STEM 11

RESEARCH 1 NOTES
FIRST SEMESTER

LESSON 1: RESEARCH ETHICS

● What even is research?
○ Research is defined as the scientific investigation of phenomena which includes
collection, presentation, analysis and interpretation of facts that lines an
individual’s speculation with reality.
○ Solutions to problems must be based on knowledge not on mere beliefs, guesses
or theories.
○ In research, a systematic and well-planned procedure is required to meet the need
in order that information is acquired and evaluate its accuracy and effectiveness.
● Research ethics are guidelines for the responsible conduct of research which educates
and monitors researchers to ensure high standards. It promotes the aim of research, such
as expanding knowledge and supports the values required for collaborative work, such as
mutual respect and fairness.
○ For example, the Stanford Prison Experiment in 1971 conducted by Philip
Zimbardo. It became one of the best-known (and controversial) in the history of
psychology. It was published in August 2011.

CHARACTERISTICS OF RESEARCH
[Calmorin and Calmorin, Research Methods and Thesis Writing]
1. Empirical: Research is based on direct experience or observation by the researcher.
2. Logical: Research is based on valid procedures and principles.
3. Cyclical: Research is a cyclical process because it starts with a problem and ends with a
problem.
4. Analytical: Research utilizes proven analytical procedures in gathering the data, whether
historical, descriptive, and experimental and case study.
5. Critical: Research exhibits careful and precise judgment.
6. Methodical: Research is conducted in a methodical manner without bias using
systematic methods and procedures.
7. Replicability: The research design and procedures are replicated or repeated to enable
the researcher to arrive at valid and conclusive results.

STEPS IN THE RESEARCH PROCESS

1. Define and develop your topic (Research problem)
● Factors to consider in selecting a research problem
 ○ Researcher’s area of interest
○ Availability of funds
○ Investigator’s ability and training
2. Find background information about your chosen topic (Review of related literature)
3. Plan your research design including your sample (Methodology)
4. Gather necessary data using open-ended questions (for qualitative research) and
close-ended questionnaire or paper pencil test questionnaire (for quantitative research or
Data Gathering Activities)
5. Process and analyse data using thematic analysis (for qualitative research) and
statistical tools (for quantitative research)
6. Formulate new insights gained (for qualitative research) conclusions (for quantitative
research) and recommendations.

ELEMENTS OF ETHICS IN RESEARCH

● Respect for colleagues: Respect your colleague’s opinion, treat them fairly and do not
outsmart others
● Social responsibility: Strive to promote social acceptance and prevent or mitigate social
harms through research, public education, and advocacy. An experienced researcher
should impart knowledge to his or her students.
● Non-discrimination: Avoid discrimination against colleagues or students on the basis of
sex, race, ethnicity, or other factors that are not related to their scientific competence and
integrity.
● Competence: Maintain and improve your own professional competence and expertise
through lifelong education and learning; take steps to promote competence in science as a
whole.
● Legality: Know and obey relevant laws and institutional and government policies.
● Animal Care: Show proper respect and care for animals when using them in research.
Do not conduct unnecessary or poorly designed animal experiments.
● Informed consent: This is required to secure in order to protect the rights of the
participants in your study. Inform your participants about the criteria set for choosing
them as informants and the schedule of a one-on-one interview at the convenient time
they are available. Participation in the study will be completely voluntary.
● Honesty: It reports data, results, methods and procedures, and publication status. Do not
fabricate, falsify and misrepresent the data.
● Objectivity: Avoid bias in experimental design, data analysis, data interpretation, peer
review, personnel decisions, grant writing, expert testimony, and other aspects of
research.
● Integrity: Keep your promises and agreements;act with sincerity; strive for consistency
of thought and action.
 ● Carefulness: Avoid careless errors and negligence; carefully and critically examine your
work and the work of peers. Keep good records of research activities.
● Openness: Share data, results, ideas, tools and resources. Be open to criticism and new
ideas.
● Respect for Intellectual Property: Honour patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets
and other forms of intellectual property. Do not use published or unpublished data,
methods, or results without permission. Give credit where credit is due. Never plagiarize,
fabricate and falsify.
● Confidentiality: Protect confidential communications, such as papers or grants submitted
for publication, personnel records, trade or military secrets, and patient records.
● Responsible mentoring: Help to educate, mentor, and advise others. Promote their
welfare and allow them to make their own decisions.
● Responsible Publication: Publish in order to advance research and scholarship, not to
advance your own career. Avoid wasteful and duplicative publication.

ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN CONDUCTING RESEARCH

● Objectivity and integrity
● Respect of the research subjects’ right to privacy and dignity and protection of subjects
from personal harm
● Presentation of research findings
● Misuse of research role
● Acknowledgement of research collaboration and assistance
● Distortion of findings by sponsor

LESSON 1: CONTINUATION
ANSWERS FROM THE QUIZIZZ
● A researcher doesn’t have a final say in his findings. The data gives the final say.
● The inquiry process is cyclical; not linear. You start with a question, you end with a
question.
● Researchers should ensure that the participants will not be adversely affected by the
research and its results. This is called human subjects protection.
● The last step in conducting research is asking more questions.
● Informed consent for a participant is best exemplified in writing them a letter.

RIGHTS OF RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS

● Human rights
○ They are moral principles or norms that describe certain standards of human
behaviour and are regularly protected as natural and legal rights. They constitute a
set of rights and duties necessary for the protection of human dignity, inherent to
all human beings.
 ● Intellectual property
○ It protects creations of the mind, which have both a moral and a commercial
value.
● Copyright infringement
○ It is the use or production of copyright-protected material without permission of
the copyright holder. Copyright infringement means that the rights accorded to the
copyright holder, such as the exclusive use of a work for a set period of time, are
breached by a third party.
● Voluntary participation
○ People must not be coerced into participating in the research process. Essentially,
this means that prospective research participants must be informed about the
procedures and risks involved in research and must give their consent to
participate.
● Anonymity
○ It is the protection of people’s identity through not disclosing their name or not
exposing their identity. It is a situation in data gathering activities in which the
informant’s name is not given nor known.
● Privacy
○ It is someone’s right to keep his personal matters and relationships secret. It is the
ability of an individual to seclude him from disturbance of any research activity.

QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH

● QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH is a type of educational research in which the
researcher decides what to study; asks specific, narrow questions; collects quantifiable
data from participants; analyzes these numbers using statistics; and conducts the inquiry
in an unbiased, objective manner.
○ It is a loosely defined category of research designs or models.
● QUALITATIVE RESEARCH is a type of educational research in which the researcher
relies on the views of participants; asks broad, general questions; collects data consisting
words (text) from participants; describes and analyzes these words for themes; and
conducts the inquiry in a subjective, biased manner.

COMPARING QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH

● Similarities
○ Both have the process of inquiry and investigation
○ Both improve life and help us in understanding various issues of life and in giving
solutions to our problems
○ Both start with a problem and end with a new problem
○ Both use textual forms in analyzing and interpretation
LESSON 2: EXPOUNDING ON QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
DEFINITION OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
★ Loosely-defined category of research designs or models, all of which elicit verbal, visual,
tactile, olfactory, and gustatory data in the form of descriptive narratives like field notes,
recordings, or other transcriptions from audio-- and videotapes and other written records
and pictures or films.

CHARACTERISTICS
● Research using qualitative data in the form of text and pictures, not numbers. It takes a
holistic approach with a specific focus and tells a richer story than quantitative research.
● Used to answer questions about the complex nature of phenomena, often with the purpose
of describing and understanding the phenomena.
● Builds on researcher’s ability to interpret and make sense of what he or she sees for
understanding any social phenomenon
● Takes longer to tell a story and usually ends with tentative answers of hypotheses about
what was observed.
● Often used in combination with quantitative methods and data, and can be objective or
subjective, and makes considerable use of inductive reasoning
● Although objective methods may be appropriate for studying physical events such as
electricity, chemical reaction, and black holes, an objective approach for studying human
events, relationships, social structures, etc. is neither desirable or possible [Eisnet, 1998;
Moss 1996]
● It takes place in a natural setting like home, school, institution, or community.
Researchers gain actual experiences of the research participants. They are sensitive to
participants’ needs and participants are actively engaged in the process.
● It focuses on participants’ perceptions and experiences [Franenkel and Wallen, 1998 in
Creswell, 2013]
● Data is collected through observation, interviews, documents, emails, blogs, videos, etc.
● It may result in changes in research questions after new discoveries occur. It develops
from a specific to a general understanding of concepts.
● It is a process of describing a situation, analyzing data for themes or categories, and
making interpretations or drawing conclusions.
● It may be subjected to the researcher’s personal interpretation.
● The researchers, as a primary instrument in data collection, view social phenomena and
situations holistically.

DEFINITION OF DESCRIPTIVE WRITING

● It vividly portrays a person, place, or thing in such a way that the reader can visualize the
topic and enter into the writer’s experience.
STRENGTHS OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
● Issues can be analyzed through detailed and deep examination.
● Interviews are not being delimited to specific questions and can be guided/redirected by
the researcher along the process.
● The research framework and direction can be easily revised as new information emerges.
● The obtained data from human experience is powerful and sometimes more interesting
than quantitative data.
● Data usually are collected from a few cases or individuals so findings cannot be
generalized to a larger population. Findings can however be transferable to another
setting.

WEAKNESSES OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

● Research quality is heavily dependent on the researcher’s skills and may be influenced by
the researcher’s outlooks.
● The volume of data makes analysis and interpretation time-consuming.
● It’s sometimes hard to prove and findings can be more difficult and take time to visualize.
● The researcher’s presence during data gathering, which is often unavoidable in qualitative
research, can affect the subjects’ attitudes towards the process.
● Issues of anonymity and confidentiality can bring/result in problems when presenting
findings.

