Concept Notes: While the findings of your study are the components of the studies that lead to your
to your objectives. Do
focus of your research, it is also critical to establish the
study's backdrop. A well-written background will set the
tone for your research and encourage readers to read the
body of your paper. Background of the
Study
- Gives the readers important information about the
research being conducted. The context of the study is
established by the study's background. This section
describes why this specific research issue is relevant
and necessary for comprehending the study’s primary
points. The background portion of a research
article/thesis usually comes first and justifies the need
for the investigation as well as summarizes the study's
goals. The following are its
features:
a. Cites reasons why the researcher chooses to study a
particular topic. The researcher can write about
his/her personal observations, difficulties, issues,
and other relevant experiences that led him/her to
conduct s study about the topic at hand. He/she
may cite relevant studies that might have caught
his or her interest to pursue such study.
b. Describes the setting or the place where the
research will be conducted. c. Presents bases that
may support or negate the claims of the
researcher. d. Gives justification for the need for
the research study.
How to structure the background
The author usually summarizes the historical trends
in the literature that lead to the current study issue
in this part. If the research is interdisciplinary, it
should explain how the many disciplines are linked
and what features of each discipline will be
investigated.
Authors should also quickly summarize the
major developments in their study area and identify the
major gaps that need to be filled. To put it another way,
this part should provide an outline of your research.
The section should be organized as:
• What is known about the broad topic?
• What are the gaps or missing links that need
to be addressed?
• What is the significance of addressing those
gaps?
• What are the rationale and hypothesis of your
study?
As a result, the background section should include
broad information about your research issue while
emphasizing the study's major goals. Please limit your
discussion to the most important and relevant
not go into detail about them; this is something that
should be done in the literature review part. The
background section should present your findings in a
chronological order to emphasize the field’s growth and
the gaps that need to be filled. The background should be
written as a synopsis of your interpretation of past
research and the goals of your investigation.
Make your background engaging:
Because the background contains so much
information, it might become tedious, causing readers to
lose interest. To make your background more interesting,
strive to weave a tale around the main theme of your
research.
Make sure the story stays on topic and doesn't
go off into a comprehensive literature review. Each
notion should build on the previous one so that readers
can follow the story and discover the gaps that your
research will fill.
How to avoid common mistakes in writing the background:
While writing an effective background, you
ought to steer clear of some mistakes. The most
common mistakes in writing the background include
the following:
• Don’t write a background that is too long
or too short. Focus on including all the
important details but write concisely.
• Don’t be ambiguous. Writing in a way
that does not convey the message to
the readers defeats the purpose of the
background, so express yourself
keeping in mind that the reader does
not know your research intimately.
• Don’t discuss unrelated themes. Try and
center your discussion around the pivotal
aspects of your research topic i.e.,
highlight the gaps in the literature, state
the novelty of the study, and the need to
conduct the study.
• Don’t be disorganized. Not discussing the
themes in a chronological manner can
confuse the reader about the progress in
the field, so try and organize your writing
carefully.
Is background of the study similar to literature review?
 Many authors have trouble distinguishing
between the literature review and the study background.
As the second portion of your manuscript/thesis, the
literature review should come after the background
section. This section essentially backs up the background
section by presenting evidence for the hypothesis. This
part should be longer and more detailed, describing all of
the studies stated in the background section. It should
also go over all of the studies that support the current
study and discuss current trends.
Example 1: Study Habits and Performance in the
Qualifying and Comprehensive Examination among
Accountancy Students
With the challenges brought about by the
ASEAN integration, different strata of the government
are expected to do more and function more efficiently
in order to compete with Southeast Asian nations and
other countries of the world.
Universities, colleges and schools try their very
best to mold students and equip them with knowledge
and competencies needed in order for them to pass and
be ready for the challenges in the workplace. It is, of
course, the popular mission of a college to see to it that all
graduates perform better in the workplace.
Saint Paul School of Business and Law, a tertiary
school offering business, accountancy and law and one of
the best schools in producing accountants in the
Philippines has the same goal and functions doubly to
produce graduates ready for the ASEAN integration. The
school management is doing this in various ways. One is
through their retention program. Despite the conduct of
review classes, many accounting students still fail to pass
the comprehensive examinations and end up taking the
removal exams.
Study habits have a great impact on a student's
performance in the comprehensive examinations. The
development of good study habits is the highway to
reach the goals of an individual, whatever they are. A
simple, small change in study habits makes a big
difference in goal-setting and in organizing one's life
(Thiyago, 2015).
Each student has his/her own way of studying.
One way may be effective for one student but may be
ineffective for another. There are really many factors
affecting student performance based on the nature of
study habits. According to Ali (2013), student’s academic
gain and learning performance are affected by numerous
factors
like age, gender, teaching faculty, student's school,
social and economic status of parents or guardians,
place of residence medium of instruction daily study
hour and accommodation.
Many students study with friends. They may
have all ideas that can be shared, but sometimes quality
time is lost because of socializing. Some students love
studying while listening to the music. They think that
they can concentrate more if they listen to music. But
the fact is, noise and music can interfere with the
brain's activity to comprehend new information. It can
also distract person from focusing on the material at
hand like when a student sing along with the music
loses his/her concentration on the topic being studied.
Many students are familiar with the cramming
method. It can ultimately stifle long-term knowledge
retention and cause undue stress. For many accounting
students in Saint Paul School of Business and Law,
cramming is not really helpful. Most or all accounting
subjects need storing of knowledge which can be used
especially when taking the CPA licensure examination.
It is in this light that this research is conducted to
determine the influence of study habits on the level of
performance in the qualifying and comprehensive
examinations among accounting students. It emphasizes
the importance and establishes effective study habits to
help accounting students perform better in their
qualifying and comprehensive examinations.
References:
Sachdev, D. R. (2021, August 16). How to write the
background of your study. Editage Insights.
Retrieved October 24, 2021, from
https://www.editage.com/insights/how-to-write-
the background-of-your-study.
Richard F. Clemente, Aaron Bren E. Julaton,
Antriman V. Orleans. (2016). Research in
Daily Life 1. Quezon City: Sibs Publishing
House, Inc.
Amadeo Pangilinan Cristobal, J. a.-C. (2017).
Practical Research 2. Quezon City: C &
E Publshing, Inc.