BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY - LIPA

College of Accountancy, Business, Economics

Marawoy, Lipa City

Chapter I
THE PROBLEM

This chapter deals with the presentation of the problem. Specifically, this

presents an introduction, the background of the study, statement of the problem,

theoretical framework, conceptual framework, hypothesis of the study, scope and

limitations of the study, significance of the study, and definition of terms.

(Or any similar introduction of the chapter)

Introduction

Briefly introduce your research problem in not more than two pages. This usually

starts with the global or general perspectives down to local or particular perspectives.

The introduction should not be a compilation of literature. This should be written

using your own words and too much citation of references should be avoided.

At the last paragraph of this introduction, clearly and briefly state your specific

research problem.

Background of the Study

This is about existing or current issues, concerns, conditions, situations, or

scenario in your particular area, subject or locale of study.

At the last paragraph of the background, clearly state the rationale or main

reason/s why there is a need for the conduct of your study. This is different from your

objectives of the study, but of course, related or connected.

Statement of the Problem

This study aimed to (state the general objective of the research) … . Specifically,

this sought answers for the following questions (state the specific research questions):

(The following is a sample format.)

1. What is the profile of … in terms of:

1.1. profile variable one;

 BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY - LIPA
College of Accountancy, Business, Economics
Marawoy, Lipa City
1.2. profile variable two;

1.3. profile variable three; and

1.4. last profile variable?

2. How do … with regard to:

2.1. test variable one;

2.2. test variable two;

2.3. test variable three; and

2.4. last test variable?

3. Is there a significant difference on … ?

4. How may the responses on … be compared?

5. Is there a significant relationship between … ?

6. Does … significantly affect … ?

7. What strategies may be proposed to … ?

Theoretical Framework

Present here the theoretical basis/bases of your study; cite the reference/s using

APA Style 6th edition author(surname/s)-year format. Old theories or references (i.e., 10

years or more ago) are allowed for use as theoretical bases. If the theoretical basis has

a figure or diagram concerning the theory or variables you adopted, present this without

modifying or changing and cite the reference of the figure (to be indicated in author-year

format enclosed in parentheses at the end of the figure title). Otherwise, do not present

any figure or do not make your own figure for this section.

This should also contain a brief discussion of each variable (test variable) you will

be using base only on the theory you adopted. (The detailed discussion of the said

variables, including concepts from other theories, should be in Chapter II, specifically,

the section for Conceptual Literature.)

 BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY - LIPA
College of Accountancy, Business, Economics
Marawoy, Lipa City

Conceptual Framework

This section contains your own framework or design for your own study. You

need to present your conceptual paradigm and discuss the contents of such

figure/model. The figure and discussion should contain the variables (profile and test

variables) you included in the statement of the problem and your own assumptions

regarding the relationships of such variables.

Research Hypothesis

The study tested the hypothesis given below:

Ho: There is no significant difference on … when grouped according to … .

(or if there are two or more hypotheses)

The study tested the following hypotheses:

Ho1: There is no significant difference on … when grouped according to … .

Ho2: There is no significant relationship between … .

Ho3: The … has no significant effect on … .

(The order of the hypotheses should be in the same order as the corresponding

research question in the statement of the problem.)

Scope and Limitations of the Study

In this section, you need to include the discussion on the following: what is the

study all about, what are the objectives of the study and what are the variables used;

why is there a need to conduct the study; who were your respondents; when and where

was the study conducted; how did you conduct the study; and what are the perceived

limitations or weaknesses of the study (the unavoidable cases or circumstances that

made the study or the results of the study “weaker”).

 BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY - LIPA
College of Accountancy, Business, Economics
Marawoy, Lipa City

Significance of the Study

Introductory statement … .

To first beneficiary (state the first and foremost beneficiary, in bold letters), this

study will … ;

To second beneficiary, this study will … ;

To third beneficiary, this study will … ;

… ; and

To future researchers, this study will … .

Definition of Terms

Introductory statement … .

First Term. (bold letters, capitalize first letter of major words in the term, with

period after the term) State the conceptual definition, one sentence only, then at the end

of sentence, before the period, indicate the reference (book, journal article and other

reliable source; do not use thesis, dictionary and unreliable web article as reference), in

APA style author-year format (Author, year). State a one-sentence operational definition,

usually starting with “In this study,”.

