PRACTICAL RESEARCH 1

Qualitative
Chapter 3
Identifying the Inquiry and Stating th
Problem
Learning Competencies:
The learner:
1. Designs a research project related to daily life;
2. Write a research title;
3. Describes justifications/reasons for conducting the research;
4. States research questions;
5. Indicates scope and delimitation of research;
6. Cites benefits and beneficiaries of research; and
7. Presents written statement of the problem
Lesson 1

Possible Topics for

Qualitative Research
Possible Topics for Qualitative Research
According to Creswell (2014), qualitative study originated from
several disciplines, which include anthropology, sociology,
humanities, and evaluation. These disciplines highly recognize the
value of doing field research, or “going directly to the social
phenomenon under study and observing it completely as possible”
to get a “full understanding of it” (Silverman, 2013).
Possible Topics for Qualitative
Research
• PRACTICES: habits, customs, traditions, and
behaviors such as washing of hands, storytelling,
and tattooing
• EPISODES: life events or scenarios such as
marriage and sickness or societal events such as
ouster, revolutions, or prosperity.
Possible Topics for Qualitative Research

• ENCOUNTERS: meetings between or among

people and their interactions
• ROLES: a look into people, the “positions” they
take on, “the behavior associated with those
positions” such as in the family, workspace, or
indigenous groups
Possible Topics for Qualitative
Research
• RELATIONSHIPS: actions and expressions between
“pairs or sets of roles” such as mother-child, politician-
constituents, and supervisor-employee
• GROUPS: sets of people sharing a common
characteristics or interest such as clubs and working
groups.
Possible Topics for Qualitative Research

• ORGANIZATIONS: “formal organizations such as

hospitals, and schools”
• SETTLEMENTS: smaller units of society like
communities, villages, and neighborhoods.
• SOCIAL WORLDS: “ambiguous social entities with
vague boundaries and populations such as “the sports
world” and “wall streets”
Possible Topics for Qualitative
Research
• LIFESTYLE OR SUBCULTURES: the way of
living of a certain group of people such as the
elites, marginalized groups, or those with unique
practices such as bikers, gamers, or nerds.
Lesson 2
Approaches to
Qualitative Research
Approaches to Qualitative
Research
Qualitative Research
Approaches
Constructionis
Naturalism
m
Grounded Theory

Narrative Analysis

Discourse Analysis
 Naturalism
• The belief that social reality can be observed, grasped and
understood is a perspective of the naturalist approach.
• Focusing on “factual” description of the topic, naturalism is an old
tradition in qualitative research.
• It focuses on telling research participants’ stories as they are and
not on how the researcher understands them.
aturalism
• Researchers aim to provide rich and detailed
description of the phenomenon being studies and not
explanations.
aturalism
• Naturalist researcher tasks involved:
• Entering the setting
• Establishing rapport
• Recording observations with an eye toward social
scientific concepts
• Presenting findings.
 Constructionism
• They try to look deeper into these realities and determine how they
are created and kept. Researchers using this approach “take a step
back” from the reality they are observing to ascertain how it came
to be, how it continues to be perpetuated by the research subjects,
and how these realities are sustained. It emphasizes that facts that
are not simply facts but are “socially constructed”.
 Grounded Theory
• Applying the tradition of qualitative research wherein no
prior hypothesis is developed before extensive data analysis
is done, grounded theory is an approach utilized to develop
theories from extensive analysis of patterns, themes, and
categories from the gathered data.
rrative Analysis
It looks into people’s account as stories and recognizes that these
serve the following functions:
• Stories are formulated around particular scenarios and settings
• Stories are shared with the audience in mind
• Stories involve a series of events
• Stories continue to evolve as they are retold.
 Narrative Analysis
Reismann (2013) stated that the researcher should look into the
following when using narrative analysis:
• Form and function: look at how an account is
constructed
• Local Context: the setting, with having a narrator and an
audience.
 Discourse Analysis
According to Potter (Silverman, 2013) discourse analysis looks into
discourse as scripts conveyed in a social setting. The approach
highlights how language is utilized as a “medium of interaction”.
It also investigates how “talks and texts” are formulated to persuade
others to take one’s stance and use assertions that may help weaken or
disregard other explanations.
course Analysis
Wetherell, Taylor, and Yates (2001) emphasized
that discourse analysis has three domains:
1. study of social interaction
2. Study of minds, selves, and sense-making
3. Study of culture and social relations.
 Lesson 3

