PRACTICAL RESEARCH 1

4TH QUARTER
Lesson 1: The Subject Matter of Research
I. What is a Research Title?
1. The most important element that defines the research problem.
2. It is usually read first and the most read part of the research.
3. It contains the least words enough to describe the contents and the purpose of your research paper.
4. It can be revised any and many times as the research
develops and reach its final phase. It becomes final on its final defense before the panel of judges.
Elements of a Research Title
The research title does not need to be entertaining but informative. A part of a research title has the following
information:
1. The subject matter or topic to be investigated. (“What?”)
2. The place or locale where the research is to be conducted. (“Where?”)
3. The population like the respondents’ interviewees. (“Who”?)
4. The time period of the study during which the data are to be collected. (“When”?)
Example:
Subject matter: The teaching of English
Place or locale: in the high schools of Province A
Time period: during the school year 1989-1990
Population: as perceived by teachers and students

Subject matter: The effects of the use of cell phones on the academic performance
Population to senior high school students
Place or locale: at Department of Education
Time period: during the first semester, school year 2018-2019

II. Rules in Choosing a Research Topic

1. Interest in the subject matter. Interest in a subject drive you to research, investigate, or inquire about it
with full motivation, enthusiasm, and energy.
2. Availability of information. Information will serve as evidence to support your claims about your subject
matter from varied forms of literature like books, journals, and newspapers, among others, is a part and parcel
of any research work.
What to include in the investigation of the available materials?
a. Update and authority of the materials.
b. Copyright dates of the materials? Are they new or old?
c. Expert or qualification of the writers of reading materials about your topic
3. Timeliness and relevance of the topic. How relevant is the topic?
a. It yields results that are useful in society
b. Related to the present. (Except for pure or historical research)

4. Limitations on the subject. Connect your choice with course requirements. You need to decide on one topic
to finish your course.
5. Personal resources. Do an assessment on your research abilities in terms of your financial standing, health
condition, mental capacity, needed facilities, and time schedule to enable you to complete your research. You
have to raise an amount of money needed to spend on questionnaire printing and interview trips.
III. Research Topics to be avoided
1. Controversial topics. It depends more on the writer’s opinion leading to biases. Facts cannot support this
topic.
2. Highly technical subjects. Not advisable for beginners as these topics require an advanced study, technical
knowledge, and skills.
3. Hard-to-investigate subjects. Happens if there are no available reading materials about it and if such
materials are not up-to-date.
4. Too broad subjects. It prevents you from to focus on the subject matter of the paper. Narrow down or limit
the subject to eliminate the problem.
5. Too narrow subjects. Subjects that are so limited where an extensive searching is necessary.
6. Vague subjects. Titles beginning with indefinite adjectives such as several, many, some, etc., as in “Some
Remarkable Traits of a Filipino” or “Several People’s Comments on the RH Law,” are vague enough to
decrease the readers’ interests and curiosity.
IV. Sources of Research Topics
1. Mass media communication – press (newspapers, ads, TV, radio, films, etc.)
2. Books, Internet, peer-reviewed journals, government publications
3. Professional periodicals like College English Language Teaching Forum, English Forum, the Economist,
Academia, Business Circle, Law Review, etc.
4. General periodicals such as Readers’ Digest, Women’s Magazine, Panorama Magazine, Time Magazine,
World Mission Magazine, etc.
5. Previous reading assignments in your other subjects
6. Work experience – clues to a researchable topic from full-time or part-time jobs, OJT (on-the-job training)
experience, fieldwork, etc.

LESSON 2: THE RESEARCH PROBLEM AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS

I.An Overview of the Research Problem and Research Question
Chapter I of the research paper is called The Problem and Its Background (sometimes also called The
Introduction)
It is composed of the following sections:
1) Background of the Study,
2) Statement of the Problem,
3) Scope and Delimitation, and
4) Significance of the Study.
Others have sections such as Objectives of the Study, Hypotheses but these will not be considered in this
lesson.
What is a research problem?
• The Research Problem (According to Calderon & Gonzales,1993)
A problem is “any significant, perplexing, and challenging situation, real or artificial, the solution of
which requires reflexive thinking”. In research, it is known as the research topic or research title.

An illustration showing the description between a research topic, research problem,

purpose statement and research question.

