For your final quantitative research paper, please completely adhere to the format

given. Each section in every chapter is given brief descriptions for your guidance. Also,
consider the number of pages required per chapter, and try your best to meet them.

Chapter 1
Introduction
(at least 5 pages, maximum of 8 pages)

Background of the Study

• This section briefly introduces the circumstances or conditions, etc. that led to the
conceptualization of the research. You may start from a global perspective, and then
focus your analytical lens to the significant phenomena happening in your locality,
which are related to your study.
• For qualitative studies, you may narrate personal experiences or events from your
communities that inspired you to conduct your research; remember to strike a balance
between writing in narrative style and writing using formal, academic language.
• It also includes a summary of major researches conducted in the area and the gaps in
research that the current study intends to fill in. The research gaps provide one of the
reasons why the particular research problem is selected for investigation.

Statement of the Problem

• This section is where the research problem/s that can be addressed, answered or solved
by the research is/are formally presented.
• The research problem/s is expressed as a general, declarative statement (e.g. This study
intends to describe the family disaster plans of middle-income families living in
disaster-prone areas), which is then translated into more specific terms by presenting
the research questions (RQs).
• The research problem, including the research questions, to be addressed must contribute
to the development of new knowledge in the discipline that you selected for your study,
and/or be a source of solution from a situation of need or unresolved difficulty.
• The research problem and the research questions should be stated precisely, accurately,
and clearly. It should be defined in terms of the data to be obtained.

Significance of the Study

• This section should state why the problem being investigated is important, and what
significance the results have to various concerned individuals or stakeholders, who can
be directly affected by your study.
• It should include a statement on relevance to felt needs, the potential contribution of
the research to new knowledge within the discipline, policy implications, and other
possible uses of its results to justify its worth.

Limitations, Delimitations, and Assumptions

• This section indicates the boundaries of the study. The nature and number of the
respondents/participants under the study or the materials studied in the laboratory (for
experimental research), the treatments or interventions conducted and the limitations in
instruments or research design should be stated.
 • This section may also include assumptions, statements that the “researcher believes to
be facts but cannot verify”, and limitations, “those conditions beyond the control of the
researcher that may place restrictions on the conclusions of the study and their
application to other situations”. (Best & Kahn, 1998.)

Chapter 2
Research Framework
(at least 8 pages, maximum of 15 pages)

Review of Related Literature and Studies

This section provides a background for the research project and clarifies the status of the issue/s
being studied.
• The review should be in the form of a brief critical analysis of the purposes, method of
study, principal findings, and conclusions.
• The review must be useful in providing a theoretical framework for the study, in
avoiding unnecessary replication, in shaping the research hypothesis, methods and
measures, and in providing historical perspective during the analysis of the research
data. Thus, include only studies which are related in purpose, method, or findings to
the research problem. Point out how each of the studies reviewed relates to the problem
at hand.
• The review summarizes the related studies and provides a transition from the past
studies to the current study. The latter should be shown to relate with or evolve from
earlier work.

Conceptual Framework
From the review of related literature, the researcher can formulate a conceptual framework that
embodies the specific direction by which the research will have to be undertaken.
• The conceptual framework specifies the key variables and their interrelationships.
• It also outlines the input, process, and output to be employed in the research.

Hypotheses
Research hypotheses are formal affirmative statements of prediction about the results before
the study is conducted. It is based on what other theories and previously complete studies have
found. Hypotheses can be classified as research or statistical.
To be useful in research, the hypotheses must meet several standards:
• The hypotheses should be testable. If directional, the hypotheses should state the
direction of the relationship. Both the research/alternative and null hypotheses should
be stated.
• For statistical hypotheses, the level of significance usually at 0.05 level should be set
before testing.

Operational Definition of Terms

This section defines all the important variables in the study.
• An operational definition assigns meaning to a variable by specifying the actions or
operation needed to measure, categorize, or manipulate the variables as used in the
study.
• To be useful, the definitions must be based on a theory that is generally recognized as
valid and not based on irrelevant behavior.
 • This section dos not appear in qualitative research.

Conceptual Definition of Terms

This section is an element of the scientific research process, in which a specific concept is
defined as measurable occurrence. It basically gives you the meaning of the concept. It is
mostly used in fields of philosophy, psychology, and communication studies.

Note: State first the conceptual, then, the operational definitions (although, using one of them
is already acceptable). Arrange the terms in alphabetical order and acronyms should always be
spelled out fully, especially if it is not commonly known or if used or the first time.

Chapter 3
Methodology
(at least 5 pages, maximum of 10 pages)

This chapter includes the research design, the sample and sampling procedure, the locale of the
study, the research instruments employed, the data collection procedure, and data analysis
approach.

Research Design
A research design is the systematic plan for carrying out a study which is either quantitative
and/or qualitative. Examples for quantitative design are descriptive, comparative, correlational,
causal comparative and experimental designs.

Sample and Sampling Procedure

This describes the sample profile, sample size, and sampling procedure used in the study.

Locale of the Study

This section of the chapter should describe in detail the place or location (e.g. where the
participants are working or studying) that is involved in the study, in order to provide a clear
context in which the study should be framed.

Research Instrument/s
This contains a description of the development or adoption of instrument/s. Instruments include
laboratory equipment, devices, tests, questionnaires, interview guidelines and/or schedules.
The methods used to establish the validity and reliability of the instruments must also be
included. For instruments that are adopted, the validity and reliability coefficients must be
mentioned.

Data Gathering Procedure

This section explains, in complete detail, the procedures followed in conducting the study. For
example, in the conduct of experiments, there should be a description of the instructions given
to the participants, the formation of groups, the experimental manipulations, and control
features in the design.

Any errors and weaknesses in the procedures that have been discovered during the conduct of
the research should be pointed out, and any consequent limitations upon the research results
should be fully noted.
Remember that this section also intends to show the reader what they need to know to be able
to replicate the study or to deviate from it and to judge the reliability and validity of the research
method.

Data Analysis Approach

This part specifies the statistical tools used to test the null hypotheses. Be sure to
comprehensively explain why the statistical treatment employed is appropriate in analyzing the
data gathered for the study.
.

References
(at least 3 pages)

The reference section is a listing of all works cited in the body such as journal articles,
encyclopedias, books, magazines, newspapers, pamphlets, theses, films, tapes, CDs,
televisions, lectures, databases and internet/online sources. Make sure to use the APA
referencing style in presenting the listing.

Documentation
(Not required for Non-Experimental or Non-Development Studies)

This section presents photos of the significant progress or development of the project,
particularly for experimental and product development researches. Here, the step by step
process of the experiment or development is shown through pictures that are given appropriate
titles and captions.

Appendices

The appendices section include all pertinent documents used in the conduct of the research
such as communications, research instrument, additional tables and figures, and transcriptions.
Begin each appendix on a separate page, centered at the top of the page, and double-spaced.
Type the word Appendix (in uppercase and lower case letters) and the identifying capital letter
(Appendix A, Appendix B, etc) following the order in which they are mentioned in text.