Practical Research 1st Quarter Reviewer PDF

**PRACTICAL RESEARCH 1** **1ST QUARTER REVIEWER** **[What is RESEARCH? ]** **[Research]** is an organized investigation and study of materials and sources to create facts and reach new inferences. Research has come up with developing appropriate solutions to improve the individual's quality of li...

**PRACTICAL RESEARCH 1** **1ST QUARTER REVIEWER** **[What is RESEARCH? ]** **[Research]** is an organized investigation and study of materials and sources to create facts and reach new inferences. Research has come up with developing appropriate solutions to improve the individual's quality of life. Although it may take place in a different setting and may use different methods, scientific research is universally a systematic and objective search for reliable knowledge (Walker, 2010). Research can be categorized into two: ***[Basic Research:]*** This is the type of research that is a purely direct application but increasing the nature of understanding about the problem. It develops the scientific theories to be more understandable to the reader's scene. [***Applied Research***:] It is a type of research that needs an answer to a specific question. It provides solutions and validation in order to apply to the real setting. **CHARACTERISTICS, PROCESSES, AND ETHICS IN RESEARCH** Prieto, et.al. (2017) stated that the following are the major characteristics of research: 1\. ***[EMPIRICAL]*** - is based on observations and experiments of theories. 2\. ***[SYSTEMATIC]*** - follows orderly and sequential procedures, based on valid procedures and principles. 3\. [ ***CONTROLLED*** ]- In research, all variables, except those that are tested/ experimented on, are kept constant. 4\. ***[EMPLOYS HYPOTHESIS]*** - refers to a search for facts, answers to questions and solutions to problems. 5\. ***[ANALYTICAL]*** - shows analytical procedures in gathering the data, whether historical, descriptive, and or case study. 6\. ***[OBJECTIVE]*** - it is unbiased and logical. All findings are logically based on real-life situations. 7\. [***ORIGINAL WORK*** -] it requires its own examination and produces the data needed to complete the study. It is said that research can be done in different ways. It can be either a well-planned and methodical process that is based on keen observation and concrete and valid evaluation. Integration is the best way to evaluate the validity of a certain study. **Ethical Codes and Policies for Research, Resnik, 2007** Given the importance of ethics in the conduct of a research, you will follow codes and policies for research: **[Honesty]:** Maintain all communication. Data should not be faked. **[Objectivity]:** Avoid biases in experimental designs, data analysis, interpretation, expert testimony, and other aspects of research. **[Integrity]:** Keep your promises and agreements. **[Carefulness]:** Avoid careless errors and negligence. **[Openness]:** Share data, results, ideas and tools. Be open to criticism and new ideas. **[Confidentiality]:** Protect confidential communication. **[Responsible Publication]:** Avoid duplicating publications. **[Responsible Mentoring]:** Help to educate, mentor, and advise others. **[Respect Colleagues]:** Treat all peers fairly. **[Social Responsibility]:** Strive to promote social good. Avoid social harm. **[Non- Discrimination]:** Avoid discrimination against colleagues or students on the basis of sex, races, ethnicity, and or others. **Legality:** Be informed and obey relevant laws and institutional governmental policies. **[Respect of Intellectual Property]:** Give proper acknowledgment or credits to all researchers. **[Human Subject:]** Minimize risks that involve human lives, dignity, and privacy. **KINDS OF RESEARCH:** **[QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH]** - is a positivist scientific method which refers to a general set of orderly discipline procedures to acquire information (Beck, 2004). Mostly, it is concerned with numbers and measurement. **[QUALITATIVE RESEARCH]** - is defined as the "naturalistic method of research which deals with the concern of human difficulty by discovering it straightly." (Beck, 2004). It is concerned with the experiences, understanding and words of theindividual. ***Characteristics of Qualitative Research*** **1. Human understanding and interpretation in data analysis** **2. Active, powerful and forceful in data gathering and rephrasing interview questions** **3. Multiple research approaches and methods that allows you to plan your study and being multi-method research** **4. Specificity to generalization on specific ideas will lead to generalizations or conclusions.** **5. Contextualization - context or situation of individual's life** **6. Diversified data in real-life situations on collecting data in a natural setting** **7. Abounds with words and visuals that presents people's view in a picture, video, drawing or graphs.** **8. Internal analysis on examining the data yielded by the internal traits of the subject persons.** ***\*Strengths of Qualitative Research*** **1. It adopts a naturalistic approach to its subject matter.** **2. Promotes a full understanding of human behavior/personality traits in their natural setting.** **3. It is instrumental for positive societal changes.** **4. It engenders respect for people's individuality.** **5. it's a way of understanding & interpreting social interactions.** **6. Increases researcher's interests in the study.** **7. Offers multiple ways of acquiring and examining knowledge about something.** ***\*Weaknesses of Qualitative Research*** **1. It involves a lot of researcher's subjectivity in data analysis.