RESEARCH
MLS RES 100 – LECTURE
DOC. AILEEN GRACE ANG
[TRANS] LESSON 2: RESEARCH PROCESS
ELEMENTS OF THE RESEARCH PROCESS
1. Identify the research problems and objectives
2. Literature review
• searching and reviewing literature
3. Define the actual problem and objectives in clear
and specific terms
4. Formulate the hypothesis and define the study
variables
5. Construct the research design
6. Design the tools for data collection
7. Design the plan for data collection
8. Collect the data
9. Process the data
10. Analyze the data
11. Write the research report
12. Disseminate and utilize the research result
IDENTIFY THE RESEARCH PROBLEM AND
OBJECTIVES
A. SELECT TOPICS FOR RESEARCH
• important since we have to make sure that the topic
we have selected is relevant and can be utilized by
people
CRITERIA FOR SELECTION OF PROBLEM
1. RESEARCHER CHARACTERISTICS
a. personal interest and inclination
• as researchers we have to reidentify our
personal interests and our inclination
• whatever difficulty encountered with our
research, we will always have that drive to
finish because of our interest
b. training
• before selecting a problem, reflect if you
are capable or trained enough to do this
kind of research
• it is not enough to only be interested in a
topic. we have to check our capacity and
capability. after assessing, we have to
acknowledge our lack of skills and do
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• something about it to be competent to do
that research
▪ e.g., interest and training mismatch.
students interested on antigiogenic
activity but not trained enough to do the
procedure. In the end, students
underwent training for that procedure
c. previous experience
• having prior experience with a research
topic will boost your confidence into
venturing into that research area
• e.g., antimicrobial resistance for both MS
Bio and MS MT thesis since she is highly
interested in that area and has acquired
training for it
2. NATURE OF TOPIC
a. timeliness: internet, literature
• check internet, literature, and journals to
identify timely topics to study
• e.g., most research during COVID
pandemic period were centered on
COVID disease and cure
b. relevance
• must be beneficial to all people
• e.g., antimicrobial resistance and
continuous appearance of superbugs.
relevant because more organisms are
acquiring multidrug resistance to drugs
available to the market
c. replicable
• replication is different from
duplication.
▪ Duplication: act or process of making
an exact copy of something
▪ Replication: repeating but not
necessarily copying the entire thing
• e.g., studying antimicrobial property of
plant.
▪ duplication is merely redoing the
entire process and object being
studied
▪ replication, the process may be the
same but plant used is different
• NOTE: Duplication is not tolerated in
research. Replication is encouraged for
students hoping to add to the existing
body of knowledge.
d. applicability / utizability
• social value of the paper
• aside from looking at the significance of
the study, you have to know the value of
the study, topic, or problem
• e.g., knowing what is now the value of the
result of such a study; what is the
applicability of this research to the
community
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[TRANS] LESSON 2: RESEARCH PROCESS
• why dengue is not totally eradicated in a
e. cost-effectiveness particular area → create evaluation of
• the cost of the study worth its results? occurrence → strategy to combat this infection
• e.g., antimicrobial property of expensive 4. Somebody else’s completed research
plant. plant used for study is expensive. In • read on the area of recommendation of other
the end, maybe no person will avail your researchers and use that gap or
product due to its price recommendation as main topic of your research

