Research 1

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 RESEARCH 1
I. What is research?

Research – was coined from two words: the prefix re, which means “again,” and the word search, meaning
“to look for something.”
- is an organized method of finding novel or relatively new ideas from the existing body of
knowledge with the help of useful tools for the purpose of improving the quality of life. By using these ideas,
most society’s major problems are resolved, needs are satisfied, and demands are met

AIMS OF RESEARCH
Aside from its goal to improve the quality of life, research has the following aims:

1. Verification of Existing Knowledge

- verifying or proving the veracity (truthfulness or accuracy) of existing theories or knowledge which
may lead to the development of new ideas, strengthening a current knowledge, or debunking a theory.
2. Acquisition of New Knowledge
3. Application of New Knowledge
4. Advancement of the Researcher’s Expertise

FUNCTIONS OF RESEARCH

1. Exploration (Exploratory Investigation)

- it’s purpose is to provide a foundation for future studies and seeks to find more information about a topic
and a broader perspective or an additional knowledge to what is currently known.

2. Description (Descriptive Research)

- it’s primary purpose is to give additional information on newly discovered ideas that are are results of
exploration. Fills in the gaps and details regarding a particular idea with the intent to expand understanding.
Here, more information is needed to be supplied in order to answer the “what” and “how” questions instead of
formulating unsure explanations.

3. Explanation (Explanatory Research)

- it’s task is to look into how things are connected and how they interact and aims to explain relationship
between variables, quantitatively or qualitatively.

CHARACTERISTICS OF RESEARCH

1. Realistic
- must result to empirical data. Empirical data are those derived from actual observations of a phenomenon,
interviews of people who have witnessed an incident, analysis of first-hand document sources, excavation of
artifacts, and other actions that yield evidence of one’s investigations.

2. Logical
- follows valid, definite principles, frameworks, and procedures.

3. Cynical
- meaning it starts with a problem and ends with another. As soon as the question is answered, other questions
may arise. These new questions may refine the answers generated, fine-tune the research methods, or modify
the answered research question. This process continues until such time that a purified body of knowledge is
attained.

4. Analytical
- well-founded or well-grounded, can be examined in the smallest detail

5. Objective
- based on facts rather than feelings and not influenced by feelings

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6. Critical
- use of careful judgments about good and bad parts of something

7. Replicable
- can be recreated or reproduce
TYPES OF RESEARCH

A. Basic or Pure Research

- it’s aim is to come up with new knowledge or contribute to the existing body of knowledge. In this
type of research, an explanation is introduced about an existing (or new) idea.

B. Applied Research
- the aim is to find applications for the theories or create a product employing the existing idea or
theory.

THE RESEARCH PROCESS

1. Identifying the Research Problem

- initial step in the research process. Research problems are those that cause unfavorable circumstances
in a community or an organization. Research problem is considered the heart of a research and serves as a
guide throughout the research process.
- in this step, review of related literature is very important because it enables the researcher to know
what has already been studied about the research problem and what procedures have already been taken to
deliver the results.

2. Formulating Hypotheses and Designing the Study

Research hypothesis – is an intellectual guess or tentative answer to a research questions.
Hypothesis – serves as a guide toward designing the research methodology. A well-designed
methodology is the key to success of any research endeavor. The following questions provide a
guide in constructing an appropriate study design:
a. From whom will your data come?
b. Where are you going to collect your data?
c. When and until when you plan to gather your data?
d. How are you going to facilitate the whole research activity?

3. Collecting of and Organizing Data

Data collection – is the process of gathering information by means of a defined method in order to
support the hypothesis. Data could be anything that is used to represent facts and values or anything
that may represent characteristic of something that is being measured.

4. Analyzing Data and Testing Hypotheses

Data analysis – is the process of examining data against the preconceived hypotheses.
Note: If the data gathered support the hypotheses, then the hypotheses cannot be rejected

5. Interpreting Data
- this process is termed as member-checking

6. Reporting Results
- giving off the results for public information is essential.

CHARACTERISTICS OF A SUCCESSFUL RESEARCHER

1. Curious 4. Effective 7. Inventive

2. Efficient 5. Active 8. Honest
3. Logical 6. Practical 9. Cost-Effective

ETHICS in RESEARCH

What is Ethics?
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 To know clearly the definition of ethics, the concept of morality must be understood. This is because
ethics is anchored on moral standards that must be followed. Morality is a set of unwritten rules that guides
individuals on the things they should or should not do in order to attain harmony and orderliness in any
undertaking. With this, ethics can be defined as the process of applying moral standards and principles in any
undertaking.