MAJOR QUALITATIVE RESEARCH DESIGNS

● Ethnography
○ Focuses on the sociology of meaning through close-field observation of
sociocultural phenomena. Typically, the ethnographer focuses on a community.
● Grounded Theory
○ Theory is developed inductively from a corpus of data acquired by a
participant-observer.
● Case Study
○ Attempts to shed light on a phenomena by studying in-depth a single case
example of the phenomena. The case can be an individual person, an event, a
group, or an institution.
● Phenomenology
○ A study that attempts to understand people’s perceptions, perspectives, and
understandings of a particular situation. In other words, what is it like to
experience such and such?
 ● Historical Research
○ Systematic collection and objective evaluation of data related to past occurrences
in order to test hypotheses concerning causes, effects, or trends of these events
that may help to explain present events and anticipate future events.
● Content Analysis
○ A detailed and systematic examination of the contents of a particular body of
material for the purpose of identifying patterns, themes, or biases within a
material.
● Narrative Report
● Discourse Analysis

OBSERVATIONS OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

● Qualitative research usually starts by questions like:
How do people feel while living under occupation?
How can a teacher use principles from behaviorist psychology to help a student
with Autism succeed in an elementary school?
● Good percentage of research could start as qualitative and then morph into other types.
For example, medicine and biology.
● Qualitative research may start using any technique of the previously described designs,
and could shift towards another design as more information may suggest a better
approach.
● Qualitative research requires considerable preparation and planning. Researches should
be well trained in observation techniques, interview strategies, and data collection
methods
● Qualitative research does not yield quick results and easy answers

WHEN TO CHOOSE A QUALITATIVE

● Description
○ Qualitative research can reveal the nature of certain situations, settings, processes,
relationships, systems, or people.
● Interpretation
○ To enable a researcher to gain new insights about a particular phenomenon
○ Develop new concepts or theoretical perspectives about the phenomenon
○ Discover the problems that exist within a phenomenon
● Verification
○ Allow researchers to test the validity of certain assumptions, claims, theories or
generalizations within real-world contexts.
● Evaluation
○ Allow researchers to judge the effectiveness of particular policies, practices and
innovations.
In general, not a good method to identify cause-effect relationships, i.e. ‘why’ questions and
‘what caused what’ type of investigation.

LESSON 2: CONTINUATION
CASE STUDY
● Definition: A particular individual, program, or event is studied in depth for a defined
period of time. For example:
○ Studying the effect of a new drug on a particular patient
○ Studying the effectiveness of a political campaign for a candidate
○ Studying the level of improvement in educational achievement on a student when
given a new multi-vitamin formula
● Observations in a case study
○ Researchers may study two or more cases, often cases that are different in certain
key ways, to make comparisons, build theory, or propose generalizations. This is
referred to as a collective case study.
○ Major weakness of a case study design is that we cannot be sure that the findings
are generalizable to other situations, especially if only one case study was
performed.
● Method for gathering data
○ Gather case study data; where the researcher collects extensive data on the
individual(s), program(s), or event(s) on which the investigation is focused.
■ You can collect these through observations, interviews, documents, past
records, audiovisual materials (photos, videotapes, audio tapes)
■ Spend time on site to interact with people who are being studied
○ Gather context information; where the researcher records details about the
context surrounding the case
■ Physical environment
■ Historical, economic, and social factors that may affect the situations
● Data analysis process
1. Organize details about the case. Case facts are organized in a logical order.
2. Categorize data. Cluster data into meaningful groups.
3. Interpret data. Examine specific documents, occurrences, and other bits of data
for a meaning that may be important to the case.
4. Identify patterns. Data and their interpretations are scrutinized for underlying
themes and other patterns that characterize the case more broadly than a single
piece of information can reveal.
5. Synthesize and generalize. Construct an overall portrait of the case and draw
conclusions that may have implications beyond the specific case that has been
studied.
 6. Triangulation of data. Many separate pieces of information must all converge to
the same conclusion.
● The content of your research report
○ Case study rationale
■ Why was the case study worthy of in-depth investigation and how will it
contribute to human beings’ knowledge about the world?
○ Detailed description of the facts related to the case
■ Describe the objects, events, individuals you studied and any other facts
uncontested about the case
■ Be thorough and objective as much as possible.
○ Discussion of found patterns
■ Describe any trends, themes, etc. that the data suggests (interpretation)
■ Provide any evidence for every pattern you report to convince readers that
such patterns fo exist and portray the collected data
■ If you find pattern-contradicting data, you should include it to provide an
unbiased account of the case.
○ Connection to the larger scheme of things
■ Answer the question: “So what?”
■ How does the case study contribute to the knowledge about some aspect of
the human experience?
■ You can compare against previously reported case studies to either support
or disconfirm an existing hypothesis or theory.

ETHNOGRAPHY
● Definition: It refers to the qualitative description of human social phenomena, based on
fieldwork. Ethnography is a holistic research understood independently of each other.
● Observations in an ethnography research
○ Focuses on an entire group that shares a common culture where the group is
studied in its natural setting for an extended period of time, months to years.
○ Focus of the investigation is on the everyday behaviors (interactions, language,
rituals) of the people in the group, with an intent to identify cultural norms, social
structures, and other cultural patterns.
○ Was first used in cultural anthropology, and now seen in sociology, psychology,
and education. It’s good to have a grounding in cultural anthropology before
venturing into ethnography.
○ Major weakness is that it requires a lot of patience and considerable tolerance.
Also, beware of going native.
● Method for gathering data
○ Gaining access to a site appropriate for answering the research question
 ■ Ideally, the researcher should be a stranger with no vested interest in the
outcome of the study. The researcher may have to go through the
gatekeeper, a person who can provide a smooth entrance into the site.
○ Establish rapport with people being studied and gain their trust and be open
about reason of study
○ Gather information
■ Intermingle with everyone and get an overall sense of the cultural context
(big net approach)
■ Identify sources of information (key informants), observe, interview,
listen, and take extensive field notes.
● Data analysis process
1. Description. Describe events in a chronological order, or a typical day in the life
of the group or of an individual within the group. You can also focus on a critical
event for the group or develop a story, complete with plot and characters.
2. Analysis. Categorize data according to their meanings and identify patterns,
regularities, and critical events.
3. Interpretation. General nature of the culture is inferred from the outcomes of the
analysis. Existing theoretical frameworks in the field may lend structure and
support during the interpretation process. You should interpret with “rigorous
subjectivity”, since objectivity is hard to attain.
● The content of your research report
○ Rarely written in impersonal style. Often personal and library narrative designed
to engage the reader’s attention and interest.
○ Introduction that provides a rational and context for the study
■ Present the research question and the rationale
■ Describe why the study was important for you to conduct and for others to
read about
○ Describe the setting and the method
■ Describe the group you studied and the methods you used to study it
■ Make it real for readers through considerable details about everything
○ Analyze the studied culture
■ Describe the patterns and themes you observed
■ Present evidence-use participant’s actual words
○ Provide a conclusion
■ Relate your findings to the research question and to concepts and theories
in your discipline
■ Avoid making judgements
■ Convey the voice of the people
PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY
● Definition: It refers to a person’s perception of the meaning of an event, as opposed to
the event as it exists external to the person.
● Observations in a phenomenological research
○ It’s a study that attempts to understand people’s perceptions, perspectives, and
understandings of a particular situation. In other words, what is it like to
experience such and such?
○ The researcher may have had the experience related to the phenomenon in
question and wants to gain a better understanding of the experiences of others.
○ The researcher could make some generalizations of what something is like from
an insider’s perspective.
● Method for gathering data
○ Almost exclusively limited to lengthy interviews with a carefully selected sample
of participants
■ A typical interview’s length: 1-2 hours
■ Typical sample size: 5-25 individuals
■ Participants must have had a direct experience with the phenomenon being
studied
■ Interview’s nature is unstructured. Researchers and participants work
together to arrive at the heart of the matter.
■ Researcher suspends any preconceived notions or personal experiences
that may influence participants.
● Data analysis process
○ Identify statements that relate to the topic
■ Researcher separates relevant from irrelevant information
■ Break relevant information into small segments that each reflect a single,
specific thought
○ Group statements into “meaning units”
■ Researchers group the segments into categories that reflect the various
aspects (“meanings”) of the phenomenon as it is experienced.
○ Seek divergent perspectives
■ Researcher looks and considers the various ways in which different people
experience the phenomenon
○ Construct a composite
■ Researcher use various meanings identified to develop an overall
description of the phenomenon as people typically experience it
■ The final result is a general description of the phenomenon as seen
through the eyes of the people who have experienced it firsthand.
■ Focus on common themes despite diversity in the individuals and settings
studied.
 ● The content of your research report
○ There is no specific structure for the report. However, you should definitely have
the following:
■ Present research problem or question
■ Describe methods of data collection and analysis
■ Draw a conclusion about the phenomenon
■ Discuss practical implications of your findings

GROUNDED THEORY STUDY

● Definition: A type of research that begins with the data and uses it to develop a
“grounded” theory. It uses a prescribed set of procedures for analyzing data that have
been collected in the field rather than taken from research literature.
● Observations in a grounded theory study
○ Typically focuses on a process related to the particular topic, with the ultimate
goal of developing a theory about that process
○ Helpful when current theories about a phenomenon are either inadequate or
nonexistent
○ For example: Interactions between building contractors and future homeowners,
management of a difficult pregnancy, experiences with chronic illness, remarriage
following a divorce, and spousal abuse.
● Method for gathering data
○ Gather data
■ Researcher collects extensive data on the individuals, programs, or events
on which the study is focused on.
● Observations, interviews, documents, past records, audiovisual
materials (photos, videotapes, audiotapes)
● Data collected must include the perspectives and voice of the
people being studied
○ Analyze data
■ Researcher develops categories to classify the data into proper categories
■ Revise categories and gather enough data to “saturate” categories
● Data analysis process
○ Open coding: a process of reducing the data to a small set of themes that appear
to describe the phenomenon under investigation
■ Data is divided into segments and then scrutinized for commonalities that
reflect categories or themes
■ After data is categorized, it’s further examined for subcategories that
characterize such category.
○ Axial coding: a process of making interconnections among categories and
subcategories
 ■ Focus is to determine the following about each category
● Condition
● Context
● Strategies that people use to manage it or carry it out
● Consequences of such categories
○ Selective coding: categories and their interrelationships are combined to form a
storyline that describes what happens in the phenomenon being studied.
○ Development of a theory
■ Develop a theory, in the form of a verbal statement, model, series of
hypotheses, to explain the phenomenon in question and explains how
certain conditions lead to certain actions or interactions. And how thos
interactions lead to other actions, and so on.
■ Based entirely on collected data.
● The content of your research report
○ The report style is objective and impersonal.
○ Description of the research question
○ Review of Related Literature
■ Do not use literature to provide concepts or theories, rather use it to
provide rationale and context.
○ Describe methods of data collection and analysis
■ Outline nature of sample and setting
■ Outline specific methods used in collecting data
■ Explain the categories and subcategories you identified
■ Describe how your data collection was driven by your data analysis
○ Present a theory
○ Discuss implications