3. FEASIBILITY 5. Investigator’s intellectual and scientific interest

• availability of subjects
• availability of specific equipment
• necessity for special working conditions
• availability of research fund
▪ degree of sponsorship / administrative
cooperation
• hazards to be encountered
• time requirements / duration
4. ETHICAL CONSIDERATION
• risks involved to investigator and subjects
• data gathering should not compromise the
safety of the researchers and the safety of the
participants
• example 1: clinical trial on certain drug
▪ benefit should be worth all the risks
▪ in doing such studies, we should be open
and transparent to all the risks associated
with the study and ensure voluntary
participation
• example 2: survey questionnaire requires
ethics since questions may trigger the emotions
of the participants
▪ questionnaires should be evaluated by
ethics committee and undergo validation by
experts before administered to participants
5. SIGNIFICANCE / SOCIAL VALUE OF THE
STUDY
• a novel study does not necessarily mean that
it is already researchable
▪ it does not mean that since there has been
no study yet conducted about this particular
problem, then the research is okay
▪ for all we know, no one ventured into that
topic because there is really no significance
or value in the study
• convince panel that study should not only be
relevant but it is also significant and
important
SOURCES OF RESEARCH PROBLEM
1. Own experiences, communication with other
people
• talked about a certain topic with friends → look
it up and check if researchable
2. Assessment of needs and practices
• go to a community and assess their problems
to come up with a researchable topic
3. Patterns and trends
6. Critical reading of Literature
• see how much is known about a certain topic
and see how your research and the objective of
your research can contribute to the knowledge
gap in that particular area of interest
7. Intellectual curiosity, Intuitive Hunch
• Alexander Fleming. Saw that the fungi which
grows in a plate eliminated the growth of S.
aureus. Hypothesized that fungi may have
characteristics that inhibited the growth of
bacteria.
8. Serendipity
• phenomenon of finding valuable or agreeable
things not sought for
• example 1: discovery of Viagra. Originally for
Cardivascular disease. Concurrently noticed
that males who had erectile dysfunction had
erection. Discovered that Viagra can be used to
treat erectile dysfunction
• example 2: Alexander Fleming on discovery of
Penicillin
CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD RESEARCH
QUESTION (mnemonic: FINER)
F easible
I nteresting
N ovel
E thical
R elevant
1. Feasible
• need to consider the following:
a. number of subjects
b. technical expertise
c. resources
d. is it manageable? given that we are always
having our classes everyday
• If it is not feasible, look for another problem
2. Interesting
• is it something that will make the readers read
our paper?
3. Novel
• It should confirm and refutes previous findings
• it should extend our knowledge in previous
topic, research, or facts
• It should provide new findings