** **2. It is hard to know the validity/reliability of the data.** **3. It is open-ended questions yield "data overload" that requires long-time analysis.** **4. It is time-consuming.** **5. It involves several processes; whose results greatly depend on the researcher's views or interpretations.** **Kinds of Qualitative Research** 1. **[Case Study] -- Long-time study of a person, group, organization or situation and an empirical inquiry that investigates current phenomenon.** **Example:"Teenage Pregnancy in the Public High Schools"** 2. **[Ethnography] - a study of a particular cultural group.** **Example:"Cultural Awareness and Integration of Peace Education in the Indigenous Peoples (IP) Communities"** **.** 3. **[Phenomenology] - "live-experienced" of a phenomenon.** **Example: "Life without Gadget"** 4. **[Content and Discourse Analysis]** - **[Content Analysis-] is a research technique that analyzes the modes of communication such as letters, e-mails etc.** - **[Discourse Analysis]- is the study of social life, understood through analysis of language it includes face-to-face talk, non-verbal interaction, images and symbols.** **Materials for Discourse Analysis include books, newspapers, periodicals, brochures and advertisements.** **Example: "A Discourse Analysis on the Impact of Modern Technologies on Communication"** 5. **[Historical Analysis] - is a qualitative method where there is an examining of past events to draw conclusions and make predictions about the future.** 6. **[Grounded Theory] - takes place when there is a discovery of new theory which underlies your study at the time of data collection and analysis.** **Example: "The Story Behind the Migration of Christians from Visayas and Luzon to Mindanao"** 7. **[Narrative Report] - designed to present things or events that have happened in the past through a logical progression of the relevant information. The main purpose of a narrative report is to present a factual depiction of what has occurred.** 8. **[Biography] - is the study of an individual's life and struggles and how they reflect cultural themes of the society. It deals with an interesting story found in documents and archival materials. It is concerned with the reconstruction of life histories and the constitution of meaning based on biographical narratives and documents.** Designing a research is similar to making a house, car, bag, dress, cake, etc. which needs appropriate materials and necessary process or steps to follow. Then, you have to consider whether what you intend to make or invent has significance to you as a person. Otherwise, your efforts will not be put to use. In designing your qualitative research, you have to consider whether the topic you have chosen is relevant to you as a learner, as a constituent in your barangay, and as a citizen of this country. Therefore, the first question you should answer is, "What is the issue, phenomenon or problem in my school, at home, and in the community that needs my special attention by conducting a research?" **Design of Qualitative Research** Qualitative research is an emergent design which means that it emerges as you make ongoing decisions about what you have learned. As a design, qualitative research requires researcher's decision-making like how to gather data, from where and whom to collect, when to gather, and for how long is the process will be. To have a holistic picture of qualitative research project, you have to remember that in deciding on a topic, you have to consider the kind and the field it belongs, as well as its relevance to your daily life. ***Basic Research Approaches in a Specific Area of Discipline*** 1. **[Scientific or Positive Approach ]** ** Deals with empirical data instead of personal views, feelings or attitudes.** ** Allows control of variables or factors affecting the study (Laursen 2010).** ** Express and records findings quantitatively.** ** Presents structured interviews, questionnaires and observational checklists.** 2. **[Naturalistic Approach]** - **A people-oriented approach focusing on discovering the real concept or meaning behind people's lifestyles and social relations.** - **Present things qualitatively through verbal language. Using words as unit of analysis.** - **Bases determining universal social values to define ethical and unethical that society ought to know, not only for the benefit of individual and community but also for the satisfaction of man's quest for knowledge." (Sarandakos 2013; Ransome 2013)** **Example: Talking to ethnic groups or people with other culture in a natural setting. In this case, the researcher uses unstructured interviews and the participants' answer/response is not scripted.** 3. **[Triangulation/ Mixed Method ]** - **Allows a combination or a mixture of research designs, data collection and data analysis techniques.** - **Enhance the validity and reliability of qualitative research design.** - **Enhances accuracy of interpretation.** - **Has an opportunity to view every angle of the research from different perspectives.** **Guidelines in Choosing a Topic** 1\. **Interest in the subject matter** You are interested about the topic because you have experienced it. 2\. Availability of information It is important that when you decide on a topic, sources of information are available. 3\. Timeliness and relevance of the topic The topic you have chosen can be of significance to the community. 4\. Limitations on the subject Sometimes, topic is limited to what the teacher suggests. An example of this is when the teacher asks the entire class to focus on COVID-19 pandemic, then you have no freedom to explore other topics aside from what is given. 