Chapter 3 : Identifying the Inquiry and Stating the Problem

Lesson 1: SUBJECT MATTER OF THE INQUIRY OF RESEARCH

A topic is researchable if the knowledge and information about it are supported by evidence that is
observable, factual, and logical. Here are some pointer you have to keep in mind in selecting a research
topic (Babbie 2013):

Guidelines in Choosing a Research Topic

1. Interest in subject matter – Your real interest in a subject pushes you to research, investigate, or
inquire about it with full motivation, enthusiasm, and energy.

2. Availability of information – make sure that there are varied forms of literature to support your
claims about the subject matter. Check the availability of the reading materials, how updated and
authoritative it is, are they new or old, etc.

3. Timeliness ad relevance of the topic- The topic is relevant if it is instrumental in societal

improvement, timely which is related to the present.

4. Limitations on the subject- This make you link your choosing with course requirements.

5. Personal resources- assess your research abilities in terms of your financial standing, health,
mental capacity, needed facilities and time allotment

Research Topics to be Avoided

1. Controversial topics- topics depend greatly on writer’s opinion, which may tend to be biased and
prejudicial.

2. Highly technical subjects- for a beginner, researching on topics that require an advanced study,
technical knowledge , and vast experience is a very difficult task.

3. Hard-to-investigate subjects- if there are no available reading materials about it and not up-to-
date

4. Too broad subjects- will prevent you from giving a concentrated or an in-depth analysis of the
subject matter

5. To narrow subjects- too limited or specific that an extensive searching of information about
these is necessary

6. Vague subjects- will prevent you from having a clear focus on your paper. Ex. Some Remarkable
Traits of a Filipino

LESSON 2: WRITING A RESEARCH TITLE

• A research title, or research project, is a product of real world observations, dilemmas, wide
reading, selective viewing (television programs, films, documentaries, videos, etc.) meaningful
interactions with significant others, and deep reflection.
• It must clearly reflect the topic of investigation. It must be original, clear, concise or specific.

Broad and Specific Topics

• Too broad topics will lead you nowhere. In order to narrow down broad topics to specific ones,
the purpose or intent of the study must be clear.

The following are examples of broad topics:

o Lack of self-confidence

o Smoking hazards

The following are examples of specific topis:

o Lack of self-confidence in adolescents: Root causes, Manifestations and Intervention

o Health Hazards of Direct and Indirect Smoking: Prevention and Cure

STATING RESEARCH QUESTIONS

Research Problem: The need to have a safer, comfortable, and healthful walk or transfer of students
from place to place in the UST campus

Research Topic: The Construction of a Covered Pathway in the UST campus

Research Question: What kind of covered path should UST construct in this campus?

Specific Questions:

1. What materials are needed for the construction of the covered pathway in the UST campus?

2. What roofing materials is appropriate for the covered path?

3. In what way can the covered pathway link all buildings in the campus?

4. What is the width and height of the covered path?

5. How can the covered path realize green architecture?

Techniques for Narrowing Down a Topic into a Research Question (Nueman, 2007)

1. Examine the literature. Published artices are an excellent source of ideas for research questions.
They are usually at an appropriate level on specificity and suggest research questions that focus on the
following:

a. Replicate a previous research project exactly or with slight variations.

b. Explore unexpected findings discovered in previous research.

c. Follow suggestions an author gives for future research at the end of an article.

d. Extend an existing explanation or theory to a new topic or setting.

e. Challenge findings or attempt to refute a relationship.

f. Specify the intervening process and consider linking relations.

2. Talk over ideas with others.

a. Ask people who are knowledgeable about the topic for questions about it that they have
thought of.

b. Seek out those who hold opinions that different from your on the topic and discuss possible
research questions with them.

3. Relate the topic to a specific context.

a. Focus the topic on a specific historical period or time period.

b. Narrow the topic to a specific society or geographic unit.

c. Consider which subgroups or categories of people/units are involved and whether there are
differences among them.

4. Define the aim or desired outcome of the study.

a. Will the research question be for an exploratory, explanatory, or descriptive study?

b. Will the study involve applied or basic research?