CONTENT ANALYSIS
● Definition: Detailed and systematic examination of the contents of a particular body of
material for the purpose of identifying patterns, themes, or biases.
● Observations in a content analysis
○ Typically performed on forms of human communications, i.e. books, newspapers,
films, etc.
○ Requires a lot of upfront preparation
○ Not necessarily a stand-alone design. Could be used with other forms of research
to aid in the analysis of the results of a given research, e.g. cross-sectional study,
ex post facto study, and quasi-experimental study.
● Method for gathering data
○ Identify specific body of material to be studied
■ Small amounts of material is usually studied in its entirety
 ■ Large amounts of material are sampled randomly
○ Define the characteristics or qualities to be examined in precise, concrete
terms.
■ Researcher may identify an example of each characteristic to be more
precise
■ If material to be analyzed is a complex, e.g. books, transcripts of
conversation, etc. break down each item into small, manageable segments
to be analyzed separately
○ Scrutinize the material for instances of each characteristic or quality defined
previously.
■ When judgements are objective (e.g. looking for occurrence of a word in a
text), one rater is sufficient
■ When judgements are subjective (e.g. evaluating a behaviour for an
activity), then multiple raters (two or three) are required, and a composite
of their judgements is used.
● Data analysis process
○ Tabulate the frequency of each characteristic found in the studied material
(quantitative approach)
○ Oftentimes, statistical analyses are performed on the frequencies or percentages
obtained to determine whether significant differences exist relevant to the
research question.
○ Use tabulations and statistical analyses to interpret the data as they reflect on
the problem under investigation.
● Research report content
○ Description of the material studied
■ Describe the overall studied material and any sampling procedures used, if
any
○ Precise definition and description of the investigated characteristics
■ Define each characteristic enough such that other researchers could
replicate the study
■ Consider using specific examples from your data to illustrate each
characteristic
○ Description of the rating procedure
■ Describe the rating procedure used to evaluate the material, and how
multiple ratings were combined
○ Tabulation of each characteristic
■ Report frequencies or percentages (or both) for each characteristic
■ Consider using tables and graphs for illustration
○ Description of found patterns
■ Identify themes or trends in the studied material
COLLECTING DATA IN QUALITATIVE
● Need for sampling
○ Purposeful sampling: Selecting individuals or objects that you would yield the
most information about the topic under investigation
■ Theoretical sampling: Choosing data sources that are most apt to help
develop a theory of the process in question
■ Discriminant sampling: Returning to data sources that are most apt to
help validate a theory
● Observations
○ Experiment with various recording strategies
○ Get introduced to the people you are watching
○ Remain quiet and inconspicuous, yet be friendly when approached
○ Record and interpret at the same time
● Interviews
○ Rarely structured. Either open-minded or semi-structured
○ Could interview multiple people in a focus group
○ Identify questions in advance with, carefully pick your sample, proper location,
written permission, rapport, actual vs abstract or hypothetical, listen, record
verbatim, keep reactions to self, and interviews do not necessarily reveal facts
○ Pay attention to group dynamics when conducting focus groups

ORGANIZING AND ANALYZING DATA FROM QUALITATIVE STUDIES

● According to Creswell [1998]
○ Raw data comes first
○ Organization of data
■ Filing
■ Creating database
■ Breaking large units into smaller units
○ Perusal
■ Getting an overall sense of the data
■ Jotting down preliminary interpretations
○ Classification
■ Grouping the data into categories or themes
■ Finding meaning in the data
○ Synthesis
■ Offering hypothesis or propositions
■ Constructing tables, diagrams, hierarchies
○ Final report
LESSON 3: IDENTIFYING THE INQUIRY AND STATING THE
PROBLEM
RESEARCH TOPICS
● A research topic is a subject or issue that a researcher is interested in when conducting
research. A well-defined research topic is the starting point of every successful research
project.
● Choosing a topic is an ongoing process by which researchers explore, define, and refine
their ideas.

GUIDELINES IN CHOOSING A RESEARCH TOPIC

● INTEREST IN THE SUBJECT MATTER
○ Your interest in a topic may be caused by your rich background knowledge about
it and by its novelty; meaning, its unfamiliarity to you. Being curious about a
subject, like a conundrum or a puzzle, makes you determined to unravel the
mystery or intriguing thing behind it. Your real interest in a subject pushes you to
research, investigate, or inquire about it with full motivation, enthusiasm, and
energy.
● AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION
○ Collecting a lot of information as evidence to support your claims about your
subject matter from varied forms of literature like books, journals, and
newspapers, among others, is a part and parcel of any research work. Hence, in
choosing a research topic, visit your library to check the availability of reading
materials on your chosen topic. Included in your investigation of the availability
of reading materials are questions on how updated and authoritative the materials
are. Let these questions linger as you tour the library;
■ What are the copyright dates of the materials?
■ How old or new are they?
■ How expected or qualified are the writers in coming out with such kind of
reading materials about your topic?
● TIMELINESS AND RELEVANCE OF THE TOPIC
○ The topic is relevant if it yields results that are instrumental in societal
improvement. It is timely if it is related to the present. For instance, unless it is a
pure or historical research, a research on the ins and outs of people’s revolutionary
acts will prosper more if it tackles the contemporary revolutionary actions rather
than those in the ancient time.
● LIMITATIONS ON THE SUBJECT
○ This makes you link your choosing with course requirements. For example, to
make you complete the requirements, your teacher instructs you to submit a paper
that will apply the key principles you learned in business, psychology, education,
 and so on. In this case, you have no freedom to choose your topic based on your
interest but must decide on one topic to finish your course.
● PERSONAL RESOURCES
○ Before sticking fully to your final choice, assess your research abilities in terms of
your financial standing, health condition, mental capacity, needed facilities, and
time allotment to enable you to complete your research.

RESEARCH TOPICS TO BE AVOIDED

● TOO BROAD SUBJECTS: Topics that are too broad will prevent you from giving a
concentrated or an in-depth analysis of the subject matter of the paper. The remedy to this
is to narrow or limit the topic to a smaller one.
● TOO NARROW SUBJECTS: These subjects are so limited or specific that an extensive
or thorough searching or reading for information about these is necessary.
● VAGUE SUBJECTS: Choosing topics like these will prevent you from having a clear
focus on your paper. For instance, titles beginning with indefinite adjectives such as
several, many, some, etc., as in “Some Remarkable Traits of a Filipino” or “Several
People’s Comments on the RH Law”, are vague enough to decrease the reader’s interests
and curiosity.

SOURCES OF RESEARCH TOPICS

● Mass media communication
○ Basically press (newspapers, ads, TV, radio, films, etc.)
● Books, Internet, peer-reviewed journals, government publications
● Professional periodicals like College English Language Teaching Forum, English
Forum, the Economist, Academia, Business Circle, Law Review, etc.
● General periodicals such as Reader’s Digest, Women’s Magazine, Panorama Magazine,
Time Magazine, World Mission Magazine, etc.
● Previous reading assignments in your other subjects
● Work experience
○ Clues to a researchable topic from full-time or part-time jobs, OJT (on-the-job
training) experience, fieldwork, etc.

RESEARCH TITLES
● A research title is the most important element that defines the research problem. It is
usually read first and the most read part of the research.
○ Contains the least words enough to describe the content and the purpose of your
research paper.
○ It’s the part you can revise over and over as the research develops and reaches its
final phase. It becomes final on its final defense before the panel of judges.
○ You can narrow your topic down by making subtopics!
 ● The research title doesn’t need to be entertaining but informative. It can just have the
basics; the following information:
○ WHAT? The subject matter or topic to be investigated
○ WHERE? The place or locale where the research is to be conducted.
○ WHO? The population, like the respondents’ interviewees.
○ WHEN? The time period of the study during which the data are to be collected.
● An example of a research title:
○ ‘The teaching of English in the high schools of Camarines del Sur during the
school year 1989 to 1990 as perceived by teachers and students.’
● In qualitative research, it is not necessary to complete the data on what, where, who, and
when in the title. For example,
○ Study Habits of Senior High School Students in Public Schools of Bukidnon
○ Understanding the Academic Journey of Senior High School Students
○ Phenomenology of Pioneering Senior High School Students in Private Schools
○ Body Tattoo: Is it an art?

THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND (CHAPTER 1)

● Also sometimes referred to as the introduction. It is composed of the following sections:
○ Background of the Study
■ Contains
● The general definition of the topic/problem area
● Historical basis for the existence of the problem
● Efforts made towards addressing similar challenges
● How the effort failed to be realized, hence the need for your study.
■ Contents
● Presentation of the problem. Describe the existence of an
unsatisfactory condition or a problem that needs a solution.
● Historical background of the problem; give the historical
background of the problem, if applicable.
● Geographical conditions of the study locale; if applicable,
describe the geographical location of the study.
● Rationale of the study: Give the reason/s why the study should be
conducted.
○ Statement of the Problem: A series of questions used in researching the topic.
■ Contents
● The general statement of the problem (purpose statement)
● The specific sub-problems or sub-questions (research questions)
○ Scope and Delimitation
■ Scope is the coverage of the research to be explored which includes the
facts and theories about the subject.
 ■ Delimitation limits the scope and outlines the boundaries of the study.
This may include:
● Sample size (research design and method will determine the size
and the sample size will determine the quality of the data)
● Lack of available/reliable data
● Lack of prior studies
● Chosen data collection method (the quality of data collected must
be clear to avoid erroneous answers from the respondents)
● Nature of the information collected (researchers should not rely
on pre-existing data)
● Access to available data
● Time period
● Bias (researchers should be aware of his or her personal biases)
● Language
○ Significance of the study: Discusses the purpose that the research will serve to
society, the country, the government, the institution or agency concerned, the
curriculum planners and developers, and the research community.
■ It could be the following:
● A form of new knowledge in the field
● A validation of the major findings of other studies
● A verification of the validity of findings in a different population
● Analysis of trends over time, and validation of other findings using
different methodologies
● A research problem is defined as any significant, perplexing, and challenging situation,
real or artificial, the solution of which requires reflexive thinking. In research, it is known
as the topic or title [Calderon & Gonzales, 1993]
○ Usually, a topic is picked out first, Then a research problem, or the problem you
want to address. Then a purpose statement, which states your reason on why you
want to to address the problem. You then write the research question.

THE DO’S AND DON'TS FOR THE RESEARCH TOPIC

Explain the importance of your research topic Write a background that is too long or short

Talk about the main developments and Be ambiguous in your writing, disorganized
missing links and gaps in your research area and discuss unrelated subjects.

Focus on the relevant aspects of your study Forget the reader may not be familiar with the
explaining how it will lead to the progress of details of your work.
scientific knowledge.

Engage your findings in chronological Elaborate on your background literature.

 findings.

Articulate your ideas in a clear and concise Forget to provide a historical perspective.
manner

Engage the readers by building a story around Forger to check your target journal’s
the central theme of your research. instructions for presenting the study
background.

HOW TO WRITE THE STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM [Calderon & Gonzales, 1993]
1. The general statement of the problem and the research questions should be formulated
first before conducting the research.
2. Research questions should be stated in the interrogative and each should be clear to
avoid confusion.
3. Each research question should be researchable separately from the other questions and
must be based upon known facts and phenomena which is accessible to the researcher.
4. Answers to each research question can be interpreted apart from the answers to the other
specific questions and must contribute to the development of the whole research study.
5. The summary of the answers to all the specific questions will give a complete
development of the entire study.
6. The number of research questions should be enough to cover the development of the
whole research study.

LESSON 4: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

WHAT’S LITERATURE?
● Literature is an oral or written record of man’s significant experiences that are
artistically conveyed in a prosaic manner [Baraceros, 2016]
● There recorded or preserved world perceptions of man are expressed directly or
indirectly.
○ Direct expressions of man’s knowledge of the world are in books, periodicals,
and online reading materials.
○ Indirect expressions are his inferences or reflections of his surroundings that are
not written or spoken at all.

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

● A review of related literature is an analysis of man’s written or spoken knowledge of the
world. You basically examine representations of man’s thinking about the world to
determine the connection of your research with what people already know about it.
● In your analysis or reading of recorded knowledge, you just do not catalog ideas in your
research paper, but also interpret them or merge your thinking with the author’s ideas.
PURPOSE OF RRL
1. To obtain background knowledge of your research
2. To relate your study to the current condition or situation of the world
3. To show the capacity of your research work to introduce new knowledge
4. To expand, prove, or disprove the findings of previous research studies
5. To increase your understanding of the underlying theories, principles, or concepts of your
research
6. To explain technical terms involved in your research study
7. To highlight the significance of your work with the kind of evidence it gathered to
support the conclusion of your research
8. To avoid repeating previous research studies
9. To recommend the necessity of further research on a certain topic

STYLES AND APPROACHES OF RRL

● Traditional review of literature
○ To do a review of literature in a traditional way is to summarize present forms of
knowledge on a specific subject. Your aim here is to give an expanded or new
understanding of an existing work. Being necessarily descriptive, interpretative,
evaluative, and methodically unclear and uncertain, a traditional review is prone
to your subjectivity.
○ This kind of review does not require you to describe your method of reviewing
literature but expects you to state your intentions in conducting the review and to
name the sources of information.
○ It comes in a few types, too!
■ Conceptual review: analysis of concepts or ideas to give meaning to
some national or world issues
■ Critical review: focuses on theories or hypotheses and examines
meanings and results of their application to situations.
■ State-of-the-Art review: makes the researcher deal with the latest
research studies on the subject
■ Expert review: encourages a well-known expert to do the RRL because of
the influence of a certain ideology, paradigm, or belief on him/her
■ Scoping review: prepares a situation for a future research work in the
form of project making about community development, government
policies, and health services, among others.
● Systematic review of literature
○ It is a methodical style of RRL that involves sequential acts of a review of related
literature. Unlike the traditional review that has no particular method, systematic
review requires you to go through the following RRL steps.
 ○ A systematic review of literature is a rigorous way of obtaining data from written
works. It is a bias-free style that every researcher wanting to be a research expert
should experience. Limiting itself to peer-reviewed journals, academically written
works, and quantitative assessment of data through statistical methods, this style
of literature review ensures objectivity in every stage of the research.

STEPS IN SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF LITERATURE

1. Have a clear understanding of the research questions. Serving as the compass to
direct your research activities, the research questions tell you what to collect and where to
obtain those data you want to collect.
2. Plan your manner at obtaining the data. Imagining how you will get to where the data
are, you will come to think also of what keywords to use for easy searching and how to
accord courtesy and respect to people or institutions from where the data will come such
as planning how to communicate your request to these sources of data.
3. Do the literature search. Using keywords, you look for the needed information from all
sources of knowledge: internet, books, journals, periodicals, government publications,
general references, and the likes.
4. Using a certain standard, determine which data, studies, or sources of knowledge are
valuable or not to warrant the reasonableness of your decision to take some data and junk
the rest.
5. Determine the methodological soundness of the research studies. Use a checklist or a
certain set of criteria in assessing the ways researchers conduct their studies to arrive at a
certain conclusion.
6. Summarize what you have gathered from various sources of data. To concisely
present a synthesis of your report, use a graph such as a table and other presentation
formats that are not prone to verbosity

LET’S DO SOME COMPARISONS!

STANDARDS TRADITIONAL SYSTEMATIC REVIEW
REVIEW

Purpose To have a thorough and To meet a certain objective based

clear understanding of on specific research questions
the field

Scope Comprehensive, wide Restricted focus

picture

Review Design Indefinite plan, permits Viewable process and paper trail
creative and exploratory
plan
 Choice of Purposeful selection by Prepared standards for studies
studies the reviewer selection

Nature of Inquiry-based Wide and thorough search for all

studies techniques involving studies
several studies

Quality Reviewers’ views Assessment checklists

appraisal

Summary Narrative Graphical and short summary

answers

STRUCTURE OF RRL
● The structure of the whole literature review indicates the organizational pattern or order
of the components of the
● summary of the RRL results
● For the traditional review, the structure of the summary resembles that of an essay where
a series of united sentences presents the RRL results. However, this structure of
traditional review varies based on your subject and area of specialization
● For the systematic review, the structure is based on the research questions: so much so,
that, if your RRL does not adhere to a certain method to make you begin your RRL with
research questions, your RRL is headed toward a traditional literature review structure
● Regardless of what RRL structure you opt to use, you must see to it that the
organizational pattern of the results of your review contains these three elements; an
introduction to explain the organizational method of your literature review; headings and
subheadings to indicate the right placement of your supporting statements and a summary
to concisely restate your main point.

SAMPLE STRUCTURED RRL

● Headings
● Health Communication
○ Health communication and risk communication
○ Health communication and information technology
● Suicide statistics in the world
○ Suicide statistics in the Philippines
○ Suicide and COVID-19
● Suicidal communication
● Mental health
○ Mental health factors contributing to suicide
○ Interpersonal theory of suicide
○ Mental health initiatives in the Philippines
○ Devcom studies on mental health
LESSON 5: THE PROCESS OF RRL
PROCESS IN DOING THE RRL
● Searching for literature
● Reading the source material
● Writing the review

SEARCHING FOR LITERATURE

● There are three basic types of literature sources
○ General sources that will direct you to the location of other sources
○ Primary sources that directly report or present a person’s own experiences
○ Secondary sources that report or describe other people’s experiences or
worldviews
● Secondary sources of knowledge give the most number of materials such as the Internet,
books, peer-reviewed articles in journals, published literary reviews of a field, grey
literature or unpublished and non-peer reviewed materials like theses, dissertations,
conference proceedings, leaflets and posters, research studies in progress, and other
library materials.
● Websites introducing materials whose quality depends solely on every individual, social
media networks (Twitter, Facebook, blogs, podcasts, YouTube, video, etc.) and other
online encyclopedias such as Wikipedia, are the other sources of information that you can
consult during this stage.
● You may find these reading materials valuable, especially the Wikipedia, because of their
timeliness, diversified knowledge or information, varied presentation formats (texts,
sounds, animation) and 24-hour availability. But they are not as dependable as the other
sources of knowledge.
○ Some consider the information from these as not very scholarly in weight because
it is susceptible to anybody’s penchant for editing.
● Here are the pointers you have to remember in searching for the best sources of
information or data!
1. Choose previous research findings that are closely related to your research
2. Give more weight to studies done by people possessing expertise or authority in
the field of knowledge to which the research studies belong.
3. Consider sources of knowledge that refer more to primary data than to a
secondary data
4. Prefer getting information from peer-reviewed materials than from general
reading materials.

READING THE SOURCE MATERIAL

● Reading, understanding, or making the materials meaningful to you is what will
preoccupy you on the second stage of reading the RRL.
 ● You can only benefit much from your reading activities. If you confront the reading
materials with the help of your HOTS. In understanding the sources of knowledge with
your HOTS, you need to think interpretatively through these ways of inferential thinking:
predicting, generalizing, concluding, and assuming.
● On top of these should be your ability to criticize or evaluate, apply, and create things
about what you have read.

