Research Essentials
Research Essentials
This method is employed in research when the principal aims are to describe
the nature of a situation as it exists at the time of the study and to explore the
causes of particular phenomena (Sevilla et al., 1992). It focuses on the present
time; it discusses what is observed now. It has no control over what is.
Case Study. This involves studying one person or just a few persons over a
considerable period of time. It entails discovering and studying all the important
variables which have contributed to the history of the subject.
Survey. This involves a relatively large number of cases and is classified into
four categories according to scope and subject matter.
There is less contradiction in the data since the variables measured are
well defined and clear. Examples of these are a profile of the teachers in a
particular school according to professional qualifications, the number of students in
each college or institute, and a count of the internet cafés in the vicinity of the
university.
In certain cases, the objective of the research requires the data from
large groups wherein the census is not advisable. The sampling technique becomes
useful and practical then.
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Trend Analysis. This type of study aims to seek future status, specifically to
project the demands or needs of the people in the future.
Sevilla and co-authors (1992) enumerate the following as the three major
procedures involved in this method: formulating the problem, gathering source
materials, and criticizing these materials. They further explained that the chief
primary sources in data collection are documents and remains. As these are the
first witnesses to a fact, they are the only solid bases for historical investigation.
Secondary sources, whose writers did not experience or witness the events but
merely gathered from those who actually did, can contribute in giving information
in the inavailability of primary sources. A system of note-taking is necessary to
have an orderly record of the data gathered.
the meaning and trustworthiness of the statements found within the document. The
researcher here finds out the real meaning of the statements, the observer’s
competence, truthfulness and honesty.
The basic steps performed in other types of research such as selection and
definition of a problem, selection of subjects and measuring instruments, selection
of a design, execution of procedures, analysis of data, and formulation of
conclusions are also present in an experimental study.
The aforementioned groups are typically the experimental group, which is the
one that receives a new or novel treatment or a treatment under investigation, and
the control group, which either receives a different treatment or is treated as usual.
After the time of treatment or intervention, the investigator re-administers a test of
the dependent variable and then determines the significance of difference between
the groups.
Types of Variables
Moderator/Control
Independent Dependent Variable Intervening
Variable Variable Variable
Sevilla et al. (1992) present the following as the functions that the title of
the study serves:
1. be clear and specific, as the contents of the study are clearly shown in it;
A good title implies whether the research will focus on differences, effects or
associations between and among variables to be investigated.
Sevilla and colleagues (1992) agree with Baker and Schutz (1972) that the
title should have a maximum of 20 substantive words, function words not
included in the counting, and that the phrases “A Study of”, “An Investigation of”,
“An Inquiry Into”, “A Comparison of” be dropped from the title since all theses and
dissertations are investigations.
Smoking Behavior of Grade Ten High Peer and Other Influences on Smoking
School Students Behavior Among Grade Ten High
School Students in Cainta, Rizal
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Homeroom Guidance and Study Habits The Effect of Homeroom Guidance on the
and Attitudes of Grade IV Pupils Study Habits of Grade IV Pupils in
Two Districts of the Division of
City Schools, Manila
Verbal Creativity Among Senior High Gender and Mental Ability Differences in
School Students Verbal Creativity Among Senior High
School Students in Selected
Schools in Lipa City
Garcia (2003) presents the following as the two ways of stating research
problems: declarative or descriptive manner and question form.
The declarative form is usually used when stating the main problem of the
study while the question form is used when stating the sub-problems or specific
problems of the proposed research.
Below is an example:
Main problem - This study attempted to find out the extent to which the
first year college students of NCBA-Cubao use the different learning styles, and how
the latter influenced their academic performance during the first semester of the
school year 2003 – 2004.
1. To what extent do the NCBA-Cubao first year college students use the
following learning styles:
1.1 visual;
1.2 auditory; and
1.3 kinesthetic-tactile?
3. How was their academic performance during the first semester of the
school year 2003 – 2004 based on the following:
Garcia (2003) gave the following rules in stating the problem of the study.
3. Once the main problem has been stated, the following questions must be
answered by the researcher:
3.2 The sub-problems will aid the researcher in covering all the
significant areas of the main problem.
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Characteristics of a Hypothesis
Forms of Hypotheses
The hypothesis should be related to the research problem. While the problem
is stated in question form, the hypothesis is stated in declarative form (Catane,
2000). They are similar, however, since they state the relation of two variables and
measurability.
