MODULE 1 – NATURE AND INQUIRY OF RESEARCH

What is Research?
 Research is the systematic investigation and the study of materials and source in order
to obtain, establish facts and to reach new conclusions.It is the scientific investigation of
phenomena which includes collection, presentation, analysis, and interpretation of facts
that lines with an individual’s speculation of reality
Significance of Research
1. To gather necessary information
2. To make changes
3. To improve standard of living
4. For safer life
5. To know the truth
6. To explore history
7. To explore the arts

Characteristics of Quantitative Research

1. Empirical – based on observation, direct experience, and experimentation of theories; based

on real life experiences
2. Systematic – follows orderly, sequential procedure
3. Controlled – variables are being tested
4. Employs *hypothesis – *educational or intelligent guess
5. Analytical – critical analysis of data
6. Objective – unbiased and logical
7. Original work

Characteristics of Qualitative Research

1. Concern for context and meaning

2. Naturally occurring settings.
3. Humans as instruments
4. Descriptive data
5. Emergent design – the hypothesis and assumptions may change along the process

Types of Research

1. Library Research – conducted in the library

2. Field Research – conducted outside the campus, laboratory, or workplace
3. Laboratory Research – conducted in a controlled setting

Overall Characteristics of Research

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1. Empirical
2. Logical – based on valid procedures and principles
3. Cyclical – begins with a problem and ends with a problem
4. Analytical – utilizes proven analytical procedures in gathering data whether historical,
descriptive, experimental, and case study
5. Critical
6. Methodical – conducted in a methodical manner without bias using systematic method and
procedures
7. Replicability – research design and procedure are replicated or repeated to enable the
researchers to arrive to valid and conclusive results

Ethics on Research

What is Ethics?
 Branch of study that deals with what is right and what is wrong
 Norm for conduct to distinguish between what is acceptable and unacceptable behavior

Functions of Ethics

1. Norms promote the aims of research such as knowledge, truth, and evidence of error.
2. Ethical standards promote the values that are essential to collaborative work such as trust,
accountability, mutual respect, and fairness.
3. Ethical norms ensure that researchers can be held accountable to the public.
4. Ethical norms in research is research that helps build public support quality and integrity of
research

Ethical Considerations in Conducting a Research

1. Objectivity and integrity

2. Respect of the research subject right to privacy and dignity and protection of subjects from
personal harm
3. Presentation of research findings
4. Misuse of research role
5. Acknowledgement of research collaboration and assistance
6. Distortion of findings by sponsor

Unethical Practices in Conducting a Research

1. Deceiving a respondent or participant about the purpose of the study

2. Asking a respondent or participant questions that cause him or her extreme embarrassment,
guilt, emotional turmoil by reminding him or her of an unpleasant experience
3. Invading the privacy of the respondent or participant
4. Studying the respondents or research subjects without their knowledge
5. When analyzing the data –revealing only part of facts, presenting facts out of context,
falsifying finding or offering misleading presentation such as lying with statistics.

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Major Differences Between Quantitative and Qualitative Research

QUANTITATIVE QUALITATIVE
RESEARCH RESEARCH

 Data are in the  Data are in the

numerical form form of words,
or numbers pictures, etc.
 Hard data  Soft data
 Objective  Subjective
 Structured  Semi-structured
instruments instruments
 Variables  Whole concept
 Statistical  Narrative and
 Closed-ended contextual
questions  Open-ended
 Hypothesis – questions
confirm it with  Hypothesis –
existing theory theory is
(Top Down) generated from
 Controlled collected data
environment (Bottom Up)
 Group studied –  Natural
larger and Occurring
randomly Setting
selected  Group studied –
 Type of data smaller and not
analysis: randomly
Statistical selected
Relationship (Purposive
 Presentation of Sampling)
Data – Findings  Type of data
through Chart, analysis:
Table, Graphs Identifying
 Single Reality Themes,
 Respondents Patterns, and
Features
 Presentation of
Data –
Narrative Form
with Quotations
 Multiple Reality
- Triangulations
 Participants

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Types of Research Across Fields

1. Applied Research – application of the results of pure research / basic research

E.g.

