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Practical Research 2
Quarter I – Module 2:
Identifying the Inquiry and Stating
the Problem
(Week 2-3)

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 Subject: Practical Research 2
Grade & Section: Grade 12-ABM
Module No. 2
Week No. 2-3
Instructor: Ms. Camille N. Cornelio

Objectives:

At the end of the lesson, students should be able to:

1. the range of research topics in the area of inquiry;
2. the value of research in the area of interest;
3. the specificity of the problem posed;
4. distinguish a researchable from a non-researchable research problem;
5. narrow down a general topic into a smaller one;
6. explain the meaning of a quantitative research problem;
7. use prose and non-prose means of comparing-contrasting the approaches and types
of research question; and
8. apply the guidelines in stating a quantitative research problem and research question.

Lesson Quantitative Research

1 Problem

RESEARCH IN OUR DAILY LIFE

GUIDELINES IN MAKING A RESEARCH PROBLEMS

1. One or more sentences indicating the goal, purpose, or overall direction of the study

2. General characteristics
– Implies the possibility of empirical investigation

– Identifies a need for the research

– Provides focus

– Provides a concise overview of the research

3. Two ways of stating the problem

just enough information about the scope and purpose of the study to provide an
initial understanding of the research
d statements and
questions that communicate in greater detail the nature of the study

4. A general research problem

students to mandated drug testing programs

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5. Specific statements and questions

toward mandated high school drug testing programs.

senior students‘ attitudes toward mandated high school drug testing programs?

6. Researchable and non-researchable problems

What are the achievement and social skill differences between children
attending an academically or socially oriented pre-school program?

and their use of them?

7. Researchable and non-researchable problems

-researchable problems include explanations of how to do something,
vague propositions, and value-based concerns
- Is democracy a good form of government?
- Should values clarification be taught in public schools?
- Can crime be prevented?
- Should physical education classes be dropped from the high school curriculum?

QUANTITATIVE VS QUALITATIVE
Quantitative problems Qualitative problems
– Specific - General
– Closed - Open
– Static - Evolving
– Outcome oriented - Process oriented
– Use of specific variables

(Copyright, Allyn & Bacon 2008)

SOURCES OF RESEARCH PROBLEMS

– Personal interests and experiences
The use of formative tests in a statistics class
The use of technology in a research class

– Deductions from theory

The effectiveness of math manipulative
The effectiveness of a mastery approach to learning research

– Replication of studies
Checking the findings of a major study
Checking the validity of research findings with different subjects
Checking trends or changes over time
Checking important findings using different methodologies
Clarification of contradictory results

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Quantitative Research Problems
Identifies three specific elements
– The type of research design
– The variables of interest and the relationships between or among these variables
– The subjects involved in the study

Guidelines in Choosing a Research Topic

1. Interest in the Subject Matter
2. Availability of information
3. Timeliness and relevance of the topic
4. Limitation on the subject
5. Personal resources

Research Topics to be avoided

1. Controversial topics
- These are topics that depend greatly on the writer‘s opinion, which tend to be biased or
prejudicial. Facts cannot support topics like these.
2. Highly technical subjects
- For a beginner, researching on topics that require an advance study, technical
knowledge, and vast experience is a very difficult.
3. Hard-to-investigate subjects
- A topic or a subject is hard to investigate if there is no available data or reading materials
about it and if such materials are not-up-date or obsolete.
4. Too broad subjects
- A subject or a topic that are too broad will prevent the researcher from giving a
concentrated or in –depth analysis of the subject matter of the research paper.
5. Too narrow subjects
- The subjects are so limited or specific that an extensive or thorough searching or reading
for information about the subject is necessary.
6. Vague subjects
- Choosing topics like these will prevent you from having a clear insights or focus on your
study. For instance, titles beginning with indefinite adjectives such as several, many,
some, etc., as in ―Some Remarkable Traits of a Ilocano‖ Several People‘s Comments on
the Extra Judicial Killings,‖ are vague enough to decrease the readers‘ interest and
curiosity.

WRITING A 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.

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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.

A good research paper title:

Condenses the paper‘s content in a few words
Captures the readers‘ attention
Differentiates the paper from other papers of the same subject area

Three basic tips to keep in mind while writing a title:

o Keep it simple, brief and attractive: The primary function of a title is to provide a
precise summary of the paper‘s content. So keep the title brief and clear. Use active verbs
instead of complex noun-based phrases, and avoid unnecessary details. Moreover, a good
title for a research paper is typically around 10 to 12 words long. A lengthy title may seem
unfocused and take the readers‘ attention away from an important point.

Avoid: Drug XYZ has an effect of muscular contraction for an hour in snails of Achatina
fulcia species
Better: Drug XYZ induces muscular contraction in Achatina fulcia snails

o Use appropriate descriptive words: A good research paper title should contain key
words used in the manuscript and should define the nature of the study. Think about
terms people would use to search for your study and include them in your title.

Avoid: Effects of drug A on schizophrenia patients: study of a multicenter mixed group

Better: Psychosocial effects of drug A on schizophrenia patients: a multicenter
randomized controlled trial

o Avoid abbreviations and jargon: Known abbreviations such as AIDS, NATO, and
so on can be used in the title. However, other lesser-known or specific abbreviations and
jargon that would not be immediately familiar to the readers should be left out.

Avoid: MMP expression profiles cannot distinguish between normal and early
osteoarthritic synovial fluid
Better: Matrix metalloproteinase protein expression profiles cannot distinguish
between normal and early osteoarthritic synovial fluid
Always write down the hypothesis and then take into consideration these simple tips. This
would help you in composing the best title for your research paper.