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[TRANS] LESSON 2: RESEARCH PROCESS
• Novelty: ensure that the knowledge that you
have obtained from your study can contribute to
the existing body of knowledge
4. Ethical
• It should comply to the principles of ethics such
as: autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence,
justice, informed consent, confidentiality and
data protection, integrity of interests
5. Relevant
• study must be relevant to:
a. scientific knowledge
b. clinical and health policies
c. future research direction
Good research question contains FINER.
B. FORMULATE RESEARCH OBJECTIVE
• “A question well-phrased is a question half answered”
o The statement means that answers depend on how
you state the question
o When you ask a stupid question, you well get a
stupid answer as well
o Research questions must be well crafted
• Indicates the direction of the research
• Clearly reflects the question of that the researcher
wants to answer
o A good research objective should be able to narrow
down what the research is all about
• Can be expressed in the form of a statement or a
question
o Both are correct way of expressing and it’s up to the
researcher what to choose
o It is also important to consult the institution or
publication on how to state the research objectives.
o Ex: To determine the relationship of smoking and
Lung Cancer
▪ This is in statement form – Statement of
Objective
o What is the relationship of smoking and Lung
Cancer?
▪ This is in question form – Statement of the
Problem
PROGRAM VS. RESEARCH OBJECTIVE
• A Program Objective reflects the purpose or desired
output of the intervention being considered
o Broader – wide coverage
o More encompassing
▪ Ex: To decrease the prevalence of severe
malnutrition among preschoolers by 80% within a
2-year period
• A Research Objective reflects questions which need
to be answered in order to know if the program
objective was attained
o Narrower
o More specific than Program Objective
o Directed to one of the objectives of a research
project
o One component of a Program Objective
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▪ Ex: To determine and compare the baseline level
of the prevalence of severe malnutrition among
preschoolers with corresponding value 2 years
after program implementation
• The program objective can be answered through the
articulation of research objective
FORMULATING OBJECTIVES
• Use action verbs specific enough to be measured
o When we choose verbs in formulating research
objectives, we should always ensure that it is
measurable
o We must also ensure to articulate in our protocol
how these verbs will be measured
▪ to determine
▪ to compare
▪ to calculate
▪ to describe
• Don’t use vague non-action verbs
o It is difficult to measure
o Use of vague non-action verbs might result to
difficulty in interpreting findings
▪ to appreciate
▪ to understand
▪ to explore
GENERAL OBJECTIVE
• Needs to be articulated first
• Identifies in general terms what is to be accomplished
by the study
o Ex: To determine the effectiveness of a nutrition
education program for school children
SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE
• Identifies in specific details on how to accomplish the
research by using measurable parameters
o Ex: To determine and compare the prevalence of
malnutrition among schoolchildren before and after
the nutrition program
o Ex: To determine and compare the level of nutrition
knowledge among schoolchildren before and after
the nutrition program
CHARACTERISTICS OF RESEARCH OBJECTIVE
• Phrased clearly, unambiguously, and specifically
stated
o Unambiguously – it should not be open to more than
one interpretation
• Stated in measurable and operational
• Good research should be S.M.A.R.T
o S – Specific
o M – Measurable
o A – Attainable
o R – Relevant
o T – Time-bound
EXAMPLES OF OBJECTIVES
• To study diarrhea
o Too vague; it will create a lot of interpretation
o It is difficult to understand; there are different types
of diarrheas
• To determine the role of infant feeding in diarrhea
o It’s still difficult to understand because there are
different types of breastfeeding
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DOC. AILEEN GRACE ANG
[TRANS] LESSON 2: RESEARCH PROCESS
• To compare the incidence of diarrhea among bottle,
breast, and mixed-fed infants
o Better objective
o Specific
2. CONDUCT LITERATURE REVIEW
• The purpose of the literature review is to support the
problem that we have identified based on what is
currently known and to identify the gap of knowledge
as seen in the kinds of literature on the topic of interest
• Cannot be done overnight
o It will not be correctly done
o If you want to come up with a good literature review,
one that is very systematic and organized, a month
is not enough
• Not a patchwork
o It is not like getting an idea from one author to
another and then connecting those ideas just like a
puzzle
▪ It is an act of plagiarism in the process
▪ We need to be critical about the content of our
literature review
▪ Always make sure to acknowledge the source
• Critical assessment
o What is known?
o What is not known?
o How strong is the evidence?
▪ Ex: A study about green ginger. We need to know
what is currently known, what is not known, and
how are we going to support that gap that we have
identified about the problem that we have in mind
o As researchers, we need to critically assess the
available information found in various sources
o Information found on the web is meaningless if we
do not formulate the right question
▪ Identify conflating information
▪ Assess the credibility and accuracy of the
information
▪ Determine what actions to be take in response to
the information that we have gathered
o Most of the time we go as far as knowing who the
author is and what are his or her contributions so
that we can somehow assess the credibility of the
source of the information that we are going to place
• Be systematic in writing your literature review
o We need to identify keywords that we can use to
search for literature and
o We also have to come up a framework on how we
are going to write our literature review
Stages in Writing Literature Review
1. Literature Research
• Gather everything that we need to know about the
topic of interest
• Limit the topic of interest by identifying and using
keywords to narrow down our search in searching
for literature in the internet
2. Evaluation and Analysis of Work
3. Drafting
• Use the specific outline to make sure that the
content will be systematic and are arranged in a
logical manner
• Outline your literature properly
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Structure of a Literature Review
• Conceptual Literature
o Present concept 1.
o Present concept 2.
o Present concept 3.
• Related Studies
o Present study 1.
o Present study 2.
o Present study 3.
• Synthesis
• Theoretical Framework
• Note: Start up with specifics & end up with
generalization; Follow the process above in order;
• Conceptual Literature is more on defining the
variables involved in the study (Independent &
Dependent), allowing the readers to be aware of the
variables to be measured in the study.
• Related Studies must present the relevance of
related studies on your topic, findings, and results.
• Synthesis demonstrates a scholarship of the
researcher and presents here what is known & what is
not known about your topic.
• Theoretical Framework is a broader explanation of
the theories about the study which you hope to narrow
down as you bring your readers to the conceptual
framework of your research study
• Minimize the use of direct quotations in your
paper.
• Use recent references from Institute of Scientific
Information (ISI)/Scopus- indexed journals
o Scopus is Elsevier’s Abstract and Citation
Database; these are two institutions that when
used as references, means that RRL sources
came from peer-reviewed articles/journals, thus
credible sources of information.
Sources of Literature
• Unpublished completed thesis, dissertation
• Medical and public health journals
• Statistical reports (Phil Health Stat, Demographic
Yearbook)
• Indexes (Index Medicus)
• Publications of Abstracts (Excerpta Medica)
• Databases (Medline, Ovid, Herdin)
• Academic search engines
o https://scholar.google.com
3. DEFINE THE ACTUAL PROBLEM AND
OBJECTIVES IN CLEAR SPECIFIC TERMS
Make them more specific or limit the scope
• To determine the impact of continuing education for
health workers (too broad)
• To determine the effect of continuing education
activities conducted by the DOH for its staff on their
performance (still somehow vague)
• To determine the effect of the Master Trainer’s Course
conducted by the DOH on the capabilities of the
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participants to plan, implement and evaluate training expected outcome)
programs they conduct in the field (narrowed down;
should be like this)