Second Term. Conceptual definition (Author, year). In this study, … .

Third Term. Conceptual definition (Author, year). In this study, … .

Last Term. Conceptual definition (Author, year). In this study, … .

Note: The terms should be arranged alphabetically. Only important terms should be
defined here, usually, but not limited to, the terms included in the title and in the main
research question or statement of the problem.
 BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY - LIPA
College of Accountancy, Business, Economics
Marawoy, Lipa City

Chapter II
REVIEW OF LITERATURE

This chapter deals with the review of related concepts and studies found in

previous literature. It also presents a synthesis of reviewed research literature. (Or any

similar introduction of the chapter)

Conceptual Literature

Provide an introductory statement for this section. Then present a review of

conceptual literature related to your present study in topical approach and in an order

starting with the general topic then the specific topics, particularly the variables used

(test variables) in the same order as in the statement of the problem. Provide at least

five literature reviews for each topic and use more recent literature (i.e., not older than

10 years). Old literature or references may still be allowed for conceptual literature

depending on the level of its importance or significance to the present study or if no

recent literature is available. Conceptual literature include books, other reliable general

references, government laws and issuances, and articles published in research journals

(provided that in case of articles only concepts and theories should be included in the

review of conceptual literature and the empirical findings or results of study are to be

included in the review of research literature). For conceptual literature review, it is not

necessary that one paragraph has only one reference.

General Topic

Present here the review of concepts and theories related to your general topic.

Do not just copy the literature. You need to rephrase or paraphrase the literature you

read but still properly cite the reference using APA Style 6th edition.

Variable One (the order is according to Statement of the Problem)

Present here the review of concepts and theories related to your first variable.
 BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY - LIPA
College of Accountancy, Business, Economics
Marawoy, Lipa City

Variable Two

Present here the review of concepts and theories related to your second variable.

Until the Last Variable

Present here the review of concepts and theories related to your last variable.

Research Literature

Present here the review of related studies or researches at one-study-one-

paragraph approach (except in few cases where more than one paragraph per study

may be allowed, provided that citation is clearly stated per paragraph). The presentation

should be from the most-related down to the least-related study. Research literature

include theses, dissertations, case studies, feasibility studies, capstone projects and the

like from local and foreign higher education institutions, and research articles published

in refereed journals, whether in print or electronic (provided that, in case of published

articles, the methodology and empirical findings or results of study, and not merely the

concepts or theories, shall be presented here). At least 10 related researches should be

reviewed and presented here. Do not include degree-requirement researches (theses,

dissertations and the like) that are older than 10 years. Published articles in refereed

journals older than 10 years are still acceptable depending upon its importance or

significance to the present study but student-researchers are highly encouraged to look

for and use more recent articles.

Each review of related research shall include the following (whenever available in

the research reviewed and useful for the present study): main topic and objectives of the

study with the variables used, research design and data gathering instrument used,

sampling design and respondents of the study, and salient findings or results of the

study. The title of thesis or research article should not be mentioned as is but the topic of

the research reviewed has to be clearly stated. For example, instead of stating: The
 BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY - LIPA
College of Accountancy, Business, Economics
Marawoy, Lipa City
study of Castillo (2014) entitled “Employability Skills of Graduating Business and

Accounting Students of Batangas State University” …; you may write: Castillo (2014)

assessed the employability skills of graduating business and accounting students of

Batangas State University … (or any similar sentence not mentioning the title as is).

Synthesis

Present a synthesis of reviewed researches, that is, combining two or more

generally related studies in one paragraph and discuss their similarities and differences

to your present study. The synthesis should include all the researches reviewed and

usually presented in not more than two pages, usually 2 to 4 paragraphs. In mentioning

the references, the author-year format (APA Style 6th edition) should still be used.

Be reminded further that the author may not necessarily be a person or persons;

it may also be an organization or an institution. Regarding citation of references with

multiple authors, similar authors, similar surnames of authors, no author, no date or

year, same authors with the same year, online references, and other queries on citation

and referencing, refer to the rules on APA Style 6th edition.

 BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY - LIPA
College of Accountancy, Business, Economics
Marawoy, Lipa City

Chapter III
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter deals with the research methods used in the study. It includes

discussion on research design, respondents of the study including sampling, data

gathering instrument, data gathering procedure, and statistical treatment of data.

