The Specificity and

Feasibility of the
Problem Posed

Module 5
Content Standards

The learner demonstrates

understanding of the
specificity and feasibility of
the problem posed.
 Most Essential Learning Competencies
(MELCs)
• Presents written statement
of the research problem.
• States the research
questions.
• Writes the research
hypotheses.
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

• I can formulate clearly the

statement of the research
problem.
• I can state the research
questions of my study.
• Writes the research
hypotheses.
Specificity – the quality of belonging or relating
uniquely to a particular subject

Feasibility – the state or degree of being easily or

conveniently done. In research, it is used to estimate
important parameters that are needed to design the main
study.
 The research topic then
becomes the basis of
Statement of the preparing the statement of
Problem the problem.

It indicates the major purpose

and the specific objectives for
the conduct of the study.
 A statement of the problem must have
the following characteristics:

It should ask about a It should be possible to

relationship between two collect data to answer the
or more variables. question asked.

It shows in a more specific One or two sentences will

manner what is being normally suffice to state
investigated. the problem.
The statement of the problem has two
parts:

General statement of the problem/

Objective

Specific research questions

 Often the statement begins as follows:

The purpose of this study is to investigate effective

approaches to diminishing math anxiety among
students

The study aims to determine if significant differences exist

in the growth of a plant when different fertilizers were
used.
 The purpose of this ethnographic study is to
describe the training of Aeta teachers from
Zambales for the past ten years to provide insights
into the formulation of a continuing education
model for indigenous teachers (Creswell and
Clark, 2014)
 The purpose of this ethnographic study (type of study)
is to describe the training (central phenomenon of the
study) of Aeta teachers from Zambales (participants)
for the past ten years (when) to provide insights into the
formulation of a continuing education model for
indigenous teachers (purpose). (Creswell and Clark,
2014)
RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The research problem

enables you to generate a set
of research questions.
 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
Research questions play a crucial part in the entire research work.
They lay the foundation for the research study. Therefore, they
determine the research design or plan of the research. Through
questions, you can precisely determine the type of data and method
of collecting, analyzing and presenting data.
Guidelines in Writing
Research Questions
 Hence, the following are things you have to
remember in research questions formulation.
(Barbie 2013; Litchman 2013; Silverman 2013)

• Establish a clear relation between the research questions and the

problem or topic.
• Formulate research questions that can arouse your curiosity and surprise
you with your discoveries or findings.
 Hence, the following are things you have to
remember in research questions formulation.
(Barbie 2013; Litchman 2013; Silverman 2013)

• Be guided by the acronym SMART in formulating the research questions.

• Avoid asking research questions that are answerable with “yes” or “no”
 Criteria for Evaluating Research Questions
(Pulmones and Religioso, 2016)

• It should be researchable.
• It should provide structure, direction and guidepost to the researcher as the
study is conducted.
• It should specify the variables, samples or participants of the study.
• The problem implied in the research question should be clear. It is not too
broad nor too narrow.
• It should be valuable and worthwhile.
Research Research Goals Sample Research
Design Questions
Experimental To verify or test hypothesis What is the effect of an herbal
To determine the effects of and treatment to the amount of fasting
intervention on a variable of blood sugar (FBS) of diabetic patients
interest treated with herbal medicines
compared to those receiving the
standard care for diabetes.
 Almost one-fourth of the students in the literature class
of Mr. Reyes are foreign students. He is finding it
difficult to make them read and comprehend literary
pieces. What research questions can be asked to help
Mr. Reyes?

Research Question 1: What strategies will help the students improve their
comprehension of the literary pieces?
Research Question 2: Does the use of metacognitive strategies help
improve the reading skills and comprehension of foreign students?
Research Question 1: What strategies will help the students
improve their comprehension of the literary pieces?

• somewhat clear but the target group is not explicitly

mentioned
• there is no specific reference to an intervention, which is an
important component if this is for an experimental research
Research Question 2: Does the use of metacognitive strategies help
improve the reading skills and comprehension of foreign students?

• clear and specific

• took into consideration the target participants
• indicates variables to be studied
 Mr. De Guzman is the principal of XYZ school. He
would like to address the low performance of the
students in the achievement test. How can we
help him? What research questions can be raised?

Research Question 1: Will computer literacy improve the test

scores of the students?
Research Question 2: Will the use of cooperative learning
improve the academic performance of the slow learners?
Research Question 1: Will computer literacy improve the
test scores of the students?

• Though the intervention was mentioned but the problem

and target population are unclear.
Research Question 2: Will the use of cooperative learning
improve the academic performance of the slow learners?

• It gives more vivid picture of the problem, target population,

variables which are the important elements of a good
research.
Writing Research
Hypothesis
 A hypothesis is a tentative explanation or
an answer to a question about variables,
Research their relationships and other facts involved
in the research.
Hypothesis
It is an inferential thinking that makes you
guess something based not only on whatever
experience or factual knowledge you have
about such thing but also on conclusions that
were logically drawn by other research
studies.
(Creswell 2014; Russell 2013)
 Purposes of Research Hypotheses

They guide you on which They provide opportunities

aspect of the research to to prove relationships
focus on. between variables.

They give the direction of They outline your thoughts on

your manner of summarizing
the research.
the results and of explaining
the conclusions.
To devise and perform a research process, you need to make
sure that your hypothesis is testable. To be considered
testable, some essential criteria must be met:

• There must be a possibility to prove

that the hypothesis is true.

• There must be a possibility to prove

that the hypothesis is false.
 CATEGORIES OF HYPOTHESES
Alternative Hypothesis
• (H₁)
• This temporarily asserts the
relationship of variables.
• Example: There is a significant
difference between I.Q. and
achievement test.
Null Hypothesis
• (H₀)
• Denies the relationship of
variables.
• It is therefore a statement to
disprove the fact that the
independent variable has effect on
the dependent variable.
Research Questions
• Is there a significant difference in the cohesion errors of students when they were
grouped according to sex?
• Is there a significant difference in the coherence errors of students when they were
grouped according to sex?

Hypotheses
• There is no significant difference in the cohesion errors of students when they were
grouped according to sex.
(Null Hypothesis)
• There is a significant difference in the coherence errors of students when they were
grouped according to sex.
(Alternative Hypothesis)
Guidelines in Formulating
Research Hypotheses
 The craft in hypotheses formulation requires you think of the following pointers
(Mc Bride 2013; Lapan 2012):
 Express your hypotheses in a declarative sentence.
 It should be testable. Support your hypotheses with ideas based on theories, known
facts, previous studies or your own experience and wisdom.
Ascertain the possibility of having some means of testing, analyzing and investigating
your hypotheses.
 Establish a logical relationship between hypotheses and the research problem.
 Have your hypotheses predict the nature of relationship between or among
variables.
 Avoid wordiness by using clear, exact or specific language in stating the
hypotheses.
 Thank you!
Do you have any questions for me?
Activity!
Draw a Venn Diagram. Write the
differences and similarities of
these two terms in research:
PROBLEM and QUESTION
In the following research situations, formulate the null and
alternative hypothesis:

1. The researcher aims to determine if significant

differences exist in the growth of a plant when different
fertilizers were used.
2. The researcher would like to know the effect of private
tutoring in the academic performance of the students
availing it.
3. The researcher wanted to determine the relationships
of number of hours of practice and the GWA of the
players to their number of winnings.