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Name of Learner: __________________________________________________________

Grade, Strand and Section: _________________________Date: ____________________

Practical Research I

Week- No. 3 and 4: Identifying the Inquiry and Stating the Problem

I. Learning Competency with Code

1. Designs a research project related to daily life (CS_RS11_IIIc-e-1)

2. Writes a research title (CS_RS11_IIIc-e-2)
3. Provides the justifications/reasons for conducting the research (CS_RS11_IIIc-e-3)
4. States the research questions (CS_RS11_IIIc-e-4)
5. Indicates scope and delimitation of research. (CS_RS11_IIIc-e-5)
6. Cites benefits and beneficiaries of research (CS_RS11_IIIc-e-6)
7. Presents written statement of the problem. (CS_RS11_IIIc-e-7)

II. Background Information for Learners

Writing a Research Title

A research title, or a research project, is a product of real-world observations,

dilemmas, wide reading, selective viewing (television programs, films, documentaries,
videos, etc.) meaningful interactions with significant others and deep reflections.
As you think of research title, it is in your reflective moments that rich ideas flow
on after the other and when they do, questions about your own ideas rises. It’s like you
“brainstorming” with yourself. You first come up with broad ideas, then, further thinking
and reflection will help you shape the idea, the research topic or research title into
specific one, that is, researchable one.
The title of the research is a research problem or inquiry in capsule form. Great
care must be taken in the formulation of the research title. It must clearly reflect the topic
of investigation. And it must be original, clear, concise or specific.
When you finally decide on the research topic, make sure that your research
topic and research questions match.

A. Broad and Specific Topics

Too broad topics will lead you nowhere. In order to narrow down broad topics to
specific ones, the purpose or intent of the study must be clear.

Examples of broad topics:

 Lack of self-confidence
 Smoking Hazards
 Marketable Popular Garment Brands
 Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)

Examples of specific topics:

 Lack of Self-Confidence in Adolescence: Root Causes, Manifestations, and
Intervention
 Health Hazards of Direct and Indirect Smoking: Prevention and Cure
 Marketability of a Popular Garment Brands: A Case Study
 HIV: Causes, Prevention, Treatment and Care

B. Techniques in Narrowing a Topic for a Research Question

1. Examine the literature. Published articles are an excellent source of ideas for
research questions. They are usually at an appropriate level of specificity and
suggest research questions.
2. Talk over ideas with others.
a. Ask people who are knowledgeable about the topic for questions about it that
they have thought of.
b. Seek out those who hold opinions that differ from yours on the topic and discuss
possible research questions with them.
3. Apply to a specific context.

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 a. Focus the topic on a specific historical period or time period.
b. Narrow the topic to a specific society or geographic unit.
c. Consider which subgroups or categories of people/units are involved and
whether there are differences among them.
4. Define the aim or desired outcome of the study.
a. Will the research question be for an exploratory, explanatory, or descriptive
study?
b. Will the study involve applied or basic research?
C. Other topics
1. Issues like poverty, informal settling in congested cities, traffic issue, transportation
problem, human rights, etc.
2. Gender-inequality or transgenders, sensitive issues like families or individuals
trapped in sibling rivalry, financial crises, unemployment, etc.
3. Online selling or online business from varied marketing aspects like what sells online
and what does not, Filipino’s addiction to online shopping, consumer psychology or
buyer behavior.
4. Online Games: Positive and Negative Effects on Gamers
5. Behavioral problems like shyness, being loner, or sociophobia

The following is a list of research titles of actual studies done using Qualitative Research:

1. Experiences of Reaction and Coping of Filipino Fathers and Mothers: During and After a
Natural Disaster
2. The Lived Experiences of Trauma and Post-Traumatic Growth of Women with History to
Social Abuse
3. I Am Your father: A Qualitative Study on the Perspective of a Father with a Homosexual
Son
4. Impact of the Use of Social Networking on Non-Government Organization Effectiveness
5. A PWD’s Battle: A Qualitative Study on the Reactions and Experiences of the Persons
with Disabilities.
6. Employee Commitment to Environmental Stewardship as a Component of Corporate
Social Responsibility.