In context of research, ethics may be defined as a methodology or perspective in making sound and
right decisions pertaining to actions to be taken, and analysis of intricate problems and issues.

For example, in a complicated project like building an electric power plant in the ancestral domains of
indigenous tribe, a research considering the ecological, political, economic, and ethical issues must be
undertaken to ensure that the indigenous people will not be harmed, let alone be exploited. Through this, the
culture and tradition of the said tribe, as well as their rights, will be protected and preserved.

IMPORTANCE OF ETHICS IN RESEARCH

Why should Ethics be considered in conducting research?

a. Ethics keeps the researcher/s from committing misconduct while seeking knowledge and truth, and
respecting the rights of respondents – humans or animals.
b. Ethics promotes essential values that help researchers to have a common understanding and work on a
topic harmoniously.
c. Ethics binds researchers together in the spirit of important values such as accountability, cooperation,
coordination, mutual respect, and fairness, among others.
d. Ethics draws public trust.

ETHICAL PRINCIPLES THAT SHOULD BE CONSIDERED IN CONDUCTING RESEARCH

1. HONESTY
Intellectual honesty must be upheld in the planning, execution, and writing of the research report. Must
be transparent, stating all concerns so as not to deceive the respondents and other researchers. Fabrication and
falsification of research data must never be an option.

2. OBJECTIVITY
Research investigation must be free from any forms of bias. They must not serve the interest of any
parties, but the interest of finding the truth.

3. INTEGRITY
The research must uphold sincerity and consistency. The planned research methodology must be
consistent with the executed procedures. Sincerity must be manifested by keeping what has been promised in
the proposal.

4. CAREFULNESS
Must be free of careless errors of negligence. Error in procedures must be foreseen so that measured
must be planned to avoid them. Good record-keeping and journal-making must be maintained in all stages of
the study.

5. OPENNESS
Researchers must still be open to constructive criticism. This is because no researcher has the
monopoly of knowledge.

6. RESPECT FOR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Ideas, copyrights, patents, and other forms of intellectual property owned by other individuals must be
acknowledge properly when used as bases in any investigation. The principle, “give credit to whom the credit
is due,” must be observed.

7. TRUSTWORTHINESS
Trustworthiness is manifested in research if data and information about human respondents are used
only for the purpose of the research. Confidentiality of data should be observed specially of the respondents to
avoid scrutiny or discrimination from the public.
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8. SOCIAL AND LEGAL RESPONSIBILITY
Legalities, rules, and regulations of an institution or government must be considered when conducting
a study. Research must be published with the aim of advancing knowledge and promoting social welfare,
minimizing harm and risk, and maximizing the benefits for the target population.
ETHICAL ISSUES IN RESEARCH

1. Animal Rights and Welfare

- Animal welfare and animal rights are two different concepts. Animal welfare refers to the
consideration of what the animal feels when a certain procedure is done on them, while animal
rights assume that animals think, feel, and protect the interest of other animal species. Researchers
are concerned with the welfare of animals in research.
- Philippine Republic Act 8485 (The Animal Welfare Act of 1998) – its purpose is to protect and
promote welfare of all animals in the Philippines.
If animals are used in the research the following must be observed
a. Reduce – least number of animal subjects is recommended. If causalities cannot be
avoided, these should be minimized without sacrificing the quality of the research results.
b. Refine – if harm cannot be avoided, research procedures are evaluated and refined carefully
to minimize possible pain and suffering of the animal subjects.
c. Replace – If there is a possibility of replacing animals by other materials or nonliving or non-
biological subjects, replacement option must be explored.

2. Human Rights
a. Right to voluntary participation
b. Right to informed consent
c. Right to be protected from harm
d. Right to confidentiality
e. Right to anonymity
 Data Privacy Act of 2012 (Republic Act No. 10173)
- aims to protect individual personal information from the information and communications
system in the government and the private sector

3. Scientific Dishonesty
- involves deviation from the universally accepted conduct in research undertaking, resulting to
scientific dishonesty.