Examples of Research Questions

1. On lack of Self-confidence in Adolescents

a. What are the root causes of lack of self-confidence in adolescents?

b. What kind of behavior do adolescents who lack self-confidence manifest?

c. What cam the following groups of people do to boost up the self-confidence of adolescents?

• The parents

• The Siblings

• The Church

• The Teacher

• The Guidance Counselors

• The Peers

2. On Smoking Hazards

a. What dangers to one’s health can smoking bring about?

b. How is a non-smoker’s health affected when in the presence of people smoking?

c. What medical interventions can address the problem of smoking?

d. What psychological interventions can address the problem smoking?

The Research Question I the Research Process

Flick (2002) elaborates on the formulative of the research question in the research process as
shown in the following figure:

Formulation of the overall question

Formulation of specific research questions

Formulation of sensitizing concepts

Selection of research groups with which to study the question

Selection of appropriate designs and methods

Evaluation and reformulation of the specific research questions

Collection of data

Evaluation and reformulation of the specific research questions

Analysing the data

Generalization and evaluation of the analyses

Formulation of the findings

Examples of Research Questions from Actual Qualitative Studies:

Research Questions:

1. What reactions do Filipino fathers and mothers experience during and after a natural disaster?

2. How do they cope with experience of a natural disaster?

3. How do the experiences of Filipino fathers and mothers differ in terms of coping and reaction?

WRITING A RESEARCH QUESTION

What is a research question?

A research question is a...

• clear

• focused

• concise

• complex

• arguable
...question around which you center your research. You should ask a question about an issue that you
are genuinely curious and/or passionate about.

Why is a research question essential to the research process?

Research questions help writers focus their research by providing a path through the research and
writing process. The specificity of a well-developed research question helps writers avoid the “all-about”
paper and work toward supporting a specific, arguable thesis.

Steps to developing a research question:

1. Choose an interesting general topic. Even directed academic research should focus on a topic in
which the writer is at least somewhat personally invested. Writers should choose a broad topic about
which they genuinely would like to know more. An example of a general topic might be “Slavery in the
American South” or “Films of the 1930s.”

2. Do some preliminary research on your general topic. Do a few quick searches in current
periodicals and journals on your topic to see what’s already been done and to help you narrow your
focus. What questions does this early research raise?

3. Consider your audience. For most college papers, your audience will be academic, but always
keep your audience in mind when narrowing your topic and developing your question. Would that
particular audience be interested in this question?

4. Start asking questions. Taking into consideration all of the above, start asking yourself open-
ended “how” and “why” questions about your general topic. For example, “How did the slave trade
evolve in the 1850s in the American South?” or “Why were slave narratives effective tools in working
toward the abolishment of slavery?”

5. Evaluate your question. After you’ve got a question or even a couple of question down on
paper, evaluate these questions to realize if they would be effective research questions or if they need
more revising.

o Is your research question clear? With so much research available on any given topic, research
questions must be as clear as possible in order to be effective in helping the writer direct his or her
research.

o Is your research question focused?

o Research questions must be specific enough to be well covered in the space available.

o Is your research question complex? Research questions should not be answerable with a simple “yes”
or “no” or by easily-found facts. They should, instead, require both research and analysis on the part of
the writer.

6. Hypothesize. After you’ve come up with a question, think about what the path you think the
answer will take. Where do you think your research will take you? What kind of argument are you
hoping to make/support? What will it mean if your research disputes your planned argument? At this
step, you are well on your way to having a focus for your research, constructing a thesis, and then
writing out your argument in a paper.
Examples of research questions:

Considering the information above, the following provides examples of flawed research questions as
well as questions that are well-designed:

Too narrow: What is the childhood obsesity rate in Pheonix, AZ?

This is too narrow because it can be answered with a simple statistic. Questions that can be answered
with a "yes" or a "no" should also typically be avoided. Less narrow: How does the education level of
the parents impact childhood obesity rates in Pheonix, AZ?

This question demonstrates the correct amount of specificity and the results would provide the
opportunity for an argument to be formed.

Unfocused and too broad: What are the effects of childhood obesity in the United States?

This question is so broad that research methodology would be very difficult and the question is too
broad to be discussed in a typical research paper. More focused: How does childhood obesity
correlate with academic performance in elementary school children?

