TOPIC IDENTIFICATION

I. SELF- INQUIRY
a. What topic do I care about?
b. What do I know about the topic?
c. What should I know about the topic?
d. What do previous studies say about my chosen topic? (CONDUCT A LITERATURE
REVIEW)
e. What do I hypothesize or argue about my topic?

INTELLECTUALIZE YOUR TOPIC: The TVPLAD Format

I. Identity the TOPIC

II. Set a measurable VARIABLE
III. Mention the POPULATION
IV. State the LOCALE
V. Express the ARGUMENT
VI. Provide the DESIGN

TYPES OF ARGUMENT

I. DESCRIPTIVE
To document or describe the phenomenon of interest.
II. EXPOSITORY
To investigate little – understood phenomena
To identify or discover important categories of meaning
To generate hypotheses for further research
III. EXPLANATORY
To identify or nullify plausible Relationship, Effects, or Difference (RED) shaping the
phenomenon
IV. PREDICTIVE
To forecast the probability of something to happen based on explanatory research
V. EMANCIPATORY
To create opportunities and the will to engage in social action

IDENTIFY THE TVPLAD:

A Correlational Study on the Influences of Teenage Consumer Characteristics on Fairness Perceptions of

Revenue Management Pricing in the Philippine Hotel Industry

A Structural Equation Modeling of the Factors Affecting Student Nurses Medication Errors in Urban
Charity Hospitals

A Case Study Investigating the Antecedents and Consequences of Burnout and Isolation among
International Flight Attendants in Philippine Airlines
Raising Political Participation in the Reformed Sangguniang Kabataan of the Urban poor Youth in Tondo,
Manila through Participatory Action Research

INTRODUCTION

1. Start with the TRENDS

(What is already known in the field?)
 Global
 National
 Local
2. Pinpoint an ISSUE
(What key issues does the study seek to illuminate or draw attention to?)

RESEARCH PROBLEM

A research problem is a statement about an area of concern, a condition to be improved upon, a

difficulty to be eliminated, or troubling question that exists in scholarly literature, in theory, or in
practice that points to the need for meaningful understanding and deliberate investigation (Bryman,
2007).

REVIEW OF RELATED STUDIES AND LITERATURES

1. Identify gaps in literature

2. Find other people working in your field
3. Identify major seminal works
4. Identify main methodologies and research techniques
5. Identify main ideas, conclusions and theories and establish similarities and differences
6. Provide a context for your own research
7. Show relationships between previous or theories
8. Find out what information already exists in your field of research

7 STEPS TO PRODUCING LITERATURE REVIEW

1. Identify your question

2. Review discipline styles
3. Search the literature
4. Manage your literature
5. Critically analyze and evaluate synthesize
6. Write the review

NARATIVE LITERATURE REVIEW

A narrative argument conveyed thematically which contains information, ideas, data and
evidence in order to illustrate how a topic and variable has been investigated and researched in
the past (SSRMC, 2016)
TIPS…

 Make your review of literature deductive/inductive based on the approach you will use
 Make it coherent with logical flow of premises
 Paraphrase and observe proper citation in cases of direct citation is not avoided
 Minimum of 15 literature/studies
 Ask for a grammar review and plagscan or other related applications
 Consult your adviser frequently
 Just always pray at night

THEORETICAL/CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

CONCEPTUAL THEORETICAL
FRAMEWORK FRAMEWORK

A SET OF
RELATED THEORY
CONCEPTS

I. REALISM
The belief that there is a real world that exist independently of our perceptions and
theories (Maxwell, 2013). Reality is composed of unambiguous facts which await
discovery by the observer (Desai & Potter, 2008).
II. CONSTRUCTIVISM
Our understanding in this world is inevitably our construction, rather than a purely
objective perception of reality, and no such construction can claim absolute truth
(Maxwell, 2013; Laws, 2003).
III. CRITICAL REALISM
 Realist exists independent of the observer but is (Neuman, 1997 & 2006):
 Full of illusions and myths that allow some to hold power & exploit others,
 Shaped by social structures & locations that change overtime due to dialectical
interactions of people and institutions
IV. EPISTEMOLOGY
How to gain knowledge of reality
V. POSITIVISM
Assert that knowledge can be acquired only through unbiased direct observation and
experimentation (Desai and Potter, 2006)
VI. INTERPRETIVISM
Assumes that we cannot separate ourselves from what we know. The investigator and
the object of investigation are linked such that who we are and how we understand the
world is a central part of how we understand ourselves, others and the world (Neuman,
2006)
VII. PRAXIS
Knowledge generated from research is not value free and is used to advance political –
moral ends (Neuman, 2006). Knowledge is best arrived at when there is a blending of
theory and concrete action – theory informs one about reality to advance social change
and one uses the experience in engaging in social change to reformulate theory
(Neuman, 2006).
VIII. QUANTITATIVE
It is a methodological investigation that makes use of realist and positivist perspectives
that emphasizes rigorous objective measurement of variables to determine the truth or
falsehood of particular predetermined hypotheses which are linked to general causal
explanations (Neuman, 2007; Desai and Potter, 2006).
IX. QUALITATIVE
It is a methodological investigation that makes use of constructionist or critical
perspectives that emphasize conducting detailed micro- or meso- level case studies that
arise in the complex realities of social life with the aim to present different ways of
seeing things and a range of interpretations that are sensitive to specific social-historical
context (Neuman, 2007:85; Desai and Potter, 2006:118; Laws, 2003:273).
X. MIXED METHOD
A cross-fertilization and integration of quantitative and qualitative methodologies in a
single study or set of studies provide that the researcher should use a mixture or
combination of methods that has complementary strengths and non-overlapping
weaknesses (Johnson & Christensen, 2007).
 REALIST

POSITIVIST RESEARCH PROBLEM

Identify relevant theoretical framework (deductive)

Apply theoretical framework to research problem and

create theoretical model

Quantitative Method

EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS deals with factual realities. It is concerned with developing and using a common,
objective language to describe and explain reality. It can be quantitative or qualitative. Quantitative
analyses are based on math-based comparisons of the characteristics of the various objects or events
that we study. Qualitative analyses are based on the researcher’s informed and contextual
understanding of objects or events.

NORMATIVE ANALYSIS deals with how we should use our knowledge of the world. It is concerned with
developing and examining subjective values and ethical rules to guide us in judging and applying what
we have learned about reality.

SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH is a method of testing theories and hypotheses by applying certain rules of
analysis to the observation and interpretation of reality under strictly defined circumstances. These are
the rules and constraints that we must learn in order to gain and communicate knowledge in th science
of politics.

SIX STEPS IN THE RESEARCH PROCESS

Political science research is best thought of as a process of gathering and interpreting information. This
research process generally follows a standard progression, although researchers often return to an
earlier stage when new information alters our understandings. The six distinct but highly interrelated
stages of the research process are:

1. The formation of a theory

2. The operationalization of that theory
3. The selection of research techniques and development of a research plan
4. The observation of behavior and collection of data
5. The analysis of data
6. The interpretation of the results