AREAS OF SCIENTIFIC DISHONESTY

1. Fabrication and falsification of data

- known as ‘cooking the data’, involve producing data without an actual experimentation or
altering data in recording for the intention to fit them to what are expected.

2. Non-publication of data
– involves choosing not to include data because they do not conform to the well-established body of
knowledge or are unsupportive of the research hypothesis. Only the results that do not reject the
hypothesis are reported and published.

3. Faulty data gathering procedure

- negligence or carelessness lead to errors in measurement or faulty research instruments.

4. Plagiarism
- this fraudulent act involves claiming another person’s ideas, work, or publication. It is a form of
intellectual property stealing and dishonesty that usually happens in scientific publications.

II. Qualitative Research

- There is no universally accepted definition of qualitative research, although it is known that data
collected are usually not numerical. Fraenkel (2007) defined qualitative research as research studies that
investigate the quality of relationships, activities, situations, or materials. Qualitative research is described by
its aims, methodology, and the kind of data collected to understand the different facets of social life.
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 - Attempts ‘to make sense of and interpret phenomena in terms of the meaning people bring to
them’(Denzin & Lincoln, 2011). The intent of qualitative research is not to generalize the conclusion about an
entire group of people, but to develop an in-depth explanation of a phenomenon.
Qualitative approaches to research are universal and holistic. They follow these beliefs:
a. A single reality is not observed.
b. Reality is based upon concepts that are distinct for each person and change over time.
c. What we perceive has meaning only within a given situation.

CHARACTERISTICS OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

According to Bogdan and Biklen, as cited in Fraenkel and Wallen (2006), the characteristics of
qualitative research are as follows:

1. The direct source of data is the natural setting and the researcher is the key instrument in
qualitative research. Researchers go directly to the particular setting of interest to observe and collect
the needed data.

2. Data collected are in the form of words or illustrations rather than numbers. The kinds of data
collected may include, but not limited to, audio recordings, diaries, field notes, memorandums,
official records, personal comments, photographs, textbook passages, transcripts of interviews,
videotapes, and anything else that convey actual words or actions of people.

3. Qualitative research is concerned with process as well as product. The primary interest of a
Qualitative researcher is on how things happen and on people’s interaction with one another.

4. Analysis of data is taken inductively. It starts with the specific concepts of the respondents to
draw out general idea or theory. To do this, a considerable amount of time is spent in collecting data
before the important questions are considered.

5. Qualitative research deals with how people make sense out of their lives. The perspective of the
subjects of a study is a major concern.

USES OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

a. draw meaningful information (not conveyed in quantitative data) about beliefs, feelings, values, and
motivations that support behavior
b. learn directly from people and what is important to them
c. provide the context required to elicit quantitative results
d. identify variables important for further studies
e. determine one’s genre as a primary step to develop a quantitative survey
f. assess the usability of websites, database, or other interactive media/services

STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

STRENGTHS
- provide in-depth information on individual cases
- unravels complex phenomena embedded in local context
- describes rich phenomena situated in some exceptional environments
- relays subjects’ experiences and perspectives in unusual details
- conveys setting factors related to the situation of interest
- allows flexibility in research-related processes
- enables data to be collected in natural setting
- determines possible causes of a particular event in another perspective as that given by quantitative
research
- permits approaches that are responsive to local conditions and stakeholders’ needs
- tolerates shifts in focus based on research results
- present several options in the conduct of the research
- accepts unstructured interpretation of the participants, respecting anything that is in the
participants’ context
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 WEAKNESSES
- data gathering is often time-consuming
- analysis of data takes longer time than that in quantitative analysis
- interpretation of results is usually biased because it is influenced by the researcher’s perspective
- conclusions are not generalizable because the subjects are few and sometimes possess unique
characteristics compared to typical respondents

IMPORTANCE OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH ACROSS FIELDS OF INQUIRY

Qualitative research is oriented toward analyzing concrete cases in temporal and local
particularity. It starts from the respondents’ perspective, expressions, and activities in their local
context. In this case, qualitative research is important across many fields of inquiry because it is
designed for social sciences, psychology, and other fields. With this, qualitative research would
verify or validate the tendencies, transform it into research programs, and maintain the necessary
changes toward its objectives and tasks.