A. Background of the Study

Purpose of background of the study
a. The general definition of the topic/problem area
b. Historical basis for the existence of the problem
c. Efforts made towards addressing similar challenges
d. How the efforts failed to be realized hence the need for your study
 Contents of the background of the study:
a. Presentation of the problem. Describe the existence of an unsatisfactory condition or
a problem that needs a solution.
b. Historical background of the problem - Give the historical background of the
problem, if applicable.
c. Geographical conditions of the study locale - If applicable, describe the geographical
location of the study.
d. Rationale of the study - Give the reason(s) why the study should be conducted
Example:
In 2004, the researcher migrated to the Philippines to accompany her spouse who was at the time
studying at the Adventist Institute for International Advanced Studies (AIIAS) in Silang, Cavite.
They discovered the study opportunities and were motivated by the quality of education and low
school fees being offered. They visited several colleges and universities to collect pamphlets and
sent them back to Vanuatu for educational awareness. The Ni-Vanuatus became aware and
decided to send students to study in the Philippines. The first two schools to receive Vanuatu
students were AMA Computer College in Dasmariñas, Cavite and Air Link Aviation College in
Paranaque City. The researcher came to know Cavite State University (CvSU) in 2009 and
transferred from AMA. (Ngwele, March 2011)

B. Statement of the Problem

(Purpose Statement and Research Questions)
A series of questions used in researching the topic. It is composed of
1. The general statement of the problem (the purpose statement) and
2. The specific sub-problems or sub-questions (or research questions).

• Guidelines in Writing the Statement of the Problem (According to Calderon & Gonzales,1993)
1. The general statement of the problem and the research questions should be formulated
first before conducting the research.
2. Research questions should be stated in the interrogative and each should be clear to avoid
confusion.
3. Each research question should be researchable separately from the other questions and
must be based upon known facts and phenomena which is accessible to the researcher.
4. Answers to each research question can be interpreted apart from the answers to
the other specific questions and must contribute to the development of the whole
research study.
 4. The summary of the answers to all the specific questions will give a complete development
of the entire study.
5. The number of research questions should be enough to cover the development of the
whole research study.

C. Scope and Delimitation of the Study1

• Scope of a Study
It is the coverage of the research to be explored which includes the facts and theories about the
subject

Example:
A research study on the impact of social networking on the attitude of senior high school learners.
It is not possible to cover all aspects of the selected subject. The scope will have to be restricted to a
specific section of the target population over a specified duration. In the above-cited study, a group of
40 learners in senior high school at one school would be an ideal coverage to study their attitude for
five months

• Delimitation of a Study
It limits the scope and outlines the boundaries of the study.These limitations include the following:
1. Sample size.
a. The research design and method will determine whether if it is small or sample size.
b. The sample size will determine the quality of data and the relationships that will be identified
among the variables.
2. Lack of available and/or reliable data. This will limit the scope of analysis and the ability of the
researcher to determine meaningful trends and relationships among the data.
3. Lack of prior studies. This will limit the effectiveness of the literature review and initial
understanding of the research.
4. Chosen data collection method. The quality of data collected must be clear to avoid erroneous
answers from the respondents.
5. Nature of the information collected. Researcher should not rely on pre-existing data.
6. Access. The amount and quality of available data will depend on the ability of the researcher to
access people, organizations, libraries, and documents.
7. Time period. It is advisable to select a research problem and design
8. Bias. The researcher should be aware of his or her personal biases.
9. Language. This may have an effect on data collection, especially if the researcher is
involved with respondents that speak a variety of languages.

When writing the paper, the researcher should ensure that any delimitation factor is noted down at
the introduction, discussion, and conclusion sections. He or she should clarify why the study included
and excluded some delimitation.

D.Significance of the Study

• The significance of the study discuss the purpose that the research will serve to society, the
country, the government, the institution or agency concerned, the curriculum planners and
developers, and the research community.
• Describes the contribution of the study to the existing body of knowledge. It could be the
following:
a. A form of new knowledge in the field,
 b. A validation of the major findings of other studies,
c. A verification of the validity of findings in a different population,
d. Analysis of trends over time, and validation of other findings using different methodologies.
• The researcher must identify specifically the beneficiaries who will directly gain from the results
of the study mentioning them in the paper according to the significance of the result. The
specific benefits must also be enumerated and explained if necessary.

II. Presenting Written Statement of the Problem

The following sections compose the presentation of the written statement of the problem
1. Introduction
States briefly the background of the study and identifies the rationale of the research problem.
It begins with a general statement of the problem, outlines the specific problem or issue within the
existing literature.
2. Statement of the Problem
States clearly the purposes or interest of the study, poses specific questions about research problem.
3. Scope and Delimitation
Sets the boundaries and parameters of the study, narrows the scope of the inquiry.
4. Significance of the Study
Shows the benefits of the study to address issues and l problems, in improving economic and health
conditions or even finding solutions to problems encountered in daily life.

Prepared by:

Miss Catherine Mae O. Aban, LPT

Instructor

Checked: _____________
Date: _________________