ACADEMIA SYSTEM GLOBAL COLLEGES

Brgy. Tabunok, City of Talisay, Cebu, Philippines

Subject Code: APLD 03 Subject Title: Practical Research 2
Topic: The Research Questions/Statement of the Problem and
Module No: 05
Scope and the Delimitation
Teacher: JEF-JEF TUONG SAAGUNDO, LPT

I. OVERVIEW
The majority, if not all, studies and research begin with a research topic. Unfortunately, it
can be difficult for researchers to translate what they consider to be valid, important topics
into sound research questions (Doody & Bailey, 2016). Furthermore, despite the necessity
of properly constructing these questions, there is no guidance on how to design an original
research question. (Sandberg & Alvesson, 2011).

While the capacity to ask effective questions is not a natural trait in researchers, it may be
developed (Lipowski, 2008). This article seeks to assist researchers in the creation of
effective research questions by first defining and explaining what a research question is
and why it is important, and then describing typical strategies for developing these
questions.

The topic and boundaries of the research problem to be addressed are defined by the scope
and delimitations of a thesis, dissertation, or research paper. The scope of your study
specifies how in-depth it will go in order to answer the research question, as well as the
parameters under which it will function in terms of population and period.

The characteristics and variables that will not be included in the research are known as the
study's delimitations. In other words, these are the limits specified by the researcher in
terms of study duration, population size, and participant type, among other things.

In this module, we will discuss the research question/or the statement

of the problem and the scope and the delimitation that area essential
part of the research study.

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 A. Learning Competency

The learners will be able to:

(1) Indicates scope and delimitation of study;
(2) States research questions;
(3) Presents written statement of the problem;

B. Specific Learning Objectives

The learners will be able to:

(1) Discuss how research questions are formulated and the scope and the
delimitation of research;
(2) Critique sample statement of the problem and sample scope and
delimitation of research;
(3) Present written scope and delimitation and statement of the problem.

II. LET’S BEGIN

I Challenge You!
Include or Exclude. Decide whether the following are to be included in the
background of the study or not. On the space before the number, write
IN if you consider it include and write OUT if it is excluded.
__________ 1. Approaches previously used in research of the problem.
__________ 2. Clarification of the importance terms.
__________ 3. Coverage of the study.
__________ 4. Description of the instrument to use in the study.
__________ 5. Discussion of general and specific problem.

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III. LET’S DIG DEEPER

The Research Questions & The scope and

Delimitation of Research

The Research Questions / Statement of the Problem

There are two problems to be stated:
1. The major (general or main) problem, and;
2. The minor (specific) problems or sub – problems.
The general problem consists of the general purpose of the study which is usually patterned
from the research title. The general problem is then broken down to specific problems or sub
– problems in order to be researchable units. Usually, the general problem starts with the
phrase: “This study” while the sub – problems start with: “Specifically, this study”.

The following are the guidelines in using the sub – problems of the study;
1. It is arranged in logical order from factual to analytical order following the flow in the
research paradigm.
2. It should be specifically, correctly, and grammatically worded in the language or
research.
3. It should not duplicate or overlap the other sub – problems (mutually exclusive
dimensions).
4. It is not answered by yes or no.
5. Each specific problem has a corresponding statistical tool.

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Example:

This study attempted to evaluate the status and extent of implementation of the computer
Education Program in the Division of Talisay City SY 2019 – 2020 as perceived by teacher and student
respondents. Specifically this sought answers to the following questions:

1. What is the profile of the respondents in terms of:

1.1 Teacher – respondents
1.1.1 Sex
1.1.2 Field of Specialization
1.1.3 Length of service; and
1.1.4 Computer education seminar/training attended?
1.2 Student – respondents
1.2.1 Sex
1.2.2 Monthly family income
1.2.3 Accessibility to computer; and
1.2.4 Performance in English and Mathematics?
2. What is the extent of the Computer Education Program implementation as perceived by the
teacher – respondents with respect to:
1.1 Objective and content of instruction;
1.2 Teaching competencies;
1.3 Learning competencies;
3. What is the extent of the Computer Education Program implementation as perceived by the
student – respondents with respect to:
1.1 Objective and content of instruction;
1.2 Teaching competencies;
1.3 Learning competencies;

The Scope and Delimitation of Research

The scope describes the coverage of the study. It specifies what is covered in terms of concept,
number of subjects or the population included in the study, as well as the timeline when the
study was conducted.

Delimit by citing the factors or variables that are not to be included and the boundary in terms
of time frame, number of subjects, participants or respondents who are excluded. Specify that
which you will not deal within the study.