This question has a very clear focus for which data can be collected, analyzed, and discussed.

Too objective: How much time do young children spend doing physical activity per day?

This question may allow the researcher to collect data but does not lend itself to collecting data that can
be used to create a valid argument because the data is just factual information. More Subjective: What
is the relationship between physical activity levels and childhood obesity?

This is a more subjective question that may lead to the formation of an argument based on the results
and analysis of the data.

Too simple: How are school systems addressing childhood obesity?

This information can be obtained without the need to collect unique data. The question could be
answered with a simple online search and does not provide an opportunity for analysis. More Complex:
What are the effects of intervention programs in the elementary schools on the rate of childhood
obesity among 3rd - 6th grade students?

This question is more complex and requires both investigation and evaluation which will lead the
research to form an argument that may be discussed.

Examples:

1. On Lack of Self-Confidence in Adolescents

a. What are the root causes of lack of self-confidence in adolescents?

b. What kind of behavior do adolescents who lack self-confidence manifest?

c. What can the following groups of people do to boost up the self confidence of adolescents?
• The parents

• The Sibilings

• The Church

• The Teacher

• The Guidance Counselors

• The Peers

LESSON 3: SCOPE AND DELIMITATION OF RESEARCH

Delimitation refers to boundaries of the research study, arising from the researcher’s decisions
of what to exclude; for example, this study included only the Grade 6, 7 and 8 students who experienced
bullying.

Examples of Delimitation of Research

1. This study covers only those families in Barangay San Jose, Pasig City, benefited by the
government’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program.

2. This study includes only those English fresman classes that use both Blended Learning and
standard ways of Language teaching.

3. This research investigation covers only Landbank-sponsored livelihood projects in Barangay San
Juan, Apalit, Pampanga.

Chapter 4: Learning from Others and Reviewing the Literature

Meaning of Review of Related Literature

 A review of related literature is an analysis of man’s written or spoken knowledge of the world.
You examine representations of man’s thinking about the world to determine the connection of
your research with what people already know about it.
 A literature review provides an overview of what has been written about a specific topic.
 The review of literature includes practically all the information and data which are authoritative
and relevant to the topic of the study as in the case of research and similar scholarly
undertakings

Characteristics of a Good Literature Review

 Materials must be as recent as possible.

 Materials must be as objective and unbiased as possible.
  Materials must be relevant to the study.
 Materials must not be too few but nor too many.

Types of Source

1. Primary Sources- directly report or present a person’s own experiences. Example: journals
2. Secondary Sources- report or describe other people’s experiences or worldviews. Example:
internet, books, peer reviewed articles in journals, published literary reviews of the field,
thesis, dissertation, conference, proceedings, leaflets and posters, research studies in
progress, and other library materials.

The Process of Review of Related Literature

Stage 1: Search for Literature- time looking for sources of knowledge, data, or information at answer
your research questions or support your assumptions about your research topic.

Stage 2- Reading the source material- does not only make you list down ideas from the materials, but
also permits you to modify, construct, or reconstruct ideas based on a certain principle, theory, pattern,
method, or theme underlying your research

Stage 3: Writing the Review

Opening an article:

Not Good: Auquino (2015)said…

Good: A research study by (Aquino, 2015) explains that…

Coming from various books on literature review writing are the following transitional devices
and active verbs to link or express author’s ideas in your paper.

 Transitional devices- also, additionally, again, similarly, a similar opinion, however,

conversely, on the other hand, nevertheless, a contrasting opinion, a different
approach, etc.
 Active verbs- analyze, argues, assess, assert, claim, compare, contrast, conclude,
criticize, debate, defend, define, demonstrate, discuss, distinguish, differentiate,
evaluate, examine, emphasize, expand, explain, exhibit, identify, illustrate, imply,
indicate, judge, justify, narrate, outline, persuade, propose, question, relate to, report,
review, suggest, summarize.

