The document discusses different ways to classify research based on data type, purpose, and method. Research can be classified as either quantitative or qualitative based on whether it uses numerical data that can be measured or qualitative data such as opinions. Quantitative research aims to quantify data while qualitative research provides descriptive details. Research can also be classified as fundamental, applied, or action-oriented based on its purpose. The methods used to conduct research can include historical, philosophical, experimental, or descriptive survey approaches.

1. CLASSIFICATION OF
RESEARCH

2. CLASSIFICATION BASED ON DATA TYPE: QUALITATIVE DATA AND QUANTITATIVE DATA
• RESEARCH DATA IS ANY INFORMATION THAT HAS BEEN COLLECTED, OBSERVED, GENERATED OR CREATED TO VALIDATE
ORIGINAL RESEARCH FINDINGS.
• THERE ARE TWO GENERAL TYPES OF DATA THEY ARE QUANTITATIVE DATA AND QUALITATIVE DATA.
• QUANTITATIVE DATA IS INFORMATION ABOUT QUANTITIES. IT IS THE INFORMATION THAT CAN BE MEASURED,
COUNTED AND WRITTEN DOWN WITH NUMBERS. SINCE IT IS COUNTABLE IT CAN BE A RELIABLE EVIDENCE.
• QUALITATIVE DATA IS THE INFORMATION ABOUT QUALITIES OR THE INFORMATION THAT CANNOT BE ACTUALLY
MEASURED. IT IS THE INFORMATION ABOUT HOW PEOPLE FEEL ABOUT SOMETHING.

3. QUALITATIVE VS. QUANTITATIVE
RESEARCH
Based on data type, research can be classified as quantitative
research and qualitative research.

4. QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
• QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH USUALLY INVOLVES COLLECTING AND CONVERTING DATA INTO NUMERICAL FORM SO THAT
STATISTICAL CALCULATIONS CAN BE MADEAND CONCLUSIONSDRAWN.
• THEOVERALLSTRUCTUREFOR A QUANTITATIVERESEARCHIS BASEDON SCIENTIFICMETHOD.
• IT USES DEDUCTIVE REASONING, WHERE THE RESEARCHER FORMS A HYPOTHESIS, COLLECTS DATA RELATED TO THE PROBLEM,
AND THEN ANALYZE THE DATA USING STATISTICAL METHODS AND REACH CONCLUSIONS TO PROVE OR THE DISPROVE THE
HYPOTHESES.
• QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH IS A RESEARCH WHICH COLLECTS NUMERICAL DATA TO EXPLAIN A PARTICULAR PHENOMENON.
EXAMPLE:
• HOW MANY MALES GET A FIRST-CLASS DEGREE AT UNIVERSITY COMPARED TO FEMALES?
• HAS PUPIL ACHIEVEMENT IN ENGLISH IMPROVED IN OUR SCHOOL DISTRICT OVER TIME?

5. CHARACTERISTICS OF QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
• AIM - QUANTIFY DATA AND GENERALIZE RESULTS FROM A SAMPLE TO THE POPULATION OF INTEREST AND TO CLASSIFY
FEATURES, COUNT THEM, AND CONSTRUCT STATISTICAL MODELS IN AN ATTEMPT TO EXPLAIN WHAT IS OBSERVED.
• THE RESEARCHER KNOWS CLEARLY IN ADVANCE WHAT HE/SHE IS LOOKING FOR.
• IS RECOMMENDED DURING LATTER PHASES OF RESEARCH PROJECTS.
• ALL ASPECTS OF THE STUDY ARE CAREFULLY DESIGNED BEFORE DATA IS COLLECTED IN A QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH.
• THE RESEARCHER USES TOOLS SUCH AS QUESTIONNAIRES OR EQUIPMENT TO COLLECT NUMERICAL DATA.
• DATA IS IN THE FORM OF NUMBERS AND STATISTICS.
• IS MORE EFFICIENT TO TEST HYPOTHESES.

