lesson 2

• What is a research problem?

  Ø a research problem refers to a statement that promptly suggests for conducting an investigation.

  Ø a research problem to be designed must deal with some concerns in a particular field that may need an improvement or a solution.
• Sources of research problem

  • Theory
  • Practitioners
  • Personal experience
  • Relevant literature
• Theory


  Existing social philosophies and generalizations which the researcher is familiar with may be of a great help to design a research problem
• Practitioners


  Consultation with the people who have direct experiences in a field of interest may provide the researcher an idea of what relevant problem he/she may investigate
• Personal experience


  Daily experiences can provide the researcher an idea of what problem that needs a solution
• Relevant literature


  An extensive and thorough review of literature and studies relevant to the problem interest of the researcher may enable him/her to come up with a potential study
• Consideration in Formulating the Research Problem

  1. External Criteria
  2. Internal Criteria
• Novelty


  • The research problem must carry "newness"
• Availability of Subjects


  • The researcher must ensure that there will be available participants who are capable of providing data needed for the study
• Support of the Academic Community


  • The academic community, which consists of administrators, teachers, staff, students, and parents, should be considered by the researcher in what particular problem will be investigated
• Availability and adequacy of facilities and equipment


  • Necessary common devices such as computers or telephones which will be used in undertaking a study should be considered
• Ethical considerations


  • A research problem, when is subjected to a study, must not pose any unethical demands most especially in the part of the research participants
• EXTERNAL CRITERIA

  1. Novelty
  2. Availability of Subjects
  3. Support of the Academic Community
  4. Availability and Adequacy of facilities and equipment
  5. Ethical Considerations
• Qualifications of a researcher


  • Enough knowledge and training to ensure the success of the research undertaking
• Motivation and interest of the researcher


  The research problem which is in the interest of the researcher may give him/her satisfaction and enjoyment
• Time factor


  • The research problem should suggest to be time-efficient
• Cost and Returns


  • The research problem should suggest to be cost-efficient
• Hazards and handicaps


  • The proposed study should be safe not only to the participants but moreover to the researcher himself/herself
• INTERNAL CRITERIA

  1. Qualifications of a researchers
  2. motivation and interest of the research
  3. time factor
  4. cost and returns
  5. hazards and handicaps
• Research Title

  Once the researcher has already had a problem that will be subjected for a study, he/she may now begin formulating a good research title that will best represent the problem and the study itself in general. As cited from Scared Heart University Library (2020), a research title should help the readers to see the main idea as well as the summary of the whole study.
• Research Title


  • Limited only to substantive words with high consideration to the key variables such as the phenomenon under investigation, the participants, and the setting of the study
  • Use words that can create a positive impression among readers
  • Avoid using abbreviation as well as some word constructions such as: "method," "result," and investigation"
  • It should be in the form of a phrase with correct use of capitalization, that is, the first letter appeared in the title as well as the first letter of each noun word should be capitalized
  • It should be concise by adequately implying the participants and the coverage of the study
• Subtitle


  Commonly employed in social science research papers to (1) state the scope, context, and theory under investigation; and (2) provide a substantive and appealing literary title
• Research titles

  • The 'Need to Transcend': A Phenomenological Study on the lived Experiences of Millennial Teachers (Lacdo-O et al., 2018)
  • The Educated Citizen: Cultural and Gender Capital in the Schooling of Aetas' Children in the Municipality of Janiuay (Moralista & Delariate, 2014)
  • This Too Shall Pass: A Grounded Theory Study of Filipino Cancer Survivorship (de Guzman et al., 2012)
  • Local Studies Centers: Transforming History, Culture and Heritage in the Philippines ( Perez & Templanza, 2012)
  • President Rodrigo Roa Duterte's Political Speeches: A Critical Discourse Analysis (Remorosa, 2018)
• RATIONALE OF THE STUDY

  As a researcher, you have to determine the sense of all the things you have to do in your proposed study. Consider the following questions:

  ØDoes it pose significant research problem?

  ØDoes it matter to your academic discipline?

  ØIf your answers in the previously asked questions are 'Yes', then that can be good a starting point for establishing the study of your study.
• How to Write the Rationale of the study?

  -Existing Literature. A background on what researchers have already been done about the given subject.

  -Relevance to local/ Global context. Situational interconnectedness of individuals or things in varying perspectives.

  -Critical background / Contextual Information. Circumstances forming a background of an event, idea or subject, that enables the readers to understand the nature of the problem.
• STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

  Stating clearly the problem can make the vagueness of the study be clarified. Further, this section allows the researcher to present other essential elements of research undertaking such as the major variables, objectives, and appropriate methodology.
• Writing the Problem Statement in a Qualitative Research.

  1. gENERAL
  2. SPECIFIC
• General Problem

  pertains to the opening paragraph that gives specific details on other essential elements which are the purpose, major variables, participants, setting, and time coverage of the study. The said elements serve as a guide in order to properly formulate the general problem.

  According to Cristobal and Cristobal (2017) from their book Practical Research 1 for Senior High School presented guidelines in the writing of the general problem. These are as follows:
• GENERAL PROBLEM

  1.The general problem should clearly state the main task/s of the researcher.

  2.The general problem should present the major variable/s related to the phenomenon to be investigated.

  3.The general problem should identify the participants of the study.

  4.The general problem should state the research setting as well as the time period of the study.

  5.The general problem may indicate the intended output of the study such as an intervention program, module, policies, etc.
• EXAMPLE OF GENRAL PROBLEM:

  This study aims to determine the functions of emoji's in an online communication. The study was conducted among the different strands of grade 11 students in the senior high school department of Lamao National High School during the school year 2019-2020. The result of the study was used as a basis for proposing a learning content presentation strategy in language teaching.
• to determine - main tasks

  function, emojis, online

  communication - major variables

  grade 11 students – participants

  lamao National high school - setting

  school year 2019-2020- time period

  Learning content presentation strategy - intended output
• Non-Researchable Questions:

  1. Do the participants use social media platforms for their communication purposes?

  2. Are the participants using emoji's in their online communication?

  3. Can the participants understand the meaning of emoji's used in conversations?

  4. Will the emoji's be used for a language content learning presentation strategy?
• RESEARCHABLE QUESTIONS:

  1.What are the most frequently used emoji's by the participants in the corpus?

  2.What are the pragmatic functions of emoji's in the corpus?3.How do multiple emoji's affect the meaning of the discourse?4. What learning content presentation strategy can be proposed based on the results of the study?