IDENTIFYING THE INQUIRY AND

STATING THE PROBLEM

Group 2
Calanza, Christine May
Tagulinao, Rica Ella
Seruela, Erma
Tan, Hazel Pearl
Toremotcha, Ramli Kp M.
 Lesson 3

QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH PROBLEM

RESEARCH IN OUR DAILY LIFE
Guideliness in making a Research Problem
d

1. One or more sentences indicating the goal, purpose, or overall direction of the study
fd

2. General characteristics
- Implies the posibility of empirical investigation
- Identifies a ned for the research
- Provides focus
- Provides a concise overview of the research
ds

3. Two ways of stating the problem:

 Research problems: typically a rather general overview of the problem with just enough information about the scope and
purpose of the study to provide an initial understanding of the research

 Research statements and/or questions: more specific, focused statements and questions that communicate in detail
the nature of the study
4. A general research problem
• (e.g.) The purpose of this study is to investigate the attitudes of high school students to mandated drug testing
programs.
d
5. Specific statements
• (e.g.) This study examines the differences between males’ and females’ attitudes toward mandated high school
drug testing programs.
• (e.g.) What are the differences between freshmen, sophomore, junior, and senior students attitudes mandated
high school drug testing programs?
g

6. Researchable and non-researchable problems

• Researchable problems imply the possibility of empirical investigation
• What are the achievement and social skill differences between children attending an academically or socially
oriented pre-school program?
• What is the relationship between teachers knowledge of assessment methods and their use of them
ds

7. Researchable and non-researchable problems

• Non-researchable problems include explanations of how to do something, vague propositions, and balue-based
concerns
- Is democracy a good form of goverment?
- Should values clarification be taught in public schools?
- Can crime be prevented?
- Should physical education classes be dropped from the high school curriculum?
QUANTITATIVE VS QUALITATIVE

Quantitative problems Qualitative problems

- Specific - General
- Closed - Open
- Static - Evolving
-Outcome oriented - Process orented
-Use of specific variables
SOURCES OF RESEARCH PROBLEMS

- Personal interests and experiences

• The use of formative tests in a statistics class
• The use of technology in a research class
s

- Deductions from theory

• The effectiveness of math manipulative
• The effectiveness of a mastery approach to learning research
a

- Replication of studies
• Checking the findings of a major study
• Checking the validity of research findings with different subjects
• Checking trens or changes over time
RESEARCH TOPICS TO BE AVOIDED

1. Controversal topics
- These are topics that depend greatly on the writer’s opinion, which tend to be biased or prejudicial. Facts cannot
topics like these.
a

2. Highly technical subjects

- For a beginner, researching on topics that require an advance study, technical knowledge, and vast experience is a
Very difficult.
a

3. Hard-to-investigate Subjects
- A topic or a subject is hard to investigate if there is no available data or reading materials about it and if such
materials are not-up-date or obsolete.
a

4. Too narrow subjects

- A subject or a topic that are too broad will prevent the researcher from concentrated or in -depth analysis of the
subject matter of the research paper.
SOURCES OF RESEARCH PROBLEMS
5. Too narrow subjects
- The subjects are so limited or specific that an extensive or through searching or reading for information about
the subject is necessary
a

6. Vague subjects
- Choosing topics like these will prevent you from having a clear insights or focus on your study. For instance, titles
beginning with indefinite adjectives such as several, many, some, etc, as in “Some Remarkable Traits of a Ilocano”
Several people’s Comments on the Extra judicial kilings,” are vague enough to decrease the reader’s interest and
curiosity.