Unit 9: Writing and Presenting Quantitative Research

Lesson 1: Revising and Finalizing a

Quantitative Research Paper

Contents
Engage 1
Introduction 1
Objective 2

Explore 2

Explain and Elaborate 3

Revising Your Quantitative Research Paper 3
Finalizing Your Quantitative Research Paper 7

Extend 9
Activity 1 9
Activity 2 11

Evaluate 12

Wrap Up 14

Bibliography 15
Unit 9.1: Revising and Finalizing a Quantitative Research Paper

Engage

Introduction

Fig. 1. A photo of a clapboard used in filming

What does it mean when a director of a film says, “take two”? This phrase means that the
actors and actresses must do the scene they are shooting all over again to improve their
acting. It is a process of improvement until they get the final version that satisfies the
director. Similarly, we also do this process of improvement in writing a research paper. This
is also known as doing revisions, mostly defined as a process that involves restructuring
certain parts of the text for improvement before arriving at the final version. Why is it
important to revise and finalize your research paper? How do we know that our revisions
indeed improve our research paper? In this section, we will discuss how revisions are made
in quantitative research papers.

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Unit 9.1: Revising and Finalizing a Quantitative Research Paper

Objective
In this lesson, you should be able to identify the process and guidelines in revising and
finalizing a quantitative research paper.

DepEd Competency
Present written research report. (CS_RS12-IIh-j-4)

Explore

15 minutes

Provided below is a sample statement of the research objectives. Think about what should
be revised in the text and answer the questions below.

Research Objectives

I intend to examine the differences between the stress levels of students in their first year
of college and fourth year in college. Specifically, through the use of quantitative research
methods such as tests and questionnaires to both groups of participants. The research
aims to help explore whether there is a difference between the stress levels of students in
their first year of college and fourth year in college.

Guide Questions

1. Which specific part(s) of the text should be revised?

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Unit 9.1: Revising and Finalizing a Quantitative Research Paper

2. How can you improve the given text above?

3. What is the significance of revising a research paper?

Explain and Elaborate

Revising Your Quantitative Research Paper

Revising is commonly defined as the process of making necessary improvements,
corrections, or updates by changing something that is already written or printed.
Oftentimes, the revision process in writing a research paper is overlooked, yet this is an
essential step to ensure that the paper is free of error. This step usually demands a lot of
time due to several considerations. The conduct of a cautious revision process sets a good
research paper apart from a mediocre one (Kothari 2004).

What factors contribute to the precision and

clarity of a research paper?

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Unit 9.1: Revising and Finalizing a Quantitative Research Paper

According to Bordens and Abbott (2018), the following must be taken into consideration
when revising your research paper:

Precision and Clarity of Expression

The first thing you should consider in writing a concise research paper is to reduce
grammatical errors as much as possible. This way, vague phrases or sentences, which can
be a cause of misunderstanding, can be avoided. Take the following sentence for example:

“The researcher measured how anxious each student was with a questionnaire.”

In this example, the researcher intends to say that they used a questionnaire to measure
each student’s anxiety. However, the sentence above can be misunderstood in such a way
that students with questionnaires are anxious. We can revise the sentence into the
following:

“Using a questionnaire, the researcher measured each student’s anxiety levels.”

The revised sentence is less ambiguous and easier to understand. Your research paper will
appear clearer if all sentences are constructed this way. Another thing that must be noted is
the observance of proper word choice. The words you should use must accurately convey
the idea being delivered. It is also helpful to use simpler words rather than the more
complicated ones. For example, instead of using the word cogitate, you can just simply use
the word, think. Using complex words inappropriately can be another cause of
misunderstanding and confusion among readers.

Remember
Revision entails several cycles of writing. It is a must to read your
paper thoroughly. Check for unity, coherence, and proper word
usage between sentences and paragraphs.

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Unit 9.1: Revising and Finalizing a Quantitative Research Paper

Economy of Expression
Wordiness and redundancy are some writing mistakes that violate a research paper’s
economy of expression. This simply means that your writing must be as concise and
economical as possible. Wordiness refers to using more words than necessary in
expressing your ideas. Consider the following example:

Wordy: There were several participants who were not able to take the posttest.
Better: Several participants were unable to take the posttest.

On the other hand, redundancy means that the same information has been repeated using
different words. Take a look at the example below:

Redundant: Chemical X has a watery fluid as compared to Chemical Z.

Better: Chemical X is watery as compared to Chemical Z.

