PRACTICAL RESEARCH 2

MODULE 3
Learning Competencies
At the end of this module, you are expected to:
1. Design a research used in daily life CS_RS12-Id-e-1
2. Write a research title CS_RS12-Id-e-2
3. Describe background of research CS_RS12-Id-e-3
4. State research questions CS_RS12-Id-e-4
5. Indicate scope and delimitation CS_RS12-Id-e-5
6. Present written statement of the problem CS_RS12-Id-e-6
7. Perform tasks confidently CS_RS12-Id-e-7

What is a Research Problem?

A research problem is exactly that – a problem that someone would like to research (Fraenkel and
Wallen, 2010). A problem can be anything that a person finds unsatisfactory or unsettling, a difficult of
some sort, a state of affairs that needs to be changed, anything that is not working aswell as it might.
Problems involve areas of concern to researchers,conditions they want to improve, difficulties they want to
eliminate, questions for which they seek answers.

Research Questions
Usually, a research problem is initially posed as a question which serves as the focus of the
researcher’s investigation. The following examples of possible research in education are not sufficiently
developed for actualuse in a research project but would be suitable during the early stage of formulating a
quantitative research question.
 Do teachers behave differently towards students of different genders? (Causal-comparative research)
 How can we predict which students might have trouble learning certain kinds of subject matter?
(Correlational research).
There are other kinds of questions, however, that cannot be answered by collecting and analyzing data. The
following are the examples:
 Should philosophy be included in the high school curriculum? [This is a question of value. It implies notions
of right and wrong,
proper, and improper- and therefore does not have any empirical (or observable) referents.]
 What is the meaning of life?
[This is metaphysical in nature – that is beyond the physical, transcendental. Answers to this sort of question
lie beyond the accumulation of information].

Characteristics of Good Research Questions

Once a research question has been formulated, researchers want to turn it into as good question as
possible. Good research questions possess four essential characteristics (Fraenkel and Wallen, 2010).
1. The question is feasible (i.e., it can be investigated without expending an undue amount of time, energy, or
money)
2. The question is clear (i.e., most people would agree as to what the key words in the question mean).
3. The question is significant (i.e., it is worth investigating because it will contribute important knowledge about
the human condition).
4. The question is ethical (i.e., it will not involve physical or psychological harm or damage to human beings or to
the natural or social environment of which they are a part).

The Purposes of a Problem Statement

1. Introduces the reader to the importance of the topic being studied. The reader is oriented to the
significance of the study and the research questions or hypotheses to follow.
2. Places the problem into a particular context that defines the parameters of what is to be investigated.
3. Provides the framework for reporting the results and indicates what is probably necessary to conduct the
study and explain how the findings will present this information.

Do not confuse a research problem with a research topic. A topic is something to read and obtain
information about whereas a problem is something to solve or framed as a question that must be
answered. A good research question helps to- guide the research process; construct a logical argument;
write a literature review; plan thesis chapters; and devise efficient search strategies. A well-defined
research question has six properties.
 A research question is not the same as a thesis title, research problem, hypothesis or research focus,
although they are interrelated and support one another.
 A research question summarizes the significant issue your research will investigate.
 The title consists of the topic and outcome of a research project.
 The research problem explains the knowledge gap your research will address.
 A hypothesis is a predicted answer to the research question that can be tested and is based on prior
research.
 A research focus specifies the scope or domain of inquiry.

The Value of Research in the Area of Interest

A research problem is a statement about an area of concern, a condition to be improved, a difficulty
to be eliminated, or a troubling question that exists in scholarly literature, in theory, or in practice
thatpoints to the need for meaningful understanding and deliberate investigation. In some Social Science
Disciplines, the research problem is typically posed in the form of a question. A research problem does not
state how to do something, offer a vague or broad proposition, or present a value question.

Any problem that is not significant to the nation or profession is notworth consideration of the
investigator. It is helpful for investigator to keepin mind the following aspects while selecting the area of
problem forresearch –
 The problem to be chosen should be such as to be meaningfully related to the interest of the investigator
himself/herself.
 The problem having alliance with the chain of thinking or research already in existence can be handled
more confidently.
 The ambitious problems covering a wide range of area of interest should be avoided and the problems of
manageable size and limits should be taken up.
 An important consideration for selecting the problem area relates to its feasibility in terms of the application
of scientific techniques, availability of resources in terms of money, personnel, and equipment.When the
researcher considers the points mentioned above, researcher is essentially trying to answer some such
questions as – Is the problem researchable, interesting, research already in existence ormanageable size? Is it a
new problem or the work on the problem has already in existence?

The sources for identification of problem are diverse and would largely depend upon the area of interest of
the investigator and the nature of the problem under investigation. However, the problem can be identified
from –
(a) Advanced study and critical reading.
(b) Analysis and interpretation of the already available evidence, practices, trends or needs in
a particular area.