Standard styles in Review of Related Literature, Citation, or References

The following are the three terms used to express your appreciation for or recognition of
people’s ownership of borrowed ideas (Sharp 2012):

1. Acknowledgement – the beginning portion of the work that identifies individuals who have
contributed something for the production of the paper.
2. References or Bibliography – a complete list of all reading materials, including books, journal,
periodical, etc. from where the borrowed ideas came from.
3. Citation or In-text Citation- references within the main body of the text, specifically in Review of
Related Literature
Referencing Styles

APA- author/date based style. This means emphasis is place on the author and the date of a piece of
work to uniquely identify it.

MLA- is most often applied in the arts and humanities, particularly in the U.S .A

Styles of Citation

1. 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.

Examples of Integral Citation

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 (Abd et al.:54)

2. Non-integral Citation
In contrast to integral citation, this downplays strength of the writer’s personal
characteristics. The stress is given to the piece of information rather than to the owner
of the ideas.

Examples of Non-Integral Citation

a. The Code of Ethics for Intercultural Competence give four ways by which people
from different cultural background can harmoniously relate themselves with one
another.(De la Cruz, 2015)

Patterns of Citation

1. 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.
2. Paraphrase – This is antithesis of the first one because, here, instead of shortening the form of
the text, you explain what 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.
3. 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 is influenced by these four factors: “Language, culture, institutions, and
ideologies.” (Aranda, 2015, p.8)
 4. Long Direct Quotation or Block Quotation, 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 indention, the copied lines look like
they compose a stanza of a poem.
Example:
The latest study by (Hizon, 2015) reveals the social nature of the language. Stressing this
nature of the 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)
 There are to basic methods or referencing pointing to, or identifying the exact author
referred to by your paper. These are APA (American Pyschological Association) and MLA
(Modern Language Association).
APA – (Ramos, 2015) or Ramos (2015)
MLA- (Bautista 183), Flores et.al. 150-158) or (Acosta, Hizon, Lopez 235-240) or (Velarde
4:389-404) –for periodicals

THE PROCESS OF REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE (RRL)

STAGE 1 : Search for the Literature – looking for sources of knowledge, data or information to answer
your research questions or to support your assumptions about your research topic.

POINTERS FOR BEST SOURCES OF INFORMATION OR DATA

Choose previous research findings that are closely related to your research.

Give more weight to studies done by people possessing expertise or authority in the field of knowledge
to which the research studies belong.

Consider sources of knowledge that refer more to primary data than to secondary data.

Prefer getting information from peer-reviewed materials than from general reading materials.

STAGE 2: READING THE SOURCE MATERIAL – reading, understanding or making the materials meaningful
and should be your ability to criticize or evaluate, apply and create things about what you have read.

STAGE 3: 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. In
doing either of this two, you get to change the arrangement of ideas, structures of the language, and the
format of the text using appropriate organizational techniques of comparison-contrast, chronological
order, spatial relationship, inductive-deductive order and traditional devices.

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 ...

A research study by (Rivera, 2017) explains that ...

Transitional devices – also, additionally, again, similarly, a similar opinion, however, conversely, on the
other hand, nevertheless, a contrasting opinion, a different approach, etc.

Active verbs – analyze, argues, assess, assert, assume, claim, compare, contrast, conclude, criticize,
debate, define, demonstrate, discuss, distinguish, differentiate, evaluate, examine, emphasize, expand,
explain, exhibit, identify, illustrate, imply, indicate, judge, justify, narrate, outline, persuade, propose,
question, relate to, report, review, suggest, summarize.
Chapter 5: Understanding Data and Ways to Systematically Collect Data

Lesson 1: Qualitative Research Designs

1. Case Study: studies a person, program, or event in a defined time frame.

- Sources of data collection are direct or participant observation, interviews, archival records
or documents, physical artifacts and audiovisual materials.
- The researcher spends time in the natural setting of the people studied.
- A case being investigated may be that of an individual or a group of persons

Examples are case studies of drug rehabilitated teenagares, transgenders, gay marriages

2. Ethnography – studies groups of people that share common culture

Example: ethnographic study on ethic minority group
3. Content Analysis – detailed and systematic examination of the contents of a particular body of
material for the purpose of identifying patterns, themes or biases.
-this kind of research examines choice and use of words from which concepts or images are
vividly derived.
-it looks at the relationship between words and their meanings, stressing the system of relations
between words as a source of meaning,