From the examples, you can see that research titles are clearly stated, concise or
specific, and reflect clearly the research problem statement/inquiry. Moreover,
qualitative research uses objective method that seek to explore and describe phenomena,
aspects of human behavior, human interactions or simply events in daily life. You must also
infer from the research titles that qualitative studies can focus on only one person, group, or
community. A case study focuses on one social unit in depth, by describing different facets
of the group in natural environment.

Now, let us move on to the Senior High School Track you are enrolled in. Before you
make a final decision on your topic, reflect on these questions:
1. What area/s not covered in classroom lessons/discussions do I still want to
know/investigate in my specific track?
2. If I do this research project, how useful will it be to me as a Senior High School
graduate and the community where I belong, and even the larger community, the
Philippines, ASEAN and the world?

Justification and Reasons for Conducting Qualitative Research

Conducting qualitative research is justified because it can help solve or shed light on
problems or issues encountered day to day by individuals, organizations, communities,
industries, business, among others.

Intent or Purpose of the Study

The intent or purpose of the study shows concisely the need for qualitative
research on an individual or society level.

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 The study intends to investigate the following:
1. The impact of social networking in addressing problems, issues and concerns
2. The causes, prevention, treatment and care of Corona Virus
3. How retail business succeeds?
4. Why some livelihood projects fail (or succeed)?
5. Why some barangays are successful in their peace and order campaigns or
health and sanitation projects?
6. The humanitarian conditions of war victims and interventions done by peace-
keeping agencies
Finding solutions, even tentative ones, to problems of daily life is one of the best
justifications for conducting qualitative research. Helping make life happy, peaceful and
meaningful, productive and progressive in sustainable ways is the best justification.

Stating Research Questions

Research questions express clearly the specific direction or focus of the research
problem or inquiry. Moreover, it is the core of the research study.

What is a Research Problem?

For researchers, problem could be conditions they want to improve, difficulties they want
to eliminate, questions that they want answers, or information gaps they wish to fill, or theories
they wish to validate.
A research problem, could also be an issue that should be settled. It may be a question
about the unknown characteristics of a population or about factors that explain the presence or
occurrence of a phenomenon.

Identifying a Research Problem

Note: In doing research, the first thing a researcher does is to identify and clearly define the
problem to be studied. If the researcher cannot pinpoint a problem, he/she cannot expect
others to understand what problems he/she wants to solve.

Listed below are some examples of possible research questions.

1. What problems do children of separated parents encounter and how do the children with
these problems?
2. Does TV viewing affect a child’s school performance?
3. Have there been changes in the portrayal of men and women in commercial
advertisements in the last five years?
4. To what extent do students use the internet?
5. Does the students’ use of the internet affect their performance in school?

While a problem is the initiating force for research, not all problems require research. A potential
researchable problem exists when the following conditions are present (Fisher, et al., 1991).

a. There is a perceived discrepancy between what is and what should be.

b. There are two or more plausible reasons for the discrepancy.

Note: There may be an existing difficult or disturbing situation, but if this condition is expected to
happen because of known circumstances, then the problem is not researchable.

Defining the Research Problem

The problem definition explains the existence and seriousness of the problem. The
definition shows evidences that prove the problem really exists, that it is serious, and/or
widespread.

In defining a research problem, the following questions are usually answered:

1. Does the problem really exist? What are the evidences of the problem’s existence?

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 2. Is the problem serious? Who and how many are affected by it?
3. What places are affected? How widespread is it?
4. How often does the problem occur?