4. FORMULATE THE HYPOTHESIS AND DEFINE

THE STUDY VARIABLES
• Hypothesis- a proposition or statement about the
relationship of variables being investigated
o aka Intellectual guess/Educated assumption;
statement given to emphasize variable
relationships that will be investigated; gives
possible explanation to investigated phenomena; o I.V.- Women’s Economic Status
must be validated once determined through o D.V.- Pregnancy Complication
experiment/investigations o C.V.- Presence of Chronic Disease
▪ Scenario: Open gate of house possibly due to a
robber gaining entry to house or family visitors Symbols used in Research Frameworks
in house, etc.
ARROW MEANING
• Variable- a characteristic or measurement whose
value differs from one individual to another or from one One-sided arrow Causal effect
Definite transition
period to another in the same individual
Double-sided Correlational effect
o Not constant or always change/differ e.g. Sex,
equivalence arrow
Age, Educational Attainment
Broken line arrow Perception and interpretation
Type of variables
Indefinite transition
• Independent Variable- Presumed to cause, influence Hypothesized concept
or stimulate the outcome, can be manipulated by the Unfilled arrow Shows the other links
investigator available in the system (used
o INPUT e.g. Temperature which can be adjusted when presenting process
• Dependent Variable- the output, outcome or flow/procedure)
response variable
o Result of the changes made to I.V. SHAPES MEANING
• Confounding Variable- differences between groups Square, rectangle Observed concept, variable
that cannot be attributed to the IV; sometimes referred Final outcome
to as extraneous or intervening variables
o Recognize this & eliminate from study by Circle Latent concept, variable
articulating it in inclusion & exclusion criteria e.g. If Adverse events or harm
smoking identified to be a C.V., articulate in paper
Line Functional Relationship
that only non-smokers will be the recruited
participants
Ellipse Concept is comprised of more
Conceptual Framework than one operationally defined
variable (usually seen in
• Conceptual Framework- shows the relationship of exploratory and confirmatory
the variables being studied factor analysis)
o What is the thesis of your thesis? Concave square, Surrogate, intermediate
• Example: The Relationship of Women’s Economic rectangle outcomes
Status towards Pregnancy Complications; Response actions
Assumption is the higher the economic status of the
woman (financially stable), the lesser the pregnancy
complication due to better access to health services; 5. CONSTRUCT RESEARCH DESIGN
Even if a pregnant woman is rich, pregnancy
• “Plan of attack”
complication still occurs due to the presence of
chronic disease(C.V, attributing changes to an • Includes subject/participant selection, sample size,
control and manipulation of variables, outcome
evaluation, instrumentation, plan of analysis
• Consider the objectives, feasibility, economy and
efficiency, ethics
• Important to achieve internal and external validity
Internal Validity