6. KINDS OF QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
• DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH
• DESCRIBE THE CURRENT STATUS OF AN IDENTIFIED VARIABLE.
• PROVIDE SYSTEMATIC INFORMATION ABOUT A PHENOMENON.
• THE ANALYSIS AND SYNTHESIS OF THE DATA PROVIDE THE TEST OF THE HYPOTHESIS.
• SYSTEMATIC COLLECTION OF INFORMATION REQUIRES CAREFUL SELECTION OF THE UNITS STUDIED AND CAREFUL MEASUREMENT OF EACH VARIABLE.
• CORRELATIONAL RESEARCH
• DETERMINE THE EXTENT OF A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TWO OR MORE VARIABLES USING STATISTICAL DATA.
• WILL RECOGNIZE TRENDS AND PATTERNS IN DATA, BUT IT DOES NOT GO SO FAR IN ITS ANALYSIS TO PROVE CAUSES FOR THESE OBSERVED PATTERNS
• EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH
• IT IS OFTEN CALLED TRUE EXPERIMENTATION, USES THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD TO ESTABLISH THE CAUSE-EFFECT RELATIONSHIP AMONG A GROUP OF
VARIABLES INVOLVED IN THE STUDY.
• THE INDEPENDENT VARIABLE IS MANIPULATED TO DETERMINE THE EFFECTS ON THE DEPENDENT VARIABLES.
• CAUSAL-COMPARATIVE RESEARCH
• ATTEMPTS TO ESTABLISH CAUSE-EFFECT RELATIONSHIPS AMONG THE VARIABLES.
• AN INDEPENDENT VARIABLE IS IDENTIFIED BUT NOT MANIPULATED BY THE EXPERIMENTER, AND EFFECTS OF THE INDEPENDENT VARIABLE ON THE
DEPENDENT VARIABLE ARE MEASURED.
• THE RESEARCHER DOES NOT RANDOMLY ASSIGN GROUPS AND MUST USE ONES THAT ARE NATURALLY FORMED OR PRE-EXISTING GROUPS.

7. ADVANTAGES OF QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
• CAN ALLOW FOR GREATER OBJECTIVITY AND ACCURACY OF RESULTS.
• CAN GENERALIZE A RESEARCH FINDING WHEN IT HAS BEEN REPLICATED ON MANY DIFFERENT POPULATIONS AND SUBPOPULATIONS
• USEFUL FOR OBTAINING DATA THAT ALLOW QUANTITATIVE PREDICTIONS TO BE MADE
• DATA COLLECTION USING SOME QUANTITATIVE METHODS IS RELATIVELY QUICK (E.G., TELEPHONE INTERVIEWS)
• PROVIDES PRECISE, QUANTITATIVE, NUMERICAL DATA
• DATA ANALYSIS IS RELATIVELY LESS TIME CONSUMING (USING STATISTICAL SOFTWARE)
• THE RESEARCH RESULTS ARE RELATIVELY INDEPENDENT OF THE RESEARCHER (E.G., STATISTICAL SIGNIFICANCE)
• IT MAY HAVE HIGHER CREDIBILITY WITH MANY PEOPLE IN POWER (E.G., ADMINISTRATORS, POLITICIANS, PEOPLE WHO FUND
PROGRAMS)
• IT IS USEFUL FOR STUDYING LARGE NUMBERS OF PEOPLE

8. LIMITATIONS OF QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
• KNOWLEDGE PRODUCED MIGHT BE TOO ABSTRACT AND GENERAL FOR DIRECT APPLICATION TO SPECIFIC LOCAL SITUATIONS,
CONTEXTS, AND INDIVIDUALS
• RESULTS ARE LIMITED AS THEY PROVIDE NUMERICAL DESCRIPTIONS RATHER THAN DETAILED NARRATIVE AND GENERALLY
PROVIDE LESS ELABORATE ACCOUNTS OF HUMAN PERCEPTION
• QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH IS OFTEN CARRIED OUT IN AN UNNATURAL, ARTIFICIAL ENVIRONMENT. THE LEVEL OF CONTROL IN THIS
RESEARCH MIGHT NOT NORMALLY BE IN PLACE IN THE REAL WORLD YIELDING LABORATORY RESULTS AS OPPOSED TO REAL
WORLD RESULTS
• IN ADDITION PRESET ANSWERS THE RESPONSES WILL NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT HOW PEOPLE REALLY FEEL ABOUT A SUBJECT.
• THE DEVELOPMENT OF STANDARD QUESTIONS BY RESEARCHERS CAN LEAD TO 'STRUCTURAL' BIAS AND FALSE REPRESENTATION,
WHERE THE DATA ACTUALLY REFLECTS THE VIEW OF THEM INSTEAD OF THE PARTICIPATING SUBJECT.

9. QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
• QUALITATIVE METHODOLOGY IS INDUCTIVE IN ITS REASONING. THE RESEARCHER SELECTS A GENERAL
TOPIC AND THEN BEGINS COLLECTING INFORMATION TO ASSIST IN THE FORMATION OF A HYPOTHESIS.
THE DATA COLLECTED DURING THE INVESTIGATION CREATES THE HYPOTHESIS FOR THE RESEARCHER IN
THIS RESEARCH DESIGN MODEL.

10. CHARACTERISTICS OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
• THE AIM IS A COMPLETE, DETAILED DESCRIPTION.
• RESEARCHER MAY ONLY KNOW ROUGHLY IN ADVANCE WHAT HE/SHE IS LOOKING FOR.
• RECOMMENDED DURING EARLIER PHASES OF RESEARCH PROJECTS.
• THE DESIGN EMERGES AS THE STUDY UNFOLDS.
• RESEARCHER IS THE DATA GATHERING INSTRUMENT.
• DATA IS IN THE FORM OF WORDS, PICTURES OR OBJECTS.
• SUBJECTIVE – INDIVIDUAL INTERPRETATION OF EVENTS IS IMPORTANT, E.G., USES PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION, IN-DEPTH
INTERVIEWS ETC.
• QUALITATIVE DATA IS MORE 'RICH', TIME CONSUMING, AND LESS ABLE TO BE GENERALIZED.
• RESEARCHER TENDS TO BECOME SUBJECTIVELY IMMERSED IN THE SUBJECT MATTER.

11. TYPES OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
• HISTORICAL RESEARCH: IT DESCRIBES THE PAST EVENTS, PROBLEMS, ISSUES AND FACTS. DATA ARE GATHERED FROM
WRITTEN OR ORAL DESCRIPTIONS OF PAST EVENTS, ARTIFACTS, ETC. IT DESCRIBES “WHAT WAS” IN AN ATTEMPT TO
RECREATE THE PAST. IT INVOLVES INTERPRETATION OF EVENTS AND ITS INFLUENCE ON THE PRESENT.
• ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCH: IT DEVELOPS IN-DEPTH ANALYTICAL DESCRIPTIONS OF CURRENT SYSTEMS, PROCESSES,
AND PHENOMENA AND/OR UNDERSTANDINGS OF THE SHARED BELIEFS AND PRACTICES OF A PARTICULAR GROUP OR
CULTURE. THIS TYPE OF DESIGN COLLECTS EXTENSIVE NARRATIVE DATA (NON-NUMERICAL DATA) BASED ON MANY
VARIABLES OVER AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF TIME IN A NATURAL SETTING WITHIN A SPECIFIC CONTEXT. THE BACKGROUND,
DEVELOPMENT, CURRENT CONDITIONS, AND ENVIRONMENTAL INTERACTION OF ONE OR MORE INDIVIDUALS, GROUPS,
COMMUNITIES, BUSINESSES OR INSTITUTIONS IS OBSERVED, RECORDED, AND ANALYZED FOR PATTERNS IN RELATION TO
INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL INFLUENCES. ONE SPECIFIC FORM OF ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCH IS CALLED A CASE STUDY. IT
IS A DETAILED EXAMINATION OF A SINGLE GROUP, INDIVIDUAL, SITUATION, OR SITE.
• NARRATIVE RESEARCH: THIS KIND OF RESEARCH FOCUSES ON STUDYING A SINGLE PERSON AND GATHERING DATA
THROUGH THE COLLECTION OF STORIES THAT ARE USED TO CONSTRUCT A NARRATIVE ABOUT THE INDIVIDUAL’S
EXPERIENCE AND THE MEANINGS HE/SHE ATTRIBUTES TO THEM.

