Chapter #1

-a glimpse of information of what the readers will expect

ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF INTRODUCTION:

•Background of the study

•Statement of the problem
•Scope and the delimitation
•Significance of the study
•Notes for chapter 1

Background of the study (composition)

-2 to 3 Pages

1st paragraph
- what is the rationale of the problem (pertaining to the reasons of researchers)

2nd paragraph
- Setting locale (History (2 to 3 paragraphs)

3rd paragraph
- Explanation of the terms, variable concept

4th Paragraph
- Basic literature (RRL- 1 strong literature to support your paper ( should be APA format)

5th paragraph
- significance of the chosen problem (society problem [Give at least 1 evidence])

6th Paragraph
- General objective of your study

7th Paragraph
- Identify the beneficiaries of your study

{SENTENCE: 4-5 sentence}

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

•the formulation of the heart of the thesis-the statement of the general and the specific problems

• The opening paragraph of this section contains the general problem of the study.
 Writing the General Problem in a Qualitative Study

1. It should use single and not compound sentences

2. It should clearly express the purpose of the study
3. It should include the central phenomenon
4. It should use qualitative words, e.g., explore, discover, and explain
5. It should identify the participants in the study
6. It should state the research site

Writing the General Problem in a Qualitative Study

[1]The purpose of this (narrative, phenomenological, grounded theory, ethnographic case)

[2] is to (understand, describe, develop, discover)
[3] the (central phenomenon of the study)
[4] for (participants) ,
[5] at (the site). At this stage in the research, the (central phenomenon) will be generally
defined as
[6] (a general definition of the central concept)
[7] (creswell and clark, 2014)

Example #1:

The overall objective of this phenomenological study is to describe the interpersonal and
interpersonal competencies of school principals, and their relationship to the school
effectiveness in the Division of Bataan for the School year 2001-2002. The result is used as a
basis for an intervention program (Cristobal, 2003). Here intrapersonal is the school managers'
own self-concept and personality while interpersonal is the communication and expressions in
dealing with subordinates.

Example #2:

The objective of this grounded theory study is to characterize the general study habits of the
high school students that belong to the top ten of the class. The study habits are concentrated
on the student's preparation before attending classes daily.

The general problem is followed by an enumeration of the specific problems.

✓ They must be in a question form

✓ They must define the population and samples of the study (respondents)

✓ They must identify the variables being studied

 Two types of research questions.

1. Central questions - these are the most general questions that can be as

2. Sub-questions - these questions subdivide the central question into most topical questions
and are only limited in number.

TYPES OF RESEARCH QUESTIONS:

1. non-researchable questions
- answerable by yes or no.

Examples:

a. should all mother breastfeed their babies?

b. should high school teachers be watchful over their Grade 7 students?

2. Researchable questions - these are questions of opinions, perceptions, or policy that are
raised to accumulate data.

Examples:

a. what are the common preparations done by Grade 7 students during their first days in
school?

b. how do senior high school students respond to their Math teacher?

•Central Question script

"what is the meaning of/what does it mean to (central phenomenon)?"

-Examples:
1. what is the meaning of interpersonal competencies?

2. what does it mean to differentiate the customs and traditions of Aetas to those of the local?

a. "how would (participants) describe (central phenomenon)?"

-Examples:

. 1. how would school managers describe intrapersonal competencies?

2. how would the Aetas and locals of Zambales differentiate their customs and traditions?
•Sub-question script
"what (aspect) does (participant) engage in as a (central phenomenon)?"

SETTING THE SCOPE OF THE STUDY

• The scope of the study is determined primarily by the selection of variables that the research
study will focus on.

• A variable refers to any characteristic that can have different values or traits that may vary
across research participants.

• Attributes are important elements of a variable. It refers to the value assigned to a specific
variable.

Variables have the following important characteristics

1. Dependence - this refer to how the variable is considered in a cause-and-effect relationship.

For example, in a study that investigates the use of computer-aided teaching instruction on
student performance, the independent variable is teaching instruction as dependent variable,
therefore, is student performance as it is expected to change in reaction to the introduction of
computer-aided teaching.

2. Mutually exclusive - this means that a participant or respondent cannot possess two attributes
of variable.

3. Exhaustive - this means that the researcher should consider all possible attributes of a certain
variable. In identifying the possible responses of the participants to survey questions, the
research must identify all possible answers or reactions.

KINDS OF VARIABLES

1. Continuous variables - variables that may have an infinite number of values and may vary
wide among the research participants.

2. Discrete variables - variables that have specific limits to their value.

3. Categorical variables - these cannot be expressed in numbers but are given in non-
quantitative, descriptive terms.

DELIMITATION OF THE STUDY

The delimitation of the study describes the various limitations that arose during the design and
conduct of the study. These include the characteristics of the research design and methodology
that affected or influenced the findings of the study. These limitations are constraining on certain
aspects of the research, such as the interpretation of data and the applicability and usefulness
of the results and findings.

The following may be the possible limitations that may arise from the research design and
methodology.

1. sample

2. lack of available and/or reliable data

3. lack of prior studies

4. chosen data collection method

5. nature of the information collected

The characteristics of the researcher and the limits that he or she experiences in the conduct of
the research will also give rise to limitations.

Access
● The amount and quality of data

Time Period
● The length of time devoted to the study

Bias
● Viewing a certain thing, issue, or idea

Language
● Data collection
● Respondents that speak a variety of languages

SCOPE AND DELIMITATION EXAMPLE 1:

Predictors of Students' Performance in Chemistry Laboratories of Selected Private Schools

(Estrella. 2009)

This study was focused on the factors affecting students' performance in chemistry laboratory
in selected schools in Balanga City for the school year 2008-2009. In this study, the student's
performance refers to the average grade of the students in their chemistry laboratory from first
to third grading period. Chemistry, the chosen field for the study, is the Science with more
abstract theories which must be proven with actual events through experiments by the
students.

The grade point average (GPA) was gathered and tabulated to measure their performance in
the chemistry laboratory. The study considered the following schools in Balanga City Schools
as the research locale of the investigation: Tomas del Rosario College, Asia Pacific College of
Advanced Studies, and Bataan Christian School. This is because these schools belong to
same category as private institution.

Specifically, the factors in this research were student-related ones which pertain to the attitude
of students in the chemistry laboratory. Teacher-related factors pertain to the teaching
strategies, competences, and teacher's attitude

in conducting experiments in the chemistry laboratory. Lastly, laboratory-related factors

pertain to the adequacy,

availability, and usability of the laboratory equipment and the laboratory manual and facilities