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• Internal Validity- extent to which the investigator is
able to control the different biases that may affect the Data Collection Data Collection
study to be able to measure what he really intends to Techniques Tools
measure
o Refers to everything you will do in procedure e.g. Using available Checklist, data compilation
when using experimental animal like mice in your information forms
study, uniform size of all mice must be considered
since this might affect treatment outcomes
Observing Eyes and other senses,
pen and paper, watch,
External Validity
scales and microscopes
• External Validity- the extent to which the investigator
is able to generalize the results of the study
Interviewing Interview schedule,
o E.g. The SWSS survey conducted before the
checklist, questionnaire,
Philippine elections providing accurate result of tape recorder
the winners even thothe ugh only small

sample was utilized like 4,000 people; researcher Administering written Questionnaire
really made sure that in the process of selecting questionnaires
participants, actual characteristics of voters were
well-represented; even if small population, it can
already generalize the result of general population
• The moment that we already identified the type of
QUALITATIVE QUANTITATIVE research design best suited for the study, the next
thing to do is to decide on what data collection tool
General Descriptive Descriptive will be the most appropriate to use.
o The table above shows which data collection tool
is best suited for each data collection technique
Case Study Correlational
• The heart of data collection is defined as how the
researchers are going to collect the data and making
Ethnography Ex post facto sure all of the things are available before the data
collection

7. DESIGN THE PLAN FOR DATA ANALYSIS

Grounded Theory Quasi-Experimental
Historical Research Experimental
Phenomenology
• Mixed Method – refers to the combination of both
qualitative and quantitative research design. The
mixture of qualitative-quantitative somehow gives a
better view or understanding of the study that is being
investigated; both qualitative and quantitative
research designs have their own limitations, that is
why the mixed method was created to obtain the best
of qualitative views, and the quantitative views. The
researcher will be able to have a better view of the
study they are conducting.
6. DESIGN DATA COLLECTION TOOLS
• The design for the data analysis should be done
before the data collection
• Everything should be planned beforehand, especially
the analysis of the data
• It is recommended that during the proposal stage, the
researchers should already prepare the dummy tables
to help them in conceptualizing how data the data is
going to be organized and presented after the
collection
• The researchers should have foresight on how to
present the data once it is available, that is why all
throughout the process, the statistician should already
be present
8. COLLECT THE DATA
• Once the researchers have already drafted a written
plan for data collection and the tools are already
available for data analysis, then then it is possible to
proceed to next step which is the collection of data
• Be mindful of the ethical protocols
• Permission to collect data
o Administrative concerns
▪ Meeting with community leaders
• Social preparation

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o Proper orientation of the population prior to
the data collection LESSON TAKEAWAY
• Data collectors should be trained on how to properly Research and Cooking
collect data in order to prevent errors and to properly • Menu Planning – Research Planning
observe ethical conduct during collection • Marketing – Data Collection
• Cooking – Data Processing and Analysis, Conclusion
9. DATA PROCESSING • Table Setting and Eating – Report Writing and
Phases of Data Processing Utilization
• Editing of Data Collection Forms
o Completeness
o Legibility of entries
o Consistency of response

• Coding and Encoding of Responses

o Precoding of difficult information

▪ (e.g Male 1 and Female 2; when using

number in coding, it doesn’t really have a
numerical value)

o Coding the data in analyzable form

o Encoding the data in the computer

10. DATA ANALYSIS

• Involves quantification, description and determination
of relationships of variables
• Statistics plays an important role
o As a basic rule, the researchers should know
how to use statistical tools that are used for
quantitative research design
Two Methods of Statistical Data Analysis
• Descriptive Statistics
o Frequency Distribution
o Mean, Median, Standard Deviation, and
Range
o Graphical presentations
• Inferential Statistics: Estimation of Parameters
and Hypothesis Testing
o Tests for means (T-test, ANOVA)
o Tests for proportions (chi-square)
o Tests for associations (Prevalence ratios,
Odds ratios, Relative Risks)
o Regression (linear, logistic, Cox survival,
poisson)

11. WRITE THE RESEARCH REPORT

• Organized presentation of activities and findings
• Make conclusions: answering the research questions
and objectives
• Follow the basic principles of technical report writing
(form and style); take note, the simpler the better

12. DISSEMENATE AND UTILIZE THE REPORTS

• Dissemination
o Publication in scientific journals
o News releases
o Presentation in scientific meetings
• Utilization
o Basis for determining changes as a result for
intervention
o Information-based decision-making
o Clinical trial – therapeutic intervention

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