your study is an experimental design, it was already discussed in the
previous lesson that it would use treatment or intervention. After the chosen subjects, participants, or
respondents undergone the intervention, the effects of such treatment will be measured.

Three Phases in Data Collection

In doing research, data collection is a major component of research. Neglecting to clarify the
collection procedure would result in acquiring inaccurate data that will make you research study
invalid. Hence, the data collection procedure is given meticulous attention to gather appropriate data.
You are making sure that data you will gather answers to your research questions.
The data gathering procedure is presented in a paragraph format in your research paper.
Basically, the contents are the steps you are going to follow: (1) before you will gather the data, (2)
what to do during the actual gathering of data, and (3) the things to consider after data has been
gathered. The following are the suggested steps but not limited to it, are the procedures in gathering
quantitative data.

(Adapted from Luzano, 2020) Practical Research 2- Grade 12 Alternative Delivery Mode/DEPED-
CAGAYAN DE ORO
Research ethics provides guidelines for the responsible conduct of research. In addition, it educates
and monitors scientists conducting research to ensure a high ethical standard. The following is
a general summary of some ethical principles:
Honesty:
Honestly report data, results, methods and procedures, and publication status. Do not fabricate,
falsify, or misrepresent data.
Objectivity:
Strive to avoid bias in experimental design, data analysis, data interpretation, peer review, personnel
decisions, grant writing, expert testimony, and other aspects of research.
Integrity:
Keep your promises and agreements; act with sincerity; strive for consistency of thought and action.
Carefulness:
Avoid careless errors and negligence; carefully and critically examine your own work and the work of
your peers. Keep good records of research activities.
Openness:
Share data, results, ideas, tools, resources. Be open to criticism and new ideas.
Respect for Intellectual Property:
Honor patents, copyrights, and other forms of intellectual property. Do not use unpublished data,
methods, or results without permission. Give credit where credit is due. Never plagiarize.
Confidentiality:
Protect confidential communications, such as papers or grants submitted for publication, personnel
records, trade or military secrets, and patient records.
Responsible Publication:
Publish in order to advance research and scholarship, not to advance just your own career. Avoid
wasteful and duplicative publication.
Responsible Mentoring:
Help to educate, mentor, and advise students. Promote their welfare and allow them to make their
own decisions.
Respect for Colleagues:
Respect your colleagues and treat them fairly.
Social Responsibility:
Strive to promote social good and prevent or mitigate social harms through research, public
education, and advocacy.
Non-Discrimination:
Avoid discrimination against colleagues or students on the basis of sex, race, ethnicity, or other
factors that are not related to their scientific competence and integrity.
Competence:
Maintain and improve your own professional competence and expertise through lifelong education
and learning; take steps to promote competence in science as a whole.
Legality:
Know and obey relevant laws and institutional and governmental policies.
Animal Care:
Show proper respect and care for animals when using them in research. Do not conduct unnecessary
or poorly designed animal experiments.
Human Subjects Protection:
When conducting research on human subjects, minimize harms and risks and maximize benefits;
respect human dignity, privacy, and autonomy.

Research Misconducts
(a) Fabrication - making up data or results and recording or reporting them.
(b) Falsification - manipulating research materials, or changing or omitting data or results such that the research
is not accurately represented in the research record.
(c) Plagiarism - the appropriation of another person's ideas, processes, results, or words without giving
appropriate credit.
(d) Research misconduct does not include honest error or differences of opinion.

LESSON 6. PLANNING DATA ANALYSIS

Prerequisite for taking Practical Research 2 is your Statistics and Probability subject. It is
presumed that you already have a good practice of the learning competencies needed to conduct
quantitative research. Your background statistics and probability background will help you plan and
choose your data analysis. In planning your data analysis in quantitative research, you also need to
consider your research problem, type of data, hypothesis, and scale used in your research
instrument. This lesson focuses on designing your data analysis procedure.