WRITING THE REVIEW

● You do a great deal of idea connection and organization in this last stage of RRL to form
an overall understanding of the material by paraphrasing or summarizing it.
● A simple presentation of the findings or argumentations of the writers on a particular
topic with no incorporation of your own inferential, analytical, and
comparative-contrastive thinking about other people’s ideas indicates poor literature
review writing. Also called the “dump or stringing method”.
● Juxtaposing or dealing with studies with respect to each other is your way of proving the
extent of the validity of the findings of previous studies vis-a-vis the recent ones. Reading
the source material and writing the review analytically, argumentatively, or critically, you
give yourself the chance to express your genuine or opinionated knowledge about the
topic: thereby, increasing the enthusiasm of people in reading your work.
● Another good approach to writing an excellent review is adopting good opening
sentences of articles that should chronologically appear in the paper. Opening an article
with a bibliographical list that begins with the author’s name like the following examples
is not good:
○ Aquino (2015) said….
○ Roxas (2016) stated…
○ Mendoza (2018) asserted…
● Examples of better article openings manifesting critical thinking through analysis,
comparison and contrast of ideas and findings are as follows:
○ One early work by (Castro, 2017) proves that…
○ Another study on the topic by (Torres, 2017) maintains that…
○ The latest study by (Gomez, 2018) reveals that…

SOME OTHER TIPS ON WRITING RRLS

● How do I know if my RRL isn’t absolute hot garbage?
○ Establish context for the review; like, why is it being written and included in the
thesis?
○ Establish the theme and stay organized in your writing style. Consistency is key!
○ Cite the authors, and if possible, cite their work.
LESSON 6: CITATION PROCEDURES
STANDARD STYLES IN REFERENCES
● In reviewing related literature, you come up with ideas borrowed from someone else;
therefore, it is polite, honest, and courtesy to learn to acknowledge other people’s
intellectual rights and to avoid plagiarism. The following are three terms to express
recognition of author’s ownership of borried ideas.
○ ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: The beginning portion of the work that identifies
individuals who have contributed something for the production of the paper.
○ REFERENCES/BIBLIOGRAPHY: A complete list of all reading materials,
including books, journals, periodicals, etc. from where the borrowed ideas came
from.
○ CITATION OR IN-TEXT CITATION: References within the main body of the
text, specifically in review of related literature.

PURPOSES OF CITATION
1. To give importance and respect to other people for what they know about the field
2. To give authority, validity, and credibility to other people’s claims, conclusions, and
arguments
3. To prove your broad and extensive reading of authentic and relevant materials about your
topic
4. To help readers find or contact the sources of ideas easily
5. To permit readers to check the accuracy of your work
6. To save yourself from plagiarism

CITING AND REFERENCING FORMATS

● There are three basic methods of referencing the author referred to in your paper.
○ APA (American Psychological Association)
○ MLA (Modern Language Association)
○ Chicago Manual Style
● We will be focusing on the two most commonly used styles of referencing, which is APA
and MLA. Moreover, between the two, APA is the most frequently used within the social
sciences in citing various sources. The following table shows examples of MLA and APA
styles of referencing.
Features in writing APA system MLA system

Author’s name Carreon, J.B Carreon, Janice B.

Title of the reading material Phenomenal learning: the Phenom Based Learning: The
new approach New Approach or Phenom
Based Learning: The New
Approach
 Copyright date Carreon, J.B. 2019.
Phenombased learning: the
new approach. EduTech
Journal Wordstar Press Inc.
Manila, Philippines.
Carreon, Janice B.
Phenombased learning: the
new approach. EduTech
Journal Wordstar Press Inc.
Manila, Philippines.

STYLES OF CITATION
● INTEGRAL CITATION
○ This is one way of citing or referring to the author whose ideas appear in your
work. You do this by using active verbs like claim, assert, state, etc. to report the
author’s ideas.

APA MLA

One study by Manalo (2015) reveals... One study by (Manalo 70)

The latest work by (Lee, 2015) asserts… The latest work by (Lee 123)

According to Abad et al. (2015) context is... According to (Abad et al,: 54)

● NON-INTEGRAL CITATION
○ In contrast to integral citation that reflects the author’s personal inclinations to a
certain extent, this second citation style downplay any strength of the writer’s
personal characteristics. The stress is given to the piece of information rather than
to the owner of the ideas.
○ For example!
■ The Code of Ethics for Intercultural Competence gives four ways by
which people from different cultural backgrounds can harmoniously relate
themselves with one another (De la Cruz, 2015).
■ The other components of Intercultural Competence which are also present
in SFG are: context (Harold, 2015), appropriateness (Villar, Marcos,
Atienza, 2016: Santos, and Daez, 2016), and emotions (Flores, 2016)

PATTERNS OF CITATION
● Summary: The citation in this case is a shortened version of the original text that is
expressed in your own language. Making the text short, you have to pick out only the
most important ideas or aspects of the text.
● Paraphrase: This is the antithesis of the first one because, here, instead of shortening the
form of the text, you explain what the text means to you using your own words. In doing
so, it is possible that your explanations may decrease or exceed the number of words of
the original text. You should still put the citation.
 ○ Unacceptable paraphrases include exact phrases from the material with no
quotation marks. You should really reword it.
● Short direct quotation: Only a part of the author’s sentence, the whole sentence, or
several sentences, not exceeding 40 words, is what you can quote or repeat in writing
through this citation pattern. Since this makes you copy the exact words of the writer, it is
necessary that you give the number of the page where the readers can find the copied
words.
○ Example: Contexts are influenced by these four factors: “language, culture,
institutions, and ideologies.” (Aranda, 2015, p.8)
● Long direct quotation or block quotation or extract: Named in many ways, this
citation pattern makes you copy the author’s exact words numbering from 40 up to 100
words. Under APA, the limit is eight lines. Placed at the center of the page with no
indentation, the copied lines look like they compose a stanza of a poem. It’s gonna look
like this:

The latest study by (Hizon, 2015) reveals the social nature of language. Stressing this nature of
language, he says:

Language features result from the way people use language to meet their social needs in
their interactions, they use language to describe, compare, agree, explain, disagree, and so
on. Each language function requires a certain set of language features like nouns for
naming, adjectives for comparing, verbs for agreeing, prepositions for directing, and
conjunctions for connecting ideas (p.38).

WHY USE QUOTATION?

● To avoid negative connotations about direct quotations in your paper, have in mind the
following reasons to justify your act of quoting or repeating in writing other people’s
words.
○ The idea is quite essential
○ The idea is refutable or arguable
○ The sentence is ambiguous or has multiple meanings
○ There’s a strong possibility that questions may be raised about the citation.
○ It is an excellent idea that to make it a part of your paper will bring prestige and
credibility to your entire work.

PATTERNS OF CITATION
● Tense of verbs for reporting
● Active verbs are effective words to use in reporting authors’ ideas. Present their ideas in
any of these tenses; present, simple past, or present perfect tense. The APA system,
however, prefers the use of present perfect tense.
 ○ Examples are:
■ Present tense: Marcos explains…
■ Past tense: Marcos explained…
■ Present perfect tense: Marcos has explained...

LESSON 7: PLAGIARISM AND THE ETHICS OF LITERATURE

REVIEW
WHAT IS PLAGIARISM?
● Plagiarism: Act of quoting of copying the exact words of the writer and passing the
quoted words off as your own words.
● Taking ownership of what does not belong to you is a criminal act that is punishable by
imprisonment and indemnity or payment of money to compensate for any losses incurred
by the owners of expressions that you copied without their permission.
● Nowadays, due to the proliferation of “Grey Literature” or unpublished reading materials
or of non-peer reviewed online publications, many reading materials as sources of
information for research studies appear questionable as to how qualitative, credible, and
authoritative they are.

MATERIALS THAT CAN BE PLAGIARIZED

● Easily identifiable
○ Published journals
○ Books
○ Professional society conference proceedings
● Not really easily identifiable
○ Preprints or e-prints
○ Technical reports
○ Lectures
○ Numeric data sets
○ Audiovisual media
○ Blogs
○ Fora, etc.
● Almost unidentifiable
○ Ideas
○ Concepts
○ Thought

TYPES OF PLAGIARISM
● DIRECT PLAGIARISM: This type of plagiarism is committed when you copy
word-for-word a section of others’ works without quotation marks (Roig, 2002)
○ You need to cite exact words as a direct quotation or else.
 ● SELF-PLAGIARISM: This plagiarism is often committed when you mix your previous
works to come up with new article without proper citation and permission to the teacher
you previously submitted the work (Helgesson & Eriksson, 2014; Plagiarism.org, 2011)
○ Just… just don’t do this.
● MOSAIC PLAGIARISM: It is committed when you take phrases from a source without
using quotation marks or citation; thus, you just find synonyms to the authors’ words
while keeping the same though as it is in the original (Raka, 2017)
○ It’s a cheap and lazy way to paraphrase, basically.
● ACCIDENTAL PLAGIARISM: This is committed when unintentionally neglected to
cite a source or quoted by using similar words or sentence structure. This can be avoided
through responsible writing and running your work in an initial plagiarism test available
in internet (Learning Services Writing Center, 2018)

ETHICS OF LITERATURE REVIEW

1. Observe proper citation.
➔ In writing academic text like research, observe proper citation. This is from
proper paraphrasing to correct citation entry in different citations. Observance of
this is one way to acknowledge their contribution, as well as your
professionalism. As a novice researcher, you need to master different kinds of
citation
2. Keep the original thoughts
➔ There are many times that we lose the original thoughts of the text that we are
paraphrasing. It is unethical if we will just cite writing wherein the original
essence of the sentence is different from what we have interpreted or written
down. We need to be abreast with proper skills in paraphrasing and interpreting
others’ work.
3. Avoid biases
➔ As a novice researcher, it is important that you eliminate personal interest or
biases on your studies (Fleming & Zegwaard, 2018). You should be fair, not one
sided. This is not just demeaning your literature but also destroying the integrity
of research as a vessel of new knowledge. Therefore, any form of bias has to be
eliminated.
4. Be scientific
➔ Becoming scientific has a strong basis on reviewing literature. One has to state
only what is written and provided evidence alone, not on personal and intuitive
deductions of interpretations.
5. Embrace positivism
➔ Research is always geared towards positivity. Thus, the literature review has to be
in line with positivism (Polanski, 2004).
second quarter notes
LESSON 1: METHODOLOGIES IN QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
HOW IS A RESEARCH PROPOSAL FORMATTED
● Introduction (What, how, and why?)
● Literature review (Why and how?)
● Methodology (How?)
● Preliminary data (What?)
● Statement of limitations
● Conclusion (What, how, and why?)

