THE NATURE OF INQUIRY

& RESEARCH
CHAPTER 1
PREPARED BY: Carmela Yasay-Feria
 LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Relate an unfamiliar term with other terms to

discover the meaning of such difficult term;
• explain the meaning of research in relation to
inquiry;
• point out the similarities and differences of research
and inquiry;
• distinguish lower-level questions from top-level
questions to give stress to investigative kind of
thinking;
• judge the applicability of inquiry or research to a
given situation; and
• appraise the value of concepts learned about
inquiry and research.
 WHAT IS RESEARCH?
• “re” - again
• “search” - to look for something.

“TO LOOK FOR SOMETHING AGAIN”

• Research is a systematic and organized process of collecting,
organizing, analyzing, and interpreting data to find answers to
people's queries.
• Research is a systematic process of solving a problem or finding
answers to an inquiry.
• Research is an organized method of finding novel or relatively
new ideas from existing body of knowledge with the help of
useful tools for the purposeof improving the quality of life.
 RELATIONSHIP OF INQUIRY AND
RESEARCH
• Research and inquiry are closely related.
• Inquiry is the questioning aspect, whereas research is one of the ways
to find the answer. Good research is systematic, organized and
rigorous approach to finding reliable answers to your questions.
• An inquiry is a question, a request for information (or further
information), or even a process set in motion to obtain a specific
piece of information.
• A research is a process through which information is obtained,
validated, compared to existing data, etc., with the purpose of either
ascertaining that a hypothesis is valid/invalid, gathering information
for purposes of increasing one’s knowledge about a subject.
 REMEMBER:
• BOTH INQUIRY AND RESEARCH INVOLVE INVESTIGATION AND
QUESTIONING.
• Research is one of the modes of acquiring answers for an inquiry.
• Research and Inquiry work hand in hand.
• Research includes more complex acts of investigation than inquiry
because RESEARCH follows a scientific procedure of discovering truths
or meanings about things in this world.
 TO BE A RESEARCHER IS TO BE A SCIENTIST
• He/she must think logically or systematically.
• The research activity must follow a certain order:

• Inductive Thinking - specific ideas to generalizations.

• Deductive Thinking - forming generalizations to examining details about the
subject matter.
 AIMS OF RESEARCH
• VERIFICATION OF EXISTING KNOWLEDGE
• ACQUISITION OF NEW KNOWLEDGE
• APPLICATION OF NEW KNOWLEDGE
• ADVANCEMENT OF RESEARCHER'S EXPERTISE.
 CHARACTERISTICS OF RESEARCH
• REALISTIC
• LOGICAL
• CYCLICAL
• ANALYTICAL
• OBJECTIVE
• CRITICAL
• REPLICABLE
 THE RESEARCH PROCESS
• research is viewed as a systematic and scientific investigation.
• it therefore follows the steps similar to the scientific method.
• whether the research is qualitative or quantitative, the same procedures are
employed.
 SOURCES:
• Clemente, Richard F. et. al., “Research in Daily Life 1”.
• Baraceros, Esther L., “PRACTICAL RESEARCH 2”.