DESCRIPTIVE

RESEARCH

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 What is Descriptive Research?
 Descriptive Research is the most widely-used research design

as indicated by the theses, dissertations and research reports of

institutions. Its common means of obtaining information

include the use of the questionnaire, personal interviews with

the aid of study guide or interview schedule, and observation,

either participatory or not.

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 What is Descriptive Research?
 Includes studies that purport to present facts concerning the

nature and status of anything. This means that descriptive

research gives meaning to the quality and standing of facts that

are going on. For instance, the information about a group of

person, a number of objects, a set of conditions, a class of

events, a system of thoughts or any other kind of phenomenon

or experience which one may wish to study.

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 What is Descriptive Research?
 Fact-finding with adequate interpretation.

 The descriptive method is something more and beyond just data-

gathering; latter is not reflective thinking nor research.
 The true meaning of data collected should be reported from the point of
view of the objectives and the basic assumption of the project under
way.
 Facts obtained may be accurate expressions of central tendency, or
deviation, or correlation; but the report is not research unless discussion
of those data is not carried up to the level of adequate interpretation.
 Data must be subjected to the thinking process in terms of ordered
reasoning. "Advanced Educational Research" 4
 Descriptive Research takes a
“What is” Approach
 What is the best way to provide access to computer equipment in

schools?

 Do teachers hold favorable attitudes toward using computers in

schools?

 What have been the reactions of school administrators to

technological innovations in teaching?

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 Method
Seven Steps in Conducting Descriptive
Research
1. State the problem
2. Select participants
3. Construct the questionnaire
4. Prepare cover letter
5. Pretest questionnaire
6. Follow up activities
7. Analyze/report results

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 Design of Descriptive Research

 Descriptive research makes some type of comparison

contrasts and correlation and sometimes, in carefully

planned and orchestrated descriptive researches, cause

effect relationships may be established to some extent.

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 Nature of Descriptive Research
 Descriptive research is designed for the investigator to gather
information about present existing conditions.
 Descriptive research involves collection of data in order to test the
hypothesis or to answer questions concerning the current status of the
subject of the study.
 Descriptive study determines and reports the way things are. It has no
control over what is, and it can only measure what already exist.
 Descriptive research has been criticized for its inability to control
variables, for being a post-doc study and for more frequently yielding
only descriptive rather than predictive, findings.
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 Aim of Descriptive Research
 The principal aims in employing descriptive research are to describe the

nature of a situation as it exists at the time of the study and to explore the

causes of particular phenomena. (Travers, 1978)

 Descriptive Research seeks to tell “what exists” or “what is” about a

certain educational phenomenon. Accurate observations and assessments

arise from data that ascertain the nature and incidence of prevailing

conditions, practices or description of object, process, and person who

are all objects of the study.

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 Aim of Descriptive Research
 Contribute in the formation of principles and generalization in behavioral
sciences.
 Contribute in the establishment of standard norms of conduct, behavior, or
performance.
 Reveal problems or abnormal conditions.

 Make possible prediction of future on the basis of findings on prevailing

conditions, corrections, and on the basis of reactions of people toward certain
issues.
 Give better and deeper understanding of phenomenon on the basis of an in-depth
study of the phenomenon.
 Provide basis for decision-making.
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 1. State the Problem
 Topic must be of sufficient significance to motivate

potential respondents and justify the research effort in the

first place.

 Define topic in terms of specific objectives indicating the

kind of information needed.

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 2. Select Participants

 Use an appropriate sampling technique.

 Participants must be able to provide the desired

information sought and willing to provide it to the

researcher.

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 3. Construct the Instrument
 Should be attractive, brief, and easy to fill out

 There are a variety of data collection methods that can be used,

including:

 Questionnaires,

 Interviews,

 Observations, and

 Telephone calls
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 4. Prepare the Cover Letter
 A brief, neat, explanation of the significance of the study and what is
being asked of the respondent and why

 Addressed to the specific, potential respondent

 An endorsement adds credibility

 Guarantee anonymity or confidentiality

 Include a specific deadline date by which the completed instrument

(“questionnaire”) is to be returned .

 Individually sign each letter

 Include a self-addressed, stamped, return envelope

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 5. Pretest the Instrument
 Conduct a pilot study to gather information about

deficiencies and suggestions for improving the instrument

 Provides greater content validity

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 6. Follow-up Activities
 Because first mailing results tend to be low (30% - 50%
response rate), researchers need strategies to increase the
response rate.
 Initial follow-up strategies to increase response rate up to
20%.
 Send out reminder postcard …
 Mail a second packet with a new, positively worded cover
letter and another self-addressed, stamped, return envelope
 Secondary follow-up strategies to increase response rate up
to 10%.
 Telephone nonrespondents to encourage them to respond

