SAMPLE CONCEPT PAPER

Topic:
How Female Students Initiate Relationships with Male Students and The Reasons Behind This Phenomenon

At present, our society is very much influenced by ideas coming from different parts of the world due to the
immense reach of the media and the capability of the internet to connect each and everyone of us. As such,
liberalism and feminism have become a part of some of our people’s ideologies. Gone now are the meek and gentle
women of the Philippines who are usually known for being “di makabasag-pinggan”. Filipinas, nowadays, are more
aggressive and empowered than ever because they are treated as the equals of men. This empowerment of women
has changed the landscapes of traditional courtship in the country. The Maria Clara-type Filipina has long bidden
farewell. Women, at contemporary times, initiate the courtship by doing “the first move”. Because of this, our group
would like to do a study with female students from co-educational, private Catholic high schools in Metro Manila
whether they initiate romantic relationships and the reasons behind this phenomenon.

Purpose:

By knowing the ways females initiate relationships with males, this research study will be significant to the
Filipino society, especially the ones interested in knowing the current trends in our culture. It would show women’s
and men’s insights on friendly and romantic relationships based on their experiences. This study would also
determine the perceptions on who should be the one initiating relationships and assess whether the Filipino youth
already accepts women to be initiators of romantic relationships taking aside the custom of traditional Filipino
courtship. In effect, it would serve as their pattern in responding to the cultural changes that affect their daily living.
Other researchers who are in the field of sociology would also benefit from this research as it looks further into the
current trends in interpersonal relationships in the Philippine society as compared to those of other countries.
Sociologists then would be able to understand more how relationships between men and women happen in the
country and how this affects their perception on initiating relationships.

Method:

The researchers will use the descriptive method in this study to provide answers to the research problem.
Through this method, the respondents will be asked to answer both close- and open-ended questions to make them
describe in detail their answers to the questions given to them. This is important to get as many details as possible
which are needed in describing the responses to the research problem. Survey, focus group discussion, and
interviews will be used as research instruments in this study.