For example, qualitative research can be employed in health care research. One may
study people’s experiences of and access to health care. Various perspective of patients and
professionals can be understood using qualitative research. An individual’s attitude, experiences, and
circumstances in life that affect his/her health needs and behavior can likewise be studied.

COMPARISON BETWEEN QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH

QUALITATIVE QUANTITATIVE
Understands underlying reasons Expresses data in terms of numerical
Gains insights in the prevailing values as gathered from the
Objective/Purpose
trends respondents
Is interpretative and contextualized Draws out exact ideas from samples
May emerge as the study progresses Specifically stated at the outset and
Hypotheses
tested
Comes in small number. The Comes in large numbers. The
respondents are identified using respondents are selected to represent
Sample
nonprobability sampling the population of interest using
probability sampling
Unstructured (free of form) Structured procedures
Data collection
procedures
Data is analyzed inductively Data is analyzed deductively
Data analysis
Minimal to no use of statistical test Requires the use of statistical test
Inconclusive and needs further study Findings are conclusive, usually
Outcome before recommending a course of descriptive in nature, and are used to
action recommend a final course of action.
Findings are particularly in-depth Findings are generalized to all
Generalization
about a certain phenomenon situations

Why conduct a research?

Research must serve one or more of the following purposes:

1. To advance some area of scientific knowledge; to undercut some other area of scientific knowledge.
2. Because the researchers are really interested in that area of knowledge, think it’s exciting, cool, or even
beneficial for humanity.
3. Because the researcher likes the people in that community of researchers and wants to be around them.
4. Because doing research is a good excuse to do other things the researcher likes, such as traveling to
exotic locations, hiking around in the forest looking for snails, or digging up pottery and artifacts in the
desert.
5. To get knowledge and experience necessary to be a better professional academic teacher.
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 6. To get knowledge required to develop a product, to sell it, to make money, whatever that’s in turn
good for…
7. To make a name/reputation for oneself in an academic or corporate field.
8. To make a name/reputation for the special ideas and methods used in your own professional
community. To lead the world to think your approach is legitimate, worth public notice, consequently
to qualify for grant money, or to attract status, reputation, purchasing decisions, etc.
9. To accumulate “evidence” that a certain product is effective (that you want to sell or promote), or on
the other hand, perhaps harmful (for public benefit, or to profit from a competing product)

How to identify research topic?

- Once interest is recognized, a particular topic can be identified. This idea should be explored
thoroughly by scanning and reviewing related literature. To do this, the following can be done:

a. reading books, research articles, and other professional publications regarding a given topic of interest;
b. asking help from experts in the field for more relevant ideas and perspectives; and
c. observing things for more experiences about this interest.

Research topics can be also be identified from the following:

 current events or emerging ideas;
 problems that require solution;
 products that may be tested;
 reports about what scientist are currently working on;
 problems encountered when using a new technology; and
 specific needs of a certain community.

In selecting a research topic, the following factors may also be (but not solely) considered:
a. Personal factors are related to personal experiences, professional qualifications, expertise, motivation,
intellectual curiosity, and perceptiveness of the researcher. Time element benefits, and hazards may
also be considered.
b. External factor includes uniqueness or novelty, importance or value of the research availability of data
and materials, ethical considerations, and department or unit where the research is to be undertaken.

GUIDELINES IN CHOOSING A RESEARCH TOPIC

1. Interest in the subject matter

2. Availability of information
3. Timeless and relevance of the topic
4. Limitations on the subject
5. Personal resources
6. Have a means of data collection
7. Consider your technical skills, capability and limitations
8. Consider the nature of data that is required of the research
9. Do not get spellbound and fascinated with the allure and attraction of a topic without considering the
possible consequences that the research may bring about.
10. Study all possible angles. It will be difficult to turn back when so much effort, time, and resources have
already been expended.

RESEARCH TOPICS TO BE AVOIDED

1. Controversial topics – these are topics that depend greatly on the writer’s opinion, which may tend to be
biased or prejudicial. Facts cannot support topics like these.