RESEARCH DESIGN
● Design is a word which means a plan or something that is conceptualized by the mind.
● A choice of a research design requires you to finalize your mind on the purpose,
philosophical basis, and types of data of your research, including your method of
collecting, analyzing, interpreting and presenting the data. It is a plan that directs your
mind to several stages of your research work.
● These include grounded theories, phenomenological stories, etc. for qualitative research
designs.

SAMPLING
● In research, sampling is a word that refers to your method or process of selecting
respondents or people to answer questions meant to yield data for a research study.
● The chosen ones constitute the sample through which you will derive acts and evidence
to support the claims or conclusions propounded by your research problem.
 ● The bigger group from which you choose the sample is called population, and sampling
frame (roster, census) is the term used to mean the list of all the members of such
population from where you will get the sample.

SAMPLING METHODS
● Probability sampling methods
○ Simple random sampling
○ Cluster sampling
○ Systematic sampling
○ Stratified random sampling
● Non-probability sampling methods
○ Convenience sampling
○ Judgemental or purposive sampling
○ Snowball sampling
○ Quota sampling

PROBABILITY SAMPLING METHODS

● Probability sampling involves all members listed in the sampling frame representing a
certain population focused on by your study.
● An equal chance of participation in the sampling or selection process is given to every
member listed in the sampling frame.
● By means of this unbiased sampling, you are able to obtain a sample that is capable of
representing the population under study or of showing strong similarities in
characteristics with the members of the population.
● A sampling error is a type of statistical error that happens when a sample does not
accurately represent the overall population. This is inevitable, but try to mitigate it as
much as possible.

SIMPLE RANDOM SAMPLING

● Simple random sampling is the best type of probability sampling through which you can
choose samples from a population.
● Using a pure-chance selection, you assure every member the same opportunity to be in
the sample.
● Here, the only basis of including or excluding a member is by chance or opportunity,
not by any occurrence accounted for by cause-effect relationships. Simple random
sampling happens through any of these two methods:
○ Have a list of all members of the population (sampling frame); write each name
on a card and choose cards through a pure-chance selection
○ Have a list of all members (sampling frame); give a number to members and then
use randomized or unordered numbers in selecting names from a list.
SYSTEMATIC SAMPLING
● There is a system in place. For this kind of probability sampling, chance and system are
the ones to determine who should compose the sample.
● It’s like if you have a list of 1,500, you can take every 5th person in the list until you
complete the total number of respondents to constitute your sample.

STRATIFIED SAMPLING
● The group comprising the sample is chosen in a way that such a group is liable to
subdivision during the data analysis stage. A study needing group by group analysis finds
stratified sampling the right probability sampling to use.
● You basically give a balanced number of representatives for each subgroup in the
sampling. Equal representation, basically.

CLUSTER SAMPLING
● This is a probability sampling that makes you isolate a set of persons instead of
individual members to serve as sample members. For example, if you want to have a
sample of 120 out of 1000 students, you can randomly select three sections with 40
students each to constitute the sample.
● This is similar to stratified sampling, but the difference is that stratified sampling requires
you to input the subgroups in data analysis and cluster sampling doesn’t.

NON PROBABILITY SAMPLING

● This disregards random selection of subjects. The subjects are chosen based on their
availability or the purpose of the study, and in some cases, on the sole discretion of the
researcher. This is not a scientific way of selecting respondents. Neither does it offer a
valid or an objective way of detecting sampling errors.
● It's a biased selection to get the best data available. It is just as valid as probability
sampling.

CONVENIENCE SAMPLING
● This sampling technique is a type of non-probability sampling wherein the sample is
taken from a group or people who are easy to contact or to reach.
PURPOSIVE SAMPLING
● You choose people whom you are sure could correspond to the objectives of your study,
like selecting those with rich experience or interest in your study.
● It has different types, too:
○ Criterion sampling: It is a purposeful sampling that identifies participants
through particular criteria based on the needs of the study. This can be based on
profile experience or the concern of the research. (Experience is vital)
 ○ Critical sampling: It is a purposive sampling wherein the researcher deliberately
chooses participants based on their capability in providing the necessary data for
the research. (Are they prepared? Are they ready to have this conversation?)

SNOWBALL SAMPLING
● This is a subset of purposive sampling and functions like a pyramid scheme. In this type
of sampling, you’re sampling while getting the data. Usually, you’d get the sample first
before collecting data but in this scenario, this is not the case.
● Similar to snow expanding widely or rolling rapidly, this sampling method does not give
a specific set of samples. This is true for a study involving an unspecified group of
people.
● Dealing with varied groups of people such as street children, mendicants, drug
dependents, call center workers, informal settlers, street vendors, and the like is possible
in this kind of non-probability sampling.
● Free to obtain data from any group just like snow freely expanding and accumulating at a
certain place, you tend to increase the number of people you want to form the sample of
your study.

QUOTA SAMPLING
● It is purposive sampling mixed with stratified sampling. In quota sampling, you select
people non randomly according to some fixed quota.
○ Proportional quota sampling aims to represent the population’s major features
by sampling proportionally. For example, if you know the population comprises
40% women and 60% men and you desire a sample size of 100, you will keep
sampling until you reach those percentages. So, if you currently have 40 women
but not 60 men for your sample, you will continue to sample men but not women
because you have already “met your quota”.
○ Nonproportional tquota sampling is more flexible. This approach requires a
minimum number of sampled units per category. You don’t need numbers that
match the population proportions. Instead, you want enough to ensure that you
can discuss even small groups of people.

VOLUNTARY/AVAILABILITY SAMPLING
● Since the subjects you expect to participate in the sample selection are the ones
volunteering to constitute the sample, there is no need for you to do any selection
process.
 ● The willingness of a person as your subject to interact with you counts a lot in this
non-probability sampling method. An example of this is a vaccine. This samping is not
very generalizable to the entire population.

LESSON 2: DATA COLLECTION METHODS

OVERVIEW
● After deciding on the study’s methodology and identifying the participants, the
researchers should examine how the data will be collected from them. Thus, familiarity
with current and regularly-used instruments, as well as norms in instrument word
creation, is critical in research. Notably, a suitable research tool with relevant questions
will allow the researcher to validate the collected data and the study’s outcomes.

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS

● One-on-one interview
● Focus groups
● Ethnographic research
● Case study research
● Record keeping
● Process of observation

INTERVIEW
● Interviewing is a data collection strategy in which you ask subjects or respondents
questions about their responses to your research questions.
● Interviews are usually used in qualitative research to learn what respondents believe and
feel about the research issue.
● Traditionally, this method involves direct interaction between the researcher and the
respondents. In this situation, you can speak directly to an individual or a group. A
modern research instrument, however, is an interview conducted using electronic and
technological communication means such as the Internet, cell phones, and e-mail.
● Overall, an interview is “a discussion with a purpose” that guides the exchange of
questions and answers between the interviewer and the interviewee.

TYPES OF INTERVIEW
● Structured interviews
○ This type of interview requires the researcher to prepare sets of questions which
will be asked to the participants. Here, the interview session will be organized by
means of following its content sequence. Hence, the researcher will only ask
questions which appeared from the questionnaire but will allow himself/herself to
ask the interviewee when the clarification of response is required.
● Unstructured interview
 ○ Unlike the structured type of interview, unstructured type has no prepared sets of
questions for the interviewee. Here, the researcher is required to have enough
knowledge of the topic under investigation so that he/she can get the needed data
without planned and guided questions. The session is done in a natural manner of
conversing and exchanging of ideas while the reliability of obtained data is still
ensured.
● Semi-structured interview
○ The characteristic of semi-structured interview lies in the concept of combining
the features of both structured and unstructured types. Here, the researcher
prepares sets of questions to be asked to his/her participant while allowing
himself/herself to ask probing questions which are not written from the prepared
questionnaire. Such a combination gives an opportunity to the researcher to obtain
additional data. Thus, the depth can be added to make the findings of the study
more significant.
● Individual interview (This is what we’ll be doing, mixed with mediated interview)
○ Interview with one respondent. The rationale for this one-on-one interview is the
lack of trust between the interviewees. One example is when an interviewee
refuses to allow other interviewers to see or hear their responses. So he or she
chooses a separate interview from the rest. This form of interview takes time
because you have to interview each person individually.
● Mediated interview
○ This interview method does not require a face-to-face interview because it uses
electronic communication technologies such as telephones, mobile phones, and
email. A large number of respondents can be reached despite the expense,
distance, and human impairments impacting the interview.
● Group interview
○ In this interview style, you ask the same question to a group of people. The group
members answer the question in turn. This method is commonly used in business,
specifically marketing research. This is also called focus group interview or
discussion. This interview method’s disadvantage is that other group members
may influence some respondents.
BEFORE THE INTERVIEW: INFORMED CONSENT FORM
● Informed consent is the process of obtaining and maintaining the consent of a person or
their authorized representative to participate in a research study. This occurs when a
human subject receives complete disclosure of the research plan and its aim, understands
all of the material revealed to him/her, willingly consents to participate in the study and
understands that they may withdraw from it at any moment.
● NOTE! Sir is going to have a format for consent forms, so just take note of that. But
here’s the example:

GENERAL PARTS OF AN INFORMED CONSENT FORM

● Investigators’/researchers’ statement (names and content)
● Purpose of the interview (simplified version of the problem statement)
● Procedures of the interview (duration, type of interview, etc.)
● Risks, stress, or discomfort
● Privacy statement (reiterate that you’ll do it solely for research)
● Participant’s statement/consent statement