 Improve agricultural crop production

 Cure illnesses
 Improve lives of people

2. Basic Research – also called “pure research” or “fundamental research”

- aim to improve scientific theories
- development of theories and principles
- main aim: extend man’s knowledge, not to create, or invent things

E.g.
 Look for HIV cure
 How do mushrooms reproduce

3. Correlational Research – non-experimental research that measures two variables and

assesses their statistical relationship without necessarily determining the cause and effect

4. Descriptive Research – used to describe characteristics of a population or phenomenon

being studied
- does not answer the questions about how, when, why characteristics occurred
- also known as “statistical research”
- describe “what is”
- involves gathering that describes events and then organizes, tabulates, and depict data
collected
- deals with everything that can be counted and measured and which has an impact on people
or communities

E.g.
 No. of children affected by measles
 Total number of people affected by the super typhoon Yolanda

5. Ethnographic Research – immersion

- refers to the investigation of a culture through an in-depth study of the members of the culture
E.g.
 Understanding the culture of the Igorot tribe

6. Experimental Research – doing an experiments in a controlled setting

- manipulate variables
- establishes cause and effect relationship

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 7. Exploratory Research – investigates a specific phenomenon which is not clearly defined
- when the issue is new or when the data is difficult to collect

8. Historical Research – analysis of events that occurred in the remote or recent past
E.g.

 Comparing the life of Rizal and Bonifacio

9. Phenomenological Research – can be defined as the investigation and description of a

phenomenon
- concerned with the study of experience from the perspective of the individual
- focuses on life experiences
E.g.
 Study on the life experience of tsunami victims

10. Action Research – refers to the wide variety of evaluative and analytical research methods
designed to diagnose problems
- application of the scientific method in classroom problems
- limited scope
- helpful to beginning researchers

MODULE 2 - QUALITATIVE RESEARCH AND ITS IMPORTANCE IN DAILY LIFE

Types of Qualitative Methods

1. In-depth Interview – uses detailed questions; involves direct, one-on-one intensive

engagement with individual participants

2. Participant Observation – uses five senses; often used in social experiments;

investigator studies the life of a group by sharing in its activities

3. Observation – recording; note-taking

4. Focus Group Discussion – diverse group of six to ten people and whose reactions are
studied especially in market research or political analysis in guided or open discussions about a
new product, concept, etc.

5. Content Analysis - research method for studying documents and communication artifacts,
which might be texts of various formats

6. Narratology – looks at what narratives have in common and what makes one different from
another

7. Film, Videos, and Photographs

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8. Ethnographic Method

9. Case Study - examines a person, place, event, phenomenon, or other type of subject of
analysis in order to extrapolate key themes and results that help predict future trends, illuminate
previously hidden issues that can be applied to practice, and/or provide a means for
understanding an important research problem with greater clarity

10. Grounded Theory - systematic methodology in the social sciences involving the
construction of theories through methodical gathering and analysis of data

Grounded Theory is theory made from collected data

Form of Corpus of Data

Data Collection

Note Taking

Coding

Memoing

Sorting and Writing

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MODULE 3 – IDENTIFYING THE INQUIRY AND STATING THE PROBLEM
Guidelines in Choosing a Research Topic
1. Interest in the subject matter
 Background information
 Unfamiliarity
2. Availability of information
 Visit the library / e-libraries
 RRL sources should at least be 5 years updated
3. Timeliness and Relevance
 Timeliness – related to present / updated
 Relevance – Significance
4. Limitations on the Subject
5. Personal Resources
 Finances, mental capacities, time factor, etc.

Research Topics You Need to Avoid

1. Controversial
2. Highly technical Subject
3. Hard to Investigate Subjects
4. Too broad
5. Too narrow
6. Vague

Sources of Topics
1. Mass Media Communication – TV, radio, e-mail,
2. Books, Internet, journals, thesis
3. Professional Periodicals
4. General Periodicals
5. Reading Assignments
6. Work Experiences / Student Experiences

Selected Guidelines in the Formulation of a Research Title

1. The title must contain the following elements:
a. the subject matter or research problem;
b. the setting or locale of the study;
c. the respondents or participants involved in the study; and
d. the time or period when the study was conducted (if the title becomes too long
because of these elements, the timeframe or period may be omitted except in
evaluation studies
2. The title must be broad enough to include all aspects of the study but should be brief
and concise as possible.

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 3. The use of terms as “Analysis of”, “A Study of”, “An Investigation of” and the like should
be avoided. All of these are understood to have been done in a research.
4. If the title contains m

5. ore than one line, it should be written in inverted pyramid.

