PRACTICAL RESEARCH : REVIEWER

Distinguishing among Topic, Research Problem,

Purpose, and Research Questions

Topic
- broad subject matter addressed by the study.

Research Problem
- a general educational issue, concern, or controversy addressed in research
that narrows the topic.

Purpose Statement
- the major intent or objective of the study used to address the problem.

Research Question
- narrows the purpose into specific questions that the researcher would like
answered or addressed in the study.

Background of the study

- The background of the study is the part of your paper where you inform the
reader of the context of the study.
- This part is written when you have already conducted a literature review and
has a good perception of the topic so you can articulate the importance and
validity of the research problem

Research Gap
- A research gap is an under or unexplored area of a topic that requires further
exploration. The gap can be in a form of other variables, conditions,
population, methodology, or test subject

CHARACTERISTICS OF QUANTI

Large Sample Size

- To obtain more meaningful statistical results, the data must come from a large
sample size.

Objectivity
- Data gathering and analysis of results are done accurately, objectively, and
are unaffected by the researcher’s intuition and personal guesses.

Concise Visual Presentation

 - Data is numerical which makes presentation through graphs, charts, and
tables possible with better conveyance and interpretation.

Faster Data Analysis

- The use of statistical tools gives way for less time consuming data.

Generalized Data
- Data taken from a sample can be applied to the population if sampling is done
accordingly, I.E, sufficient size and random samples were taken.

Fast and easy data collection

- Uses standardized research instruments that allow a researcher to collect
data from a large sample size efficiently.

Reliable Data
- Data is taken and analyzed objectively from a sample representative of the
population making it more credible.

High Replicability
- Can be repeated to verify findings enhancing its validity.

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

Blueprint
- A complete plan that explains how to do or develop something.

Conceptual Framework
- Is like a blueprint or recipe. It provides an outline of the plan on how to
conduct the research. It is presented in a flowchart, map or diagram (Prieto,
2017)
- According to Barceros (2017), conceptual framework is a graphical
presentation of your concepts or ideas on the basic structure or components
of your research as well as on the relationship of these elements with one
another.

Conceptual framework vs. Theoretical Framework

Conceptual Framework
- All plans, concepts, or ideas about the many aspects of the research are
shown and clarified graphically and verbally.

Theoretical Framework
- Gives and explains the theories, principles, generalizations, and research
findings, which have some connection to the research study
 STEP by STEP Guide on How to Write the Conceptual Framework

1. Choose your topic

2. Do a literature review
3. Isolate the important variables
4. Generate the conceptual framework

Definition of Terms

● Also called Operational Definition of Variables (ODV)

● How the word or term was used in the study.

2 ways of defining terms

Conceptual Definition
- Based on how it is defined in the dictionary or encyclopedia

Operational Definition
- Specific definition of a concept in a research study. It defines the concept
solely in terms of the operations (or methods) used to produce and measure
it.
- based on how it was used in the study.

Guidelines on how to write definition of terms

1. Write a brief introductory statement.

2. List or write the words or terms (which are technical) that would be included
3. The terms should be arranged alphabetically.
4. Indention should be applied to each term.
5. The term should be followed with a period.
6. It does not have to be lengthy
7. Acronym/initials should be defined clearly
8. Do not overflow with technical terms
9. Keep the definition brief and basic

KINDS OF QUANTI
Descriptive
- describes phenomenon by observing as it occurs in nature.

Correlational
- identifies relationships between variables by observation and not by cause-
and-effect.
Experimental
- used to establish cause-and effect relationship of two or more variables that
involves manipulation and measurement.

Ex-post Facto
- Investigate possible relationships between previous events and present
conditions.

True Experimental
- Participants are randomly selected. There is an experimental and a controlled
group where the experimental group is exposed to treatment.

Quasi-Experimental
- Participants are not randomly selected.

Pre-Experimental
- One-group pretest-posttest design provides a comparative description of a
group of participants before and after the experimental treatment.

KINDS OF VARIABLES

Quantitative (Numerical)
- type of variables used in quantitative research because they are numeric and
can be measured.

Discrete
- countable whole numbers. It does not take negative values or values between
fixed points.

Continuous
- take fractional (non-whole number) values that can either be a positive or a
negative.

Numerical data have two levels of measurement, namely:

Interval
- Interval or differences between consecutive values are equal and meaningful,
but the numbers are arbitrary.

Ratio
- The type of data is similar to interval. The only difference is the presence of a
true zero value.
 Qualitative (Categorical)

Nominal
- simply defines groups of subjects. In here, you may have more than 2
categories of equivalent magnitude.

Ordinal
- a variable is ranked in a certain order. This can have a qualitative or
quantitative attribute.

Dichotomous
- consists of only two distinct categories or values.

CHARACTERISTICS OF GOOD RESEARCH QUESTIONS

Feasible
- Consider the amount of time, energy, money, respondents, and even your
current situation as a student-researcher.

Clear
- The clarity of how the questions are stated lead to agreement of meaning of
the readers of your study.

Significant
- Ask if your research questions are relevant or important to ask.

Ethical
- Look into ways of answering the research questions without inflicting physical
and psychological harm to persons involved.

Research Question and Statement of the problem

Research Question
- States the clear and precise focus of the investigation or the purpose of the
investigation.

Statement of the Problem

- articulates the issue that the researcher is attempting to find an answer to.

Types of Research Questions

Problem Questions
● General and explanatory and have a crucial influence on the form and content
of topic questions.
 ● Derived from the research problem

Topic Questions
● Specific and descriptive
● anchored on the general research problem.

Scope and Delimitation

Scope
- specifies the coverage of your study such as variables, population or
participant, and timeline.

Delimitation
- cites factors of your study that are not included or excluded or those you will
not deal with in your study.

Components of Scope and Delimitation

Topic of the study

- What are the variables to be included and excluded?

Objectives or Problems to be Addressed

- Why are you doing this study?

Time Frame
- When are you going to conduct this study?

Locale of the study

- Where are you going to gather your data?

Characteristics of Respondents
- Who will be your respondents?

Method and Research Instruments

- How are you going to collect the data?

SELECTING RELEVANT LITERATURE

- A literature review is a is a compilation of studies related to a specific area of

research.

COMMON ERRORS
1. There are a wide range of studies being included in which most of them are not
anymore relevant to your specific topic under investigation.

2. Related articles mentioning the original article are cited rather than citing the
original article itself.

3. Previous work has been cited by the researcher based only on the abstracts and
without even reading the entire research.

PURPOSE OF LITERATURE REVIEW

● To discover the connection of your research to the existing body of knowledge

and to the real-life situations
● To identify more theories or concepts as the foundation of your research study
and to learn from them
● To determine the relationship of your research with previous research studies
to prevent duplication and to acknowledge other researchers
● To acquire knowledge on the accuracy and significance of your research
questions
● To acquaint yourself with the technical terminologies relevant to your study
● To determine possible gaps, conflicts, and open questions left from other
research which might help you in formulating and justifying your research
ideas
● To clarify misconceptions on previous research and help refocus, polish, and
contribute to the development of the body of knowledge.

Ways to Evaluate Articles

Examine the title.

- A good title is specific. It describes the topic and may mention one or two
major variables, and talks about the setting or participants.

Read the Abstract

- A good abstract summarizes critical information about a study.

Read the Article

- Begin by skimming the material and quickly reading the conclusion.