TOPIC 1

CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION
 How are you?
Hopefully everything goes well…

DRZ
1. Background of Study
2. Research Problem/Gap
3. Research Questions, Research Objectives or
Research Hypothesis
4. Scope of the Study
5. Significance of Study
6. Definition of Key Terms
7. Conceptual/Theoretical Framework
8. Limitations and Delimitations of the Study
9. Structure of the Dissertation/Thesis
10. Chapter Summary
 Background of Study
• The first section of a research paper and gives
context surrounding the research topic.
• The background explains to the reader where your
research journey started, why you got interested in
the topic, and how you developed the research
question that you will later specify.
• It contains the rationale, the key problem
statement, and a brief overview of research
questions that are addressed in the rest of the
study.
 Research Problem/Gap
• A question or an issue that has not been
answered by any of the existing studies or
research within your field.
• Sometimes, a research gap exists when there
is a concept or new idea that hasn’t been
studied at all.
• To write a research gap, clearly identify what is
missing in the current literature.
• Start with a brief overview of existing
research, then highlight the specific area that
has not been addressed or fully explored.
• Emphasize the importance of this gap and
how addressing it can advance the field.
 Research Questions, Research Objectives
or Research Hypothesis
• A research objectives are clear statements of what
you aim to achieve through your research. They are
specific actions that you will take and act as
milestones that will help you complete your
research.
• A research question is the specific concern that you
will answer through your research.
• A research hypothesis is the predicted answer to
the research question, based on the literature
reviewed.
Research Question: “Does spending time outdoors
influence how satisfied people feel with their lives?”
Directional or Alternative Hypothesis: “There is a
significant positive relationship between the weekly
amount of time spent outdoors and self-reported
levels of satisfaction with life.”
 Scope of the Study
• “Scope” means how far it goes.
• Explains the extent to which the research area
will be explored in the work and specifies the
parameters within the study will be operating.
• Basically, this means that you will have to
define what the study is going to cover and
what it is focusing on.
• For example, your study is about online
learning in HEI, but it will not be possible for
you to cover all HEIs and all students who
utilize the online learning system.
• Therefore, you can maybe specify that your
study will cover 400 student of one area and
examine their use of the online learning.
 Significance of Study
• A written statement that explains why your
research was.
• Compulsory & mandatory.
• It's a justification of the importance of your
work and impact it has on your research field.
• It's contribution to new knowledge and how
others will benefit from it.
• Highlight how your research will be beneficial
to the development of science and the society
in general.
• You can first outline the significance in a
broader sense by stating how your research
will contribute to the broader problem in your
field and gradually narrow it down to
demonstrate the specific group that will
benefit from your research.
• To write a compelling significance statement,
identify the research problem, explain why it
is significant, provide evidence of its
importance, and highlight its potential impact
on future research, policy, or practice.
• A justification (before) of a study explains the
rationale and purpose, while the significance
(after) highlights the importance and potential
impact of the research findings.
 Definition of Key Terms
• The main terminologies that are present in your
study.
• The “means of exchange” in your study.
• A detailed explanation of the technical terms
and measurements used during data collection.
• For instance, in a study on the influence of AI
tools, effectiveness and academic achievement
on student, the key terms can be AI tools,
effectiveness and academic achievement.
 Conceptual/Theoretical Framework
• Theoretical framework (theories views)
basically based on the theories' predictions
about the phenomena under study.
• Conceptual framework (researcher views), on
the other hand, emerges from the research
question, providing a structure (map) for
investigating it.
 Limitations and Delimitations
of the Study
• The limitations of the study are those
characteristics of design or methodology that
impacted or influenced the interpretation of
the findings from your research.
• Sample size; Lack of available and/or reliable
data; Lack of prior research studies on the
topic; Measure used to collect the data; Self-
reported data; Longitudinal effects; Cultural
and other type of bias.
• Delimitations are those factors or aspects of the
research area that you'll exclude from your research.
The scope and delimitations of the study are intimately
linked.
• For example, a researcher wants to study the impact of
So, on behavior patterns of elementary school children.
• However, it is not possible for the researcher to cover
every aspect of the topic.
• So, the scope will have to be narrowed down to a
certain section of the target population.
• So, the delimitations section is where you'll
clearly state what your research aims and
research questions will focus on – and just as
importantly, what they will exclude.
• For example, you might investigate a
widespread phenomenon but choose to focus
your study on a specific age group, ethnicity or
gender.
• Limitation and delimitation are distinct.
• Limitations address potential drawbacks or
challenges in a study, while delimitations set
specific parameters, guiding the study's focus
for a more in-depth exploration.
• So, it can be similar but not the same.
 Structure of the Dissertation/Thesis
• The core chapters of a dissertation are the
introduction, literature review, methodology,
results, discussion, and conclusion.
• In addition, there are also supplementary
sections, such as the appendices, bibliography,
glossary, and abstract.
 Chapter Summary
• Basically, a summary of any chapter would just
highlight the main points that have been
discussed in that chapter.
• It should be a highly condensed version of
whatever you have covered in that chapter.
 The End
To be continued…