5\. Personal resources Consider also if you can finish the research in terms of your intellectual and financial physical capabilities. **Topics to be Avoided** 1\. **[Controversial topics]** Avoid highly opinionated topics. 2\. **[Highly technical subjects]** Too technical topics requires expertise. If you don't have enough knowledge about it, then look for another one. 3\. **[Hard-to-investigate subjects]** Unavailability of reading materials and materials that are not updated make the subject hard to investigate. 4\. **[Too broad subjects ]** You lack focus if you deal with broad topics. The remedy is to narrow it down. 5\. **[Too narrow subject]** Some subjects are too narrow that extensive and thorough reading are required. 6\. **[Vague subjects]** Titles that start with indefinite adjectives such as several, many, some, etc., make the topic vague. **Sources of Research Topics** 1\. Mass media communication-television, newspaper, ads, radio, films, etc. 2\. Books, internet, journals, government publications 3\. Professional periodicals- specialized periodicals in different fields 4\. General periodicals- Reader's Digest, Time Magazine, Women's Magazine, etc. 5\. Previous readings 6\. Work experience **RESEARCH TITLE** When writing a research paper title, authors should realize that despite being repeatedly warned against it, most people do indeed fall prey to "judging a book by its cover." This cognitive bias tends to make readers considerably susceptible to allowing the research paper title to function as the sole factor influencing their decision of whether to read or skip a particular paper. Although seeking the professional assistance of a research paper writing service could help the cause, the author of the paper stands as the best judge for setting the right tone of his/her research paper. 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. II\. **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 student 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 1. Interest in the subject matter. Interest in a subject drives you to research, investigate, or inquire about it with full motivation, enthusiasm, and energy. 1.2 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. I. 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 II\. 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) 1. Limitations on the subject. Connect your choice with course requirements. You need to decide on one topic to finish your course. 2. 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. Readers come across research paper titles in searches through databases and reference sections of research papers. They deduce what a paper is about and its relevance to them based on the title. Considering this, it is clear that the title of your paper is the most important determinant of how many people will read it. **DESIGNING A RESEARCH PROJECT** 1. **The first step in designing a qualitative research project is to form a general research question.** For example: Is the government's response to violence against women and girls meeting its human rights obligations? 2. **The second step is to outline the key concepts relating to the research question.** Key concepts for the question stated above would be: What are the human rights obligations of a state? What are women's human rights? What is the government's response to victims of violence against women and girls? 3. The third step is to find meaningful, valid, and reliable indicators for measuring the concepts, or determining how to measure the human rights violations faced by victims of violence against women and girls. Human rights violations can be measured both positively (e.g. legislation, policies, resources, the work of victim service organizations) and negatively (e.g. the actual incidences). 4. After deciding the concepts to be analyzed and their related indicators, it is necessary to decide on the context of the research. It is important to adapt the monitoring project to the monitor's resources (time, money, staff, expertise...). As a general rule, it is better to provide comprehensive and well researched information on a limited phenomenon in a limited area, than to try to say something about everything and to fail to get beneath the surface. 5. After deciding what information to collect and where to collect it, monitors must decide how to collect it. There are many ways to collect data in a qualitative research project, and monitors should use more than one approach. For example, by interviewing police and service providers, monitors can obtain information on policies and programs that exist, and also on attitudes towards victims of violence and the barriers victims may encounter. For specific examples of questions see Sample methodology to monitor the government's response to legislation on violence against women and girls. 