SCOPE AND DELIMITATIONS

It is important to narrow down your thesis topic and limit the scope of your study. The
researcher should inform the reader about limits or coverage of the study. The scope
identifies the boundaries of the study in term of subjects, objectives, facilities, area, time
frame, and the issues to which the research is focused.
Sample phrases that help express the scope of the study:
The coverage of this study……….
The study consists of ……..
The study covers the ……….
This study is focus on……..

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The delimitation of the study is delimiting a study by geographic location, age, sex,
population traits, population size, or other similar considerations. Delimitation is used to
make study better and more feasible and not just for the interest of the researcher. It also
identifies the constraints or weaknesses of your study which are not within the control of
the researcher.
Sample phrases that expressed the delimitations of the study
The study does not cover the……
The researcher limited this research to……
This study is limited to………

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 Lesson
Hypothesis
2
A hypothesis is a specific statement of prediction. It describes in concrete (rather
than theoretical) terms what you expect will happen in your study. Not all studies have
hypotheses. Sometimes a study is designed to be exploratory. There is no formal
hypothesis, and perhaps the purpose of the study is to explore some area more thoroughly
in order to develop some specific hypothesis or prediction that can be tested in future
research. A single study may have one or many hypotheses.

Actually, whenever the researcher talks about hypothesis, the researcher really thinking
simultaneously about two hypotheses. Let's say that you predict that there will be a
relationship between two variables in your study. The way we would formally set up the
hypothesis test is to formulate two hypothesis statements, one that describes your
prediction and one that describes all the other possible outcomes with respect to the
hypothesized relationship. Your prediction is that variable A and variable B will be related
(you don't care whether it's a positive or negative relationship). Then the only other
possible outcome would be that variable A and variable B are not related. Usually, we call
the hypothesis that you support (your prediction) the alternative hypothesis, and we
call the hypothesis that describes the remaining possible outcomes the null hypothesis.
Sometimes we use a notation like HA or H1 to represent the alternative hypothesis or your
prediction, and HO or H0 to represent the null case. You have to be careful here, though.
In some studies, your prediction might very well be that there will be no difference or
change. In this case, you are essentially trying to find support for the null hypothesis and
you are opposed to the alternative.

If your prediction specifies a direction, and the null therefore is the no difference
prediction and the prediction of the opposite direction, we call this a one-tailed
hypothesis. For instance, let's imagine that you are investigating the effects of a new
employee training program and that you believe one of the outcomes will be that there
will be less employee absenteeism. Your two hypotheses might be stated something like
this:

The null hypothesis for this study is:

HO: As a result of the XYZ company employee training program, there will either be no
significant difference in employee absenteeism or there will be a significant increase.
which is tested against the alternative hypothesis:

HA: As a result of the XYZ company employee training program, there will be a significant
decrease in employee absenteeism.

In the figure on the left, we see this situation

illustrated graphically. The alternative
hypothesis -- your prediction that the
program will decrease absenteeism -- is
shown there. The null must account for the
other two possible conditions: no difference,
or an increase in absenteeism. The figure
shows a hypothetical distribution of

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absenteeism differences. We can see that the term "one-tailed" refers to the tail of the
distribution on the outcome variable.

When your prediction does not specify a direction, we say you have a two-tailed
hypothesis. For instance, let's assume you are studying a new drug treatment for
depression. The drug has gone through some initial animal trials, but has not yet been
tested on humans. You believe (based on theory and the previous research) that the drug
will have an effect, but you are not confident enough to hypothesize a direction and say
the drug will reduce depression (after all, you've seen more than enough promising drug
treatments come along that eventually were shown to have severe side effects that actually
worsened symptoms). In this case, you might state the two hypotheses like this:

The null hypothesis for this study is:

HO: As a result of 300mg./day of the ABC drug, there will be no significant difference in
depression.
which is tested against the alternative hypothesis:
HA: As a result of 300mg./day of the ABC drug, there will be a significant difference in
depression.

The figure on the right illustrates this

two-tailed prediction for this case.
Again, notice that the term "two-
tailed" refers to the tails of the
distribution for your outcome variable.
The important thing to remember
about stating hypotheses is that you
formulate your prediction (directional
or not), and then you formulate a
second hypothesis that is mutually
exclusive of the first and incorporates
all possible alternative outcomes for that case. When your study analysis is completed,
the idea is that you will have to choose between the two hypotheses. If your prediction
was correct, then you would (usually) reject the null hypothesis and accept the alternative.
If your original prediction was not supported in the data, then you will accept the null
hypothesis and reject the alternative. The logic of hypothesis testing is based on these two
basic principles:
the formulation of two mutually exclusive hypothesis statements that, together, exhaust
all possible outcomes the testing of these so that one is necessarily accepted and the other
rejected
(https://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/hypothes.php)

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Name:_____________________________ __Score: _____________
Strand/Section/Grade:___________________Date: ______________

o Write a research title that is aligned to your academic track.

o List down at least three major problems and with the statement of the problems.

o Write down the reason behind why you choose that research topic.

Let you imagination do it!

What immediately comes to your mind the moment you hear these two words: PROBLEM
and QUESTION? How would you compare and contrast the two? In the space below,
make an appropriate diagram to show their similarities and differences.

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References:

http://universalteacher.com/1/criteria-for-selecting-a-research-problem/

https://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/hypothes.php

http://www.editage.com/insights/3-basic-tips-on-writing-a-good-research-paper-title

What is the nature of research? | Insights Association

www.insightsassociation.org/faq/what-nature-research

http://betterthesis.dk/research-methods/lesson-1different-approaches-to-
research/strengths-and-limitations

Baraceros, Esther L., PRACTICAL RESEARCH 1,First Edition 2016, Rex Book Store,
856 Nicanor, Sr. St., Manila, Philippines..

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