STEPS IN CONDUCTING INTERVIEW

1. Getting to know each other (disgusting)
➔ A standard interview begins when you, the interviewer, and your respondents
meet at the interview location. When meeting for the first time, your natural
impulse would be to converse to develop friendship and a relaxed mood for both
of you. Even if the interview is taking place at your respondent’s home, you must
 demonstrate appreciation and respect for the interview location. Your mutual
respect must lead you to discuss the interview’s location, your comfort level, and
the duration of the question-and-answer session.
2. Having an idea of the research
➔ Describe the interview purpose, importance, and scope to the participants. Not
only can they anticipate the questions they will be asked, but also the appropriate
responses they will give, if they are informed of the activity’s main features. In
this second interview step, questions about confidentiality are also addressed.
Assertively asking questions during this time period will allow you to gain a
better understanding of the respondent’s perspective.
➔ This is basically just reiterating the contents of the consent form.
3. Starting the interview
➔ This step begins with a question to elicit information about the respondent, such
as age, family, current activities, and anything else that stands out to you.
Following these self-introduction questions are questions about the subject’s
thoughts, attitudes, or job performance. The respondent’s answers not only help
you learn about his or her interviewing style, but also help you learn how to ask
questions that will elicit the best data for your research.
4. Conducting the interview proper
➔ Here, the interviewee is asked open-ended questions about the research theme or
research questions, which he/she has anticipated or which arise from his/her
explanations, descriptions, or narrations of things. The open or unstructured
questions ask about the respondent’s interests and elicit substantial or profuse
responses. You stick to the main point of your study, to the proper phrasing of
questions, and to the sufficient time allotted for each question.
➔ Make a list of all questions you want to ask your respondent and call it a
schedule. This helps you formulate questions correctly and anticipate answers.
Using a schedule also allows you to modify the questions to accommodate the
respondent’s human nature. After the interview, you can decide how to label the
responses with codes and present them in a certain style such as graphical or
narrative presentation.
➔ Also record the interview to have some data!
5. Putting an end to the interview
➔ Signs that the interview is coming to a close help the respondent finish speaking.
For example, using words to express your decision, wish, or attempt to ask the
last question signals to the respondent that the interview is winding down. This
step also reminds you to let the respondent express any doubts or questions they
may have about the research design, method, interview time, and other aspects.
6. Pondering over interview afterthoughts
 ➔ This final interview step allows the respondent to ask questions about the
interview process and what will happen after the interview results.

LESSON 3
METHODOLOGIES IN QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
GUIDELINES FOR WORDINGS OF INSTRUMENT QUESTION
1. The instrument questions should be stated in an affirmative manner.
➔ When the researcher plans to construct his/her instrument questions, he/she must
ensure that these are always stated positively. This further means that “negative
words” such as no, not, never, and the like should be avoided since these might
give confusion to the participants whether they should answer yes or no.
➔ Weak: Don’t you agree…. Why?
➔ Strong: Do you agree…. Why?
2. The instrument questions should avoid ambiguous construction.
➔ When constructing a research question, the researcher is suggested not to
incorporate words such as many, few, always, usually and the like as possible
because these may make the question ambiguously constructed. This type of
question may not solicit accurate responses from the participants.
➔ Weak: Do you always visit your FB account?
➔ Strong: How often do you visit your FB account?
3. The instrument questions should not be stated in a double-barreled form
➔ It is important for the researcher to state his/her instrument question by having a
single question for each item appearing in the instrument. Double barreled
question means that a single item is composed of two or more questions which
may affect the response of the participants by not completely answering them.
Hence, this should be avoided, and the item should be constructed with only one
question.
➔ Weak: Do you want to join the school publication and have the will to undergo
intensive training?
➔ Strong: Do you want to join the school publication? If yes, are you willing to
undergo intensive training?

CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD RESEARCH INSTRUMENT

● In qualitative research, the research instrument is/are the researcher/s themselves.
○ It must be concise
○ It has questions arranged from simplest to complex order
○ It has questions following the sequence of problems stated in chapter 1
○ It should be trustworthy
○ It must be easily interpreted
OBSERVATION
● Observation is a data collection method where you personally watch, interact, or
converse with your participants. It records what people do and say in their daily lives.
This kind of data collection allows you to gain proofs to back up your claims or findings
in a natural situation. Observing how a subject responds to a circumstance and
interpreting or expressing your ideas and feelings about it tends to be subjective. Some
argue that subjectivity renders observation inferior to other methods.
● It comes in various types:
○ Participant observation
■ The researcher observes the person or group. Your participation gives you
first-hand understanding of the subjects’ behavior and interactions. To
record your findings through this type of observation, use the diary
method or logbook.
■ The first part of the diary is called descriptive observation. This initial part
of the record describes the people, places, events, conversation, and other
things involved in the activity or object focused on by the research. The
second part of the diary is called the narrative account that gives your
interpretations or reflections about everything you observed.

○ Non-participation or structured observation

■ This style of observation entirely separates you from your goal. You just
watch and listen to them do their own thing, without getting involved. A
checklist is used to record nonparticipation observations. Others call this
checklist an observation schedule.
MODELS OF OBSERVATION
● Covert: This type of observation implies that the participants of the study do not know
that they are being observed.
● Overt: This type of observation on the contrary implies that the participants of the study
know that they are being observed.
METHODS OF OBSERVATION
● Direct observation
○ This type of observation makes you see or hear everything in the observing area.
For example, events in a classroom, courtroom, or on the street are all directly
felt. Avoid wasting time and energy by only examining the topics that interest
you. Your research topic and research questions define what you should pay
attention to during the observation process.
● Indirect observation
○ This method is also known as behaviour archaeology since it uses traces of past
occurrences to determine a subject’s behavior, attribute, or quality. Listening to
tape recordings and seeing images, letters, announcements, minutes of meetings,
business correspondence, garbage cans, etc. are fundamental to this type of
observation.
○ It comes in two types as well:
■ Continuous Monitoring (CM)
● Here, you observe to evaluate the way people deal with one
another. As such, this is the main data gathering technique used in
behavioral psychology, where people’s worries, anxieties, habits,
and problems in shopping malls, play areas, family homes, or
classrooms serve as the focus of studies in this field of discipline.
■ Spot sampling
● This was done first by behavioral psychologists in 1920 with a
focus on researching the extent of children’s nervous habits as they
would go through their regular personality development. For a
continuous or uninterrupted focus on the subjects, you record your
observations through spot sampling in an oral manner, not in a
written way.
● Named also as scan sampling or time sampling, spot sampling
comes in two types: time allocation (TA) and experience sampling.
In TA sampling, what goes into the record are the best activities of
people you observed in undetermined places and time. Experience
sampling, on the other hand, lets you record people’s responses
anytime of the day or week to question their present activities,
companions, feelings, and so on. Data gathering in this case is
facilitated by modern electronic and technological gadgets like cell
phones, emails, and other online communication methods or
techniques.
LESSON 4
DATA PATTERNS AND THEMES
● Data analysis is a process of understanding data or known facts or assumptions serving
as the basis of any claims or conclusions you have about something. You collect these
data in many ways; observation, interview, documentary analysis, and research
instruments like questionnaires, tests, etc. Your primary aim in analyzing recorded data is
to find out if they exist or operate to give answers to the research questions you raised
prior to your acts of collecting them.

THEMATIC ANALYSIS
● This is a qualitative data analysis strategy that entails looking through a data set (such as
transcripts from in-depth interviews or focus groups) and discovering patterns in meaning
that appear throughout the data set.

TRANSCRIBING AND TRANSLATING INTERVIEWS

● Transcribing is the process of putting recorded conversations or speech in verbatim
(word for word) written form.
● Translating is the process of expressing one statement into another language.
METHODS OF TRANSCRIPTION AND TRANSLATION ( Acc. to IndianScribes.com)
● Using audio-to-text converters and translators
● Transcribing/translating manually (what we will do)
● Outsourcing to a transcription/translation agency
● Hiring a freelancer

PATTERNS AND THEMES

● The heart of qualitative data analysis is the mission of uncovering the themes and themes
acquired through patterns.
○ Pattern: It is a repeated arrangement or design particularly used to decorate or
write something; something that occurs in a frequent and repeated way.
○ Theme: It is the major product of data analysis that generates helpful results in
the field of study. A theme is created when the same issues and ideas conveyed by
participants within qualitative data are carried together by the researcher into a
particular category or cluster. It may be categorized by a word or expression taken
precisely from the data or by one formed by the researcher because it appears to
best illustrate the essence of what is being stated.
TECHNIQUES TO IDENTIFY THEMES IN QUALITATIVE DATA
● (good to use) Word repetitions: Word repetitions can be examined formally and
informally. In the informal manner, investigators simply read the text and note words or
synonyms that individuals use a lot. A further formal analysis of word occurrences can be
done by creating a list of all the extraordinary words in a text and counting the number of
times each occurs.
● Indigenous categories: Alternative way to look for themes is to look for local words that
may sound unfamiliar or are utilized in unfamiliar ways.
● Key-words-in-context (KWIC): It is thoroughly associated with indigenous categories.
KWIC is based on a plain observation; if you want to comprehend a concept, then look at
the manner it is used. In this technique, researchers pinpoint keywords and then
analytically search the corpus of words to find all instances of the word or phrase. Each
moment they find a word, they make a copy of it and its immediate context. Themes get
identified by physically categorizing the examples into piles of similar meaning.
● Compare and Contrast: The compare and contrast approach is established on the
concept that themes signify the ways in which words are either similar or different from
each other.
● Social Science Queries: Besides identifying indigenous themes; themes that describe the
experience of informants; researchers are concerned in understanding how textual data
explain questions of importance to social science. Searching interviews for evidence of
social struggle, cultural inconsistencies, informal methods of social regulation, things that
individuals do in handling objective social relations, methods by which people obtain and
maintain achieved and ascribed status, and information about how individuals resolve
problems.
● Searching for missing information: The ultimate scrutiny-based approach we define
works in reverse from normal theme identification techniques. As an alternative to
identifying themes that arise from the word, researchers search for themes that are
lacking in the text.
● Metaphors and analogies: It is seeking through text for metaphors, similes, and
analogies and the examination that individuals often embody their ideas, behaviors, and
experiences with analogies. The purpose is to look for metaphors in rhetoric and
determine the schemas or underlying principles that might generate patterns in those
metaphors.
● Transitions: Seek for naturally appearing changes in thematic content. Linguistic forms
of transition differ between oral and written words. In written texts, new paragraphs are
often used by writers to signal either subtle or abrupt changes in topics. In oral speech,
pauses, shift in tone, or specific phrases may indicate thematic transitions. An example is
the reappearance of elements like now, then, now then, and now again. These often
indicate the separation of verses and “once such patterning has been uncovered in cases
with such markers, it can be understood in cases without them.
 ● Connectors: Look thoroughly at words and phrases that imply relationships among
things. For example, causal relationships are often signaled by such words and phrases
such as since, because, and as a result. Words such as if or then, instead of, and rather
than, often indicate conditional relationships. The phrase is frequently linked with
taxonomic categories.
● Unmarked texts: One method to identify new themes is to analyze any text that is not
already related with a theme. This technique entails multiple readings of a text. On the
initial reading, significant themes are clearly noticeable and can be quickly and readily
marked with various colored pencils or highlighters. In the next step, the search is for
themes that stay unmarked. This tactic-marking obvious themes early and quickly; forces
the search for new, and less major themes.
● Pawing: Pawing through texts and marking them up with various colored highlighter
pens. Examination of words starts with proofreading the documents and simply
underlining major phrases “because they make some as yet undeveloped sense”. In this
way, you get a feel for the word by processing your data several times.