Tip
Try to revise using a printed copy of your manuscript. Errors that go
unnoticed on the computer screen tend to be easily identified on
paper.

Organization
Organization pertains to the arrangement of sentences to form a coherent paragraph. It
also refers to the interconnection of paragraphs. Ideally, paragraphs should not be too
long, and each paragraph must convey one main idea to avoid becoming repetitive and
confusing. Similarly, overly short paragraphs must be avoided because it interferes with the
flow of your writing. Extremely short paragraphs are difficult to read, disconnected, and
appear abrupt. Writers may use transitional words to relate different ideas in the research
paper (Horkoff 2014). The table below shows some common transition words and phrases.

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Unit 9.1: Revising and Finalizing a Quantitative Research Paper
Table 1. Common transitional words and phrases

Continue a
Sequence or Change a Line
Position Conclusion Line of
Time of Thought
Thought

after above indeed consequently but

as soon as beside hence because nevertheless
before near therefore in addition yet
finally across in conclusion furthermore on the contrary
in the first place behind thus in the same way however
later opposite additionally on the other
meanwhile under moreover hand
next where looking further
soon below
at last inside
Source: Horkoff, Tara. Writing for Success. Canada: BC Open Textbook Project, 2014.

Style
Your writing style reflects your skills as a researcher. You might have presented your
manuscript in an organized manner, yet still leave a negative impression on your readers if
you are sloppy in your writing and make careless mistakes such as misspellings, misused
words, and typographical errors. It is ideal to have your research paper reviewed by your
peers so as not to overlook errors.

Completing a Peer Review

Another objective way to reevaluate your research paper is to have it checked by a peer. It is
ideal to ask for feedback from a peer, who can give an honest evaluation of the strengths
and weaknesses of the paper. The process called peer review is when the researcher
receives feedback from a reviewer, evaluates it, and filters what is most helpful in the
revision of the draft (Horkoff 2014). The following are things to consider when asking for
feedback from your peers.

● Use feedback objectively. The aim of peer review is to ask for feedback from your
peers to receive constructive criticism. This gives you the opportunity to gain
perspectives about what other readers think of your research paper in order for you
to improve your work.

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Unit 9.1: Revising and Finalizing a Quantitative Research Paper
● Use feedback from multiple sources. You might get feedback from more than one
reader to validate the points for improvement. Receiving feedback from multiple
sources can help you draw out consistent comments about your research paper. For
example, feedback from different reviewers might consistently say that you need to
include more sources in your literature review to strengthen your arguments. This
consistent comment indicates that you need to look for more sources to incorporate
in your literature review.

Finalizing Your Quantitative Research Paper

Now that you have learned the basic information needed for revision, let us now move
forward to the specific parts to focus on when finalizing your research paper. The last step
in the research process is writing the research report. The purpose of the research report
is to be able to communicate the research findings effectively. In writing a research report,
your contribution to a body of knowledge becomes official (Kothari 2004).

Sections of a Research Report

There are six sections of a research report: abstract, introduction, method, results,
discussion, and references (Vanderstoep and Johnston 2009). The detailed description of
these sections are discussed below:

1. Abstract. The abstract is the overall summary of a research report. Although this
section appears first in a research paper, some researchers prefer to write this
section last since it requires the researcher to include at least one-sentence
summary of the main sections of the paper.
2. Introduction. The introduction should discuss the relevance of the research study
and contain its literature review. For a journal article, the literature review should not
be as exhaustive as in the manuscript, thus, may appear shorter. The hypotheses of
a quantitative study should be stated at the end of the introduction section.
3. Method. In this section, the researcher discusses how the study was conducted and
how the data were gathered. This is where the researcher discusses the information
about the participants, the materials or instruments used, and the procedure or the
actions that the researchers performed to test their hypotheses.

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Unit 9.1: Revising and Finalizing a Quantitative Research Paper

4. Results. This section deals with the analyses of the statistical tests used to test the
hypothesis. This section also indicates the exact figures based on the results of the
statistical analysis.
5. Discussion. The discussion section must indicate how the findings of the study are
relevant to other related studies. This also discusses the limitations of the current
study and suggestions for future research. In this section, the researcher is given
more space to expand the explanation of the findings as compared to the results
section.
6. References. The reference list must have a complete and accurate citation of all the
sources used in the research paper. The sources that are read but not directly
referred to in the text of the paper should not be included in the reference list.