6. Monitors can obtain information on attitudes, policies, and barriers to implementation by reviewing court records or proceedings. See sections on Monitoring court records and Court monitoring. Monitors can also acquire first-hand knowledge of policies and programs by taking part in the daily life of a shelter, or obtain information on attitudes on victims through newspaper analysis. Even if all the different elements do not end up in the final monitoring report, exposure to them will enable monitors to grasp a complex phenomenon. **3 BASIC TIPS ON WRITING A GOOD RESEARCH PAPER TITLE** Let us discuss the most basic and important aspect of a research paper---the title. Writing a research paper title may seem a simple task, but it requires some serious thought. It might come as a surprise to most people that an author, having successfully written a detailed account of his/her research study, experiences a block while attempting to title the research paper. However, most authors, by virtue of possessing comprehensive details of the research paper, are perplexed with regard to how to make their research paper title concise without sacrificing any relevant elements. When writing a research paper title, authors should realize that despite being repeatedly warned against it, most people do indeed fall prey to "judging a book by its cover." This cognitive bias tends to make readers considerably susceptible to allowing the research paper title to function as the sole factor influencing their decision of whether to read or skip a particular paper. Although seeking the professional assistance of a research paper writing service could help the cause, the author of the paper stands as the best judge for setting the right tone of his/her research paper. Readers come across research paper titles in searches through databases and reference sections of research papers. They deduce what a paper is about and its relevance to them based on the title. Considering this, it is clear that the title of your paper is the most important determinant of how many people will read it. **Research Justification** refers to the rationale for the research, or the reason why the research is being conducted, including an explanation for the design and methods employed in the research. **THE INTRODUCTION** The justification for conducting the research should be integrated in the introduction or background of the study. Contrary to the usual when writing any literary piece, the introduction **may be written after everything has been done**, or to be **written last**. This will give you the chance to have fully grasped the whole study and thus, this is the time where you have seen the **trends** and **issues** related to the study after doing a review of related literature and studies, thus you have now internalized your **objectives** and are now fully aware of the possible **contributions** of the study **to the theory and to practice**. However, even at the beginning of the planning stage for your research, you should already have put into writing a short justification for conducting the study. **Trends, issues, objectives, and contribution to the theory and practice** should be the main content of your introduction (de Guzman, 2013). The first two would be made clearer through related literature and studies and the last two from your own perspective. When writing a research paper title, authors should realize that despite being repeatedly warned against it, most people do indeed fall prey to "judging a book by its cover." This cognitive bias tends to make readers considerably susceptible to allowing the research paper title to function as the sole factor influencing their decision of whether to read or skip a particular paper. Although seeking the professional assistance of a research paper writing service could help the cause, the author of the paper stands as the best judge for setting the right tone of his/her research paper. Readers come across research paper titles in searches through data bases and reference sections of research papers. They deduce what a paper is about and its relevance to them based on the title. Considering this, it is clear that the title of your paper is the most important determinant of how many people will read it. **FORMAT** You have several options for how you can format your research question. Here are some typically used examples. These are from Glatthorn and Joyner (2005). 1\. **Hypothesis.** Your prediction or expectation described in terms of measurable variables. It is our hypothesis that the students who do required community service have fewer gains in civic engagement than those who serve voluntarily. 2\. **Research Question and Hypotheses**. One central question followed by a bulleted list of all the related hypotheses. Does volunteer involvement in decision making affect their morale? **Hypotheses:** Volunteer involvement in decision making varies from nonprofit to nonprofit Volunteer involvement in decision making varies depending on the nature of the decision Volunteer involvement in decision making affects morale in a positive direction only in certain nonprofit organizations and with certain types of decisions 3\. **General Purpose of the Study statement**. Often qualitative studies or action research studies will use a general purpose statement since the design of the study might evolve as it goes along. The purpose of this study is to observe and describe the use of the volunteer center by volunteers and nonprofit organization staff during a typical working week. 4\. **Single Question.** Some qualitative studies use an open ended question. In what ways do volunteers use the internet when they are searching for opportunities to serve the community? 5\. **General question followed by a set of specific questions.** The open ended question is followed by specific ones. How are local nonprofit organizations attending to volunteer management? How are volunteers recruited and selected? How are volunteers supervised and given feedback? How are volunteers shown appreciation? **WRITING GOOD QUESTIONS** Your Writer\'s Reference textbook has some really helpful sections under the research (R) tab (Hacker & Sommers, 2011). The author\'s advice on writing good research questions. Much of this advice can also apply whether you are writing your plan in the form of a question or a general purpose statement. 