2. Highly technical subjects – for a beginner, researching on topics, researching on topics that require an
advanced study, technical knowledge, and vast experience is a very difficult task.

3. Hard-to-investigate subjects – no available reading materials about it and if such materials are not up-to-
date.
4. Too broad subjects – the scope is too wide
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5. Too narrow subjects – very limited
6. Vague subjects – unclear, indefinite topic

SOURCES OF RESEARCH TOPICS

1. Mass media communication

2. Books, internet, peer-reviewed journals, government publications
3. Professional periodicals like College English language teaching forum, Academia, Law review etc.
4. General periodicals such as Reader’s Digest, Women’s Magazine, Panorama magazine etc.
5. Previous reading assignments in your other subjects
6. Work experience

NARROWING DOWN A RESEARCH TOPIC

The following need to be observed in narrowing a topic

a. what is current and what is new;
b. recommendations of researchers who have conducted similar studies;
c. what has already been studied; and
d. new ways of gathering data
Example: 1. 2.
Health services Housing projects
Malnourished children Informal settlers
Southeast Asia Philippines
Last 10 years Last six years
historical economic

Southeast Asian health services in the Low-cost housing projects for Filipino informal
past 10 years settlers for the past six years

RESEARCH PROBLEM
- is a statement about an area of concern, a condition to be improved upon, a difficulty to be
eliminated, or a troubling question that exist in scholarly literature, theory, or practice that points to
the need for a meaningful understanding and deliberate investigation. It may be expressed in
declarative or interrogative form. In some social science disciplines, however, the research problem
is typically posed in the form of one or more questions.
- called the heart of research

CHARACTERISTICS OF A RESEARCH PROBLEM

The following must be considered in constructing a research problem:

 A research problem is not just answerable by yes or no. It should imply that the explanation and
justifications regarding the true situation or observation are required.
 A research problem implies relationship between the variables of the study
 The problem should be stated in clear, unambiguous manner
 A research problem must imply interpretation and analysis of data

CRITERIA FOR EVALUATION OF A GOOD RESEARCH PROBLEM

A good research problem should have the following criteria:

1. Novel – should be something that is new. It may be a new process, product, or principle.
2. Interesting – draws attention and interest from other people.
3. Practical – aim is to improve people’s quality of living, it should be useful and beneficial to its target
population.
4. Innovative – should improve the current state of existing technology
5. Cost-effective – should provide a good value for money, time, resources, and manpower while
conducting the study. It should be economical in addressing the problems of the community.
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 6. Research problem should be SMARTER whether qualitative or quantitative.
a. Specific – must be clearly and specifically stated
b. Measurable – should be quantifiable or observable. It may include interviews, surveys, or recorded
observations, videos and audio.
c. Attainable – should be easily achieved, solved, or answered by the researcher after all valid
procedures had been carried out.
d. Realistic – should be possible for the researchers to perform the experimentations or observations
needed to solve their problems.
e. Time-Bound – could be carried out in the given time period
f. Economical – careful of not wasting resources
g. Reliable – giving same result on successive trials, having an accurate result

RESEARCH QUESTION
- aim to investigate specific aspects of the research problem. Questions lay the foundation for the
research study, therefore they determine the research design or plan of the research.

GUIDELINES IN FORMULATING RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. Establish a clear relation between the research questions and problem or topic.
2. Base the research questions from your RRL.
3. Formulate research questions that can arouse your curiosity and surprise you with your discoveries or
findings.
4. State your research questions in such a way that they include all dependent and independent variables
referred to by the theories, principles, or concepts underlying your research work.
5. Let the set of research questions or sub-problems be preceded by one question expressing the main
problem of the research.
6. Avoid asking research questions that are answerable by “yes” or “no” and use the use of “how”
questions only in a quantitative research.
7. Be guided by the acronym SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, time-bound)

TYPES OF RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. Factor-isolating questions – the purpose of these questions is to categorize or name factors and
situations
Example: What are the possible reasons for the low grades of students in English?

2. Factor-relating questions – aim to establish relationships between the factors that have been
identified.
Example: What relationship exists between variable A and variable B?

3. Situation-relating questions – aim to see the changes that might happen to one variable when the
other variable changes. These questions usually need experimentation in order to get results.
Example: What is the effect of the changes in climate to the behavior of animals living in the grass
fields?

