The Quantitative

Research Problem
Quantitative Research Problem

• A research topic or problem is an intellectual stimulus calling

for an answer in the form of scientific inquiry. It is a general
question about relations among variables that you need to
undertake as a researcher. (Birion et.al, 2005, p.7 in Faltado,
et. al 2017)

• A quantitative research problem is any researchable research

problem geared toward a possible result. (Baraceros 2016)
Sources of Quantitative Research
Wondering where you can find quantitative research problems? The following are the possible sources
of quantitative research problems.

1. Personal experiences and interests. Your everyday personal or professional experience may lead
you to identify a research problem for which you would like to solve. For example, personally, you may
prefer the taste of organically produced rice and wonder if people, in general, prefer the taste of
organically produced rice to those produced non-organically.

2. Related studies and literature. While reading many sources of literature such as books, journal
articles, and newspapers, there are research problems that may capture your interest. As you read,
some ideas may let you think and realize that there is a need to conduct research to validate the body
of knowledge and/or consider that some studies are suffering from inconsistencies or discrepancies.
Sources of Quantitative Research
Wondering where you can find quantitative research problems? The following are the
possible sources of quantitative research problems.

•3. Prevailing theories and philosophies. These are beliefs and ideas of the
people around us which may lead you to conduct a study. An example of it is the
idea that men are better leaders than women, and/or students who study from
private schools are brighter than those who study in public schools.

•4. Funding agencies. Some research problems are suggestions of agencies of the
government or any non-government institutions. They provide researchers funds
for them to have research-based data.
 Criteria of Good Quantitative Research Problem
A good research problem can be represented by the acronym FINER.

•F - Feasible. You must have the ability to carry out the research. You need to be realistic about its scope
and scale. You must have enough materials and sources of information to study. Moreover, the research
problem has to be clear and focused to be feasible.

•I - Interesting. You must be interested in the research problem with much willingness, dedication, and
commitment. This interest will motivate you to finish your research.

•N - Novel. The research problem does not simply copy questions investigated by other workers but should
have the scope to be investigated. It may aim at confirming or refuting the already established findings,
establish new facts, or find new aspects of the facts. Also, it is not answerable by yes or no. It has to be
simple and clear, not too broad, and not too narrow.
Criteria of Good Quantitative Research Problem
A good research problem can be represented by the acronym FINER.

•E - Ethical. The research to be conducted must be approved by the appropriate authorities. Further, it
should be such that minimizes the risk of harm to the participants, protect the privacy and maintain
their confidentiality, and provide the participants the right to withdraw from research. It should also
guide in avoiding deceptive practices in research.

•R - Relevant. The question should be academic

Classify each of the quantitative research
problems whether it is good or bad. If it is bad,
indicate the reason/s.
1. The highest educational background of college students in Pasig City

2. The influence of texting in decreasing the students’ grammatical competence in Pasig City

3. The influence of watching Koreanovelas to the Filipino value system of teenagers in Pasig City

4. The relationship between leadership practices and the performance of the employees

5. The impact of attendance on the test scores of elementary students in Pasig City
 Classify each of the quantitative research
problems whether it is good or bad. If it is bad,
indicate the reason/s.
6. The average monetary allowance of the high school students in Pasig City

7. The level of satisfaction of Pasig City employees with their salary.

8. Average time spent in the gym of Pasig City male adults

9. The effect of skin color on the self-esteem of Facebook users

10. The decrease rate of dengue fever cases in Pasig City

The Background of
Research
The Background of Research
• The background of research establishes the context of the
research. This section explains why your particular research topic is
important and essential to investigate. It justifies the need for
conducting it and summarizes what the study aims to achieve. For
example, if you want to conduct a correlational study on the
relationship of the age and level of awareness of the residents to
Pasig City towards COVID-19, you have to write in your
background of the research the explanation why it is important to
conduct such topic.
Contents of Background of Research
The background of research contains the following elements:

1. Research justification. This involves providing your

reader critical background or contextual information that
introduces your topic area. This also indicates why your
research is important. You can write it by presenting a
central concern or to which your research relates.
Contents of Background of Research
The background of research contains the following elements:

2. Summary of the literature review. This part includes a review of

the existing literature on the area of your research, leading up to
your topic. You have to discuss the contribution of other researchers
in the field and identify gaps in it. Such gaps are the areas that are
not yet addressed from such existing literature. Then, you can
explain how your study will address these gaps and how it will
contribute to the existing knowledge in the field.
Contents of Background of Research
The background of research contains the following elements:

3. The research aim or objective. This is a concise statement at the close

of the literature review indicating the general aim or purpose of your
research project.

