Self-Learning Home Task (SLHT) Subject: Media & Information Grade: 12 Quarter: 3 Week: 1 Name: - Section: - Date

SELF-LEARNING HOME TASK (SLHT)
Module 1
Subject: Media & Information Grade: 12 Quarter: 3 Week: 1
Name: ___________________________________________ Section: ______________ Date: ___________

MELC:
1. Identify a scientific problem or question

2. Differentiate applied and basic research problems
READINGS
SCIENTIFIC PROBLEM/ QUESTION
Identifying a Problem
Picture yourself playing with a ball. You throw it up, and you watch it fall back down. You climb up a
tree, and you let the ball roll off a branch and then down to the grass. Of course, you make sure that nobody is
underneath. As you're bending over to roll the ball off the branch, you see that the marble in your pocket also
rolls off the branch and down to the grass at the same time your ball does.
Interestingly, both the marble and your ball, which is much bigger, reach the grass at the same time.
You'd think that since the ball is much bigger, it would hit the ground first. But now, the tiny marble hits the
ground at the same time. Will this be true for all things that you drop? Ah, you have a problem.
A research problem is a statement about an area of concern, a condition to be improved, a difficulty to

be eliminated, or a troubling question that exists in scholarly literature, in theory, or in practice that points to the
need for meaningful understanding and deliberate investigation. In some social science disciplines the
research problem is typically posed in the form of a question. A research problem does not state how to do
something, offer a vague or broad proposition, or present a value question.
A scientific problem is something you don’t understand but you can do an experiment to help
you understand. Scientific problems are usually based on observation of scientific phenomena. Here is
some advice to help you identify a scientific problem you can address by designing your own experiment.
1) Find a topic:
A topic is a relatively specific area of knowledge, or subject, you will be working in, such as smoking
and lung cancer, sexual selection in birds, gravity, Newton's Laws of Motion, properties of water, etc... If you
have been given a topic, you may need to narrow it, to identify a more specific topic within the broader one.
This can make it easier to work with. If you are supposed to choose your own topic, do some brainstorming
about things you have learned about in your science course that was particularly interesting for you, something
you’d like to know more about. Write down some possible topics and choose the one that seems most
interesting to you.
2) Identify a problem within the topic:
The problem is something you’d like to know more about; a question you’d like to answer. Questions
can come from many different sources: from lectures or textbooks, from an experiment you have done that
raised other questions, from articles you’ve read in scientific journals or even newspapers and magazines. To
identify a scientific problem, then, you can find sources that relate to your topic and look to see what problems
are raised in your search. Write down the problems that you find. Choose one that would be interesting to
solve and that is feasible for you to solve.
Identifying a Scientific Problem

If your problem is a scientific problem, then you can perform a scientific experiment to find the
answer to your problem. A scientific problem is a question that you have that can be answered via an
experiment.
Not all problems that you have are scientific problems. That's because not all questions can be
answered with an experiment. For example, the problem of trying to figure out what to have for dinner isn't a
scientific problem, since you can't conduct an experiment to find the answer. But the problem of trying to figure
out how fast a population of rabbits can grow is a scientific problem as you can conduct an experiment on a
population of rabbits to observe and record just how fast they reproduce. You can then use your information
and any patterns that you find to find your answer.
Basic and Applied Research Questions
A common question that researchers get from students and the general public is "what is your research
good for?" To answer this question, it is best to establish the difference between basic (fundamental) and
applied research.
Basic research is curiosity driven. It is motivated by a desire to expand knowledge and involves the
acquisition of knowledge for knowledge's sake. It is intended to answer why, what or how questions and
increase understanding of fundamental principles. Basic research does not have immediate commercial
objectives and although it certainly could, it may not necessarily result in an invention or a solution to a
practical problem.
Applied research is designed to answer specific questions aimed at solving practical problems. New
knowledge acquired from applied research has specific commercial objectives in the form of products,
procedures or services.
Fundamental research answers the initial question of how things work. This fundamental knowledge is
then used by applied scientists and engineers, for example, to make improvements on existing products,
technologies and processes. Likewise, basic researchers take advantage of improved technologies to answer
new fundamental questions. It is an important cycle for advancement.
ACTIVITIES
https://library.sacredheart.edu/c.php?g=29803&p=185918
https://study.com/academy/lesson/identifying-a-scientific-problem.html
https://labwrite.ncsu.edu/Experimental%20Design/exp_PL_sciproblem.htm#:~:text=A%20scientific%20problem
%20is%20something,by%20designing%20your%20own%20experiment.
Prepared by: Reviewed by:

LAURENCE ANTHONY V. MERCADO ROBERTO D. MORAN
Teacher II Head Teacher IV
CASAY NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL

Self-Learning Home Task (SLHT) Subject: Media & Information Grade: 12 Quarter: 3 Week: 1 Name: - Section: - Date

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SELF-LEARNING HOME TASK (SLHT)

Name: _______________________________ Section: Date: _

1. Identify a scientific problem or question

A research problem is a statement about an area of concern, a condition to be improved, a difficulty to

2) Identify a problem within the topic:

Identifying a Scientific Problem

Basic and Applied Research Questions

Prepared by: Reviewed by:

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