1\. **Pose questions worth exploring.** Explain briefly why finding out the answer to this question is important, particularly to our community partner. 2**. Narrow the question.** This is always an important one. Consider your question and think of every way that it can be limited down to make it something we can actually find out. 3\. **Avoid bland questions.** The text has some good examples here. **Too bland: Better:** \- What is obsessive-compulsive disorder? - Why is obsessive-compulsive disorder so difficult to treat? \- How does DNA testing work? - How reliable is DNA testing? **Writing a Research Question** Writing a good research question means you have something you want to study. Let\'s say you\'re interested in the effects of television. We will examine the steps and then look at how you could write a research question. - Specify your specific concern or issue - Decide what you want to know about the specific concern or issue - Turn what you want to know and the specific concern into a question - Ensure that the question is answerable - Check to make sure the question is not too broad or too narrow - This is the basic process in writing a research question. Writing a good question will result in a better research project. **Clear**. It provides enough specifics that one's audience can easily understand its purpose without needing additional explanation. **Focused**. It is narrow enough that it can be answered thoroughly in the space the writing task allows. **Concise**. It is expressed in the fewest possible words. **Complex**. It is not answerable with a simple 'yes' or 'no', but rather requires synthesis and analysis of ideas and sources prior to composition of an answer. **Arguable**. Its potential answers are open to debate rather than accepted facts. **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. 5\. The summary of the answers to all the specific questions will give a complete development of the entire study. 6\. The number of research questions should be enough to cover the development of the whole research study **Writing the Thesis Statement** Every paper you write should have a main point, a main idea, or central message. The argument(s) you make in your paper should reflect this main idea. The sentence that captures your position on this main idea is what we call a thesis statement. A thesis statement focuses your ideas into one or two sentences. It should present the topic of your paper and also make a comment about your position in relation to the topic. Your thesis statement should tell your reader what the paper is about and also help guide your writing and keep your argument focused. You should provide a thesis early in your essay \-- in the introduction, or in longer essays in the second paragraph \-- in order to establish your position and give your reader a sense of direction. ### Tip: In order to write a successful thesis statement: A. *Avoid burying a great thesis statement in the middle of a paragraph or late in the paper.* B. *Be as clear and as specific as possible; avoid vague words.* C. *Indicate the point of your paper but avoid sentence structures like, "The point of my paper is..."* **Tips in Writing Clear Thesis:** Your thesis statement is no exception to your writing: it needs to be as clear as possible. By being as clear as possible in your thesis statement, you will make sure that your reader understands exactly what you mean. ### Tip: In order to be as clear as possible in your writing: - *Unless you\'re writing a technical report, avoid technical language. Always avoid jargon, unless you are confident your audience will be familiar with it.* - *Avoid vague words such as \"interesting," \"negative, \"exciting," \"unusual,\" and \"difficult.\"* - *Avoid abstract words such as \"society,\" "values," or "culture."* **SCOPE AND DELIMITATION** **THE SCOPE OF YOUR STUDY** The scope of study in your research paper contains the explanation of what information or subject is being analyzed. It is followed by an explanation of the limitation of the research. Research usually limited in scope by sample size, time and geographic area; while the delimitation of study is the description of the scope of study. It will explain why definite aspects of a subject were chosen and why other were excluded. It also mentions the research method used as well as the certain theories applied to the data. **DETERMINING THE SCOPE AND DELIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY** **Scope and delimitations** are two elements of a research paper or thesis. The **scope** of a study explains the extent to which the research area will be explored in the work and specifies the parameters within which the study will be operating. For example, let\'s say a researcher wants to study the impact of mobile phones on behavior patterns of elementary school children. However, it is not possible for the researcher to cover every aspect of the topic. So **the scope** will have to be narrowed down to a certain section of the target population. In this case, the scope might be narrowed down to a group of 50 children in grades 3-5 of one specific school. Their behavior patterns in school may have been observed for a duration of 6 months. These would form the delimitations of the study. Thus, **delimitations** are the characteristics that limit the scope and describe the boundaries of the study, such as the sample size, geographical location or setting in which the study takes place, population traits, etc. Additionally, the researcher might also choose to use some research tools and methodologies to collect data