This document provides an overview of descriptive research. Descriptive research involves collecting data to describe characteristics or behaviors of individuals, groups, or situations. It aims to present a factual account of the characteristics of whatever is being studied, rather than testing hypotheses. Common methods include surveys, interviews, and observation. The document then discusses the nature, aims, design, methods, errors, and classifications of descriptive research. It provides examples of descriptive research studies in the areas of norms, education, psychology, and social surveys. Descriptive research seeks to describe "what is" rather than establish causal relationships.

1. DESCRIPTIVE
RESEARCHPREPARED BY: Sidra Shafi

3. What is 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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-hoc study and for more frequently
yielding only descriptive rather than predictive, findings.

7. 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.

8. Aim of Descriptive Research
– contribute in the formation of principles and generalization in
behavioural sciences
– contribute in the establishment of standard norms of
conduct, behaviour, 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.

9. 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.

10. Method
• Six steps in conducting descriptive research
– Identify problem
– Review literature
– Select participants and instruments
– Collect valid and reliable data
– Analyze data
– Report conclusions

11. Common Errors
• Lack of participant response
– Low response rates are common
– Difficulties interpreting the findings without the
data representing non-respondents’ views
• Unclear/ambiguous items
– Researcher needs to develop recording forms that
collect the data objectively and reliably
Obj. 2.2 & 2.3

12. 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
Obj. 3.1 & 3.2

13. Types and Actual Studies of
Descriptive Research
Descriptive- Normative Survey- The term
normative is sometimes used because
surveys are frequently made to ascertain
the normal or typical condition, or
practice, or to compare local test result
with a state or national norm.

14. NORMATIVE SURVEY
Estrada, Felix and Cancio, Rosalina
“Standard Measurement of Filipino Infants During the First Year”, A
Compilation (Summary and Review) of Studies on Normal Growth
and Development of Filipino Children by Roberta N. Venades-
Hernandez, M.D., M.P.H., Class 1960, Institute of Hygiene, University
of the Philippines.
Purpose:
To determine the average weight and length of infants at birth and
each month thereafter up to one year.
Procedure:
4,482 apparently normal Filipino infants born in the free clinic of
the University of Santo Tomas and enrolled in the Well Baby Clinic of the
Department of Paediatrics, UST, were the subjects of this study.
Most families included in the study were of the low income level.
The babies were breast-fed, on self-demand schedule with intervals of
three hours or shorter. They did not show any sign of over-feeding. Only
height and weight measurements were obtained.

15. Findings:
1. The average measurements of the newborn were 6.4 lbs.
and 19.13 inches.
2. Birth weight was approximately doubled between the
third and fourth months of life, called the “stocking up
process”.
3. It was shown that the initial growth spurt in the early
months slowed down later to give an average weight of
19.8 lbs., which was slightly more than triple birth weight.
4. The length measurements were found to be comparable
to the figures using the 10th or 25th percentile of the
tables of the Harvard School of Public Health.

16. Types and Actual Studies of
Descriptive Research
 Descriptive- Educational-Survey Research Studies- this
type of study looks into the teaching-learning
process, the child-teacher, the learner and the
environment, the attitudes, habits and other
characteristics of the learner, the techniques and the
methods, the building equipment and materials used. etc
which all pertain to education. The goal is of this study is
to have a total improvement of the educational system
for the maximum development of the individual learner.

17. EDUCATIONAL-SURVEY RESEARCH STUDIES
Solis, Miguela M.
“A Study of the Development of Art Expression of Young Children by
Their Drawings,” Our Filipino, National Media Production Center,
Manila.
Purpose:
To determine the major classifications of drawings made by children from
one to eight years old; to determine the development of the art expressions
of these children.
Procedure:
The subjects of this study were 75 children from one to eight years
old. Of these subjects, the one- and two-year-olds were not given any
instructions.
The subjects were given two pieces of paper, one in the morning and other
in the evening, on which to draw freely. The one- and two-year-old children
were not given any instructions at all. The 150 drawings were classified and
the logical development of the art expression from one age to another was
determined.

