TOPIC: ACCOMPLISHING THE SECTION 1 of RESEARCH MANUSCRIPT
Research problem
- The heart of any study is the research problem.
- a research problem is a clear and definite statement of the area of interest or investigation
which should be backed by evidence.
A good research problem:
- is relevant to the researchers' expertise.
- should be supported by data or evidence.
- addresses an issue or a gap in the field of inquiry.
Source of Research Problem
1. Real-life Source of Research Problem – problems observed in the complications and issues
in local context. It includes on-going problems in one’s community.
2. Scholarly Works – problems reviewed from recent literature, reports, or databases in one’s
field of specialization. Most of the time, the “recommendations for future studies” section of
either by a research journal articles or thesis or dissertations suggests a prospective research
problem.
Criteria for a Good Research Problem
- supported by the literature
- significant
- timely
- novel
- specific and clear
- researchable.
Activity: Determine whether the following topics are researchable or not:
1. A person wants to know the occupant of the hotel room 210.
2. A student wants to know the medicinal effects of guava.
3. Mr. Cruz wants to know the technique to make his television function efficiently
4. A teacher wants to know the impact of ICT on student’s performance.
5. Mang Gustin wants to know the reason behind his decrease in sales in his sari-sari store.
Background of the Study
- is the first section of a research paper
- establishes context and rationale of the research study
- explains to the reader where the research journey start
- clarifies the importance of the study in detail
- explains how the research questions are developed.
Steps in writing the background of the study:
1. Define the research topic or problem
2. Provide international and local context of the research problems
3. Emphasize the gap in the study
4. Identify the researcher’s rationale in pursuing the research topic or problem
Review of Literature and Studies
- It refers to the part of the paper that allows a researcher to know the current state of
knowledge on a topic and helps the researcher to further refine its research problem.
- A researcher who reads previous studies also learns from the mistakes or inadequacies
during its conduct. Hence, they can learn from the limitations cited by previous
researchers, particularly in terms of methodology (Sicat 2009).
Review of Literature
- Focuses more on content, which includes the definition of terms such as variables and
concepts being studied.
- Sources may include books, newspapers, conference proceedings, government or
corporate reports, Theses and dissertations, video materials, internet materials, and the
like.
- A critical review of the literature is an organized and critical discussion that will allow
your reader to see the position of your paper.
- It contextualizes the study within the field of research by identifying the gaps or the areas
which previous researchers were not able to address.
Forms of Literature Review
1. Integrative Review - it is the summaries of past research, usually theses and dissertations.
2. Theoretical Review - focuses on theories that relate to the research problem.
3. Methodological Review - It is a form that the researcher, apart from synthesizing the studies,
also critiques the strengths and weaknesses of the methods section of researchers.
Review of Studies
- is part of the literature review; however, they are different in terms of their focus. The
review of studies focuses more on data, methodologies, and sometimes recommendations
of previous studies.
- Reviewing previous studies is very important because this allows you to avoid
duplicating studies. Though we sometimes replicate studies, this is to improve theories,
update findings, and not just merely to redo research.
- Looking also into the methodologies of previous studies allows us to fill in the gap of
past researchers. More importantly, looking into the findings of previous studies will help
us to strengthen our hypothesis, which shall be used as a support to substantiate whatever
revelation our findings will discover.
In choosing related literature and studies, it is important to note that:
- Sources must be as recent as possible, at least 5 to 10 years, except for seminal works.
- Sources used for the literature review must be written by observing the principle of
coherence.
- Sources must be lifted from scholarly written works and avoid those unverified authors.
Research Title
- It is the part of the research that is first read.
- It adequately describes the purpose or content of the paper.
- A good title contains the fewest possible words that adequately describe the contents and
purpose of your research paper. A good title should be around 10-12 words and should
only use words and phrases which correctly highlight the content of the research paper.
Research Questions
- Research questions are the specific inquiries that a researcher seeks to answer through
empirical data.
- A good research question is crucial to guide the paper. It identifies what the researcher
exactly wants to discover and gives the work a clear focus and purpose.
- This part is the foundation of the study.
- It is sometimes referred to as the statement of the problem (SOP) or statement of the
objectives (SOO).It is written from a general to a specific statement. The general
statement should mirror the title, and the specific objectives or questions should answer
or attain the general objective or the problem.
Good research questions should:
- Not be answerable by yes or no and quickly found facts.
- Be answerable by collecting empirical data or existing literature.
- Be clear and focused that it specifies the target variables and data sources.
- Be doable within a timeframe and has access to the right kind of respondents.
Significance of the Study/Beneficiary of the Study
- Refers to the significance of the study or the importance of the study.
- It should also present the justification in conducting the research indicating its impact that
will solve a problem, improve a condition, enhance performance, and advance knowledge
in a specific field of inquiry or discipline.
- It can be done from the broadest possible beneficiaries of the study to specific members
of a community.
Scope and Delimitation
- A scope defines the research limits mostly in terms of the area, locality, population, and
sample. It also includes the sampling design and duration or period of the study.
- Delimitation refers to the limitations of the study, which may be the shortcomings,
conditions, or influences beyond the control of a researcher. Limitations that might
influence the result of the study should be mentioned.
Hypothesis - predicts the answers to the research inquiry
Theoretical Conceptual and Conceptual Framework
- Theoretical Framework is based on the existing theory that is composed of concepts or
constructs and their relationships. It either explains or predicts a situation, behavior, or
phenomenon. Theories are either confirmed, refuted, or adjusted during the conduct of
studies.
- The Conceptual Framework is based on the researcher’s idea of how the problem will
be studied. It is usually the local version of theoretical framework of the researcher
because it is where it was founded. Part of it is the conceptualization which specifies
what is meant or when to use a particular term in a study. A conceptual
framework illustrates the expected relationship between your variables. It defines the
relevant objectives for your research process and maps out how they come together to
draw coherent conclusions.