Remember
According to Vanderstoep and Johnston (2009), the following sections
are usually included in quantitative research papers:
1. Abstract - brief summary of the study
2. Introduction - rationale and objectives of the study
3. Method - research design, participants, and procedures
4. Results - presentation of data and statistical analyses
5. Discussion - major findings, interpretations of data,
conclusions, limitations of the study, and areas for future
research
6. References

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Unit 9.1: Revising and Finalizing a Quantitative Research Paper

Extend

Activity 1
Read the sample texts given below. Suggest a possible revision to improve the given text.

Sample 1
Original: Two extremely prominent and famous environmental advocates spoke
persuasively in commendation of the proposed new policy.

Revised:

Sample 2
Original: Her past medical history was also analyzed in order to gather data about her first
experiences with having panic attacks.

Revised:

Sample 3
Original: The experimenter recorded the length of the plants grown in organic fertilizer with
a tape measure.

Revised:

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Unit 9.1: Revising and Finalizing a Quantitative Research Paper

Sample 4
Original: As the leading company in the aviation industry in the Philippines, the company
plans to focus its efforts on the safety of its passengers. A report as to whether or not to
increase their rates in travel insurance is currently in the process of preparation.

Revised:

Sample 5
Original: The researcher administered a survey to the participants in order to measure their
level of satisfaction in terms of the company’s employee benefits program.

Revised:

Guide
In revising your research paper, it is important to look for writing errors such as
misspelling, grammatical errors, and typographical errors. Moreover, it is also ideal to
avoid wordiness, redundancy, and the use of jargon. Keep your sentences concise and
straightforward.

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Unit 9.1: Revising and Finalizing a Quantitative Research Paper

Activity 2
In this activity, you are going to do a peer review of some research articles. Look for a
research report or journal article related to your strand. Analyze each section (refer to the
main sections of a research report) and suggest some points for revision. Write your output
in the table provided below. Then, write a reference list entry for your source material.

Section Points for Improvement

Abstract

Introduction

Method

Results

Discussion

References

Source:

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Unit 9.1: Revising and Finalizing a Quantitative Research Paper

Guide
In reviewing a research paper, consider the different components that should be
included in the main sections of a research report. For example, the abstract must
have a complete summary of each section of the research report, the introduction
must include the literature review and the relevance of the research study, and so on.

Evaluate

A. Write your answer in the space provided.

1. What type of writing error does a researcher commit if the words used in a single
sentence are repetitive?

2. What can the researcher use to organize the interrelation of different ideas within and
across paragraphs?

3. Which section of the research paper should include a discussion of data collection
techniques?

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Unit 9.1: Revising and Finalizing a Quantitative Research Paper

B. Analyze the following questions and write your answer in

the space provided.

1. What are the consequences of having disorganized ideas in a research paper?

2. What is the importance of peer review when revising and finalizing your research
paper?

3. What is the significance of writing a research report?

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Unit 9.1: Revising and Finalizing a Quantitative Research Paper

Wrap Up
___________________________________________________________________________________________

● Revising is the process of making necessary improvements, corrections, or

updates by changing something that is already written or printed.
● In revising a research paper, the researcher should take into consideration the
precision and clarity, the economy of expression, organization, and style of the
manuscript.
● Peer review is a process where the researcher evaluates the feedback of the
reviewer and filters the most helpful insights in the revision of the draft.
● The research report aims to effectively communicate your research findings to
others and to make your contribution to a body of knowledge official.
● There are six sections of a research report: abstract, introduction, method, results,
discussion, and references.

Fig. 2. Revising and finalizing a research paper

___________________________________________________________________________________________

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Unit 9.1: Revising and Finalizing a Quantitative Research Paper

Bibliography
Bordens, Kenneth S., and Bruce Barrington Abbott. Research Design and Methods: A Process
Approach. 10th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Education, 2018.

Horkoff, Tara. Writing for Success. Canada: BC Open Textbook Project, 2014

Kothari, C.R. Research Methodology: Methods and Techniques. 2nd ed. New Delhi: New Age
International, 2004.

Marczyk, Geoffrey, DeMatteo, David, and David Festinger. Essentials of Research Design and
Methodology. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2005.

“Preparing for Your Oral Presentation.” USC Libraries. University of Southern California.
Accessed July 19, 2020. https://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide/oralpresentation.

Vanderstoep, Scott W., and Deirdre D. Johnston. Research Methods for Everyday Life. San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2009.

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