PR1

HANDOUT #6

The Scope and Delimitation and the Significance of the Study

SETTING THE SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The scope of the study is determined primarily by the selection of variables that the
research study will focus on. Defining the scope of the research requires the careful selection
of variables that will be investigated, as well as the attributes that will define and measure
these variables.
A variable refers to any characteristic that can have different values or traits that
may vary across research participants. Variables are measured, controlled, and manipulated
by the researcher.
Attributes are important elements of a variable. It refers to the value assigned to a
specific variable.

Important characteristics of variables:
1. Dependence refers to how the variable is considered in a cause-and-effect relationship.
2. Mutually exclusive – means that a participant or respondent cannot possess two
attributes of a variable. For instance, a person cannot be both male and female.
3. Exhaustive –means that the researcher should consider all possible attributes of a
certain variable. Selecting the most relevant attributes for each variable is part of setting
the scope of the study.

Kinds of Variables
1. Independent variables are characteristics that the researcher changes, manipulates, or
selects.
2. Dependent variables change because of changes to the independent variable.
3. Continuous variables – variables that may have an infinite number of values and may
vary widely among the research participants. Examples include age and weight.
4. Discrete variables – variables that have specific limits to their value. Examples include
income, number of children, or years of employment.
5. Categorical variables – these cannot be expressed in numbers but are given in non-
quantitative, descriptive terms. Examples include civil status (single, married, widowed),
and educational achievement (high school graduate, college graduate, postgraduate).

Delimitation of the study
The delimitation of the study describes the various limitations that arose during the design
and conduct of the study. The limitations of the study are defined primarily by the scope of
the study. While the scope of the study defines the variables that are the focus of the research,
the delimitation of the study identifies the other variables that were not considered for the
study.
Limitations of the study: It pertains to the things that you do not include in your study.
Delimitations of the study: these refer to the things that you include in your study.

Possible limitations that may arise from the research design and methodology:
1. Sample size. The sample size will determine the data quality and the relationships
identified among the variables.
2. Lack of available and/or reliable data. Missing and unreliable data will limit the scope of
analysis and the ability of the researcher to determine meaningful trends and
relationships among the data.
Reference:
Cristobal, A. P. & De La Cruz-Cristobal, M.C. (2017) Enhanced Teacher’s Manual Practical Research 1 for
Senior High School. C & E Publishing, Inc. Quezon City
 PR1 HANDOUT #6

3. Lack of prior studies. This will limit the effectiveness of the literature review and may
limit the initial understanding of the research problem. This, however, can be a basis for
identifying avenues for further research.
4. Chosen data collection method. Limitations in the data collection instrument may affect
the data quality. Unclear or vague questions in a questionnaire will result in unclear or
erroneous answers from the respondents. The method employed in data collection may
also affect the quality of the data.
5. Nature of the information collected. Relying on preexisting data may impose limits on the
researcher as he or she can no longer clarify certain data. Self-reported data have the risk
of being false and cannot be easily verified.

Possible limitations that may arise from the characteristics of the researcher and his/her
experiences:
1. Access. The amount and quality of data will depend on the ability of the researcher to
access people, organizations, libraries, and documents that can provide him or her with
the best available data.
2. Time period. The length of time devoted to the study will affect almost all aspects of the
research. Selecting a research problem and design that gives way to a more manageable
time period is advisable.
3. Bias. This refers to a way of viewing a certain thing, issue, or idea and may be influenced
by the researcher’s background. The researcher, therefore, should be aware of his or her
personal biases and how these affect the conduct of the research.
4. Language. This may have an effect on data collection, especially if the researcher is
involved with respondents that speak a variety of languages. This is especially a challenge
in studies involving documents written in different languages.

TIPS FOR WRITING A SCOPE & LIMITATIONS
State the Scope of your study to define the Coverage and set the Limitation or Boundary of
the research.
▰ It should include the following discussions:
§ Test Subjects
§ Intervention or Treatment
§ Sampling Method
§ Schedule or time frame

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The significance of the study discusses the benefits of the study to society in general
and to its beneficiaries in particular. This section describes the contribution of the study to
the existing body of knowledge. It could be in the form of new knowledge in the field,
confirmation of the major findings of other studies, verification of the validity of findings in
a different population, analysis of trends over time, and validation of other findings using
different methodologies.
The researcher also has to identify the beneficiaries who will directly gain from the
results of the study. In identifying the beneficiaries, the researcher should be specific in
mentioning them in the paper. The specific benefits must also be enumerated and explained
if necessary. It is also important that the beneficiaries should be listed according to the
significance of the study’s results to them.