This section discusses the parameters of the research in paragraph. It answer the basic
questions:
1. What – the topic of investigation and the variables included
2. Where – the venue or the setting of the research
3. When – the time frame by which the study was conducted

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 4. Why – the general objectives of the research
5. Who – the subject of the study, the population and sampling
6. How – the methodology of the research which may include the research design,
methodology and the research instrument

It may also discuss why certain variables were not included in the research.

Example:

The main purpose of the study is to provide information regarding metro – sexuality
and hoe being a metrosexual affects the lifestyle of the student. The study consider the
student’s personal information such as their name (optional), gender, age, and section.
The researchers limited the study to 80 males and females secondary education
students enrolled in the second semester of school year 2015 – 2016 of Technological
Institute of the Philippines. Each of the respondents was given a questionnaire to answer. The
students selected came from four different sections to prevent bias and get objective
perceptions.

IV. WE’RE ON OUR WAY

Quiz no. 1.1 – Briefly Answer!

Instruction. Based on the concept you have read above, answer the following questions briefly
using your own words.
1. What are the two problems to be stated in the Statement of the Problem?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
2. What are the guidelines in writing the sub – problems?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
3. What does “scope” mean in the Scope and Delimitation of Research? What does it
specify?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

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 4. What does the “delimit” mean in the Scope and Delimitation of the Research? What
does it specify?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

V. HOW FAR HAVE WE GONE?

Quiz no 1.2 – Classification!

A. Instruction. Classify the following research questions whether it is Good or Bad. Write
your answer on the space provided before the number.
_______1. What is the profile of the respondents in terms of:
1.1 Age; and
1.2 Gender?
_______2. Is Music Education effective as a therapy in learning?
_______3. What is the performance of the respondents in the:
3.1 Pre – test; and
3.2 Post – test?
_______4. Do the students perform better when Music Education as a therapy is applied?
_______5. Is there a significant difference in the pre and post test results of the two
groups of respondents?

B. Instruction. As the researcher conduct his study on determining the perception of Senior
High School student – leaders of the prevailing school organizational climate of Tabunok
National High School as well as the administrators “leadership style during the school year
2019 – 2020, decide whether he has a good the Scope and Delimitation of Study as he
does the following actions. On the space provided before the number, write AGREE if you
consider the action, and DISAGREE if you consider the action inappropriate.
_______1. He explained the need to measure the school climate with its corresponding
leadership style as exhibited by the school.
_______2. He defined terms used in the study operationally for clearer understanding of
the study.
_______3. He discussed the significant relationship between the prevailing leadership
styles of administrators and perceived school climate
_______4. He gave the details on the focus of his study which include identifying of
leadership styles, the kind of school climate exists, and relationship between those
variables.
_______5. He included the beneficiaries of the study including students, teachers, school
administrators, and Department of Eduction

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VI. WALKING THE EXTRA MILE (PERFORMANCE CHECK)

Activity: 1.0 - Present a Written Statement of the problem and Scope and Delimitation of
the Research

Instruction. Present a Written Statement of the problem and scope and delimitation of the
research. You can use or present your previous research title during your practical research
1.

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VII. REFERENCES
DiscoverPhDs, (2020. “Scope and Delimitations – Explained & Example”. Retrieved from
https://www.discoverphds.com/blog/scope-and-delimitations
Doody, O., & Bailey, M. E. (2016). “Setting a research question, aim, and objective”. Nurse
Researcher, 23 (4). https://journals.rcni.com/doi/pdfplus/10.7748/nr.23.4.19.s5

Faltado, R.E., Bombita, M.B., & Boholano H.B. (2017). “Practical Research 2 (Quantitative for
SHS) (pp 14 – 15 )”. Cubao, Quezon City: Lorimar Publishing Inc.

Imed Bouchrika, (2021). “How to Write a Research Question: Types, Steps, and Examples”.
Retrieved from https://www.guide2research.com/research/how-to-write-a-research-question

Lipowski, E. E. (2008). “Developing great research questions. American Journal of Health-System

Pharmacy, 65 (17), 1667-1670”. https://academic.oup.com/ajhp/article-
abstract/65/17/1667/5128061
Mark Lawrence Bacasmo, (2020). “Practical Research 2 Module PDF”. Retrieved from
https://www.scribd.com/document/445113734/Practical-Research-2-Module-
pdf?fbclid=IwAR2diz00p3InMCboSLbxGOnMhrVyK4zaVXOvh2JcwBxnNuezHzCkTl_DOww
Sandberg, J., & Alvesson, M. (2011). “Ways of constructing research questions: gap-spotting or
problematization? Organization, 18 (1), 23-44”.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1350508410372151

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