Chapter 02

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1. Research Problem
2. Research Goal
3. Research Sub-problems
4. Research hypotheses
5. Research Data Gathering √
6. Research Data Analysis √
7. Research Findings Interpretation √

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 Research reports or proposals typically have a
chapter or section that review the related
literature.
Its benefits are:
1. Provide better understanding of your topic.
2. Provide you with new ideas & approaches.
3. Reveal methods of dealing with problem situations.
1. Show how others have handled methodological and design
issues in similar studies.
2. Reveal sources of data.
3. Introduce you to measurement & analysis tools.
4. Help interpret your findings & tie results to the
previous studies.
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 Don’t just report the related literature, you
have to evaluate, organize & synthesize it.

 Evaluate – Never take other people people’s

conclusions at face value; determine for
yourself whether their conclusions are satisfied
based on the data presented.

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 Organizing schemes – According to your
subproblems other schemes from previous
studies.

 Synthesize – suggestions for synthesizing

 Compare & contrast different perspectives on the topic
 Show how approaches have changed over time
 General trends in research findings
 Identify contradictory findings, and suggest possible
explanations them.
 General themes

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 Research
methodology comprises the specific
methods one uses to collect and analyze
data.
 Identifying research variables
 Identifying data that the researcher collects
 Identifying data sources
 Procedures of gathering data
 Tools for checking data validity & reliability
 The data analyses that the researcher conducts

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 Primary data – information collected
specifically for the investigation in hand.
Usually gathered for the 1st time and from
original resources. Very close to what is
called “absolute truth”. Main methods used
could be: interviews, questionnaires,
observations.
 Secondary data – statistics not gathered for
immediate study at hand but for some other
purpose.

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 Validity
of measurement instruments is the
extent to which it measures what it is
supposed to measure.

 Reliability
It is the extent to which it yields
consistent results when the characteristic
being measured hasn’t changed

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 AgainData Interpretation is the essence
of “Research”
 Data uninterpreted by the human mind are
worthless
 Different minds see different meanings in the
same set of facts. No rule or formula for
correct interpretation.
 Depends on the hypotheses, assumptions, and
logical reasoning processes of the researcher.

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 Theformat of your research report
should achieve four important
objectives:
 Describe your research problem
 Describe your research method
 Present the data
 Present the interpretation of these
data
 A final section for concluding the report

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 Preliminary pages: title page; copyright notice;
abstract; dedication (if any); acknowledgment;
then a table of contents; list if tables; list of
figures; & (if desired) a preface.
 Citation: appears as a parenthetical note that
includes the author’s last name and the date
of the material you have borrowed from. See
examples in p. 295
 It includes page number(s) if direct quotations
(exact words of the material you have
borrowed from).
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 Citations:
(1) provides support for your
thoughts; (2) acknowledge your indebtness
for quoted materials

 Reference list comes at the end of your

report to allow readers to locate and use the
sources you have cited so it should be
complete & accurate. Each entry should be
consistent & contain information about: the author;
year of publication; title of the work; and
publication information.

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 Endnotes & footnotes: (1) supplement
information in the text of the report with
additional information that strengthens the
discussion;
(2) acknowledge permission to quote.

 Appendix: contain some lengthy

supplementary material that support the
report text. It helps enable the reader to go
further with the document if desired.
Examples: questionnaires; consent letters;
measurement instruments …etc. 13