4. The summary of the research design. This explains how the research
aims will be achieved. This might include the method/s that will be used
(interviews, surveys, video observation, diary recording); if the research will
be phased, how many phases, and what methods will be used in each
phase; and brief reference to how the data will be analyzed.
Research
Questions
Research Questions

•Research questions are the subparts of the main research

problem which are also called sub problems. The answer to
these will lead to the resolution of the main researchable
research problem.
Characteristics of the Research Questions
1. Research questions must add up to the totality of the problem statement.
This means that your research questions must be established from the research
situations which will lead to answer your researchable research problem. Do not
include questions in excess to the coverage of the research problem. Do not omit
significant questions that will help you cover all significant areas of the research
problem.
Characteristics of the Research Questions
2. Each research question should be a completely researchable
unit in and of itself. This means that each of your research
question must be researchable as a separate study to become a part
of the whole. It should not duplicate or overlap the other sub-
problems or other research question.
Characteristics of the Research Questions
3. Interpretation of data should be apparent in a research question,
like that in a researchable problem. There are times that people are
mistaken with the procedural or process questions to be research
questions. An example of it is something like "What is the best way to
choose a sample" or "What instruments or methods should be used to
gather the data"? Since these questions are answerable without extensive
research or interpretation of data, these are not valid research questions.
Also, each question must not be answerable by yes or no.
Example
Example no. 1

Research Problem: The relationship of the writing anxiety and writing proficiency of the
senior high school students in Rizal High School, Pasig City during the first semester of
school year 2019-2020.

Research questions

1. What is the level of writing anxiety of the senior high school students?

2. What is the level of writing proficiency of the senior high school students?

3. Is there a significant relationship between the writing anxiety and writing proficiency
of the high senior high school students?
Example
Example no. 2

Research Problem: The effect of the outcome-based-teaching-learning approach on student performance in

technical drawing subject of technician students in the technical subject.

Research Questions

1. What is the mean pretest score of the experimental group and control group in the final examination
in the technical subject?

2. What is the mean posttest score of the experimental group and control group in the final examination
in the technical subject?

3. What is the mean gain in score from pretest to the posttest of the two groups?

4. Is the outcome-based-teaching and learning (OBTL) approach effective?

 Scope and
Delimitation
Scope and Delimitations of the Study
• The scope and delimitations of the study simply presents the topic and boundaries of the research problem
you are going to investigate.

The Scope of a Study

• Scope refers to the coverage at which the research area will be explored. Facts and
theories about the target participants are included in this area. For example, as a
researcher, you may decide to investigate the impact of using gadgets on the behavior
patterns of elementary students. However, it is impossible to consider all aspects of the
target participants. As a result, the scope shall be limited to a specific sample size of the
target population over a certain period of time.
Scope and Delimitations of the Study
For you to write a good scope statement, you have to consider the following questions:

Why – the general aims and objectives (purpose) of the research.

What – the topic of investigation

Where – the location or setting of the study (the place where the data will be gathered)

When – the timeframe within which the data is to be collected.

Who – the subject of the study and the population from which they will be selected. This population needs
to be large enough to be able to make generalizations.

How – how the research is to be conducted, including a description of the research design, methodology,
research tools and analysis techniques.
Scope and Delimitations of the Study

Delimitation of a Study

•Delimitation is the parameters or characteristics that limit the scope

and set the boundaries of the study. These may include sample size,
time, and geographic area. As a researcher, you are free to decide
what research tools and methodologies you are going to use.
Insufficient time and financial resources are also delimitations that
can be imposed to allow further analysis or investigations.
Scope and Delimitations of the Study

Delimitation of a Study

•It is your responsibility to explain your decision or reasons for

excluding certain factors. In the example mentioned above, you
might explain why a certain sample size and/or grade level were
chosen and not the rest of the population and grade level.
 The Problem and Its
Background
of the Research Paper
Whatever format is, this piece of writing consists of the
following elements:

1. Background of the Study.

In this section, the researcher provides a brief account of

the rationale of choosing the research topic. It contains
description of the situations and conditions that made you
decide of conducting study on such topic.
Whatever format is, this piece of writing consists of the
following elements:

2. Statement of the Problem/Statement of Purpose.

This section presents the problem or the objectives of the research work
that needs to be resolved and that should be stated precisely, accurately,
and clearly. Particularly, there are two problems to be stated in this
section: (1) the major (general or main) problem, and (2) the minor (specific)
problems or sub-problems.
Whatever format is, this piece of writing consists of the
following elements:

2. Statement of the Problem/Statement of Purpose.

The general problem consists of the general purpose of the study which is
usually patterned from the research title. The minor problems or sub-
problems are the research questions in order to solve the main problem.
Usually, the general problem starts with the phrase: “This study” while the
sub-problems start with: “Specifically, this study”.
Whatever format is, this piece of writing consists of the
following elements:

3. Significance of the Study.

This section provides justification of your study. It contains

statements of the contribution of the study. It also includes
the potential beneficiaries of the research and the possible
uses of the results.
Whatever format is, this piece of writing consists of the
following elements:
4. Scope and Delimitation of the Study.

This section sets the boundaries of the study you are going to conduct.

In social science research, the following questions are answered:

who - the subjects (including the population and sample)

what - variables studied

when - the time frame

where - locale of the study

how - short statement of the research methodology

Guidelines in Presenting the Problem and Its Background
Presenting the Problem and Its Background is somewhat a sales talk to buy support for the
conduct of the research. We try to persuade our audience in order for study to be approved,
or to be funded. The following are the things you must consider:

1. It must be convincing.

2. It must be strong enough to be justified.

3. Your target is to communicate clearly, thus your language should be simple, clear
and precise. It must be straightforward, uncomplicated and is not literary production;
and

4. Your thoughts must be clearly organized.