12. BASIS FOR COMPARISON QUALITATIVE RESEARCH QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
Meaning
Qualitative research is a method of inquiry that
develops understanding on human and social
sciences, to find the way people think and feel.
Quantitative research is a research method that is used
to generate numerical data and hard facts, by
employing statistical, logical and mathematical
technique.
Nature Holistic Particularistic
Approach Subjective Objective
Research type Exploratory Conclusive
Reasoning Inductive Deductive
Sampling Purposive Random
Data Verbal Measurable
Comparison Chart

13. BASIS FOR COMPARISON QUALITATIVE RESEARCH QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
Inquiry Process-oriented Result-oriented
Hypothesis Generated Tested
Elements of analysis Words, pictures and objects Numerical data
Objective To explore and discover ideas used in the
ongoing processes.
To examine cause and effect relationship between
variables.
Methods Non-structured techniques like In-depth
interviews, group discussions etc.
Structured techniques such as surveys, questionnaires
and observations.
Result Develops initial understanding Recommends final course of action
Comparison Chart

14. CLASSIFICATION BASED ON PURPOSE
PURE OR FUNDAMENTAL, APPLIED, ACTION

15. FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH
• IT IS CALLED AS PURE RESEARCH OR BASIC RESEARCH.
• CONCERNED WITH THE FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEM AND MAJOR OR VITAL ISSUES.
• GIVES ITS RESULT IN THE FORM OF BROAD GENERALIZATIONS OR PRINCIPLES OR THEORIES.
• AIMS AT THE DISCOVERY OF SOME BASIC TRUTHS AND LAWS NOT IMMEDIATELY CONCERNED
WITH THE DIRECT FIELD APPLICATION.
• DOES NOT USUALLY GENERATE FINDINGS THAT HAVE IMMEDIATE APPLICATIONS IN A
PRACTICAL LEVEL.
• EFFORTS TO THE FORMULATION OR REFORMULATION OF THEORIES AND MAY NOT BE
CONCERNED AT ALL WITH THEIR PRACTICAL APPLICATION.
• USED IN EDUCATION TO DEVELOP NEW PEDAGOGIC THEORIES THAT EXPLAIN DIFFERENT
BEHAVIORS BY TEACHERS AND STUDENTS WITHIN THE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT.

16. APPLIED RESEARCH
• IT AIMS AT FINDING A SOLUTION TO AN IMMEDIATE PROBLEM FACED BY THE SOCIETY OR AN INDIVIDUAL OR A
BUSINESS ORGANIZATION.
• IT IS ALSO CALLED AS FIELD RESEARCH.
• IT TESTS THE THEORIES AND LAWS PROPOUNDED BY FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH IN ACTUAL FIELD SETTING.
• RESEARCH ON TOPICS LIKE LEARNING DEVICES, USE OF TEXT BOOKS, IMPROVEMENT IN EXAM SYSTEM, LAB
FACILITIES ETC.,

17. ACTION RESEARCH
• IT IS A PROCESS ADOPTED TO GUIDE, CORRECT AND EVALUATE THEIR DECISIONS AND ACTIONS.
• IT IS DONE BY EDUCATIONAL PRACTITIONERS FOR BETTER DECISIONS AND ENGAGES IN BETTER ACTIONS.
• IT IS CONDUCTED ON THE IMMEDIATELY AVAILABLE SMALL SAMPLE TO SOLVE THE IMMEDIATE PROBLEM.

18. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BASIC RESEARCH AND APPLIED RESEARCH
Basis Basic Research Applied Research
Problem selection by Individual researcher Employer or sponsor
Motivation for researcher Intellectual curiosity and satisfaction in
advancing
knowledge Commitment to promote
public welfare
Goal Generalized theoretical understanding,
tools, techniques. Tries to say why things
happen.
Cost-effective reduction of social
problems. Tries to say how things can be
changed.
Research Arena Laboratory Real world setting
Nature Analytical Synthetic
Application of results Not concerned with applicability of results
of the research
Action-oriented and concerned with
applicability of results of the research

19. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BASIC RESEARCH AND APPLIED RESEARCH
Basis Basic Research Applied Research
Use of predetermined norms The research starts without any
predetermined norms, hypothesis and
theories
Based on predetermined conditions,
objectives, hypothesis and theories
Commercial Value No commercial value related to results Commercial value related to results
Dependence Doesn’t depend on applied research Depends on related basic research for
principles, fundamentals, theories, etc.
Mode of dissemination of
results
Publication in learned technical journals Communication with lay decision makers

20. CLASSIFICATION BASED ON METHOD
•HISTORICAL
•PHILOSOPHICAL
•DIAGNOSTIC STUDIES
•EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES
•EX-POST FACTO RESEARCH
•CASE STUDY
•DESCRIPTIVE – SURVEY.