Examples:
Problem: How do the NCBA- Cubao first year college students compare in
their academic performance when they are categorized
according to learning style? (Briana, 2004)
1. While the theoretical framework is the theory on which the study is based,
the research paradigm is the operationalization of this theory (Garcia,
2003).
2. It shows the direction of the study or the researcher’s own position on the
problem.
3. It shows the relationships of the different constructs that the researcher
wants to investigate.
4. It may be the researcher’s model patterned after previous models that he
had analyzed leading to the creation of a new conceptual framework.
Figure 1
The Research Paradigm
The Influence of Learning Styles on the Academic Performance of the First Year
College Students of NCBA-Cubao
Research Paradigm
The paradigm of this study, illustrated in Figure 1, presents for its input the
extent to which the first year students of NCBA-Cubao use the visual, auditory, and
kinesthetic-tactile learning styles, the profile of the student-respondents according
to learning style, and their academic performance during the first semester of the
school year 2003 – 2004, with percentage of subjects passed and general average
as indices thereof.
The figure also indicates four intended outputs, which include awareness of
the extent to which the students’ learning styles are a variate to their academic
performance, ascertaining the necessity to include a learning style inventory in the
students’ psychological assessment by the guidance counselor, the academic staff
gaining a better understanding of each student’s individuality as a learner, and
schemes to make teaching strategies more eclectic and compatible to the students’
varied styles of learning.
In order to realize the above outputs, the researcher determined the impact
of learning styles on academic performance through a test of significance of
difference.
will treat the variables or inputs. Treatment may involved determining significance
of relationship, association, or difference.
The following are some of the statistical tools used in certain masteral and
doctoral studies undertaken in MLQU.
These measures are used to indicate the degree to which two or more sets of
scores or observations are related or covary.
These are used when comparisons are to be made between two or more
groups of respondents in terms of a variable being analyzed. Some of the most
commonly used statistical tests for determining significance of differences are:
2. t Test for Correlated Samples (or Paired Samples). This test is used when
two groups that have been matched are being compared as in a pretest-
posttest design to see if any observed mean gain is significant.
5. Kruskall – Wallis H Test. This looks for the significance of differences among
three or more groups on a variable under study. It is the non-parametric
analog of one-way analysis of variance. Its purpose is to determine whether
samples from the groups involved in a study have been drawn from the same
population. Computed H in this test is interpreted just like X2.
1. The choice of a statistical test is dictated by the question for which the
research is designed.
2. The level, distribution, and dispersion of data also suggest the type of
statistical test to be
used.
The level of significance is needed to test the hypothesis. Through it and the
degrees of freedom, the tabular value is derived. The degrees of freedom are the
number of data points that are free to move or that can be moved, that is, the
number of elements in the data set minus the number of restrictions (Aczel, 1995).
Each statistical measure that tests a hypothesis has its own computation of its
degrees of freedom. The area of the curve right of the tabular value is called the tail
or the critical region. Thus, the tabular value is also called critical value as this
determines the acceptance or rejection of the null hypothesis. The critical region is
also called rejection region as when the computed value lies there indicating that it
is greater than the tabular value, the null hypothesis is rejected. The area left of
the critical value, which is the greater area of the curve, is called the acceptance
region.
Much as the researcher would like to study the entire population to ensure
conclusive results in his investigative work, certain constraints like hugeness of the
population and impossibility to obtain data from it keep him from doing so. In cases
like this, he resorts to sampling.
Techniques of Sampling
If, for example, the sample size is 25% of the population, every 4 th name in
the list or array is selected. Four is derived from 100% divided by 25%. There must
be a random start in the selection.
1. Determine the size of the study population. This is easily determined from
the scope and delimitation of the study.
Where:
Example:
Strata: Colleges
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REFERENCES:
Books
Aczel, Amir D. Statistics Concepts and Applications. Chicago: Richard Irwin, Inc.,
1995.
Sevilla, Consuelo et al. Research Methods. Manila: Rex Book Store, Inc., 1992.
Journals
Briana, Felipe P. “Leaving the Publish or Perish Concern.” The NCBA Research
Journal,
Vol. 2, No. 1, Quezon City: The National College of Business and Arts, July –
December 2004.
Unpublished Materials
Simon, Fely C. “Examption from the Capital Gains Tax on the Sale, Exchange and
Disposition of the Principal Residences of the Natural Persons and Its Effects
On Tax Collections.” Unpublished Dissertation, MLQU, 2001.
Certeza, Lorenza. “The Text of the Thesis.” Lecture to the Seminar in Thesis Writing
class, MLQU, First Semester, SY 1998 – 1999.
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