but not others. These delimitations might be imposed for practical reasons; such as lack of time or financial resources to carry out a more thorough investigation. The delimitation section of the study should explain why specific choices were made while others were excluded and how this might affect the outcome of the research. Whatever topic you might have chosen, there is the tendency for you to go unending with all the different areas and variables relative to it. This is likewise true in terms of the respondents, the locale and the data gathering stage. If this happens, **it might no longer be within your capability to manage it, not within your time and financial resources** or **it might no longer be within the objectives you have set at the beginning of the study,** thereby ending with an unfinished research. Scope and Delimitation of the Study **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 particular 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 large 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. **BENEFITS OF RESEARCH** - During a research study your condition is usually monitored more closely so any changes can be detected earlier. You may also have access to expert medical care that you otherwise would not. - Staff will keep you updated on your progress and how the study is doing. This allows you to learn about your condition, and gives you more access to professionals and advice. - Research improves services and treatments not just for you but also for future generations. It helps develop new tests for diagnosis, treatments and processes that could eventually help your children, or even your grandchildren - You may gain access to treatments that are not yet readily available to the general public. - Taking part in research can give you a more positive outlook on any health issues. - Some evidence has suggested that people who take part in research have better health outcomes no matter what treatment they receive. This is known as the 'trial effect'. Even if the research you take part in is unsuccessful, many people feel they receive better care while the trial is running. - Taking part in research is empowering as you are taking an active role in your own health care - People take part in research for many reasons. Whatever your reason, we hope you will get involved in ours so that together we can make things better for everyone. **BENEFICIARIES** - Beneficiaries are those who are likely to be interested in or to benefit from the proposed research. - List any beneficiaries from the research and give details of how the results of the proposed research would be disseminated. Please state whether the research is likely to lead to patentable or otherwise commercially exploitable results. Wherever possible, the beneficiaries should consist of a wider group than that of the fellow immediate professional circle carrying out similar research. Specific beneficiaries might be: 1. **Researchers in other disciplines;** 2. **Academic organizations;** 3. **Companies, public sector bodies and others who may use the results to their advantage; or** 4. **Policy makers.** **YOUR STUDY AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE** Writing a research paper has its purpose\-- may it be for you (as a researcher) or even for others. That is why, you need to identify the key reason/s why you are taking a step forward and make your query into a formal writing. In this stage, your 'WHYs' and 'HOWs' will be answered and explained. Before taking this step, read the following notes: **[Tips in Writing the Significance of the Study (Regoniel, 2015)]** A. Refer to the statement of the problem Your problem statement can guide you in identifying the specific contribution of your study. You can do this by observing a one-to-one correspondence between the statement of the problem and the significance of the study. For example, if you ask the question 'Is there a significant relationship between the teacher's teaching style and the students' long quiz scores in Mathematics?' then the contribution of your research would probably be a teaching style or styles that can help students perform better in Mathematics. Your research will demonstrate that teaching style really works. That could be a groundbreaking approach that will change the way teachers teach Mathematics which students are hesitant of. B. Write from general to specific contribution Write the significance of the study by looking into the general contribution of your study, such as its importance to society as a whole, then proceed downwards\--towards its contribution to individuals and that may include yourself as a researcher. You start off broadly then taper off gradually to a specific group or person. **Selecting and Synthesizing Information from Relevant Literature** A literature review follows an essay format (Introduction, Body, Conclusion), but if the literature itself is the topic of the essay, your essay will need to consider the literature in terms of the key topics/themes you are examining. #### **Example plan** -- -- 1. **Choose a topic**. Your literature review should be guided by a central research question. Remember, it is not a collection of loosely related studies in a field but instead represents background and research developments related to a specific research question, interpreted and analyzed by you in a synthesized way. 2. **Decide on the scope of review**. How many studies do you need to look at? How comprehensive should it be? How many years should it cover? 3. **Select the databases you will use to conduct your searches**. Make a list of the databases you will search. 