4. Situation-producing questions – questions lead to promote explicit course of action or condition

under which a goal could be accomplished. These are commonly used in action research.

RESEARCH TITLE
- Summarizes the main idea or ideas of the study

ELEMENTS OF A RESEARCH TITLE

1. Aim (Purpose) – answers the question, why do I want to conduct the study?
2. Topic (Subject matter) – answers the question, what do I want to study about?
3. Place (Locale) – answers the question, where do I conduct the study?
4. Period – answers the question, how long will it take for me to finish the study?
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 5. Population or respondents – answers the question, from whom will my data come from or be
collected?

Example:
Problems Met by Teachers due to the Pandemic COVID-19 at Saint Tonis College in Tabuk City for
the School Year 2020 – 2021 to 2021 – 2022.
Aim: To determine the problems encountered by the teachers caused by the Pandemic COVID-19
Topic: coping strategies of teachers
Place: Saint Tonis College in Tabuk City
Period: two years
Population: teachers and school administrators

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

- also called the heart of research study, it is where the general and specific problems or objectives
are presented.
- the introductory statement is usually the general problem or goal based from the research title,
followed by specific problems or objectives that will be thoroughly studied in the course of the
research.

Example:
Research Title: The Impact of the El Niῆo to the Way of Life of the Filipino Farmers
General Problem: This study attempts to document the effects of El Niῆo on the way of life of the Filipino
farmers.
Specific Problems:
1. What are the effects of El Niῆo on the production of agricultural products of the Filipino farmers?
2. What are the effects of the said environmental phenomenon to the social and economic interactions
of the Filipino farmers?
3. What practices are adopted by the said farmers to limit the effects of El Niῆo to their way of life.

SCOPE and LIMITATIONS, and DELIMITATIONS

SCOPE and LIMITATIONS – presents the variables or subjects of the study, the extent to which the research
will cover, the possible factors or nuances that will be given focus on the course of the study, the possible
challenges that the researcher might encounter, and the other things that might be related to the topic but are
beyond the control of the researcher.

SCOPE – covers the explanation as to up to what extent the researcher would want to explore or interpret in
the research

LIMITATIONS – are conditions beyond the control of the researcher that may cause restrictions and make the
conclusions to be generalizable only to the conditions set by the researcher. Due to these factors, the research
conclusions might not hold true for other situations or context.

DELIMITATIONS – are the conditions that the researcher purposely controlled. These are the limits beyond
the concern of the study.

NOTE: In qualitative research, it is important to have basis for data analysis. This is the role of assumptions.
Assumptions are accepted cause-and-effect relationships, or estimates of the existence of a fact from the
known existence of other facts. They are useful in providing bases for action and in creating “what if”
scenarios to stimulate different realities or possible situations.

BENEFITS OF CONDUCTING A RESEARCH IN DIFFERENT FIELDS

1. To contribute towards the advancement of science

2. To take an active role in one’s own healthcare
3. To help combat feelings of helplessness
4. To do something interesting
5. To exercise one’s autonomy and take an active role in society
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6. To have the possibility of trying an experimental drug (perhaps but not necessarily when all other
established treatment possibilities have been exhausted)
7. To access treatments which are not yet widely available
8. To receive high quality, free healthcare from leading experts during the trial
9. To improve one’s own condition, wellbeing or quality of life

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE/LITERATURE REVIEW

- looking for academic and research journals, books, and other similar documents that contain
reports of previous research studies about a topic related to the present research.
- involves a process of identifying, locating, organizing, and analyzing information about a
research topic.

Why conduct Review of Related Literature?

- conducting a literature review is essential because it presents duplication of studies and helps
avoid problems that others have encountered.
- also provides valuable information about how to measure the research variables involved and
what research designs will be most useful.
- reflects the depth of discussion, analysis, and interpretation of findings.

LITERATURE serves the following functions in a research process:

a. It provides information about past research studies related to the intended

investigation, preventing the duplication of research undertakings.
b. It presents gaps in the field of the study.
c. It affords confidence and authority to the researchers.
d. It gives information about the methods used in similar studies, including the
characteristics of the samples, the sampling techniques or the process of selecting the
research participants; the variables considered, the kinds of data gathered, and the type
of analysis and interpretation done on the collected data.
e. It enumerates findings from the previous studies that may support those of the present
study.
f. It provides ideas on how implications may be drawn out of the analysis and
interpretation of data.

