INTRODUCTION

• Introduction

  • it is important in establishing the cognitive setting of the research
  • its purpose is to introduce the problem and clarify the important variables, its delimitation, and its significance to the field of study
• Introduction

  1. Rationalization of the need to research on the problem.
  2. Clarification of the important terminologies.
  3. Establishment of the degree of seriousness of the problem which prompted the researchers to find for solutions.
• Essential Questions in Formulating an Introduction

  • What is the rationale of the problem?
  • What is the setting of the problem?
  • What is the basic literature foundation of the study?
  • How serious is the chosen research problem?
  • What is the general objective of the problem?
  • What is the overall purpose of the problem?
• 4 Components of the Research Gap

  1. Current State of the Field
  2. Current and Conventional Practices
  3. Research Gap
  4. Study's New Contribution
• Statement of the Problem

  • It should use single and not compound sentence.
  • It should clearly express the purpose of the study.
  • It should include the central phenomenon.
  • It should use qualitative words (explore, discover, and explain).
• Writing the General Problem in a Qualitative Study

  • It should identify the participants of the study.
  • It should state the research site.

  A sample pattern for the purpose statement:

  The purpose of this (narrative, phenomenological, grounded theory, ethnographic case) is to (understand, describe, develop, discover) the (central phenomenon of the study) for the (participants) at (the site). At this stage in the research, the (central phenomenon) will be generally defined as (a general definition of the central concept)
• The general problem is followed by an enumeration of the specific problems.

  1. They must be in question form.
  2. They must define the population and sample of the study (respondents).
  3. They must identify the variables being studies.
• Two Types of Research Questions (Creswell and Clark, 2014)

  1. Central Questions
  2. Sub Questions
• Central Questions

  • the most general questions that can be asked
• Sub Questions

  • the questions subdivided the central question into more specific topical questions and are limited in number
• Guidelines in Formulating the Research Question (Creswell and Clark, 2014)

  1. The question should begin with words such as "HOW" and "WHAT"
  2. The readers should be informed that the information that will be discovered, generated, explored, identified, or described in the study
  3. The question "WHAT HAPPENED?" should be asked help the craft the description
  4. The questions "WHAT WAS THE MEANING TO PEOPLE OF WHAT HAPPENED?" should be asked to understand the results
  5. The question "WHAT HAPPENED?" should be asked to explore the process
• Scripts as a Guide in Central Questions (Creswell and Clark, 2004)

  1. What is the meaning of/what does it mean to (central phenomenon)?
  2. What is the meaning of intrapersonal competencies?
  3. What does it mean to differentiate the customs and traditions of Aetas to those of the locals?
  4. What does it mean to characterize the study habits of the top 10 students of the class?
• Scripts as a Guide in Sub Questions (Creswell and Clark, 2004)

  1. What (aspect) does (participant) engage in as a (central phenomenon)?
  2. What level of self-concept does the school managers engage in a characteristic of interpersonal competencies?
  3. What nature of practices do the Aetas and locals of Zambales engage in as a part of their customs and traditions?
  4. What kind of preparation does the top 10 high school students engage in as an indicator of their general study habits?
• Types of Research Questions

  1. Non Researchable Questions
  2. Researchable Questions
  3. Factor Isolating Questions
  4. Factor Relating Questions
  5. Situation Relating Questions
  6. Situation Producing Questions
• Non Researchable Questions

  • These are questions of value and are answerable by yes or no.

  e.g. Should all professionals receive same level of benefits from the government?
• Researchable Questions

  • These are questions of opinions, perceptions, or policy that are raised to accumulate data.

  e.g. What are the common reason/s of the employees in leaving their job?
• Factor Isolating Questions

  • These ask the question “What is this?” These questions are sometimes called factor-naming questions because they isolate, categorize, describe, or name factors and situations.

  e.g. What is the profile of the principals in terms of the following?

  1. Age
  2. Management Experience
  3. Civil Status
• Factor Relating Questions

  • These ask the question “What is happening here?” The goal of these questions is to determine the relationship among factors that have been identified.

  e.g. What are the levels of competencies of school principals as described by their respective teachers and themselves in terms of the following?

  1. Interpersonal
  2. Intrapersonal
• Situation Relating Questions

  • These questions ask the question “What will happen if..?” These questions usually yield hypothesis testing or experimental study designs in which the researcher manipulates the variables to see what will happen.

  e.g. What are the effects of computerlearning assisted methods of teaching to the interest level of the sophomores to their history subjects?
• Situation Producing Questions

  • These ask the question “How can I make it happen” these questions establish explicit goals for actions, develop plans or prescriptions to achieve goals, and specify the conditions under which these goals will be accomplished?

  e.g. Based on the findings, what human relation intervention program can be adopted to enhance or improve effectiveness of existing teaching methods?
• Scope of the Study

  • It is determined primarily by the selection of variables that the research will focus on.
• Setting the Scope of the Study

  1. Variable
  2. Attributes
• Variable

  • refers to any characteristic that can have different values or traits that may vary across research participants
  • measured, controlled, and manipulated by the researcher
• Attributes

  • important elements of a variable
  • refers to the value assigned to a specific variable

  Example: Gender (significant variable)

  • male
  • female
• Characteristics of Variables

  1. Dependence
  2. Mutually Exclusive
  3. Exhaustive
• Dependence

  • refers to how the variable is considered in a cause-andeffect relationship
  • independent and dependent variable
• Mutually Exclusive

  • means that a participant or respondent cannot possess two attributes of a variable. For instance, a person cannot be both male and female
• Exhaustive

  • means that the researcher should consider all possible attributes of a certain variable
• Kinds of Variables

  1. Continuous Variables
  2. Discrete Variables
  3. Categorical Variables
• Continuous Variables

  • variables that may have an infinite number of values and may vary widely among the research participants.

  e.g. age and weight
• Discrete Variables

  • variables that have specific limits to their value.

  e.g. income, number of children or years of enrolment.
• Categorical Variables

  • cannot be expressed in numbers but are given in nonquantitative, descriptive terms.

  e.g. Example: civil status (single, married, widowed), and educational achievement (high school graduate, college graduate, post-graduate)
• Delimitation of the Study

  • it describes the various limitations that arose during the design and conduct of the study
  • include characteristics of the research design and methodology that affected or influenced the findings of the study
• Possible Limitations (Design and Methodology)

  1. Sample Size
  2. Lack of Available and/or Reliable Data
  3. Lack of Prior Studies
  4. Chosen Data Collection Method
  5. Nature of Information Collected
• Sample Size

  • it will determine whether the research will have a small of big sample size
• Lack of Available and/or Reliable Data

  • missing and unreliable data will limit the scope of analysis and the ability of the researcher to determine meaningful trends and relationships among the data
• Lack of Prior Studies

  • this will limit the effectiveness of the literature review and may limit the initial understanding of the research problem
• Chosen Data Collection Method

  • limitations in the data collection instrument may affect the quality of data collected
• Nature of Information Collected

  • relying on pre-existing data may impose limits on the researcher as he or she can no longer clarify certain data
• Delimitation of the Study (Characteristics of the Researchers)

  1. Access
  2. Bias
  3. Time Period
  4. Language