4. **Conduct your search and find the literature**. Review the abstracts of research studies carefully. This will save you time. Write down the searches you conduct in each database so that you may duplicate them if you need to later (or avoid dead-end searches that you\'d forgotten you\'d already tried). Use the bibliographies and references of research studies you find to locate others. 5. **Review the literature**. What was the research question of the study you are reviewing? What were the authors trying to discover? Was the research funded by a source that could influence the findings? What were the research methodologies? Analyze its literature review, the samples and variables used, the results, and the conclusions. Does the research seem to be complete? Could it have been conducted more soundly? What further questions does it raise? If there are conflicting studies, why do you think that is? How are the authors viewed in the field? Has this study been cited? if so, how has it been analyzed? **[Literature]** is an oral or written record of man's significant experiences that are expressed in an ordinary manner. It is conveyed directly or indirectly. Direct expressions is in books, journals, periodic papers, and online reading materials. Indirect expressions are not written or spoken at all but is mirror image of his environment (Ridley 2012). The Review of Related Literature is one of the main components of a research study, specifically in the second chapter. It gives an overview of all the writings relative to a specific topic (Prieto, Naval & Carey, 2017). Therefore, selecting the right sources for the literature review is very important in producing a quality research paper A **[review of related literature]** is the process of collecting, selecting, and reading books, journals, reports, abstracts, and other reference materials. The following information may be collected: 1\. Background knowledge about the problem and associated ideas. 2\. Theories that give details of the presence of the problem and certain variables that is connected to the problem. 3\. Data that prove the occurrence and gravity of the problem 4\. Detailed and broad results of related studies 5\. Gaps and recommendations for additional study specified in related studies The significance and rationale of related literature and studies is to find out the similarities and differences between the past and present studies, to get ideas into the critical and controversial aspects of the problem. It helps recognize and define a research problem. It gives the researcher a background analysis aspect, which have been studied. It guides the researcher on what to do on the mechanism of the research methods; this also provides the thoughts to advance with the study until its conclusion. It avoids redundant duplication of a study. Moreover, reading extensively will enrich your background knowledge on your research topic that will enable you to establish a good groundwork or course of your research endeavor. Here are questions to guide you in this endeavor of selecting, citing, and synthesizing related literature. What is your prior knowledge about your research topic? What do you have to critically say about your prior knowledge on the topic? What do you want to know more about your topic? Did anyone do a similar research as yours? What does your research have that other researches do not? Who are these authors who have works which has more or less same ideas as yours? Exposed to a wide source of facts and conditioned by a limited timeframe during the conduct of study, it is necessary that you have a guided approach in reading or reviewing various literature works that are related to your research topic. Here are some points to consider in an effective literature review: Step 1: **Search for the Literature** There are many sources of information available such as the Internet, books, peer-reviewed articles in journals, publications, unpublished works like theses and dissertations (detailed and comprehensive accounts of a research work submitted for a higher degree at a university), conference proceedings (brief summaries of research work presented at conferences),books, leaflets, posters, blogs, and other library materials offline and online. Some websites might give valuable information such as Wikipedia, Facebook, Twitter, and the likes but they are not as dependable as other sources of knowledge since it can be edited and considered not a scholarly article (Baraceros, 2016). Therefore, there is a need to carefully evaluate online sources as to accuracy and veracity of information. Furthermore, the following are key points in searching literature: 1\. In gathering sources, have focus, a clearly indicated scope and purpose of the review. 2\. Isolate and centre your research on key themes or issues related to your own research interests. 3\. Choose articles which are closely related to your research interest. 4\. Choose studies conducted by experts and authorities in that same field of knowledge with your study. 5\. Peer-reviewed materials are much preferable than general sources of ideas. Step 2: **Reading and Citing Source of Material** In reviewing related literature, you come up with ideas borrowed from someone else; therefore, it is but polite, honesty, and courtesy to learn to acknowledge other people's intellectual rights and to avoid plagiarism. The following are three terms to express recognition of author's ownership of borrowed ideas (Sharp, 2012). 1. **[Acknowledgment]**. It identifies individuals who have contributed to the making of the manuscript, written at the start of the paper. 