6. When typed or encoded in the title page, all words in the title should be in capital letters.
7. If possible, the title should not be longer than 15 substantive words.
8. Avoid a long, detailed title that gives too much information.
9. To shorten the title, delete the terms “assessment” or “evaluation” if these are already
emphasized in the text.
Characteristics of Good Title
1. Gives information about the content of the research
2. It should not stuffy or dull
3. It should be a phrase rather than a complete sentence
4. Straightforward
5. No punctuation at the end of the title
6. Do not underline or enclose in quotation marks.

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 CHAPTER I
THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND
INTRODUCTION
 Also called the background of the study
 General orientation to the problem area

The background or introduction includes the following:

1. Discussion of the problem in general and the scientific situation observed and experiment by
the researcher (macro to micro approach) – in-text citations should be in APA Style

2. Concepts and ideas related to the problem; definition; including clarification of terminologies

3. Discussion of existing or present conditions and what is aimed to be in future or the gap to be
filled in by the researcher

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

 This is the basic difficulty, the issue, the area of concern, the circumstance which exist,
then how they ought to be
Answer the following questions:

1. What are the reasons for the circumstance?

2. Is it answerable or possible to be solved?
3. What are the specific problems that the study aims to answer?

It has two main elements:

a.) The Objective – purpose of the study

- the first part of the problem where the researcher states the aim or the objectives

E.g. The main objective of the study is to…

b.) Research Questions
- the research questions which are to be answered in the study
- should be in question form
- to be followed by minor questions
- three and above questions

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

-importance of the study

- who will benefit out of the findings of the study (beneficiaries)
- what are the benefits

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Tips:

1. Refer to the SOP

2. Write from general to specific

SCOPE AND DELIMITATION

Scope – describes the coverage of the study; answers what is included in the study in terms of
the concept, no. of subjects, and timeline

Delimit – by citing the factors (or variables) are not to be included and the boundary in terms of
time frame, no. of participants who are excluded

DEFINITION OF TERMS
 intended to assist you in understanding commonly used terms and concepts when
reading, interpreting, and evaluating scholarly research

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
- network or a “plane” of linked concepts in research
 Usually in INPUT, PROCESS, OUTPUT form

MODULE 4 – LEARNING FROM OTHERS AND REVIEWING THE LITERATURE

CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES
Review of Related Literature and Review of Related Studies
 Critiquing and evaluating what others have done in relation to the problem being studied
whether these studies affirmed or negate the subject under study

Related Literature
 Any written materials published in book, journal, magazines, novel, poetry, yearbook,
and encyclopedia

Related Studies
 Published and unpublished research studies such as thesis, dissertation, and research
proceedings

Writing an RRL and RRS requires the ability to juggle multiple tasks, from finding and
evaluating relevant material to synthesizing information from various sources, from critical
thinking to paraphrasing, evaluating, and citation skills.

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 Ten Simple Rules
1. Define the topic and the audience.
2. Search and re-search the literature.
3. Take notes while reading.
4. Choose the type of review you wish to write.
5. Keep the review focused, but make it of broad interest.
6. Be critical and consistent.
7. Find a logical structure.
8. Make use of feedback.
9. Include your own relevant research.
10. Be up-to-date in your RRL.

Tips on How to Find Information

1. List down all important research questions.

2. Conduct a library research.
- Examine the materials.
- Write in index cards.
- Use all printed aids and those
delivered electronically.
– Look at the index and glossary of the books.
3. Know how to write citations.
4. Review and synthesize findings.
5. Surf the Internet.
6. Synthesize and categorize the RRL.

Additional Information on the Process of Writing the RRL

Stage 1: Search for the Literature

Look for sources of knowledge, data, or information

Types of Information
 General References
 Primary Sources – directly report or present a person’s own experiences
 Secondary Sources – describe other people’s experiences; most number of materials

Tips on Choosing the Sources

1. Choose research closely related to your research.
2. Give more weight to studies done by people possessing expertise.
3. Refer more to primary data to secondary data.
4. Prefer peer-reviewed materials than general data.

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Stage 2: Reading the Source Material

Confront the reading materials with help of your HOTS.

-Generalize, predict, criticize, evaluate, apply and create

Stage 3: Write the Review

Arranged paraphrased ideas and structures of language using organizational techniques:

 Comparison-contrast
 Chronological
 Spatial
 Inductive-deductive
 Transitional Devices

Dump or Stringing Method

- Mere description, transfer, or listing of writer’s ideas that is devoid of not reflective of
your thinking

Opening an article with a bibliographical list that begins with the author’s name like the following
is not good.