(Or any similar introduction of the chapter)

Research Design

State here the research design used and provide a brief discussion regarding

such design. You may include a definition or description of the research design from a

reliable reference, usually a book on research methods (do not use previous thesis as

reference for this), and properly cite the reference using APA Style.

This section usually consists of only two or three paragraphs. On the last part,

state a justification for the use of such design or why the design is the most appropriate

for your present study.

Respondents of the Study

Mention who are the respondents, describe their characteristics and explain why

they are the suitable respondents for your study. Include the number of respondents and

explain how you arrived at such number or how you determined the sample size.

State the sampling design used and discuss how this was actually utilized or

conducted (there is no need to define and explain the sampling design as found in

books). If all members of the population are your respondents (or target respondents),

clearly state and explain why it was necessary to conduct a census on the whole

population instead of sampling.

 BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY - LIPA
College of Accountancy, Business, Economics
Marawoy, Lipa City

Sampling Design

Indicate which sampling technique will be employed by the researchers. Give a

brief overview of the sampling technique and then state the reason why is the mentioned

sampling was used by the researcher.

Data Gathering Instrument

State the data gathering instrument used. If the data gathering instrument is a

survey questionnaire made or constructed by you as researcher, you need to present

here the following: how the questionnaire was constructed, the content of the

questionnaire, who validated it and how it was validated, the conduct of dry run – when,

where and who were the respondents for the dry run, the reliability analysis and its

result, how it should be administered including the ethical considerations on its

administration, and the scoring to be used for the questionnaire.

For scoring and interpretation, the following is sample:

The scoring and interpretation used for the questionnaire is presented in Table 1.

Table 1
Scoring and Interpretation
Response Scale Mean Score Interpretation
4 3.50 – 4.00 Strongly Agree
3 2.50 – 3.49 Agree
2 1.50 – 2.49 Disagree
1 1.00 – 1.49 Strongly Disagree
Reminder: Do not use the term “self-constructed questionnaire”. Take note that

“the questionnaire cannot construct itself”! Instead, you may use “researcher-made

questionnaire” or simply, “survey questionnaire”.

If the questionnaire to be used is standardized, explain how you had acquired the

questionnaire including whether it is in the public domain or you have the permission to

use the questionnaire from the copyright owner (author, publisher or both). You also

need to discuss the content of the questionnaire, its reliability, how to administer the
 BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY - LIPA
College of Accountancy, Business, Economics
Marawoy, Lipa City
questionnaire, and the scoring and interpretation used by the author of the

questionnaire.

Data Gathering Procedure

Discuss here the actual data gathering procedure, for example, how you had

distributed, administered and retrieved your data gathering instrument (if using a survey

questionnaire). You may start the discussion here with asking permission from

concerned authorities regarding the actual conduct of data gathering through letters or

personal visits to concerned offices. Include details such as period (days or months)

covered in the data gathering, where and how this was conducted, who were involved,

time spent by a respondent in answering the questionnaire or in an interview, retrieval of

the questionnaire and response rate, and the like.

Do not include here your library works; this is not the data gathering that is

mentioned here. The data that need to be discussed how these were gathered are those

data that were subjected for statistical analysis. Do not also repeat the contents of Data

Gathering Instrument.

Data Analysis

This section contains the statistical tools used corresponding to the research

questions in the statement of the problem. There is no need to define or explain the

statistical tools. There is also no need to state the formula, especially if using statistical

software. Just state the statistical tool and its particular use in your present study.

(The following is an example.)

The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was employed in the

statistical analysis of data. The following statistical tools were used in the study:

(Sample only: See if these are applicable for your study.)

Frequency and Percentage. This was used to determine the profile … in terms

of … .
 BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY - LIPA
College of Accountancy, Business, Economics
Marawoy, Lipa City
Mean. This was used to assess the … with regard to … .

Independent Samples T-Test. This was used to determine if there is significant

difference on … when grouped according to … .

Analysis of Variance. This was used to determine if there is significant

difference on … when grouped according to … .

Pearson’s Correlation. This was used to determine if there is significant

relationship between … .

A Very Important Note: Different research designs may require contents of Chapter III
that are different from those presented here.