Lesson 1 Prior to finalizing your chosen topic, you

must assess your

Brainstorming for research abilities as a student. You may

do so by taking your financial capability,

Research Topics health condition, personal qualifications

and trainings as a researcher, needed
facilities and time allotment into
A common challenge when beginning to account. It is important that all of these
write a research paper is determining aspects are considered in order for you to
how to narrow down your topic. To assist guarantee the accomplishment of your
you in the selection process, here research.
are some guidelines given by Baraceros
(2016:38-39): STEPS ON HOW TO TRIM DOWN YOUR
AREA OF INTEREST
1. INTEREST IN THE SUBJECT MATTER
Being interested in a topic is usually due
1. Focus on your track, strand or area
to the richness of your
of specialization.
stock knowledge about it or because of
• For example:
its familiarity to you.
HUMSS
Curiosity about an issue/topic is one of
2. Recall the specific area, lesson or
the factors that motivate a person to
issue in your respective
unravel the unknown in a topic. Thus,
field or strand that has piqued or
the researcher’s interest increases the
aroused your interest the
possibility of the success of
most.
the study.
• Public Speaking
2. RICHNESS OF AVAILABLE SOURCES
3. Generate an unanswered question
OR SUPPORTING EVIDENCES
or an unresolved
One of the things that you should do is
problem from your chosen area or
to collect a lot of
lesson.
information on your topic of interest.
• Why do people feel anxious when
This enables you to find evidence that
speaking in public?
would support your topic. You must
4. Assess the question or problem
ensure that your sources come from a
based on the five guidelines
wide variety of literature such as
stated above.
books, journal, periodicals, online
• I'm interested in the topic.
articles, etc. Hence, going to
• There are available sources of data.
the library and surfing the internet are
• It is timely and relevant.
some of the activities that you should do
• It will contribute to my strand.
as a researcher.
• It is doable considering my personal
3. TIMELINESS AND RELEVANCE OF THE
resources.
TOPIC
5. Write your research problem.
Your topic should be relevant and timely.
• Factors Affecting the Speaking Anxiety
A topic is relevant if it
of Students
serves as an instrument in improving the
society or if it answers or solves current
When formulating an effective research
issues which are some of the reasons
title, take the following guidelines into
why research is conducted.
consideration:
4. LIMITATIONS OF THE SUBJECT
1. Indicate accurately the subject and
Aside from your interest, you must also
scope of the study.
consider the significance of the topic in
2. The title must be limited to 10 to 15
your track and strand. Remember that
substantive words. Conjunctions (and,
research is conducted to contribute
but, because), prepositions (in, on, at)
something valuable to a particular area
and articles (the, a, an) are not
or discipline.
counted.
5. PERSONAL RESOURCES
3. Do not include analysis of, study of, an
investigation of and the like.
4. The title must be in the phrase form.
5. Avoid title that gives too much
information.

Identifying the
Problem and
Asking the Questions
A. The background of the study is an
explanation of the context of study which
involves the current data or status of the
problem, existing studies about
it and its history that paved way to the
development of the research
problem. It explicates the rationale why
you, as a researcher, are
conducting the study. Writing this
particular part of the paper may lead
you to your research questions.

As you write the background of the study

or introduction, take into
consideration the following guidelines:

1. It should clearly state the reason for

conducting the study.
2. It should move from broad to specific.
3. It should state the current condition of
the research problem.

B. The next part to be accomplished is

the statement of the problem. Aside
from being a tool in solving dilemmas in
the society, another purpose of
research is to guide people towards a
better understanding of phenomena,
human behavior, human interactions
and other events in daily life. This
premise indicates the importance of
meticulously crafting of the research
questions as it sets the focus and drives
the course of the study.

The statement of the problem has two parts:

 in a manner consistent with the
1. General statement of the assumptions of the emerging design.
problem/Objective
2. Specific research questions 7. Use open-ended questions without
reference to the literature or
 How to formulate general statement of theory unless otherwise indicated by a
the problem qualitative strategy of inquiry.