Research Topics to be Avoided

1. Controversial topics
-These are topics that depend greatly on the writer’s opinion, which tend to be biased or prejudicial. Facts cannot
support controversial topics
2. Highly technical subjects
-For a beginner, researching on topics that require an advance study, technical knowledge and vast
experience is very difficult.
3. Hard-to-investigate subjects
-A topic or a subject is hard to investigate if there is no available dataor reading materials about it and such
materials are not updated (obsolete).
4. Too broad subjects
-A subject or a topic that are too broad will prevent the researcher from giving a concentrated or in-depth analysis
of the subject matterof the research paper.
5. Too narrow subjects
-The subjects are so limited or specific that an extensive or thorough searching or reading for information
about the subject is necessary.
6. Vague subjects
-Choosing topics like these will prevent you from having a clear insight or focus on your study. For instance,
topics like “Some Remarkable Traits of a Negrosanon”, “Several Comments on a ModularSystem in the
Department of Education”. So, avoid using indefinite adjectives such as some, several, many, etc.

Research Background
Research background is a brief outline of the most important studies that have been conducted so far
presented in a chronological order. Research background should also include a brief discussion of major
theories and models related to the research problem. When writing research background, you also need to
demonstrate how your research relates to what has been done so far in the research area.
Once the research area is selected, the literature review is commenced in order to identify gaps in
the research area, and the research aims, and objectives need to be closely associated with the elimination of
this gap inthe literature.

Example:
Background of the Study

Learning is an interaction process between students and teachers and study material in teaching
learning process (UUSPN No.20, 2003). In other word, learning is a process to help the students to study
well. The media and the method of learning process in transferring the material will be an important factor
to get the best result. The methods of delivery to students there are different kinds, one of them the lecture
method. The lecture method is explanation and narrative verbally by teacher in the class, while the role of
student is listening carefully, and noted of which presented by the teacher (Surahmad, 2003). The lecture
method has disadvantage that the interaction to be centered on teachers so teachers cannot know with
certainty how far students understand about the material (Muhammad, 2011). Seen here that the lecture
method is learning more dominated by teacher as the "the transferor" science, and students were more
passive as the "recipient" of science.

The material of the solar system actually is complex, such as discusses about all of planets in the solar
system and satellite. It also discusses about meteors, comets, asteroids, and space objects other
(Prihantono, 2013). This material is usually presented using textbook. The material of solar system
presented in form of images and text that dominated with theory explanation. To clarify the understanding
of the solar system material, need information technology support that can be applied to this material. It
was difficult we find in the past before the rapidly growing information technology. The sophistication
technology lies in the ability of technology to combine real and virtual condition which the results are
displayed in real- time.

Because of that, the writer tries to make an application as an interactive media to help elementary
school students to study about solar system based on android mobile. Researcher chose android because
Android is the one desired society platform besides blackberry platform and IOS that most popular of
Smartphone. Almost all of ages used android platform, from young until old ages (antaranews.com, 2011).
This application consists of solar system materials like: planet, space objects, earth, and moon movement
that applied in interesting graphic to support learning process, soit will raise the student’s desire in
understanding the material. To support this application the writer also makes interactive questions, to
know how far the student’s capability in understanding the material by using this application.

The scope and delimitations of a thesis, dissertation or research paper define the topic and boundaries
of the research problem to be investigated.

The scope details how in-depth your study is to explore the research question and the parameters in
which it will operate in relation to the population and timeframe.

The delimitations of a study are the factors and variables not to be included in the investigation. In
other words, they are the boundaries the researcher sets in terms of study duration, population size and
type of participants, etc.
Sample phrases that help express the scope of the study:
The coverage of this study…
The study covers…
The focus of the study is…

Source: https://www.discoverphds.com/blog/scope-and-delimitations

Example: SCOPE AND DELIMITATION

Source: https://www.scribd.com/doc/12760820/Scope-and-Delimitation

Out of 189 second year accounting students at Saint Mary’s University, 100 students were used as
a sample in conducting the survey.
This study limits its coverage on the second-year accounting students only. Its main purpose is to
identify the common problems that they encounter and to propose possible solutions regarding this
problem.
This study considers every aspect of students’ personal information that has animpact on their
academic performances such as their parents educational background, their parents’ income, their
gender, age, and home location. Each of the respondents are given same questionnaires to answer.
And this study focuses on the current second year students at the present school year, 2008-2009
 PRACTICAL RESEARCH 2-ACTIVITY 3

Directions. Based on the chosen topic of your interest, write the background of your study,
statement of the problem, and the scope and delimitation of your study. Usea short-sized bond paper.

(Title)

Background of the Study

Statement of the Problem

The study generally aims to
Specifically, it aims to answer the following questions:
1.
2.
3.

Scope and Delimitation

This study focuses on… (identify what kind of group, how many, area, and other aspects that
distinguish the samples from others)

Directions: Read each item carefully. Write TRUE if the statement is true and write FALSE if the
statement if false. Write your answers in a yellow pad paper.

1. One of the characteristics of good research questions is not feasible.

2. “A comparison between the identical twins….” is a good example of research title.
3. The sources for identification of problem are diverse and would largely depend upon the
area of interest of the investigator.
4. Research questions should be clear, concise, and as simple as possible, focused and
empirically answerable.
5. The problem statement provides the framework for reporting the results and indicates
what is probably necessary to conduct the study and explain how the findings will
present this information.
6. Good research question is practicable.
7. A good research question helps to- guide the research process; construct a logical
argument; write a literature review; plan thesis chapters; and devise efficient search
strategies.
8. The purpose of research question is to introduce the reader to the importance of the topic
being studied.
9. A hypothesis is a predicted answer to the research question that can be tested and is
based on prior research.
10. An important consideration for selecting the problem area relates to its feasibility.

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