Reference:
Cristobal, A. P. & De La Cruz-Cristobal, M.C. (2017) Enhanced Teacher’s Manual Practical Research 1 for
Senior High School. C & E Publishing, Inc. Quezon City
 PR1 HANDOUT #6

How to write significance of the study

1. Discuss the methodological, substantive, and/or theoretical contribution.
2. State the practical and/or theoretical importance of your study's problem and/or
objectives.
3. Explain the usefulness or benefits of the study to both the outside world and the research
community.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE
The literature review is the process of compiling, classifying, and evaluating what other
researchers have written on a topic. It can be a partial component of a research undertaking,
but it can also stand alone as a self-contained review of writing on a subject.

Literature Review serves the following purposes:
1. It helps in placing the work being reviewed in its context.
2. It describes the relationship of each work to the research being undertaken.
3. It identifies new ways to interpret and shed light on various gaps based on previous
research.
4. It helps in solving conflicts among seemingly contradictory previous studies.
5. It identifies the areas that are subject to a prior study to prevent duplication of efforts.
6. It points to another research undertaking.

Types of Reading
1. Elementary reading. This is the most common kind of reading. It consists merely of the
recognition of letters and basic sounds and the literal comprehension of sentences. It is
primarily useful that an individual can recognize letters and sounds correctly, but it is
better if he or she comprehends the ideas presented in each sentence after reading.
2. Systematic skimming. Research demands a lot of reading. Hence, the reader must
establish a system through which he or she can maximize time in searching for pertinent
or relevant literature.
3. Analytic reading. The reader asks questions to understand the article such as, “What is
the book or article all about?”, “What is being said in detail and how?”, and “What of it?”
He or she takes time to understand every detail of the piece.
4. Comparative reading. This is the highest level of reading which requires the reader to
place what he or she is currently reading in relation to other materials he or she has
previously read. This type of reading helps the reader identify the similarities and
differences between two or more articles in terms of their variables and propositions.

CONDUCTING A REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Steps in Reviewing Literature
1. Finding relevant materials. The researcher’s priority is to enrich his or her work by
reading literature containing important data relative to his or her problem to fully
comprehend the variables being studied.
2. Actual reading. After the preselection process, the researcher must thoroughly critique
the contents of the materials. Critiquing involves asking questions that, at this stage,
should focus on the variables.
3. Note-taking. One of the characteristics of a good researcher is being systematic. He or she
must establish a system of note-taking to save time and effort. The researcher must take
notes, putting only the important data in his or her own words. It is suggested that the
Reference:
Cristobal, A. P. & De La Cruz-Cristobal, M.C. (2017) Enhanced Teacher’s Manual Practical Research 1 for
Senior High School. C & E Publishing, Inc. Quezon City
 PR1 HANDOUT #6

researcher prepare index cards on which he or she can take notes before gathering or
searching for reference materials to review the literature. The note-taking process is
useful, especially when the researcher is already synthesizing and compiling ideas from
different references. Note-taking also facilitates the consolidation of the literature
gathered.

Strategies in Reading Literature
1. Previewing. It is the process of reading to get a general idea of the things to look for in the
text. Systematic skimming is done here.
2. Highlighting. It is done by physically marking the text to identify key details and to note
the relationships among ideas.
3. Annotating. It is the recording of the reader’s reactions as marginal notes. In these notes,
one defines new words, identifies allusions and patterns of language or imagery,
summarizes plot relationships, lists a work’s possible themes, suggests a character’s
motivation, examines the possible significance of particular images or symbols, or
records questions that occur in reading. Ideally, annotations will help one find ideas to
write about.