Choosing and Introducing

a
search Topic
gies in choosing a topic
1. Look into your own personal experiences
2. Read literature in your field of study
3. Reflect on existing issues in the society.
onal Experiences
Examples:
1. Success factors that affect academic excellence in
school
2. Traffic congestion in the cities
3. How your school principal operates your school, what
sort of challenges she encounter, how does she find
her job, what inspires her to do well.
4. How computer gamers interact online.
ding literatures
Roles that your literature review might yield:
1. Sources of criticism
2. Sources of new ideas
3. Sources of interdisciplinary insights
g Social and Political Iss
Reading newspaper or watching news from TV.
Examples:
1. Cyberbullying
2. Volunteerism and community service
Lesson 4

Developing a Research Topic

 Drafting Research Title
The key task in research as it will capture the essence of what you wish to
do in your inquiry.
1. Identify the main ideas behind your research topic and how these are
related to each other.
2. Mentioned several features of your research such as purpose,
approach, and methods
3. Create research as brief as possible and to avoid “unnecessary words”.
Example: avoid using “an approach to…” or “a study of…”
 Drafting Research Title
The first part is a snappy phrase intended to catch attention while
the second part describes the actual study. A two-part title can also
give readers an idea of the context, temporal scope, main theory,
approach, or methodology of the research.
Additional Context:
“Lessons from Running an Enterprise: Case Studies of Four
Filipino Chinese Families”
ing Research Title
Temporal Scope of the Research:
“A comparison: Human Rights under the Corazon Aquino
and Benigno Aquino III administrations”

Main Approach Used:

“The Feminist Approach: Therapy of Battered Wives”

“An Ethnography: Understanding a Child’s Perception of

Divorce”
oup Activity
Complete the statements:
My study is about ________________________________
_______________________________________________

Come up with three possible titles for your research.

1. ____________________________________________
2. ____________________________________________
3. ____________________________________________
g your Topic Manageable
Broad Topic Narrowed Topic Further Overly Specific
Narrowed Topic
Coffee Coffee Coffee Coffee
Addiction Addiction Addiction addiction
among among Filipino among Filipino
teenagers (by teenagers (by teenagers in
subject) Nationality) Quezon City
(by City /
Location)
g your Topic Manageable
Broad Topic Narrowed Topic Further Overly Specific
Narrowed Topic
Single Single Single Single
Parenthood Parenthood parenthood Parenthood
among men (by among male among male
sex) students (by high school
status) students (by
educational
level)
g your Topic Manageable
Broad Topic Narrowed Topic Further Overly Specific
Narrowed Topic
Bullying Bullying among Bullying among Bullying among
girls (by sex) grade school grade school
girls (by girls in
educational exclusive
level) Catholic School
(by type of
educational
upbringing)
 Lesson 5

g Research Introd
uction of Research Paper
Set the stage for the entire study. It sets up backdrop for the
research topic, locates the study within the existing
literatures on the topic or field of study, and presents its
purpose and significance. This include several sections:
• Background of the Study
• Research Questions
• Significance of the Study
• Scope, Limitation and Delimitation
ground of the Study
It sets the tone of your research. It introduces
your research topic, the history behind it, and
current understanding about it. This introduction
also offers a brief description of other research
done on the topic, what other authors say about
it, and what was discovered about it.
pose of the Study
It builds upon the paragraphs or sections that come before
it. It adds another piece of the puzzle in your background
of the study and completes it.
• Use cues or keywords such as purpose, intent, objective
to direct the attention of the readers.
• Focus on single ideas
• Use action words like compare, describe, develop,
explore, discover, examine the meaning of
• Mention the qualitative approach
pose of the Study
“The purpose of this ________ (strategy of inquiry,
such as ethnography, case study, or other type) study
is (was, will be?) to __________ (understand,
explore, develop, discover?) the _________ (central
phenomenon being studies) for _________ (the
participants, individuals or groups) at
_______________.
pose of the Study
It builds upon the paragraphs or sections that come before
it. It adds another piece of the puzzle in your background
of the study and completes it.
• State the participants of the study
• Point out where your research will take place.
• Describe the scope of your study concisely.
 Lesson 6

