JAY-AR MARIO V.

MARIANO

IMPORTANCE OF QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH ACROSS FIELDS

People do research to find solutions, even tentative ones, to problems, in order to improve or enhance ways of doing
things, to disprove or provide a new hypothesis, or simply to find answers to questions or solutions to problems in daily life.
Research findings can affect people’s lives, ways of doing things, laws, rules and regulations, as well as policies, among
others. Widely, quantitative research is often used because of its emphasis on proof rather than discovery.

In recent times, research studies are gaining an unprecedented focus and attention. Then, only the faculty in higher
education has so much interest and conduct researchers, but now even the teachers in the basic education are engrossed in
researches and devote time and effort in conducting researches to improve educational practices that may lead to more quality
learning of the students. Many teachers do action researches because there is a serious need to identify the problems of the
deteriorating quality of education. By doing so, they can address systematically and make educational decisions regarding the
problems met. Innovative teaching strategies are product of research.

In the natural and social sciences, quantitative research is the systematic, empirical investigation of observable
phenomena via statistical, mathematical or computational techniques. The objective of quantitative research is to develop and
employ mathematical models, theories and/or hypotheses pertaining to phenomena. The process of measurement is central to
quantitative research because it provides the fundamental connection between empirical observation and mathematical
expression of quantitative relationships.

Health Sciences (Medical Technology, Dentistry, Nursing, Medicine, etc.) use quantitative research designs like
descriptive, pre-experimental, quasi-experimental, true-experiment, case study, among others.

QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH & ACCOUNTING, BUSINESS and MANAGEMENT (ABM)

Researches can help design a new product or service, figuring out what is needed and ensure the development of
product is highly targeted towards demand. Businessmen can also utilize research results to guarantee sufficient distribution
of their products and decide where they need to increase their product distribution. Conducting researches can also help a
business determine whether now is the proper time to open another branch or whether it needs to apply for a new loan. It may
also help a small business decide if a procedure or strategy should be change to meet the requirements of the customer

base. Research is important for any organization to remain in the market. The primary function of research in ABM
is to correctly determine its customers and their preferences, establish the enterprise in the most feasible location, deliver
quality goods and services, analyze what the competitors are doing and find ways on how to continuously satisfy the growing
and varied needs of the clients.

QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH and ANTHROPOLOGY

Anthropology is a research method of combining qualitative and quantitative research data. It is concerned with
exploring connections simultaneously, amidst cultural differences, alternatives and identity. In the contemporary academic,
socio-cultural and political climate these concepts have immense symbolic overtones.

Quantitative research is use in Anthropology in many aspects. Like, true experiments may use in studying people
provided that you follow certain steps (Bernard, 2004). This is to look into the Effects of an intervention in ethnic behavior of
a group. In here, you need at least two groups, called the treatment group and the control group. On group gets the
intervention and the other group don’t. Next, individuals may be randomly assigned, either to the intervention group or to the
control group to ensure that the groups are equivalent. Then, the groups are measured on one or more dependent variables;
this is called the pre-test. After which, the intervention is introduced. Lastly, the dependent variables are measured again. This
is the post test.

True in experiments with people in laboratory are also common. Laboratory experiments often
 produce results that beg to be tested in the natural world by Anthropologists. Aaron and Mills (1959, as cited by
Bernard, 2004) demonstrated in a lab experiment that people who go through severe initiation to a group tend to be more
positive toward the group than are people who go through a mild initiation. They reasoned that people who go through tough
initiation rites put a lot of personal investments intogetting into the group. Later, if people see evidence that the group is not
what they thought it would be, they are reluctant to admit the fact because of the investments.

In Field, Janet Schofield and her colleagues did a 3 year ethnographic study in middle school. During the first year,
they noticed that African-American and while children seemed to react differently to “mildly aggressive acts’ – things like
bumping in the hallway, poking one another in the classroom, asking for food, or using another student’s pencil without
permission. There appeared to be no event of racial conflict in the school, but during interviews while students were more
likely to report being intimidated by their African-American peers than vice versa (Sagar & Schofield, 1980, as cited by
Bernard, 2004)

QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH and COMMUNICATION

Researchers are often interested in how an understanding of a particular communication phenomenon might
generalize to a larger population. For example, researchers can advance questions like “What Effect do punitive behavioral
control statements have on a classroom? What communicative behaviors are associated with different stages in romantic
relationships? What communicative behaviors are used to respond to co-workers displaying emotional stress? (Allen,
Titsworth, Hunt, 2009)

QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH and SPORTS MEDICINE

Quantitative research is used to analyze how sports may be used as an alternative way of medicating an illness. An
example is the research done by University of Eastern Finland which investigated the relationship between mushrooming of
fast food chains and obesity, as well as the intervention needed to prevent children’s obesity from reaching serious
proportions. The research focused on the children’s physical activity and physical inactivity and the concomitant impact on
the children’s amount of adipose tissue (fat mass) and the endurance fitness. The study is used to analyze certain the effect of
physical activity in weight control.

QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH and MEDICAL EDUCATION

Quantitative research in medical education tends to be predominantly observational research based on surveys or
correlational studies. The designs test interventions like curriculum, teaching-learning process, or assessment with an
experimental group. Either a comparison or controlled group learners may allow researchers to overcome validity concerns
and infer potential cause-effect generalizations. Researchers are using to cope with the emerging trends in recent times.

QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH and BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES

Relationship Questions in today’s quantitative trend tend to explore how one behavior exhibited by people is related
to other types of behavior. Examples are verbally aggressive behaviors related to physical aggression – that is, when a person
has a level of verbally aggressive behavior, does he or she tend to be physically aggressive? Are certain supervisor
communication skills related to the emotional experiences of employees?

Questions of difference explore how patterns of behavior or perceptions might differ from one group or type of a
person to another: Do people with disabilities experience emotional labor differently from those without disabilities? Do
women perceive talkativeness (or lack of it) differently form men? Do communication styles differ from one culture to the
next? (Alle, Titsworth, Hunt, 2009).

When quantitative researchers explore questions of differences or questions of relationships, they do so in an attempt
to uncover certain patterns of behavior. If the researcher discovers that a certain relationship exists in sample that she or he
has drawn form the population, she/he is then in a position to draw generalizations about patterns expected of human
behavior.

QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH IN EDUCATION

QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH and PSYCHOLOGY

Mertens (2005) says that the dominant paradigms that guided early psychological research were positivism and its
successor, post positivism. Positivism is based on rationalistic, empiricist philosophy that originated with Aristotle, Francis
Bacon, John Locke, August Comte, and Immanuel Kant. the underlying assumptions of positivism include the belief that the
social world can be studied in the same way as the natural world, that there is a method for studying the social world that is
value-free, and that explanations of a causal nature can be provided.

QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH & SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, and MATHEMATICS

Medical practitioners, for example, conduct researches to obtain significant information about diseases trends and
risk factors, results of various health interventions, patterns of care and health care cost and use. The different approaches to
research provide complementary insights. Researchers help in determining the effectiveness and even side effect of drugs and
therapies in different populations and various institutions. It is also necessary in evaluating experiences in clinical practice in
order to develop mechanisms for best practices and to ensure high quality patient care. Researchers in these fields

ultimately aim for man’s longevity.

As for engineers, architects, and other builders, research helps in providing designs which are creatively beautiful
and at the same time give more convenience and efficiency as they utilize modern technology to adapt to the ever changing
society. New materials and procedures may be developed so as to further strengthen the structural materials than can
withstand various calamities and disasters.

RESEARCH ACROSS FIELDS HOW QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH IS