Things to Remember When Defining a Research Problem

1. Review relevant literature and previous studies on the problem.

2. Examine current available data/statistics.
3. Seek educated opinions from the persons concerned with the problem.
4. Determine the probable reasons for the existence of the problem from social, economic,
or other theories that may explain the existence of the problem and the possible
connection between the problem and other factors.

A careful review of existing information or studies on a problem can also help the
investigator determine:

1. What answer or solutions have been found/tried in the past to solve the problem and
how successful they were, and
2. What questions still remain unanswered and what aspects of the problem need to be
studied further.

Scope and Delimitation of Research

The scope and delimitation of the study sets boundaries and parameters of the
problem inquiry and narrows down the scope of the inquiry. The scope is the domain of
your research-what is the domain, and what is not. If possible, be clear to what you will
be studying and what factors are within the accepted range of your study.
For example, if you are studying the ill effects of bullying on school children, the
scope could include both face to face bullying and cyberbullying in grade 6 through 8.
There is a distinction between the use of limitation and delimitation. The
limitation is associated with qualitative study as related to validity and reliability. On the
other hand, delimitation refers to the boundaries of the research study, arising from
researcher’s decisions of what to exclude; for example, this study included only the
Grade 6, 7, and 8 students who experienced bullying.

Examples of Delimitation of Research

1. This study covers only those families in Barangay San Jose, Pasig City, benefited by
the government’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program.
2. This study includes only those English Freshman Classes that use both blended
learning and standard ways of language teaching.
3. This research investigation covers only the landbank-sponsored livelihood projects in
Barangay San Juan, Apalit, Pampanga.

Example of Scope and Delimitation from Actual Qualitative Studies

Title of the Study: Personality Traits, Emotional Quotient and Resiliency Level of
High School Cyber Bullying Victims: Basis for Life Skills Session Program (Valencia,
A., 2013)

This study was limited to cyber bullying victims, with ages ranging from 11-18 years
old and who were enrolled during the school year of 2012-2013 at the ___________.
This study was undertaken from June 2012 to March 2013. The students in this
condition were presented with different issues, but the researcher focused on theory,
emotional quotient and resiliency level. Other aspects of their personality were
considered in this study. Thus, the High School Personality Questionnaire was used
as one the instruments in this study to identify the fourteen personality traits of the

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 respondents. The BarOn Emotional Quotient Inventory: Youth Version (BarOn EQ-
i:YV) was utilized for the respondents’ level of emotional quotient. More so, the
resilience scale for the adolescents was employed to determine the respondents’
resiliency level.
Respondents of this study were victims of cyber bullying who signified to have
experienced three or more of the cyber types and were given consent by their
parents to participate in the study.

Benefits and Beneficiaries of Research

Qualitative studies investigating impact of certain projects, activities or programs

can best showcase benefits and beneficiaries of the study in the fields of
accountancy, business, management, science, technology, mathematics,
humanities, social sciences, engineering and other fields.

A. Aspects of Significance
1. Significance for theory
In this section of the problem statement, the researcher can outline the
research study’s contribution to fundamental knowledge by describing how the
study fits into the theoretical traditions in the sciences or applied fields in ways
that will be new, insightful or creative (Marshall and Rossman, 1995). The
significance statement should show how the study will contribute to research
traditions. Often, the research study identifies gaps in the literature to which the
study will contribute.
2. Significance for Policy and Practice
The significance of the study for policy and practice can be established by
presenting data that show how often the problem occurs and how costly it can
be. When considering over the significance of the research study you wish to
undertake, ask yourself the following questions:
1. Who has an interest in my research topic?
2. What do we already know about the topic?
3. What has not been answered adequately in previous research and
practice?
4. How will this new research contribute to theory, policy, and practice in
his area?
Reflecting on these questions carefully, coupled with right decisions and
actions, will result in meaningful and productive research study.

