IDENTIFYING THE

INQUIRY AND
STATING THE
PROBLEM
 ELEMENTS OF A RESEARCH
PROBLEM
1. Aim or purpose of the problem for investigation ---
Why?
2. The subject matter or topic to be investigated---
What?
3. The place or locale where the research is to be
conducted---Where?
4. The period or time of the study during which the
data are to be gathered---When?
5. Population or universe from whom the data are to
be collected---Who? From Whom?
 EXAMPLE OF A RESEARCH
PROBLEM
To determine the status of teaching senior
high school in the province of Tarlac
during the school year 2017-2018

Will you identify the different

elements of the research
problem…
GUIDELINES IN WRITING THE TITLE
 The title is formulated before the start of the
research work but may be revised and refined later
if there is a need.
 The title must contain the subject matter of the
study, the locale of the study, the population
involved, and the period when the data were
gathered or will be gathered.
 It must be broad enough to include all aspects of
the subject matter studied or to be studied. Hence,
it indicates what is expected to be found inside the
thesis report.
GUIDELINES IN WRITING THE TITLE
 It must be brief and concise as possible
 Avoid using the terms “An Analysis of,” “A study
of,” “An investigation of,” and the like.
 If the title contains more than one line, it must be
written like an inverted pyramid, ALL WORDS IN
CAPITAL LETTERS.
EXAMPLE OF A COMPLETE TITLE

THE TEACHING OF SENIOR HIGH

SCHOOLS IN THE PROVINCE OF
TARLAC AS PERCEIVED BY THE
SCIENCE TEACHERS AND STUDENTS
DURING THE SCHOOL YEAR 2016-
2017
A BRIEF AND CONCISE FORM

‘THE TEACHING OF SENIOR HIGH

SCHOOLS IN THE PROVINCE OF
TARLAC’’
Writing Good Qualitative
Research Questions
 Specify the research problem:
the practical issue that leads to
a need for your study.

Complete these sentences:

“The topic for this study will be…”
“This study needs to be conducted
because…”
How to write a good qualitative
purpose statement:
 A statement that provides the major objective or
intent or roadmap to the study.
 Fulfil the following criteria:
 Single sentence
 Include the purpose of the study
 Include the central phenomenon
 Use qualitative words e.g. explore, understand,
discover
 Note the participants (if any)
 State the research site
 A good place to start

The purpose of this ______________

(narrative, phenomenological, grounded
theory, ethnographic, case, etc.) study is
(was? will be?) to ____________
(understand, describe, develop, discover)
the _____________ (central phenomenon
of the study) for ______________ (the
participants) at (the site).
Research questions serve to
narrow the purpose.
Central
 The most general questions you could
ask
Sub-questions
 Subdivides central question into more
specific topical questions
 Limited number
 Use good qualitative wording for these
questions.
 Begin with words such as “how” or “what”
 Tell the reader what you are attempting to
“discover,” “generate,” “explore,” “identify,” or
“describe”
 Ask “what happened?” to help craft your description
 Ask “what was the meaning to people of what
happened?” to understand your results
 Ask “what happened over time?” to explore the
process
 Avoid words such as: relate, influence, impact,
effect, cause
Scripts to help design qualitative central and sub-
questions:

 Central question script (usually use only one):

 “What does it mean to _________________ (central
phenomenon)?”
 “How would ______________ (participants) describe
(central phenomenon)?”
 Sub-question script:
 “What _________ (aspect) does __________
(participant) engage in as a _____________ (central
phenomenon)?”
 Qualitative Research Questions

 Qualitative researchers pose research questions

 Not objectives
 Not hypotheses
 Two types of qualitative research questions to
focus a study's purpose:
 Central question- broad question that asks for
exploration of the central phenomenon
 Subquestions- questions that narrow the focus of
the study
 Writing Qualitative Research
Questions
 Ask 1-2 central questions and no more than 5-7
subquestions
 These questions should: Relate the central question to the
strategy of inquiry
 Begin with "what" or "how"
 Focus on a single phenomenon or concept
 Use exploratory verbs like discover or describe
 Avoid directional words such as "affect" or "impact“
 Evolve during the study
 Be open-ended without reference to the literature
 Specify the participants and research site (unless stated
previously)
 A Script for Writing a Qualitative
Central Question

 (How or What) is the (“story for” for narrative

research; “meaning of” the phenomenon for
phenomenology; “theory that explains the
process of ” for grounded theory; “culture-
sharing pattern” for ethnography; “issue” in the
“case” for case study) of (central phenomenon)
for (participants) at (research site).
 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

 1. The general statement of the problem and the

specific sub problems or questions should be
formulated first before conducting the research.
 2. It is customary to state specific sub problems in
the interrogative form. Hence subproblems are
called specific questions.
 3. Each specific questions must be clear and
unequivocal, that is, it has only one meaning.
 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
 4. Each specific question is researchable apart
from the other questions, that is, answers can be
found even without considering the other
questions.
 5. Each specific questions must be based upon
known facts and phenomena.
 6. Answers to each specific questions can be
interpreted apart from the answers to other specific
questions.
 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
 6. Answers to each specific questions can be
interpreted apart from the answers to other specific
questions.
 7. Answers to each specific questions must
contribute to the development of the whole
research problem or topic.
 8. Summing up the answers to all the specific
questions will give a complete development of the
entire study.
 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
 9. The number of specific questions should be
enough to cover the development of the whole
research problem or study.
 10. There should be a general statement of the
problem and then this should be broken up into as
many sub problems or specific questions as
necessary.
The declarative form is used when
stating the main problem of the study.
The subproblems or specific problems
are written the question form.
 EXAMPLE STATEMENT OF THE
PROBLEM
 This study evaluated the existing school climate among
the public secondary schools in the Schools Divisions
of Tarlac Province. Specifically, the researcher aimed
to find answers to the following questions:

 1. How do students and teachers evaluate the

prevailing school climate in terms of the following
dimensions:
 Rules and Norms
 Sense of Physical Security
 Sense of Social-Emotional Security
 Support for Learning
 Social and Civic Learning…
 2. How are the schools described on their performance
in the National Achievement Test?
 3. Is there a significant difference in the evaluation of
the prevailing school climate between:
 3.1 Students and Teachers?
 3.2 Males and Females?
 3.3 Schools with Male and Female Principals?
 4. Is there a significant relationship between school
climate and National Achievement Test Result?
 5. What plan of action could be proposed based on the
findings of the study?
 6. What are the implications of the findings of the study
to Educational Leadership?
WRITING THE INTRODUCTION