Aquino (2015) said…

Roxas (2016) stated…
Perez (2017) wrote…
Mendoza (2018) asserted…

Examples of better article openings manifesting critical thinking through analysis, comparison
and contrast of ideas and findings are as follows:

One early work by (Castro, 2017) proves that…

Another study on the topic by (Torres, 2017) says that…
The latest study by (Gomez, 2018) reveals that…
A research study by (Rivera, 2017) explains that…

Transitional Devices
- also, additionally, again, similarly, a similar opinion, however, conversely, on the
other hand, nevertheless, a contrasting opinion, a different approach, etc.

 Active Verbs
- analyze, argues, assess, assert, assume, claim, compare, contrast, conclude,
criticize, debate, defend, define, demonstrate, discuss, distinguish, differentiate,
evaluate, examine, emphasize, expand, explain, exhibit, identify, illustrate, imply,
indicate, judge, justify, narrate, outline, persuade, propose, question, relate to, report,
review, suggest, summarize

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Acknowledgment
– can be found at the beginning of the paper and contains the list of individuals
who contributed in writing the paper

References
- Complete list of all the reading materials and sources that were used in writing the
paper

Citation or In-text
- Reference within the main body of the text

Types of In-text Citation

1. Integral Citation
- One way of citing or referring to the author whose ideas appear in your work.
- Often used in social sciences or subjects belonging to the soft sciences

Examples:

APA
One study by Macdon (2018) reveals…
The latest work by (Vitto, 2015) asserts…
According to Abad et. al. (2011) context is..

2. Non-integral Citation
- The stress is given to the piece of information rather than to the owner of the ideas

Example:

a. The Code of Ethics for Intercultural Competences give four ways by which people from
different cultural background can harmoniously relate themselves with one another. (Dela Cruz,
2015)

Patterns of Citation

1. Summary – shortened version of the text that is expressed in your own language

2. Paraphrase – antithesis of the first; instead of shortening the form of the text, you explain
what the text means to you using your own words

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 Example:
Sipher (2005) concludes his essay by insisting that schools have failed to fulfill their primary
duty of education because they try to fill multiple social functions.
Example:
Some scholars believe that schools have failed to fulfill their primary duty of education
because they try to fill multiple social functions (Sipher, 2005).

Note: You do not have to include page numbers in paraphrases. Include them only when you feel it
would help the reader find the information (if it's coming from a very long work, for example).

3. Short Direct Quotation – Only a part of author’s sentence, or several sentences, not
exceeding 40 words. It is what you can quote or repeat in writing through this citation pattern.
Since this makes you copy the exact words of the writer, it is necessary that you give the
number of the page where the readers can find the copied words.

Example:

Patients who prayed had "less congestive heart failure, required less diuretic and antibiotic
therapy, had fewer episodes of pneumonia, had fewer cardiac arrests, and were less frequently
intubated and ventilated" (Byrd, 1988, p. 829).

4. Long Direct Quotations or Block Quotations, or Extract – Named in many ways, this
citation pattern makes you copy the author’s exact words, numbering from 40 up to 100 words.
Under APA, the limit is eight lines. Placed at the center of the page with no indentation, the
copied lines look like they compose a stanza of a poem.

Tips:
 Place direct quotations in a free-standing block of typewritten lines, and omit quotation
marks.
 Indent “about a half inch from the left margin (in the same position as a new paragraph)”
 The citation should include the page(s) or paragraph number and should appear after
the end punctuation.
Note:
Block quotations should be used sparingly. Block quotations tend to take over the voice of the paper,
often overshadowing the voice of the author with that source’s voice. Instead, if at all possible, try to
quote smaller portions of the piece of text and incorporate these into your own voice. This practice will not
only allow you to establish your voice as the author but also show the way you are engaging with the
information, not just reporting it.

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Example:

Jones' 1993 study found the following:

The "placebo effect," which had been verified in previous studies, disappeared when
behaviors were studies in this manner. Furthermore, the behaviors were never exhibited
again [italics added], even when reel [sic] drugs were given. (p.199)

5. Tense of verbs for reporting

Active verbs are effective to use in reporting author’s ideas. Present their ideas in any of these
tenses: present, simple past, or present perfect tense. The APA system, however, prefers the
use of present perfect tense.

Examples:

Present tense – Macdon explains…

Past tense – Macdon explained…
Present perfect tense – Macdon has explained…

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