The purpose of this ethnographic study 8. Specify the participants and the
(type of study) is to describe (exploratory research site of the study, if the
and non- directional verb) the training information is not yet given.
(central phenomenon of
the study) of Aeta teachers from
Castillejos, Zambales (participants) for
the past ten years (when) to provide
insights into the formulation of a
continuing education model for
indigenous teachers (purpose). (Creswell
and Clark,
2014)

 Guidelines in formulating specific

question or sub-questions:

1. Begin the research questions with the

“WHAT?” or “HOW”
explanation of the research design.
(Qualitative) C. A hypothesis is a preconceived idea,
assumed to be true and is tested for its
2. “WHY?” implies an explanation of an truth or falsity.
occurrence and suggests a
cause- and-effect type of thinking. It has two types:
(Quantitative)
 The null hypothesis indicates that
3. Focus on a single phenomenon or there is no significant difference or
concept. relationship between specified
populations or variables.
4. Qualitative research uses exploratory
and non-directional verbs. Significant difference is used when testing
whether there is difference between the
The study will: discover (grounded means of two or more populations or
theory); seek to understand variables while significant relationship is used
(ethnography); explore the process of in situations where one is examining the
(case study); describe the association between any two sets of
experiences of (phenomenology); report variables (King’oriah, 2004).
the stories (narrative
research). Null hypothesis is the hypothesis
the researcher will try to disprove
5. Quantitative research uses directional or discredit.
verbs such as: affect; effect;
influence; impact; cause; relation; relate;  An alternative hypothesis, on the
and determine. other hand, is one that states that
there is a significant difference or
6. Expect research questions to evolve relationship between specified
and change during the study populations or variables.
 must answer the following parameters as
much as possible:

Note that not all studies test hypothesis.

Sometimes a study is designed to be exploratory.
Exploratory research intends to investigate a
problem that is not clearly defined; hence will not
provide conclusive results.

D. The significance of the study pinpoints the

benefits certain groups of people will gain
from the findings of the study. It must
start from the most to the
least benefitted ones.

F. A conceptual framework serves as an

outline or a blueprint that you can follow
in doing your research. It is presented in
b a flow chart, map, diagram or narrative
form. When using a diagram, it is still a
must to include narrative to explain the
details. Here you show the variables that
influence your research. Variable is
anything that has quantity or quality
that varies in research. For example, if
you are studying the COVID-19
outcomes, you might study home life,
school, and community. For school, your
variables might be learning process and
quality of learning. To make your
conceptual framework thorough, it is
encouraged to make it more detailed.

E. Scope and Delimitations of the Study

Step by Step Guide on How to Write the
states the coverage of the study. It
Conceptual Framework
 Literature
Literature, in the context of research,
refers to a collection of published
information or materials on a particular
area of research or topic, such as
books and journal articles of academic
value.
On the other hand, a literature review is a
process of studying what has already
been written on a particular topic. The
process involves identifying, locating, and
analyzing documents that contain
Example of a Conceptual Framework
information related to a
researcher’s research topic (Avilla, 2016).
Likewise, Aveyard (2010) defined it as a
"comprehensive study and interpretation
of literature that addresses a specific
topic."

G. Definition of Terms lists down and defines the

key terms as used in the study in alphabetical
order. An operational definition refers to a
specific definition of concept in a research study.
This is necessary because it will clarify the
Five basic criteria for evaluating
purpose and direction of the study.
information from any sources:

Selecting Relevant
Research Title:
Influence of Internet Based Marketing Activities
on Digital Consumer’s Mind

Title of the Literature Gist

(Give the title of your selected (Give the most important information
book, journal, article, magazine, in your selected source that is
newspaper or any published relevant to your topic.)
source of information.)
For example: Social media platforms shape the
“Relationship Marketing: minds of their readers.
bringing quality customer
service and marketing together”

Research Title:

Physical activity and sports as determinants of health.

1.

2.
Research Title:
Influence of Internet Based Marketing Activities
on Digital Consumer’s Mind

Title of the Literature Gist

(Give the title of your selected (Give the most important information
book, journal, article, magazine, in your selected source that is
newspaper or any published relevant to your topic.)
source of information.)
For example: Social media platforms shape the
“Relationship Marketing: minds of their readers.
bringing quality customer
service and marketing together”

Research Title:

An analysis of the potential effect of nanotechnology on our health

and the environment
1.

2.