Data Analysis
Data analysis in research is a process in which gathered information are summarized in such a
manner that it will yield answers to the research questions. During quantitative data analysis gathered
information were break down and ordered into categories in order to draw trends or patterns in a
certain condition. In quantitative research, the numerical data collected is not taken as a whole. In
order to understand it better, it is analyze into components based on the chosen research variables
and research questions you are going to answer. These numerical data are usually subject to
statistical treatment depending on the nature of data and the type of research problem presented. The
statistical treatment makes explicit the different statistical methods and formulas needed to analyze
the research data.
Planning your Data Analysis
 Before choosing what statistical test is appropriate for your research study it is important to
determine what statistical formation is applicable to your current study. In immersing yourself into
planning your data analysis, you have to decide what basic descriptive statistical technique you are
going to use. Although this technique does not give you the degree of association or effect between
variables, this will help you to code and simply tabulate your data.
(Adapted from Luzano, 2020) Practical Research 2- Grade 12 Alternative Delivery Mode/DEPED-
CAGAYAN DE ORO
Descriptive Statistical Technique provides a summary of the ordered or sequenced data
from your research sample. Frequency distribution, measure of central tendencies (mean, median,
mode), and standard deviation are the sets of data from descriptive statistics.
Inferential Statistics is used when the research study focuses on finding predictions; testing
hypothesis; and finding interpretations, generalizations, and conclusions. Since this statistical method
is more complex and has more advanced mathematical computations, you can use computer
software to aid your analysis.
You also have to identify types of statistical analysis of variable in your quantitative research. A
univariate analysis means analysis of one variable. Analysis of two variables such as independent
and dependent variables refers to bivariate analysis while the multivariate analysis involves
analysis of the multiple relations between multiple variables.
Furthermore, selecting what test to use is basically done by identifying whether you will use
parametric test or non-parametric test. As these were already discussed in your Statistics and
Probability subject, a summary of what to consider is presented below:

In addition, in choosing statistical techniques in quantitative research, the purpose or objective

of the research study should be considered

Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Paper

The conclusion is intended to help the reader understand why your research should matter
to them after they have finished reading the paper. A conclusion is not merely a summary of the
main topics covered or a re-statement of your research problem, but a synthesis of key points
derived from the findings of your study and, if applicable, where you recommend new areas for
future research. For most college-level research papers, two or three well-developed paragraphs
is sufficient for a conclusion, although in some cases, more paragraphs may be required in
describing the key findings and their significance.

Importance of a Good Conclusion

A well-written conclusion provides you with important opportunities to demonstrate to the reader your
understanding of the research problem. These include:

1. Presenting the last word on the issues you raised in your paper. Just as the
introduction gives a first impression to your reader, the conclusion offers a chance to leave a
lasting impression. Do this, for example, by highlighting key findings in your analysis that
advance new understanding about the research problem, that are unusual or unexpected,
or that have important implications applied to practice.
2. Summarizing your thoughts and conveying the larger significance of your study. The
conclusion is an opportunity to succinctly re-emphasize your answer to the "So What?"
question by placing the study within the context of how your research advances past
research about the topic.
3. Identifying how a gap in the literature has been addressed. The conclusion can be
where you describe how a previously identified gap in the literature [first identified in your
literature review section] has been addressed by your research and why this contribution is
significant.
4. Demonstrating the importance of your ideas. Don't be shy. The conclusion offers an
opportunity to elaborate on the impact and significance of your findings. This is particularly
important if your study approached examining the research problem from an unusual or
innovative perspective.
5. Introducing possible new or expanded ways of thinking about the research problem.
This does not refer to introducing new information [which should be avoided], but to offer
new insight and creative approaches for framing or contextualizing the research problem
based on the results of your study.

Structure and Writing Style

I. General Rules

The general function of your paper's conclusion is to restate the main argument. It reminds the
reader of the strengths of your main argument(s) and reiterates the most important evidence
supporting those argument(s). Do this by clearly summarizing the context, background, and necessity
of pursuing the research problem you investigated in relation to an issue, controversy, or a gap found
in the literature. However, make sure that your conclusion is not simply a repetitive summary of the
findings. This reduces the impact of the argument(s) you have developed in your paper.

When writing the conclusion to your paper, follow these general rules:

 Present your conclusions in clear, concise language. Re-state the purpose of your study,
then describe how your findings differ or support those of other studies and why [i.e., what
were the unique, new, or crucial contributions your study made to the overall research about
your topic?].
 Do not simply reiterate your findings or the discussion of your results. Provide a synthesis of
arguments presented in the paper to show how these converge to address the research
problem and the overall objectives of your study.
 Indicate opportunities for future research if you haven't already done so in the discussion
section of your paper. Highlighting the need for further research provides the reader with
evidence that you have an in-depth awareness of the research problem but that further
investigations should take place beyond the scope of your investigation.

Consider the following points to help ensure your conclusion is presented well:

1. If the argument or purpose of your paper is complex, you may need to summarize the
argument for your reader.
2. If, prior to your conclusion, you have not yet explained the significance of your findings or if
you are proceeding inductively, use the end of your paper to describe your main points and
explain their significance.
3. Move from a detailed to a general level of consideration that returns the topic to the context
provided by the introduction or within a new context that emerges from the data [this is
opposite of the introduction, which begins with general discussion of the context and ends
with a detailed description of the research problem].
The conclusion also provides a place for you to persuasively and succinctly restate the
research problem, given that the reader has now been presented with all the information about
the topic. Depending on the discipline you are writing in, the concluding paragraph may contain your
reflections on the evidence presented. However, the nature of being introspective about the research
you have conducted will depend on the topic and whether your professor wants you to express your
observations in this way. If asked to think introspectively about the topics, do not delve into idle
speculation. Being introspective means looking within yourself as an author to try and understand an
issue more deeply, not to guess at possible outcomes or make up scenarios not supported by the
evidence.