g Research Introd
earch Questions
• Are the inquiries that a research project focuses on.
• They serve as guide posts in research. The research
topic, general issue, challenge, knowledge gap, or
concern you wish to address in your investigation, as
well as the purpose of your study, are concretized in
your research question.
• It will be the focus of your inquiry. The basis for your
data gathering instruments and the queries that you
would need to address all throughout your research.
Research Questions
• They organize the project and give direction and
coherence.
• They delimit the project, showing its boundaries.
• They keep the researcher focused.
• They provide a framework when you write your
research.
• They point to the methods and data that will be needed.
Developing Research Qu
Take note of the two forms of questions:
• Central question – the general question that
deals with the key phenomenon or issue being
studied.
• Subquestions – they are related with the
central question and would ideally flow
directly from it. They focus your inquiry and
break down the main question into
Developing Research Qu
It is recommended that this questions be open-ended to
allow the participants to give information. Open-ended
questions prompt your research participants to reveal
more and share about the phenomenon or topics such as
their feelings, thoughts, opinions, or reflections about it.
Consider questions starting with “what”, “why”, “how”,
“describe”, “give an example of”,or “share/tell an
experience”.
les of Research Question
Good Examples Bad Examples
How do selected Junior High School Why are students not interested in
students in Sebsta School describe Mathematics?
their study habits in learning
Mathematics?
The question clearly defines the This question is too broad. It does
research participants (Junior High not define the research population
School) and research site (Sebsta it want to focus on (“students” are
School). It also clarifies its topic too general)
(study habits in learning Mathematics
les of Research Question
Good Examples Bad Examples
What are the existing government What can we do to reduce violence
programs that address violence against women?
against women in Barangay Sta.
Clara in Batangas City.
The question focuses on a particular The question is too broad. It will
aspect of the issue (government be hard to concretely answer it.
programs) for preventing violence
against women and children). It also
concentrates on a particular research
site (Brgy. Sta Clara, Batangas City)
les of Research Question
Good Examples Bad Examples
What factors does Roma Private Why does Roma Private School
School consider when accepting discriminate against students from
students? low-income families by not
accepting them?
The question is open enough and The question clearly shows a bias
leaves room for discovery (use of the against the school. Try to be
word “factors”). It also focuses on one neutral when phrasing your
particular school, which makes the research questions
study feasible to do (Roma Private
School)
Lesson 7
the Significance of th
of the Significance of the
Several questions that you may reflect when writing this part.
• Who may possibly profit from your research?
• What crucial information can you bring?
• What knowledge might they be interested in that they could get
from your research?
• What possible impact can your research have on the existing body
of knowledge about the topic?
• What practical implications does your research have?
• Will your research bring forth recommendations to policy and
decision-making?
• Will your research have impact on practice?
Activity
Determine the beneficiaries and how will they
be benefited. It could be the policy makers,
public officials, parents, students, organization
leaders, teachers, other practitioners and
professionals.
Lesson 8
g Scope, Limitation and D
imitation and Delimitation
To make the study more feasible, it has to have
parameters. You clarify these parameters in this
section of your study. Declaring these manages
the expectations of your readers on your
research.
Scope, Limitation and Delim
This may pertain to the following:
• Topical focus of the study
• Research Participants
• Research Population traits: sex, race, socioeconomic
status, profession, etc.
• Sample size of your research
• Research Site
• Time Frame of the Research
• Methodological Limitations
Scope, Limitation and Delim
This research focused on describing constructs of: (1) leadership
development; (2) informal education; and (3) community
organizations.
The study limited its number of research participants to six
community leaders from two community organizations in Lipa,
Batangas.
In this regard, the findings of the study are only valid in this specific
setting and cannot be assigned to others sites with different research
participants. Process transferability was considered instead and to
facilitate this, a detailed description of the instrument, data gathering
Scope, Limitation and Delim
You may use the following key phrases in writing this
section such as:
• “The coverage of the study…”
• “The researcher limited this research to…”
• “The study covers the…”
• “The study does not cover the…”
• “The study is focused on…”
• “The study is limited to…”