Lesson 2: Identifying the Inquiry

and Stating the Problem

• Research and Inquiry
• Characteristics, Strenghts, and Weaknesses of
Quantitative Research
• Kinds of Research
• Importance of Quantitative Research Across
Fields
• Variables: Natures and Types

Review of the Previous

Lesson:
1. Fractions
2. Decimals
3. Cat breeds
4. Cities
5. Computer brands
6. Beer breweries
7. Pop music genre
8. Exponents
9. Positive numbers
10. Organizations
11. Tribe
12. Color of a ball
13. Dog breed
14. Whole numbers
15. College major
16. Population of EDSCI students
17. Irrational numbers
18. Ordered pairs (x, y)
19. Fast food chains
20. Number of Barangays in Caloocan

Quantitative or Qualitative?
1. Number of children in a household
2. Number of languages a person speaks
3. Weight of cars
4. Speed of the train
5. Height of children
6. Number of people sleeping in a public utulity vehicle
7. Weight of a firefighter
8. Number of heads in a coin flip
9. Number of students in a class
10. Length of journey to work
11. Results of rolling 2 dice
12. Time in a race
13. Age
14. Money in bank account
15. Length of a leaf
16. Number of chocolates in a box
Discrete or Continuous
17. Change in your pocket
• How do we formulate a
sound statement of the
problem in quantitative
research?

Guide Question:
I CAN…
• Design a quantitative research project related to daily
life;
• Write a research title;
• Describe the justifications/reasons for conducting the
research;
• Present a written statement of the problem;
• State research questions;
• Indicate scope and delimitation of research; and
• Cite benefits and beneficiaries of research.

Objectives:
• A quantitative research is a more logical and
data-led approach which provides a measure of
what people think from a statistical and
numerical point of view.

• Researches that are qualitative usually observe

the behaviors and attitudes of the object of study
directly while researchers in quantitative research
uses various instruments such as surveys in
order to gather data and perform statistical and
mathematical analyses.

Statement of the Problem and Research Questions

• Quantitative research is generally
used for collecting and analysis of
empirical data, generation of
models, theories and hypotheses,
development of instruments and
methods for measurement,
experimental control and
manipulation of variables, and for
modeling and analysis of data.
Statement of the Problem and Research Questions
• A research problem is a definite or clear
expression [statement] about an area of concern,
a condition to be improved upon, a difficulty to
be eliminated, or a troubling question that exists
in scholarly literature, in theory, or within
existing practice that points to a need for
meaningful understanding and deliberate
investigation.
• It is an area of concern where there is a gap in
the knowledge base needed for professional
purposes.
Research Problem (Statement of
the Problem or Problem Statement)
• Social issues
• Existing theories
• Folklores
• Brainstorming
• Consultation with experts
• Exposure to field situations
• Personal and practical experiences
• Critical appraisal of literature
• Questions seeking answers

Sources of Research Problem

• Significant – must add more to the body of
knowledge
• Original – must be unique/new/innovative
• Feasible – must be appropriate/carried out
• Researchable – must not be unsolvable/
ambiguous
• Interesting – must be fascinating to the
researcher
• Ethical – must be anchored on a morally good
perspective

Characteristics of a good
research problem
• In social sciences, quantitative
research is widely used in
demography, sociology, behavioral
science, psychology, marketing,
economics, community, health, human
development, gender, and political
science, and less frequently in the
areas of history and anthropology.
 Field or Broader Topic Examples
discipline of Interest

Traffic Awareness, *Level of Awareness of Public

Management Knowledge, Utility Vehicles on the New
Science and Attitudes Traffic Scheme being
implemented in EDSA

*Traffic Enforcers’ Level of

Knowledge on Traffic
Management Safety Systems

Possible Topics for Quantitative

Research
 Field or Broader Topic Examples
discipline of Interest
Psychology Mental and
*The Effects of Father’s
emotional Absence due to Foreign
health Employment on the Level of
conditions Psycho-Emotional Health
Condition of Adolescent left
behind in the Country
Business Job *The Association between the
Management Satisfaction Level of Job Satisfaction and
and Job Level of Job Performance of
Performance BPO Employees in Makati City
Education Impact on *Examining the Pretest and
Learning Posttest results of a new
learning technique introduced in
the traditional educational
system
 Field or Broader Examples
discipline Topic of
Interest
Marketing Salability *Comparing the Salability
of a of the Company’s
Product Product in a New
Package versus those in
the Old Package
Political Survey on *Top 3 People’s
Science the Perception on who can
Winability best lead the country
of
Presidenti
al
Candidate
s
 Field or Broader Examples
discipline Topic of
Interest
Demograph Trend *Examining the increase or
y Analysis decrease in the population of
the country from 1990 to
2015

*Comparing the profile of the

teenage group (13-17) in the
country in 1990 and 2010
Sociology Impact *Examining the social impact
Analysis of a new development
program introduced in
selected communities in
Southern Luzon
• Statement of the problem
• Focal point of research
• Clearly states the main problem, written in a
declarative statement
• Shows the major variables to be examined by
the study and the relations of the variables that
the study intends to study

Writing the Statement of the

Problem (SP)
• Example 1: The study aims to determine the
relations between the adolescent usage pattern of
social media and their level of school
performance.
• Example 2: The study aims to ascertain the
association between adolescents’ usage pattern of
social media and their level of sociability in
school.

Examples of SP in a
quantitative research
• Example 3: The study aims to describe the usage
pattern of social media of male and female
adolescents and its associations with their level
of self-esteem.
• Example 4: The study aims to compare the usage
pattern of social media of male and female
adolescents and its relations with their
involvement in school activities.

