The purpose of this research is to demonstrate an ì
understanding of the basic principles of quantitative analysis,
as these principles are relevant to educational research. Two ì
objectives of this paper are to demonstrate an understanding of
the material presented in the text, and to discuss how the
concepts and principles may be applied in practice.ì
Principles of Quantitative Analysisì
In scientific inquiry, a proposition is a statement "about ì
concepts which may be judged as true or false if it refers to ì
observable phenomena. When a proposition is formulated for ì
empirical testing we call it a hypothesis." 3.ls1
1C. W. Emory, Research Methods, 5th ed. (Homewood, Illinois: ì
declarative statements that are both tentative and conjectural in ì
character. Hypotheses may be both descriptive and relational in ì
Theory, in scientific inquiry, is, in effect, a descriptive ì
explanation of how something works--an explanation of the ì
interrelated actions within a system. While hypotheses may be ì
derived from observed facts, they may also be deduced from ì
+ In scientific inquiry, theory provides a basis for the ì
narrowing of the body of facts that must be studied to ì
investigate a problem. Theory also suggests the most productive ì
approaches to the investigation of a problem. Lastly, theory ì
summarizes what is already known about a problem.
Research data may be evaluated through the application of ì
either quantitative or qualitative analytical procedures. ì
Quantitative approaches are more easily defined than are ì
qualitative procedures, because qualitative research may refer to ì
either the way data are measured or the way such data are ì
3G. W. Summers, W. S. Peters, and C. P. Armstrong, Basic ì
Statistics in Business and Economics, 6th ed. (Belmont, ì
California: Wadswo...