PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION IN

INTERNATIONAL PUBLICATION
 Lecture 1: Entry Characteristics of
Publishable Papers
• NOVELTY OF IDEA: You must contribute a new
idea no matter how small;
• NEW AND FRESH INSIGHTS: You must force
fellow scholars to look into an old
phenomenon in a new way;
• SUFFICIENT LEVEL OF ABSTRACTION: Your
research should be abstract enough to be
generalizable.
• SIMPLE AND EASY TO STATE: Most important
papers published in NATURE are short and
deals with subject matter that are easy to
state;
• CONSIDERED IMPORTANT BY PEERS IN THE
DISCIPLINE. You must address problems in
your discipline that are considered of great
significance by your academic peers.
 CONFUSING “YOUR PROBLEM” WITH A
“RESEARCH PROBLEM”
• Example: The 4-P program is not succeeding
because the beneficiaries are not using the
cash transfers properly.
• Proposed Research: Evaluation of the
Conditional Cash Transfer Program 4-P of the
Philippine Government
• ISSUE: You already know the cause and the
effect. You will fail in terms of NOVELTY.
• Example: Students learn faster when they are using
computers than when taught by traditional teaching
methods.
• Proposed Research: Comparing CAI Method with
Traditional Teaching in English 101
• ISSUE : The conclusion is almost foregone because
the new teaching method introduced compensates
for the weaknesses of the traditional teaching
method. No fresh insights for the discipline.
WORK-RELATED PROBLEMS VERSUS
RESEARCH PROBLEMS

Research Problem
Space

Work Related
Problem Space
 Problem
Abstract
Conceptual
– Level
Problem
o w? Methods
H
Target
Variable –
Concrete
o w? Level
Variable H Analysis

You are here

 WORKSHOP 1
• 1. Do a GOOGLE search about the most
important problems being studied by your
colleagues in the discipline. These are
researches by scholars in your discipline that
are published on-line in ISI journals or other
indexed journals.
• 2. List down the top five(5) most important
problems in order of importance. Give a four-
sentence description of each.
 LECTURE 2: “TWERKING” AND OTHER
TECHNIQUES
• 1. THE “WHY-CHAINING” TECHNIQUE
• Subject your proposed problem to a chain of
“whys” until there is no more “why”.
• Example:
• Proposed Problem:
• “Comparing Computer-Assisted Instruction in
Teaching English 101 with Traditional Teaching
Method”
 CHAINING
• Why would computer-assisted instruction
make students perform better in English?
• -Possible Answer: Students can interact with
the software without fear of being ridiculed.
Computers are more impersonal. Students are
free to make mistakes; they can always go
back to items that need clarification anytime.
• Why do we learn better if we do not fear being
ridiculed? Why is the ability to go back to unclear
items anytime important?
• Possible Answer:
• Being ridiculed intrudes one’s ego. It is natural
for human beings to avoid such situations (even if
the situation is imaginary) to keep his ego intact.
An intact affective ability is a pre-requisite to the
acquisition of cognitive skills and competencies.
• On the second “why”, the rate at which information
is absorbed by the learner varies inversely as the
rate at which the information is being dished out.
Consequently, if the rate of information delivery is
faster than the rate of absorption, some
information will not be understood by the students.
There is a need to go back to that part of the lesson
which is not understood by the student. This
phenomenon varies from one student to the next.
ABSTRACT CONCEPTS GENERATED
• Fear of ridicule = psychological construct that
impedes learning = has something to do with
keeping ego intact
• Inverse relationship of rate of instructional
delivery and rate of information acquisition =
both concepts being related to acquisition of
cognitive set of skills and competencies
 REAL FOCUS OF INTEREST

• UNDERSTANDING THE INTERACTION OF THE

AFFECTIVE AND COGNITIVE DOMAINS AS BASIS

FOR A TEACHING STRATEGY

 WORKSHOP 2
• Use the “why-chaining” technique to generate
a possible research problem for your study.
2. “Tweaking” Method
• Change the focus of the problem or look at the
problem from a different perspective.
Example: “Comparing Computer – Assisted
Instruction with Traditional Teaching in English
101”
Changing Perspective:
- We already know that CAI would be better than
traditional method, what we do not know is how
our brain reacts to the stimuli offered by the CAI.
New Perspective:
“Neuronal Activity Patterns Among Students
Exposed to CAI”
3. Replacement Method
– Replace the variables by generic factors and identify the
generic factors. If there is only one factor, add a second or
third.

Example: Use the same problem and apply the replacement

method.

Replacement: (1) “Comparing level of Factor A in Teaching

English 101”

(2) “Who Perform Better Exposed to CAI: Achievers or Non –

Achievers?”
 Workshop 3
• Use the other two (2) technique to identify your research problem.
• Write a one – page concept paper for your proposed study.

I. Background and Rationale

• (The conditions that led your to consider the problem)
• (The major problem you wish to study)
• (How this problem influences your disciplined)
II. Statement of Objectives
(Sub – problems stated in objective form)
III. Short Literature Review
(Two (2) paragraphs of condesed literature/studies that deal with
your problem. At least three (3) major papers are reviewed)