Examples of SP in a
quantitative research
• Research Questions
• Formulated to answer the research
questions
• Must provide answers that explain,
describe, identify, predict, or
qualify conclusions for the
research.

Writing the Research Questions (RQs)

Statement of the Problem
• The study aims to determine the
relations between the adolescent
usage pattern of social media and
their level of school performance.

Writing the Research Questions (RQs)

Research Questions:
1. What is the usage pattern of social media
based on the following:
1.1 Type of gadget/s that they used?
1.2 Websites or applications accessed?
1.3 Reasons for accessing the websites or
applications?
1.4 Frequency of use of social media in a week?

Writing the Research Questions (RQs)

Research Questions:
2. What is their level of academic
performance in terms of their:
2.1 Exam results?
2.2 Participation in classroom activities?
2.3 Submission of requirements (assignments
and projects)?
2.4 Tardiness and absences?

Writing the Research Questions (RQs)

Research Questions:
3. What is the relation between the
adolescent usage pattern of social
media and their level of school
performance?

Writing the Research Questions (RQs)

To be able to know if the research questions
support the problem statement, they should be
able to:
1. Ask questions that guide the researcher to get
the data needed to answer the hypothesis; and
2. Be able to help find results and conclusions.
3. Have a valid significance in relation to the
study,

Writing the Research Questions (RQs)

• Must be short, sharp, and describes what
your research is about
• 5 Characteristics according to Lipton
(1998):
• Informative/Specific
• Accurate/Truthful
• Clear
• Concise
• Attention commanding

Research Title
• Scope
• who/what is included in the study
• things and factors that will be
discussed about in the paper
• Delimitation
• who/what is excluded in the study
• Coverage or boundaries and variables
that are out of reach

Scope and Delimitation

• May help researchers cater to
focusing in the actual needed
topic of the study

Importance of Scope and Delimitation

• A brief statement of the general purpose of the
study
• The subject matter and topics studies
• The locale of the study, where the data were
gathered or the entity to which the data belong
• The population or universe from which the
respondents were selected (must be large enough
to make generalizations significant)
• The period of the study (time, either months or
years, during which the data were gathered)

Guidelines in Writing the Scope and

Delimitation of the study:
• Creates a perspective for looking at the
problem
• Points out how your study relates to the larger
issues and uses a persuasive rationale to
justify the reason for the study
• Makes the purpose worth pursuing
• Identifies the beneficiaries of the research
study and how it would benefit each one of
them

Significance of the Study

• It is in this part of the paper where the conduct of
the study will be justified and explained as it will
show the ways on how the research can affect the
lives of different groups of perople and
organizations.
• Justifications may vary: timeliness of the study;
practical use of the findings; how it influences
the larger population or a critical population; how
it answer research gaps or helps in theory
building; etc.

Significance of the Study

• Why is your study important?
• To whom is it important? Who are the
beneficiaries or who will benefit from
the study?
• What benefit will occur if your study
is done?

Significance of the Study

answers the questions:
1. The formulation of a good research problem is dependent on
the selection of strong research questions.
2. A well-composed research problem allows for many
perspectives to be tackled as researchers are dissecting their
topic and must hold a practical value for the researcher and
the society.
3. The statement of the problem is the section of a research
paper wherein the problem mentioned is a subproblem to a
main issue, written either as a declarative statement or as a
question.
4. A good research problem must focus on only one perspective
to be able to answer uprooted research questions.
5. Problem statements usually start out as something specific
then grows into something general.

Self-Test: T or F
1. The scope of a study refers to what/who is included in the
study.
2. The scope of a study is more important to mention than its
delimitation.
3. In the duration of writing a research paper, the writer aims
his study for a certain group of people to profit from his
researches --- these groups of people are called
“beneficiaries.”
4. It is not necessary to indicate in the research paper how the
study impacts society.
5. The beneficiaries are an audience that the research will have
an impact to.

Self-Test: T or F
Task: 4 3 2 1
Research Title Research title Research title Research title Research title
is specific, is somehow is somewhat is too vague
clear, concise, specific, clear, vague. and unclear.
and catchy. concise , and
catchy.
Statement of The statement The statement The statement The statement
the Problem of the problem of the problem of the problem of the problem
clearly states states the somehow does not state
the main main problem, states the the main
problem, shows the main problem, problem,
shows the major shows the shows the
major variables, and major mjor variables,
variables, and the relations of variables, and nor the
the relations of the variables the relations of relations of the
the variables the variables variables

Rubric in Rating:
Task: 4 3 2 1
Research The research The research The research The research
Questions questions are questions may questions are questions will
clearly written somewhat somewhat not answer the
and sufficient answer the vague. problem
to answer the problem statement.
problem statement.
statement.
Significance of The The The The
the Study significance of significance of significance of significance of
the study the study the study the study does
clearly identifies the somehow not identify
identifies the benefits and identifies the the benefits
benefits and beneficiaries benefits and and
beneficiaries and provides a beneficiaries beneficiaries
and provides a justification for and a nor provide a
solid the conduct of justification for solid
justification for the study. the conduct of justification for
the conduct of the study. the conduct of
the study. the study.
Task: 4 3 2 1

Scope and The scope The scope The scope The scope
Delimitations and and and and
delimitations delimitations delimitations delimitations
clearly specifies somehow does not
specifies what are specifies specify what
what are included and what are are included
included and excluded in included and and
excluded in the study. excluded in excluded in
the study. the study. the study.
I CAN…
• Design a quantitative research project related to daily
life;
• Write a research title;
• Describe the justifications/reasons for conducting the
research;
• Present a written statement of the problem;
• State research questions;
• Indicate scope and delimitation of research; and
• Cite benefits and beneficiaries of research.

Objectives: