Chapter 2. Identifying the inquiry and stating the problem (Practical Research 2)

Identifying the
Inquiry and Stating
the Problem
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THE RESEARCH PROBLEM
(According to Calderon & Gonzales)
A problem is “any significant,
perplexing, and challenging situation,
real or artificial, the solution of which
requires reflexive thinking”. In
research, it is known as the research
topic.

THE RESEARCH PROBLEM
(According to Calderon & Gonzales)
An intellectual stimulus
calling for an answer in the
form of scientific inquiry.

Sources of Research Topics or
Problems
•Prevailing theories or philosophy
•Observations, intuitions or a
combination of both
•Different subjects taken and from them
identify a problem that interests a
student-researcher most

• Fields of interest or specialization or event
from related fields
• Existing problems in the
classroom/school/campus/university which
one may want to solve are good sources of
research problems
• Existing needs of the community or society
• Related studies and literatures
• Advice of authorities or experts from funding
agencies
• Incidental from interesting topics of
professors during the course meeting/session

Criteria in Choosing a Research
Problem
•It should be something new or
different from what has already
been written about.
•It must be original.
•It should be significant to the field
of study or discipline.
•It must necessarily arouse
intellectual curiosity.

•It should be of researcher’s interest and
researcher must be with the topic.
•It should be modest one for a beginner
to be carried on within a limited period
of time.
•It should be clear, not ambiguous.
• It should be specific, not general.
•It should consider the training and
personal qualifications of the
researcher.

• It should consider the availability of data
involved in the study and the methods
and techniques to be employed in
gathering them.
•It should consider the availability of
effective instruments for gathering the
data and their treatment.
• It should consider the financial capacity
of the researcher to support the project.
•It should consider the time factor
involved in the undertaking.

• Significant to chosen
field/advancement
of science or
specialization
• Pioneering or novel
• Originality
• Arouse intellectual
curiosity
• Relevance to degree
• Availability or
manageability of data
• Availability of
instruments Interest
• Training
• Expertise
• Financial capacity
• Time factor involved
in the project

Choosing a Workable Topic
(According to Bordo, et al.)
AVOID THE FOLLOWING TOPICS:
•Controversial issues (e.g., political
scandals, court matters, etc.)
•Very new topics (references may
not yet be available)

•Personal bias and discriminating
topics (e.g., racism, sexism, etc.)
•Supernatural and paranormal
topics (e.g., fortune-telling, astral
projection, telepathy, etc.)
•Political conflicts (e.g., graft and
corruption, wiretapping, war on
drugs, etc.)
•How to commit crimes

Things to consider in selecting a
topic:
•Time frame for completion
(Research should be feasible)
•Benefit to the community. Topics
that improve human life is the
ultimate goal of research.
(Research is ethical)

•Focus on a specific area of
knowledge; i.e., it should be
concentrated on a specific subject
area.
•Topics should be interesting; that
is, pertinent to the readers’
interests.
•Topics should be measurable and
observable for it must be results
oriented.

No.
Indicator of a good Research Problem in
Quantitative Research
YES NO
1 Are you interested in the problem?
2
When the problem is studied, can it benefit a
group of people?
3 Is it new and fresh?
4 Can it be completed in a defined period of time?
5
Can you develop guide questions to use in
gathering data?
6
Can it help refine or improve existing ideas or
facts?
7 Can it help improve the system or program?
8 Can you do it with the help of experts you know?
9
Can you complete the study with the budget that
you have?
10 Are you really determined to finish the study?

Guidelines in the
Formulation of a
Research Title

1. Elements of a Research
Title
The research title is not
meant to be entertaining or
“catchy” like the titles of
television programs or movies,
but informative. The parts of a
research title contain the
following information:

•The subject matter or
topic to be investigated.
(“What?”)
•The place or locale where
the research is to be
conducted. (“Where?”)

•The population or universe
from who the data are to be
collected, i.e., the respondents
or interviewees. (“Who”?)
•The time period of the study
during which the data are to
be collected. (“When”?)

•The title must be broad enough to
include all aspects of the study but
should be brief and concise as possible.
• The use of terms as “Analysis of”, “A
Study of”, “An Investigation of” and the
like should be avoided.
• If the title contains more than one line, it
should be written in inverted pyramid.
• When typed or encoded in the title page,
all words in the title should be in capital
letters.

• If possible, the title should not be longer
than 15 substantive words.
•Avoid a long, detailed title that gives too
much information.
• To shorten the title, delete the terms
“assessment” or “evaluation” if these are
already emphasized in the text.

Characteristics of a Good Title
• A title should give readers information about
the contents of the research and is preferable
to one that is vague or general.
• Titles do not need to be stuffy or dull but they
should generally give readers some idea at
the outset of what the research paper will
contain.
• Choose a title that is a phrase rather than a
complete sentence.
• Select a straightforward title over other kinds.

•Use no punctuation at the end
of the title.
•Do not underline the title of
research or enclose it in
quotation marks, instead, use
a word processing program or
printer that permits italics.

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Chapter I. The Problem
and Its Background
1)Background of the Study
2)Statement of the Problem
3)Scope and Delimitation
4)Significance of the Study

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
•Presentation of the problem –
Describe the existence of an
unsatisfactory condition or a
problem that needs a solution.
•Historical background of the
problem - Give the historical
background of the problem, if
applicable.

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
•Geographical conditions of the
study locale - If applicable,
describe the geographical
location of the study.
•Rationale of the study - Give the
reason(s) why the study should
be conducted.

•It includes information which would
focus attention on the importance
and validity of the problem.
•It is the general orientation to the
problem area.
•A brief rationale to justify the
problem must be provided.
•This is the present state of
knowledge regarding the problem.

The background includes:
1. Discussion of the problem in general
and the specific situations as
observed and experienced by the
researcher
2. Concepts and ideas related to the
problem
3. Discussion of the existing or present
conditions and what is aimed to be
in the future or the gap to be filled in
by the researcher.

In 2004, the researcher migrated to the
Philippines to accompany her spouse who was at the
time studying at the Adventist Institute for International
Advanced Studies (AIIAS) in Silang, Cavite. They
discovered the study opportunities and were motivated
by the quality of education and low school fees being
offered. They visited several colleges and universities to
collect pamphlets and sent them back to Vanuatu for
educational awareness. The Ni-Vanuatus became aware
and decided to send students to study in the
Philippines. The first two schools to receive Vanuatu
students were AMA Computer College in Dasmariñas,
Cavite and Air Link Aviation College in Parañaque City.
The researcher came to know Cavite State University
(CvSU) in 2009 and transferred from AMA. (Ngwele,
March 2011)

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
•(also called “purpose
statement and research
questions”) is a statement of
the purpose of the study and
a series of questions that will
help in researching the topic.

•This is the basic difficulty, the issue,
the area of concern, the
circumstances which exist, then,
how they ought to be.
•The researcher should give the
background which led to this
circumstances that exist.

•Briefly describe the condition or
a situation that exists which is
perceived as something less than
the ideal: or what it should be
and how you see it to be.

It is composed of …
•1) the general statement of
the problem (the purpose
statement) and
•2) the specific sub-problems
or sub-questions (or research
questions)

Objective or Purpose of the Study
•It is the first part of the problem where
the researcher states the objective.
•This is a statement of a long term
objective expected to be achieved by
the study.
•This is derived by the identification and
crystallization of the research problem
and as reflected in the title.

Research Questions or
Investigative Problems
•These are the specific questions which
are to be answered in the study.
•The answers to these should lead to the
solution of the research problem.
•Focus on a clear goal or objective. State
the precise goal.
•The problem should be limited enough
in making a definite conclusion possible.

1. The major statement or question may
be followed by minor statements or
questions.
•The introductory statement must be the
purpose/aim or the objective of the
study.
Example: Specifically, the study aims to
determine the causes of low performance
of selected programs in the board
examinations. Further, it seeks to answer
to answer to the following sub problems 1,
2, 3 etc.