18. Findings:
1. The drawings were classified into the ff categories: (a)
scribbling, (b) scribbling mixed with recognizable
forms, (c) unrelated Figures, (d) mixture of related and
unrelated figures on the same sheet, € figures related
into a logically organized whole, and isolated figures.
2. Scribbling was found to be most common among the
drawings of the one-and two-year-old children.
3. While scribbling was dominant in the children’s
drawings during the first years, it decreased rapidly
after the fourth year and, as a rule, disappeared
entirely, in the drawings of the children of school age.
4. From the age of five, the children gradually substituted
unrelated the age I their drawings with scenes in which
all elements formed a logical whole.

19. Types and Actual Studies of
Descriptive Research
Descriptive- Psychological
Research Studies- This study
pertains to the behaviour of
individuals in different
situations.

20. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH STUDIES
Indelberg, Rachel M.
“The causation and manifestations of emotional behaviour in Filipino
children,” Our Filipino Children, National Media Production Center, Manila.
Purpose:
To compare two age groups of Filipino children with respect to:
1. Situations causing emotional episode;
2. Manifestations of emotional behaviour; and
3. Reactions of adults to these episodes.
Procedure:
Thirty-one children from two to four years old and 31 others from five to
seven years old were involved in the study.
The subjects were observed at their homes by teachers attending
summer school for a period of six weeks. Majority of these children belonged to
families of the observers. Emotional episodes recorded were classified according
to age groups. Of the 755 reported, 398 were in two-to-four-year group and 365
were in the five-to-seven-year group.

21. Findings:
1.Established home and health routines gave rise to a
significantly large frequency of emotional episodes in
the five-to-seven group.
2.Play activities resulted in significantly larger frequency
of emotional episodes in the two-to-four-year group.
3.The emotional behaviour manifested vocally, while in
the five-to-seven-year group emotional behaviour was
characterized by withdrawal and over physical
aggression against others.
4.Adults were significantly more indulgent toward the
younger group.

22. SOCIAL SURVEY
Faushel, David
”Specializations within the foster parent role: a research project report,” Child
Development Abstract and Bibliography, February-April, 1963, Vol. 37, Nos. 1&
2, Child Welfare, 196, 40 (3) 17-21. Child Development Publications, Society for
Research in Child Development, Inc., Purdue University, Lafayette, Indiana.
Purpose:
To compare foster parents of infants with those of older children.
Procedure:
The subjects of the study were foster parents of infants and of older
children. The methods used were:
1. Interview data from both mothers and fathers;
2. PARI score; and
3. Case workers ratings on Foster Parent Appraisal Form.
Findings:
1. It was found out that those caring for infants were more oriented on private
gratification.
2. Foster parents of infants were more oriented on private gratification as opposed
to the more social gratification of foster parents of older children.

23. Types and Actual Studies of
Descriptive Research
 Descriptive- Social Survey- The purpose of this study
is to change for the better existing practices of groups
living a community. It is concerned with the
formulation of constructive programs of social reform
and amelioration. A current social problem is existing
in a particular place, and the aim is to diagnose the
“root causes” of the ills, utilizing the research
approach.

24. Ethics of Descriptive Research
• Be sure when you describe any particular group of individuals in your
population, you should include not only the characteristics which are
common to the group but also their unique as well. Failure to include the
unique characteristics of the participant may make the result inconsistent
and unreliable.
• Bear in mind that seldom in the descriptive method per se used as end in
itself. It means that the primary objective of descriptive methods is to make
use of the results to facilitate predictions or control of some behaviours. As
a researcher is for you to plan how your findings can be used as means to
further some ends.
• Use statistical procedures to assure you of a level of confidence that your
results are trustworthy.
• Data should not be manipulated.
• Instrument use should be free from cultural bias.

25. Importance of Descriptive Research
• For scientific basis of judgement. This means that
descriptive research provides information which could be
used as basis for important decisions that are to be made.
• For a closer look into
happenings, behaviour, practice, methods and
procedures. Descriptive research provides essential facts
and understanding about the nature of anything.
• For the formation of construction of test analysis of these
standardization of tools instruments used in research.

26. • What general field or area is being explored?
• What is the general purpose of the study?
• What are the specific objectives of the study?
• What places are involved in the study?
• How did the researchers get their subjects?
• Who are the subjects?
• What are the characteristics of the subjects?
• What are the process used in gathering data?
• How is the measurement or evaluation done?
• How are the data analyzed?
• How can one apply the research results?