II. Developing a Compelling Conclusion

Although an effective conclusion needs to be clear and succinct, it does not need to be written
passively or lack a compelling narrative. Strategies to help you move beyond merely
summarizing the key points of your research paper may include any of the following:

1. If your essay deals with a critical, contemporary problem, warn readers of the possible
consequences of not attending to the problem proactively.
2. Recommend a specific course or courses of action that, if adopted, could address a specific
problem in practice or in the development of new knowledge leading to positive change.
3. Cite a relevant quotation or expert opinion already noted in your paper in order to lend
authority and support to the conclusion(s) you have reached [a good source would be from
your literature review].
4. Explain the consequences of your research in a way that elicits action or demonstrates
urgency in seeking change.
5. Restate a key statistic, fact, or visual image to emphasize the most important finding of your
paper.
6. If your discipline encourages personal reflection, illustrate your concluding point by drawing
from your own life experiences.
7. Return to an anecdote, an example, or a quotation that you presented in your introduction,
but add further insight derived from the findings of your study; use your interpretation of
results from your study to recast it in new or important ways.
8. Provide a "take-home" message in the form of a succinct, declarative statement that you
want the reader to remember about your study.

III. Problems to Avoid

1. Failure to be concise
Your conclusion section should be concise and to the point. Conclusions that are too lengthy
often have unnecessary information in them. The conclusion is not the place for details about
your methodology or results. Although you should give a summary of what was learned from
your research, this summary should be relatively brief, since the emphasis in the conclusion is
on the implications, evaluations, insights, and other forms of analysis that you make.
Strategies for writing concisely can be found here.

2. Failure to comment on larger, more significant issues

In the introduction, your task was to move from the general [the field of study] to the specific
[the research problem]. However, in the conclusion, your task is to move from a specific
discussion [your research problem] back to a general discussion framed around the
implications and significance of your findings [i.e., how your research contributes new
understanding or fills an important gap in the literature]. In short, the conclusion is where you
should place your research within a larger context [visualize your paper as an hourglass--start
with a broad introduction and review of the literature, move to the specific analysis and
discussion, conclude with a broad summary of the study's implications and significance].

3. Failure to reveal problems and negative results

Negative aspects of the research process should never be ignored. These are problems,
deficiencies, or challenges encountered during your study. They should be summarized as a
way of qualifying your overall conclusions. If you encountered negative or unintended results
[i.e., findings that are validated outside the research context in which they were generated],
you must report them in the results section and discuss their implications in the discussion
section of your paper. In the conclusion, use negative results as an opportunity to explain their
possible significance and/or how they may form the basis for future research.
 4. Failure to provide a clear summary of what was learned
In order to be able to discuss how your research fits within your field of study [and possibly the
world at large], you need to summarize briefly and succinctly how it contributes to new
knowledge or a new understanding about the research problem. This element of your
conclusion may be only a few sentences long.

5. Failure to match the objectives of your research

Often research objectives in the social and behavioral sciences change while the research is
being carried out. This is not a problem unless you forget to go back and refine the original
objectives in your introduction. As these changes emerge they must be documented so that
they accurately reflect what you were trying to accomplish in your research [not what you
thought you might accomplish when you began].

6. Resist the urge to apologize

If you've immersed yourself in studying the research problem, you presumably should know a
good deal about it [perhaps even more than your professor!]. Nevertheless, by the time you
have finished writing, you may be having some doubts about what you have produced.
Repress those doubts! Don't undermine your authority as a researcher by saying something
like, "This is just one approach to examining this problem; there may be other, much better
approaches that...." The overall tone of your conclusion should convey confidence to the
reader about the study's validity and realiability.

Writing Tip
Don't Belabor the Obvious!

Avoid phrases like "in conclusion...," "in summary...," or "in closing...." These phrases can be useful,
even welcome, in oral presentations. But readers can see by the tell-tale section heading and number
of pages remaining that they are reaching the end of your paper. You'll irritate your readers if you
belabor the obvious.

Another Writing Tip

New Insight, Not New Information!

Don't surprise the reader with new information in your conclusion that was never referenced
anywhere else in the paper. This why the conclusion rarely has citations to sources. If you have new
information to present, add it to the discussion or other appropriate section of the paper. Note that,
although no new information is introduced, the conclusion, along with the discussion section, is where
you offer your most "original" contributions in the paper; the conclusion is where you describe the
value of your research, demonstrate that you understand the material that you’ve presented, and
position your findings within the larger context of scholarship on the topic, including describing how
your research contributes new insights to that scholarship.