2. If the goal is specifically to test a given
hypothesis then state so.
•In many cases, the objective will be a
more general statement than that of a
hypothesis.
•Example: The primary objective of this
study is to test the hypothesis that there
is a relationship between workplace
condition and teaching performance of
faculty members.

3. Investigative questions are the specific
topical questions that one must resolve
to achieve research objective or test the
research hypothesis.

Guidelines in Writing the Statement
of the Problem
(Accordingto Calderon& Gonzales)
•The general statement of the problem
(or the purpose statement) and the
specific sub-problems (or the research
questions) should be formulated first
before conducting the research.
•It is customary to state specific sub-
problems in the interrogative form;
hence, sub-problems are also called
“specific questions”.

•Each specific research
question should be clear and
unequivocal (should only
have one meaning) in porder
to avoid confusion.
•Each research question
should be researchable apart
from the other questions (i.e.,
separable).

•Each research question must be
based upon known facts and
phenomena. Furthermore, data
from such facts and phenomena
should be accessible to the
researcher.
•Answers to each research question
can be interpreted apart from the
answers to the other specific
questions.

• Answers to each research question
must contribute to the development
of the whole research study.
•Summing up the answers to all the
specific questions will give a
complete development of the entire
study.
•The number of research questions
should be enough to cover the
development of the whole research
study.

This research aims to develop an evaluation
model of a web-based tool used in test
administration for Grade 11 and 12 students.
Specifically it aims to answer the following
questions:
1. What are the commonly used web-based
tools used in test administration?
2. How are these web-based test tools
evaluated?
3. How could evaluation model be designed
for web-based test administration?
(Leanillo, 2016)

SCOPE AND DELIMITATION
This section is a description of
what is included in the study and
what is not included.
The population under study and
the locale of the study should be
described.

•The scope describes the coverage of
the study.
•It specifies what is covered in terms
of concept, number of subjects or the
population included in the study, as
well as the timeline when the study
was conducted.

•Delimit by citing factors or
variables that are not to be
included and the boundary in
terms of time frame, number of
subjects, participants or
respondents who are excluded.
•Specify that which you will not
deal within the study.

•What – the topic of investigation
and the variables included
•Where – the venue or the setting
of the research
•When - the time frame by which
the study was conducted

•Why – the general objectives of the
research
•Who – the subject of the study, the
population and sampling
•How – the methodology of the
research which may include the
research design, methodology and
the research instrument

The study shall only include children
studying at the Sunday school of Beth Yaacov
synagogue in Makati City. This will include only
children from ages five (5) to twelve (12), being
the age when Jewish children begin their religious
education, and ending at the age when they
become bar mitzvah and bat mitzvah. Children
from other Jewish communities in the country, like
the “Bagel Boys” in Pampanga or the recently
established Chabad House also in Makati, are not
included. Children below the age of religious
instruction (five years old) and beyond (twelve
years old) are not included. Attendees of the
various adult classes held at the synagogue, are
likewise not included. (Guerrero, October 2011)

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
This is a list of the people or
institutions who will benefit from
the study and how they will benefit
from the study.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
•The researcher defines who will
benefit out of the findings of the
study.
•The researcher describes how the
problem will be solved and
specifically pinpoints who will
benefit from such findings or
results.

Tips in Writing the Significance
of the Study
1. Refer to the statement of
the problem.
2. Write from generic to
specific.

Married couples. The study would be beneficial to
them since they are married and they would be
able to understand each other more and be more
aware of each others feelings toward a certain
topic.
Future researchers. The study would serve as their
reference in their research study which could be
beneficial and similar to this.
Housewives. Since they are the participants, this
would help them to know more and be aware in
Korean dramas’ effects in their lives as well as their
perception on marriage and family life.
(Arcibal, April 2011)

•Think of three topics which you intend to
prepare as your research undertaking.
Take your time in choosing the topic. Take
note that the topic should be related to
your academic track/strand.
•What are the 5 important things you had
in mind considering these three topics?
•Formulate your research titles for the
three topics and present them to your
teacher. Have your teacher approve one
research title.

Chapter 2. Identifying the inquiry and stating the problem (Practical Research 2)

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