STEPS IN THEMATIC ANALYSIS

● Step 1: Familiarization
○ The initial step is to get to know our data. It is essential to get a comprehensive
overview of all the data we gathered before we begin analyzing separate items.
This might include transcribing audio, reading through the text and taking initial
notes, and commonly looking through the data to get acquainted with it.
● Step 2: Coding
○ Next step, we need to code the data. Coding means highlighting sections of our
text-- normally phrases or sentences-- and coming up with shorthand labels or
“codes” to illustrate their content

● Step 3: Generating themes

○ Next, we look over the codes we have produced, identify patterns among them,
and begin coming up with themes. Themes are normally broader than codes. Most
of the time, you will bring together several codes into a single theme. In our
example, we might begin combining codes into themes like this.
 ● Step 4: Reviewing themes
○ Now we have to make sure that our themes are helpful and precise representations
of the data. Here, we go back to the data set and relate our themes against it. Are
we lacking anything? Do these themes really appear in the data? What can we
adjust to make our themes work better? If we face challenges with our themes, we
might divide them, combine them, remove them or generate new ones; whatever
makes them more valuable and precise.
● Step 5: Defining and naming themes
○ Now that you have a definitive list of themes. It is time to label and describe each
of them. Defining themes includes devising precisely what we mean by each
theme and figuring out how it supports us to comprehend the data.
● Step 6: Writing up
○ Lastly, we will write up our analysis of the data. Like all scholarly texts, writing
up a thematic analysis necessitates an introduction to determine our research
question, purpose, and approach.

LESSON 5
FINDINGS OF THE STUDY AND CONCLUSIONS
FINDINGS OF THE STUDY
● The results section of the research paper is where you report the findings of your study
based upon the information gathered as a result of the methodology (or methodologies)
you applied. The results section should simply state the findings, without bias or
interpretation, and arranged in a logical sequence.
 ● The results section should always be written in the past tense. A section describing
results is particularly necessary if your paper includes data generated from your own
research.

STEPS IN PRESENTING THE FINDINGS OF THE STUDY

● STEP 1: Organize both summary and synthesis often combined with conceptual
categories. These guidelines will help you create your pertinent literature.
○ Clarify. Search for the type of sources that you must include in order to make your
findings credible, reliable, and legit.
○ Make sure that your literature explains why you chose the specific method for
your paper?
○ Trace the intellectual progression of the field of your topic.
○ Evaluate the sources and advise the most pertinent or relevant.
○ Identify the gaps of problems.
● STEP 2: Design figures and tables to present and illustrate your data.
○ Tables and figures should be numbered according to the order in which they are
mentioned in the main text of the paper.
○ Information in figures should be relatively self-explanatory (with the aid of
captions), and their design should include all definitions and other information
necessary for readers to understand the findings without reading all of the text.
○ Use tables and figures as a focal point to tell a clear and informative story about
your research and avoid repeating information. But remember that while figures
clarify and enhance the text, they cannot replace it.
● STEP 3: Draft your results section using the findings and figures you have organized.
○ The goal is to communicate this complex information as clearly and precisely as
possible; precise and compact phrases and sentences are most effective.
○ In the opening paragraph of this section, restate your research questions or aims to
focus the reader’s attention to what the results are trying to show. It is also a good
idea to summarize key findings at the end of this section to create a logical
transition to the interpretation and discussion that follows.
● STEP 4: Review your draft; edit and revise until it reports results exactly as you would
like to have them reported to your readers.
○ Double-check the accuracy and consistency of all the data, as well as all of the
visual elements included.
○ Read your draft aloud to catch language errors (grammar, spelling, and
mechanics), awkward phrases, and missing transitions.
○ Ensure that your results are presented in the best order to focus on objectives and
prepare readers for interpretations, valuations, and recommendations in the
discussion section. Look back over the paper’s introduction and background while
 anticipating the discussion and conclusion sections to ensure that the presentation
of your results is consistent and effective.
○ Consider seeking additional guidance on your paper. Find additional readers to
look over your results section and see if it can be improved in any way. Peers,
professors, or qualified experts can provide insights.

FORMAT FOR CHAPTER 4

● Overview
● Emerging themes
○ Theme #1
○ Theme #2
○ Theme #3
○ Theme #4
● Connection to the research questions
○ Research question #1
○ Research question #2
○ Research question #3
WRITING CONCLUSIONS
● Conclusions as defined by Prieto et al. (2017) are inferences, deductions, abstractions,
implications, interpretations, general statements, and/or generalizations based upon the
findings.
● Prieto et al. (2017) states that the process of drawing a conclusion begins early as you
code your data. As you review and code your data, begin to form ideas about the
important phenomena they indicated as well generate propositions about them and the
relationship among them. Once the data is coded you will look over the proposition to
write your conclusions.

CHARACTERISTICS OF A CONCLUSION
● The conclusion summarizes the principal feature of the study
● Contains insight drawn from the findings per sub-problem
● The conclusion should be brief/precise and directly answer the stated problem of the
study
● The conclusion should point out what was learned from the inquiry
● Conclusions should not be repetitions of any statements anywhere in the research study.

HOW TO WRITE A CONCLUSION

1. Brief. In writing the conclusion, the researcher needs to avoid giving unnecessary and
unrelated words. You should “write concisely”
2. Clear. Do not be ambiguous in writing the conclusion, it should be directly connected to
your stated problem.
3. Precise. The researcher should include only those based on your findings; both should be
parallel.

STEPS IN WRITING
1. Restate your research topic.
2. Summarize the main points
3. State the significance or results
4. Finalize your thoughts

RECOMMENDATIONS
● These are based on the findings and conclusions of the study, and identified the
limitations and weaknesses of the research, and served as practical suggestions among
similar fields. It should be highlighted and envision the improvement of variables of the
study based on the given data and findings. It is also directly linked to your conclusions.
 The final part of the recommendations should address other researchers who conducted
the same or similar study. Furthermore, the suggestion of a new topic is advice relevant to
the research gap in your finished study.

HOW TO WRITE RECOMMENDATIONS

● Brief. In writing the recommendation, the researcher needs to avoid giving unnecessary
and unrelated suggestions. You should write concisely.
● Clear. In writing a recommendation, the researcher needs to give a clear description of
how and where the recommendation is adopted or implemented.
● Precise. The researcher should include only those based on the conclusion. Both
conclusion and recommendation should be parallel.

SUGGESTED ELEMENTS IN RECOMMENDATION

● Suggest the course of actions
● Prediction of possible cause and effect that may arise warranted by the result
● Propose a solution to a problem
● Judgment or speculation or the implementation and consequence of the ideas

CHARACTERISTICS OF RECOMMENDATION
● Logical. It should flow logically or connected from the conclusion
● Relevant. It must meet the purpose and the scope as stated in the introduction section.
● Feasible. The given consideration should be SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable,
Relevant, Time-Oriented (practical and workable)
● The recommendation should be brief, concise, and directly related to the topic of the
research study.
● The recommendation should be “stem” or aligned from the result and conclusion of your
study. “Do not go beyond this”
● The rule of “no new material” in conclusion also applies in preparing recommendations.
● The recommendation must be “SMART” and logical
● It is also important to consider the researcher at the different levels or stakeholders of
your recommendations such as policymakers, for academic purposes, for education
sectors, and practitioners.
● Finally, the recommendation should have the aim to solve problems in the study.
ABSTRACT
● Characteristics of an abstract (The Writing Center)
○ An abstract is a short summary of your (published or unpublished) research paper,
usually about a paragraph (c. 6-7 sentences, 150-250 words) long. A well-written
abstract serves multiple purposes:
■ An abstract lets readers get the gist or essence of your paper or article
quickly, in order to decide whether to read the full paper;
■ An abstract prepares readers to follow the detailed information, analyses,
and arguments in your full paper;
■ And later, an abstract helps readers remember the key points from your
paper.
DESCRIPTIVE VS. INFORMATIVE ABSTRACT
● Descriptive abstract
○ Describes major points of the project to the reader
○ Includes background purpose and focus of the paper or article but never the
methods, results and conclusions if it is a research paper
○ It is most likely used for humanities and social sciences papers or psychology
essays

● Informative abstract
○ Informs the audience of all the essential points of the paper
○ Briefly summarizes the background, purpose, focus, methods, results, findings,
and conclusions of the full length paper
○ Is concise usually 10% of the original paper length, often just one paragraph
○ Most likely used for sciences, engineering or psychology report