Example: state of the nation addresses of Philippine presidents or speeches in political

conventions

Other examples are enalysing the content of pictures and video materials that carry footages pf
disasters like typhoons etc.
4. Phenomenological Study – search for the central underlying meaning of the research
participant’s experience
-What does the experience mean to the research participant himself/herself?
-How will s/he describe this lived experience of being at the center of the research process?
-What are his/her significant remarks

Example: comfort women during WWII

Research format:
- Writing the research questions that explore the meaning of the experience
- Conducting interviews
- Analyzing the data to find the clusters of meanings
- Writing report that makes the readers understand more clearly the essential
structure of the experience
5. Grounder Theory- an attempt to extract a general abstract theory of a process, or interaction
grounded views of research participants.
-the purpose is to build a theory that is faithful to the evidence
-method of discovering new theory

Lesson 2: Sampling Procedures

Qualitative Sampling – to get representative sample, or a small collection of units or cases from a much
larger collection or population, such that the researcher can study the smaller group and produce
accurate generalizations about a larger groups.

Sampling methodologies or procedures can be classified under two general categories: probability
sampling and non-probability sampling

1. Non-Probability Sampling (most commonly used in qualitative research)

A. Convenience Sampling
- Choosing respondents at the convenience of the researcher

Example: people in the street intervies, the sampling g to which the researcher has
easy access such as a class of students

B. Quota Sampling – samples a population that has been subdivided into classes or categories.
Example: a survey in which the researcher desires to obtain a certain number of
respondents from various income categories
C. Judgemental Sampling- the researcher uses his/her own “expert” judgement
Example: study of potential users of new recreational facility that is limited to those persons
who live within the vicinity

2. Probability Sampling (most commonly used in quantitative research)

A. Simple Random Sampling – the researcher must have the list of all members of the
population of interest
B. Stratified Random Sampling- categorizing the members of the population into mutually
exclusive and collectively exhaustive groups.
Example: determining the income earned by vendors in a city
C. Cluster Sampling- groups are defined in order to maintain the heterogeneity of the
population
D. -a cluster sample might be used by a researcher attempting to measure the age distribution
of persons residing in a given locality.
3. Systematic Sampling -the researcher selects every nth member after randomly selecting first,
through nth element as starting point
4. Purposive Sampling- uses to select unique cases that are especially informative; may use
purposive sampling to select member of a difficult to reach specialized population; wants to
identify particular types of cases for in-depth investigation

Lesson 3: Data Collection and Analysis Procedure

Primary Data Collection Techniques

- Interview
- Participant observation
- Focused Group Interview
- Observational Evaluation
- Biography.Authobiography
- Questionnaire
Interview

 Research participants are prodded to talk about experiences, feelings, beliefs, outlooks, etc.
 The interview can take the form of informal conversations, open-ended interviews or in depth
discussions

Structured Interviews -use set of questions prepared by the researcher. During the course of the
interview, the researcher codes the responses

Unstructured interviews- use open-ended questions which the interviewee or research participant
answers freely.

Semi-structured interviews – use both closed and open-ended questions

When interviewing face to face, the researcher and participant engage in a conversation, which is
usually audio-recorded and the recording is transformed into a written text, ready for analysis,
through a process of transcription.

Participant Observation – the researcher immerses himself/herself in the natural setting of the research
participant. This can be a home, an office, institution etc.

-the researcher’s immersion in the natural setting of research participants enables him/her to see, hear,
feel and experience the research participant’s daily life.

Focus Group Interview- 6 to 8 persons participate in the interview

- The advantage of this is that critical issues or sensitive ones can be more freely
discussed with a group

Observational Evaluation – the researcher may or may not participate in activities of the group being
observed. But mostly, observes and records both the verbal and non-verbal behavior of a person or
group of persons

Biography/Authobiography- personal biographies offer a rich source of data or evidence that can shed
light or provide tentative answers to research questions
Data Analysis Procedure
Chapter 6: Finding Answers Through Data Collection Data Collection and Analyzing the Meaning of
Qualitative Data
Lesson 2: Inferring and Explaining Patterns and Themes from Data