PRACTICAL RESEARCH HANDOUTS

PARTS OF A RESEARCH PAPER • literature review- a comprehensive summary

CHAPTER1 and evaluation of scholarly works
THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND • sources for a literature review
• Introduction
• Theoretical Framework Primary sources: Secondary sources:

• Statement of the Problem

• Hypothesis
Diaries Journal articles
• Scope and Limitation of the Study
• Conceptual Framework
• Significance of the Study Audio recordings Textbooks

• Definition of terms
Transcripts Dictionaries and encyclopaedias
CHAPTER 2
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND
Original manuscripts Biographies
STUDIES
• Foreign Literature
• Local Literature Government documents Political commentary

• Foreign Studies
• Local Studies Court records Blog posts

CHAPTER 3
Speeches Newspaper articles
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
• Research Design
• Sources of Data Empirical studies Theses
• Data Gathering Procedure
• Statistical Treatment
Statistical data Documentaries
✓ Mean
✓ Median
✓ Mode Artworks Critical analyses

CHAPTER 4 Film footage

PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS, AND
INTERPRETATION OF DATA
• Data Presentation and Analysis Photographs

CHAPTER 5
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSION AND
RECOMMENDATIONS AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL
• Summary of Findings ASSOCIATION (APA) FORMAT
• Conclusions
• Recommendations • APA formatting style varies depending on
the type of source. The following are
BIBLIOGRAPHY common sources and how to arrange them
APPENDIX in APA format.

• Research Locale - refers to the particular
location where the study is conducted
• scope & delimitation -depth of your research
area
• Thesis statement- tells your reader what the
paper is about
• One Author (a book chapter) Author’s
surname or last name, initial(s). (Year
Published). Book Title (in italics). Location of
publisher: Publisher.
 PRACTICAL RESEARCH HANDOUTS
• One Author (online source) Author’s
surname or last name, initial(s). (Year
Published). Title of the source. Location of
publisher: Publisher. Retrieved from URL.
• Journal Author’s surname or last name,
initial(s).(Year Published).Article title, journal
name (in italics), volume number (in italics),
issue number(if available), page number
range of the article, URL, or journal home
page (if online).
• The references or bibliography should be
in alphabetical order
• Let us discuss the MLA style of writing
references. Accordingly, this style of writing
is commonly used in the Humanities: in arts,
literature, and history. It provides
bibliographic references in the transcripts
that relate to the reference in the body of the
paper. Example of MLA Referencing Style:
Examples:
PURPOSES OF CITATION
According to this author, the following are the
purpose of citation.
• To give importance and respect to other
people for what they know about the field
• To give authority, validity, and credibility to
other people’s claims, conclusions, and
arguments
• To prove your broad and extensive reading
of authentic and relevant materials about
your topic
• To help readers find to contact the sources
of ideas easily
• To permit readers to check the accuracy of
your work and
• To save yourself from plagiarism
There are 4 approaches to research design:
• Ethnography
• Case Study
• Phenomenology
• Historical Approach
Sampling method
There are many types of sampling methods for
qualitative research.
• Snowball sampling- this is done by asking
relevant people if they know someone who
will be willing to participate in your research.
• Opportunistic Sampling- this is a type of
sampling that takes sample or respondents
that are readily available.
• Convenience Sampling- using this kind of
sampling technique involves selecting
people that are the most convenient for you
as a researcher.
DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENTS
• Interview- done by having a set of questions
to your respondents and letting them answer
as truthfully as possible.
• Observations- happens when a researcher
observes and takes notes of the behavior of
people that they want to be a part of their
research.
• Questionnaires- This is somewhat similar to
interviews based on the format of questions
that are being used.
• Focus Group Discussion- his type of data-
gathering instrument focuses on groups of
 PRACTICAL RESEARCH HANDOUTS
people being interviewed at the same time.
This relies on the respondents to give a
discussion amongst themselves about the
questions that you, the researcher, give.
Research design- process of structuring
techniques and strategies that help researchers
solve their problems or answer their inquiry
Recommendation - a suggestion that improves the
study for future research to be conducted in the field.
Strategies in Writing Recommendations
• Brief: Write short recommendations and only give
them when necessary
• Clear and Precise: Show how the implementation
will be done.
References versus Bibliography
• Reference is a list of sources that have been
referred to within the research which
includes direct quotations.
• Bibliography is a list of sources that have
been read during the research process to
widen one’s knowledge about the research,
however, these had information which were
used indirectly.
Findings
• This is where the findings of the study are
presented. The results from the statistical
tools employed are reported through a
tabular or graphical presentation and an
extensive interpretation of results.
Discussion and Conclusion
• The findings and the result of the research
study will be discussed briefly in this part of
the research paper. The researcher will also
make his/her personal conclusion based on
the results of the study. The conclusion
should be factual and logically determined
data. The conclusion will also determine the
accuracy of the hypotheses given in the
conduct of the study.
Recommendation
• This is where specific recommendations will
be clearly presented. Such sound
suggestions will be based on the results of
the study. The writer may also recommend
extending the study to validate its results,
especially with its expressed limitations.
References
• Using the standards in preparing references
will be present in this part.
Appendix
• The copy of the letter for approval, request to
make the study, the sample questionnaires
will be exhibited in this portion of the paper.
General Consideration
• A research paper has 5 chapters excluding
the cover page, table of contents, table,
references, and appendices. The researcher
should not leave any missing information in
each chapter.
• One should follow the following standard in
preparing a research paper: style, font,
layout, and page format
Title Page
• All text on the title page should be centered
horizontally. The title should be in an
inverted pyramid form. Hence, if it goes
beyond a one-line sentence.
• For binding purposes, follow the standard
margin size: Left margin 1.5” or 1 ½ in.; Right
margin 1”; Top margin 1”; Bottom Margin 1”.
Page Number
• Page numbers are placed on the top right
using numeric data (example “2,3,4…”) The
Chapter page like in Chapter 1 will not be
numbered therefore page number “1” will not
be seen in the paper.
Spacing
• The space should be 2” and it should be
using justified for margins. Except for the title
should be in an inverted pyramid form.
Hence, if it goes beyond a one-line sentence
and space should be 1”.
Font Size and Face
• The use of font size and face depends upon
the standard of the institution. However, in
most cases especially for publication
purposes, Arial font 12 is used. Bookman
Old Style font 12 or Times New Roman font
12 are also preferred by other schools.
Therefore, the font is regularly at 12 but the
use of italics is influenced by the choice of
the given school.