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Dealing with Non Respondents
 Study whether nonrespondents differ from respondents in

some systematic way by selecting a sample from the

nonrespondents

 Telephone sample, aggregate data, include in report

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 Dealing with Non Responses
 Study the items to determine the problem with the item

 Include description of the non responses and the

determination of the reason in the report

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 7. Analyze/Report Results
 Discriminate item analysis includes giving the response rate for

each item as well as the total sample size and the overall
percentage of returns, since not all respondents will answer
questions

 Group items into clusters that address the same issue and

develop total scores across an item cluster in order to avoid

“information overload”

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Conducting an interview study
 Conducting an interview study…

 1. State the problem

 2. Select participants

 3. Construct the interview guide

 4. Communicate professionally and record responses accurately

 5. Pretest interview procedure

 6. Analyze/report results

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 1. State the Problem
 Topic must be of sufficient significance to motivate

individuals to participate and justify the research effort in

the first place

 Define topic in terms of specific objectives indicating the

kind of information needed

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 2. Select Participants
 Use an appropriate sampling technique

 Participants must be able to provide the desired

information sought and willing to provide it to the

researcher

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 3. Construct the Interview
Instrument (“Instrument Guide”)
 Indicates the question to be asked, the order, and how
much additional prompting or probing is permitted

 The goal is to obtain standardized, comparable data from

each interviewee

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 4. Communicate Professionally
and Record Responses Accurately
 Effective interviewing requires training and experience to
avoid interviewer bias and interviewer error.

 Record responses manually on the interview guide

 (Requires interviewee permission) use a tape recorder or

VCR to verify accuracy of responses

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5. Pretest Interview Procedure
 Use a small group from the same population or a similar

population to the one being studied to validate the

interview instrument and the interviewer’s communication

and recording skills

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 6. Analyze/Report Results
 Item analysis includes giving the response rate for each
item, as well as the total sample size and the overall
percentage of returns, since not every respondent will
answer all questions

 Also include in-depth data to open-ended interview items

to portray responses in more accurate and honest terms

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 Classifications of Descriptive
Research
 Classified by how data are collected

 Self-report
 Individuals respond to statements or questions about
themselves

 Observation
 Data is collected by the researcher watching participants

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 3-Basic Types of Descriptive
Research Methods
 One of the goals of education is description (other goals

include prediction and explanation). Descriptive research

methods are pretty much as they sound —

they describe situations. They do not make accurate

predictions, and they do not determine cause and effect.

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 3-Basic Types of Descriptive Research
Methods
 There are three main types of descriptive methods:

 Observational methods

 Case-study methods and

 Survey methods.

 This presentation will briefly describe each of these methods, their

advantages, and their drawbacks. This may help you better understand
research findings, whether reported in the mainstream media, or when reading
a research study on your own.

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 Observational Method
 With the observational method (sometimes referred to as field

observation) animal and human behavior is closely observed. There are

two main categories of the observational method — naturalistic

observation and laboratory observation.

 The biggest advantage of the naturalistic method of research is that

researchers view participants in their natural environments. This leads

to greater ecological validity than laboratory observation, proponents

say.
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 Observational Method
 Ecological validity refers to the extent to which research can be used in
real-life situations.

 Proponents of laboratory observation often suggest that due to more

control in the laboratory, the results found when using laboratory
observation are more meaningful than those obtained with naturalistic
observation.

 Laboratory observations are usually less time-consuming and cheaper

than naturalistic observations. Of course, both naturalistic and
laboratory observation are important in regard to the advancement of
scientific knowledge.
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 Case Study Method
 Case study research involves an in-depth study of an individual

or group of individuals. Case studies often lead to testable

hypotheses and allow us to study rare phenomena. Case

studies should not be used to determine cause and effect, and

they have limited use for making accurate predictions.

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 Case Study Method
 There are two serious problems with case studies —
expectancy effects and atypical individuals. Expectancy
effects include the experimenter’s underlying biases that
might affect the actions taken while conducting
research. These biases can lead to misrepresenting
participants’ descriptions. Describing atypical individuals
may lead to poor generalizations and detract from external
validity.
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 Survey Method
 In survey method research, participants answer questions
administered through interviews or questionnaires.

 After participants answer the questions, researchers describe

the responses given. In order for the survey to be both
reliable and valid it is important that the questions are
constructed properly.

 Questions should be written so they are clear and easy to

comprehend.
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 Survey Method
 In addition to the methods some individuals also include qualitative (as
a distinct method) and archival methods when discussing descriptive
research methods.
 It is important to emphasize that descriptive research methods can
only describe a set of observations or the data collected. It cannot draw
conclusions from that data about which way the relationship goes —
Does A cause B, or does B cause A?
 Unfortunately, in many studies published today, researchers forget this
fundamental limitation of their research and suggest their data can
actually demonstrate or “suggest” causal relationships. Nothing could
be further from the truth.
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