1. Review of literature is the process of compiling, classifying, and evaluating what other
researchers have written on a certain topic.
2. The purposes of reviewing literature are to help place the work being reviewed in its
context; describe the relationship of each work to the research being undertaken;
identify new ways to interpret various gaps based on previous research; solve conflicts
among seemingly contradictory previous studies; identify the topic that are subjects of
previous studies; and point out new topics for a study.
3. The levels of reading are elementary reading, systematic skimming, critical reading, and
comparative reading.
4. The three steps in conducting the review of literature are finding relevant literatures,
actual reading, and note-taking.
5. The three strategies in reviewing literature are previewing, highlighting, and annotating.


Formatting a Paper Using the APA Style
by Peter Gallagher and Brian Scott
1. Abbreviations. Avoid using abbreviations in your paper. However, if you need to use an
abbreviation or acronym that is recognized in your language and you can find it in the
dictionary, then you can use it.
2. Hyphenations. Do not separate and hyphenate words at the end of a line. Rather, leave
one line slightly short and put the complete word on the next line; otherwise, proceed a
couple of characters past the right margin to adjust the complete word on the line.
3. Indentions. Indent paragraphs within the primary text of the paper one-half inch if using
a word processing program or indent five to seven spaces in if typing on a typewriter.
However, do not indent in these unique circumstances: the abstract, block quotations,
figure captions, notes, reference list entries, table titles, and titles or headings.
4. Margins. Use 1-inch margins on all four sides of the paper: top, bottom, right, and left. Old
rules required 1.5-inch margins, but these rules are now obsolete.

Reference:
Cristobal, A. P. & De La Cruz-Cristobal, M.C. (2017) Enhanced Teacher’s Manual Practical Research 1 for
Senior High School. C & E Publishing, Inc. Quezon City
 PR1 HANDOUT #6

5. Page numbering. Number nearly every page in the paper, including the title page. Put the
number in the upper-right corner of the page, and use only Arabic numbers. Put “1” on
the title page and “2” on the abstract page. Begin the main body of the text on page
number “3.” Do not number pages that consist of only statistics or illustrations.
6. Paper type. Use regular white, 20-pound bond paper that has measurements of 8.5 by 11
inches. If printing from a computer, use an inkjet or laser printer to print the paper; if you
must use a tractor-feed printer, make sure to tear off the pinhole borders from the sides
of the paper.
7. Parentheses. Aim to restrict parentheses to separate or divide structurally independent
items, such as listing a number or illustration associated with a sentence. If you are
enclosing a full sentence in parentheses, position the punctuation inside the parentheses.
If you are enclosing only a piece of a sentence inside parentheses, then place the
punctuation outside the parentheses.
8. Punctuation. In most cases, use a single space after all common punctuation marks, such
as periods, commas, colons, and semicolons. There are three exceptions to this norm: (1)
do not use a space after periods inside an abbreviation, such as when writing the U.S. for
the United States; (2) do not use a space after a colon in a ratio, such as 4:7; and (3) some
professors like the outdated rule of using two spaces after periods that end sentences. If
you use Courier or another mono-space font, APA Style permits two spaces between
sentences, although one space is recommended.
9. Short title. A short title is a two- or three-word introduction of the main title. Put it on
every page in the top right corner, except for pages that consist of only numbers or
illustrations. The short title should appear slightly to the left of the page number.
10. Slash mark. Do not use slash marks in your paper. For instance, rather than writing “blue
and/or purple,” it is better to write, “blue, purple, or both.”
11. Spacing. Use double spacing throughout the whole paper, unless your professor
expressly asks for single spacing in specific situations, such as with block quotations.
12. Text alignment. Always format the text flush left. Do not use the “full justify” feature on
your word processor’s toolbar because this will spread the text fully across the paper and
align sentences both left and right.
13. Title. Center the title on the title page, creating a combination of uppercase and lowercase
letters. If the title is long enough to warrant a second line, double space between the lines.
After the title, include your name, followed by the college that you attend. If you do not
belong to a college, you can substitute the city and state. Double space between each line
on the title page. Put the number “1” in the upper right corner of the title page.
14. Typeface. If using a word processor like MS-Word, opt for a Serif font, such as Times New
Roman. Use text in a 10- or 12-point size.

Reference:
Cristobal, A. P. & De La Cruz-Cristobal, M.C. (2017) Enhanced Teacher’s Manual Practical Research 1 for
Senior High School. C & E Publishing, Inc. Quezon City