Example of Benefits and Beneficiaries from Actual Studies

Title of the Study: The Surviving Cultural Heritage of the Kankeneys of Benguet:
Basis of a Proposed Program for Cultural Preservation and Development (Daonis,
2002)

The beneficiaries of the study were clearly the cultural minorities themselves, the
Kankeneys, because the study was designed to identify their needs and concerns
that pertinent remedies or programs can be done to improve on their situation.
The government (GO’s) and non-government organizations (NGO’s) were
likewise benefited by the cultural minorities, benefited by the study in the sense that
its findings helped them identify the needs of the people and served as a basis for
them to design an integrated, comprehensive and attainable program for the cultural
preservation and development of the respondents.
For the teachers, educators, curriculum planners, administrators and
researchers, the findings of the study facilitated the formulation of implementing
guidelines in the teaching of culture in all school levels nationwide, to acquaint them
of the different cultural aspirations of the different cultures.

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 Presentation of Written Statement of the Problem

Research studies generally include the following interrelated parts, with each one
building on the other: the introduction, which includes an overview of the research
study, the statements of the problem, its significance, the research questions and the
scope and limitations of the research study, the review of the related literature and
research design and research methods.

A. Purposes of the Statement of the Problem

Marshall and Rossman (1995) explain clearly the purposes of the
problem statement or inquiry:
1. Describing the substantive focus of the research study
2. To frame it as
a. A larger theoretical policy
b. A practical problem and thereby, develop its significance
3. To pose initial research questions
4. To forecast the literature to be discussed in the second section and
5. To discuss the limitations of the study.

Presentation of the Formulated Statement of the Problem Based on the Feature

Article

Specific Title of the Study: Narcissism in Teenagers: Root Causes, Manifestations and
Interventions

Introduction

Taking selfies or taking video of oneself has become a social phenomenon that
has been brought about by the use of modern gadgets, particularly the mobile phone-
adolescents take pictures or videos of themselves, their possessions, their latest
happenings or gigs, their friends, their food-anything, anyone they take fancy on,
anywhere, anytime. A good number of people say that this social phenomenon has
evolved into narcissism. There is, to date, a lack of research on this topic.

Statement of the Problem

Major Problem: This study aims to investigate the root causes of narcissism, as well as
its manifestations and possible forms of intervention.

Specific problems: Specifically, it seeks answers to the following questions:

1. What are the underlying causes of narcissism?

2. How has technology contributed to narcissistic behavior?
3. What are the manifestations of narcissistic behavior in adolescents?
4. What forms of interventions can be done to address this behavior of
adolescents?
5. How can the following help in developing healthy self-esteem, positive
outlook and attitudes in adolescents?
a. Parents
b. Curriculum Planners
c. Administrators
d. Teachers
e. Guidance Counsellors
f. Peers

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III. Activity Proper

Activity 1: Question and Answer

Directions: Narrow down the following broad topics into specific titles.
1. Pandemic
Title : ________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
2. On-line Selling
Title : ________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
3. Social Media
Title : ________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________

Activity No. 2
Direction: Answer the following questions:
1. Write a specific title of the research problem/inquiry you have chosen.
______________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

2. Refer to your answer in no. 1. Write your justifications/reasons for conducting this
qualitative research.
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

3. Ask at least 3 questions that express the problem of the study.

______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

4. Set the boundaries and parameters of the study in the scope and delimitation.
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
5. State the benefits of the study, as well as the groups of people or organizations that will
benefit from the study.
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

AM I READY OR NOT?
Using a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the highest), rate your preparedness to create a qualitative
research.
I feel/think/believe __________________________________________________________.

Complete this prompt:

As a student, I believe
__________________________________________________________hence I,
_________________________________________________________________________.

IV. Reference for learners

Baceros, E., (2016). Practical research I. Rex Bookstore, Inc., Sampaloc, Manila
Carey, T., Naval, V., Prieto, N., (2017). Practical Research 1 for Senior High School:
Qualitative.LORIMAR publishing Inc., Quezon City, Metro Manila

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