2. **[References or Bibliography]**. A whole list of literary materials including all books, journal, theses, and dissertations along with other sources mentioned above. References are arranged alphabetically in some papers or in order of sequence as it comes out in the paper. This holds the summary of the information of all of your sources. Information needed in making the referencing list involves the following: a\. Author's name b\. Date of the publication of the source. c\. Page number where you found the information. d\. Publisher e\. Place of Publishing f\. Volume g\. Edition h\. Other relevant information --date of access Example of References Baptista, P. Benefits to Teaching Hydroponics in the Classroom. August 15, 2014. 3. **Citation, or In-text-citation**. Referring author within the main body of the text. Citations can be done by paraphrasing, summarizing, or through quotations. It can be written in the beginning of a text, between the text, or at the last part of the paragraph. Examples are shown: Sanchez (2015) found out building food systems that are more sustainable, resilient and responsive... A study by Chojnacka (2012) revealed that extracts derived from algae contain such components as polysaccharides This planting system is a sustainable alternative that reduces dependence on water and fertilizer and requires less space (Alshrouf, 2017), making it ideal in urban places. 4. **[There are three basic methods of referencing the author referred in your paper]**. These are the **APA (American Psychological Association), MLA (Modern Language Association), and the Chicago Manual Style.** In this module, we will be focusing on the two most commonly used styles of referencing. Moreover, between the two, APA is the most frequently used within the social sciences in citing various sources. The following table shows examples of MLA and APA styles of referencing: Step 3: **Creating or synthesizing your review of related literature** Developing your review of related literature by gathering ideas from other researches can be done by some patterns or techniques like paraphrasing, quoting, and summarizing it. In doing so, you may either change the arrangement of ideas, structures of language by using synonyms, changing format of words by comparisoncontrast, chronological order, passive-active sentences, inductive-deductive order, or by fusing opinions with the author's ideas. In quoting, a part of an author's words are repeated in writing but the page number of copied text should be written, ideas must be essential and quoted judiciously, meaning with full understanding. Summarizing is a shortened version of the original text expressed in your own language, picking only the most important details of the text. Paraphrasing on the other hand permits you to explain the idea in your own words. The ethical standards of research establish the values and expectations of a research so that information generated is written accurately and appropriately in accordance to the highest moral principles of research. These ethical standards are governed by core values of integrity, confidentiality, anonymity, and privacy through informed consent, voluntary participation, beneficence, justice, and rights to review. It is important to adhere to ethical principles in order to protect the dignity, rights and welfare of research participants. These principles are honesty, integrity, trustworthiness, openness, carefulness, respect for intellectual property, and social and legal responsibility. This lesson introduces you to the ethical standards of research before, during, and after the conduct of study, conflicts that might arise while carrying out the research, and possible solutions to address it. During the course of the conduct of research, common difficulties may arise that will greatly affect the result of your research. As a researcher, one must be adept enough to foresee possible challenges to your research so that it will be resolved sooner. Below is a summary of difficulties, challenges, and / or issues you may encounter. 1\. Unavailability of respondents 2\. Non-cooperation or refusal of respondents to answer questions 3\. Failure of respondents to remember data or give honest responses 4\. Delayed or failure in returning questionnaires with responses 5\. Incomplete documents and records 6\. Unscientific data 7\. No local data are available 8\. Lacking instruments 9\. Communication problems 10\. Funds are tight **Scientific misconduct might arise when ethical standards are not followed such as the following:** 1. [Plagiarism]. This refers to fraudulent acts that entail claiming another person's ideas, work or publication violating intellectual property rights by stealing and dishonesty. This usually happens in scientific publications. 2. **[Fabrication of data.]** It involves producing data without an actual experimentation or altering data in recording with the intent to fit them to desired results. 3. [Falsification of data]. Entails faulty gathering of data due to negligence and carelessness which lead to errors in measurement or instrument use. Error may also be caused by inappropriate application of treatment to the subjects and poor data recording. 4. **[Non-publication of data.]** In contrast with fabrication and falsification, this involves choosing not to include data because they do not conform to the well-established body of knowledge or are unsupportive of the research hypothesis. Only the results that do not reject the hypothesis are reported and published **Prepared by:** **Ronel C. Papa, LPT** **Subject Teacher/Assistant Academic Coordinator**