PURPOSES of REVIEW of RELATED LITERATURE

1. to obtain background knowledge of your research
2. to relate your study to the current condition or situation of the world
3. to show the capacity of your research work to introduce new knowledge
4. to expand, prove, or disprove the findings of previous research studies
5. to increase your understanding of the underlying theories, principles, concepts of your research
6. to explain technical terms involved in your research study
7. to avoid repeating previous research studies
8. to recommend the necessity of further research on a certain topic

Styles or Approaches of RRL

I. Traditional Review of Literature

- aim is to give an expanded or new understanding of an existing work. A traditional
review is prone to your subjectivity and does not require describing the method of reviewing
literature but expects that intentions in conducting the review and naming the sources of
information should be stated.

Traditional review is of different types that are as follows:

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1. Conceptual review – analysis of concepts or ideas to give meaning to some national or world
issues
2. Critical review – focuses on theories of hypotheses and examines meanings and results of their
application to situations
3. State-of-the-Art review – makes researcher deal with the latest research studies on the subject
4. Expert review – encourages a well-known expert to do RRL because of the influence of a
certain ideology, paradigm, or belief on him/her
5. Scoping review – prepares a situation for a future research work, in the form of project making
about community development, government policies, and health services, among others.

II. Systematic Review of Literature

- a review that is methodical
- a style of RRL that involves sequential acts of review of related literature.

Steps in Systematic Review by Ridley 2012

1. Have a clear understanding of the research questions.

2. Plan the manner of obtaining the data.
3. Do the literature research.
4. Using certain standard, determine which data, studies, or sources of knowledge are valuable or
not to warrant the reasonableness of your decision to take some data and junk the rest.
5. Determine the methodological soundness of the research studies.
6. Summarize what you have gathered from various sources of data.

Traditional Review vs. Systematic Review

STANDARDS TRADITIONAL REVIEW SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

To have a thorough and clear To meet certain objectives based on
Purpose
understanding of the field specific research questions
Scope Comprehensive, wide picture Restricted focus
Indefinite plan, permits creative Viewable process and paper trail
Review Design
and explanatory plan
Purposeful selection by the Prepared standards for studies
Choice of studies
reviewer selection
Inquiry-based techniques Wide and thorough search for all
Nature of studies
involving several studies studies
Quality appraisal Reviewer’s views Assessment checklist
Summary Narrative Graphical and short summary
answers

Types of sources for related literature

1. General reference – are sources that are first accessed by researchers to give them information
about other sources such as research articles, professional journals, books, monographs,
conference proceedings, and similar documents.
2. Primary sources – are those that provide first-hand information about experts’ and other
researchers’ publications. Examples are academic and research journals published by
universities and learned organizations.
3. Secondary sources – are those written by authors that describe another researchers’ works.
Examples are textbooks, single-authored books, and books edited by different authors with
each contributing to a collection of chapters on a single topic.
4. Tertiary sources – are books and articles based on secondary sources. It synthesizes and
explains the work of others.

Steps in writing Review of Related Literature

1. Introduction – discusses briefly the research problem and the significance of the study. It may
also present the organization of the discussion of the claims and arguments of experts and
researchers aligned with the topic of interest.
13
2. Body – contains a narrative of relevant ideas and findings found in the reports of other
researchers that support the present research problem.
3. Synthesis – ties together the main ideas revealed in the review of related literature. It presents
an overall picture of what was established up to the present, and perhaps how the review can
support the development and conduct of the research.
4. Bibliography – contains the full bibliographic information of all sources mentioned in the
review.

Guidelines in Citing Author(s) of Related Literature

1. By author or writer – in this method, facts, ideas, or principles are discussed or explained
separately. The respective authors or writers are then cited in the footnote:
Examples:
Burns et al. (2008) expounded that learning styles are the preferred habitual patterns of mental
functioning.
Romanelli et al. (2009) described learning styles as the cognitive, affective, and respond to the
learning environment.

2. By topic – in this case, if many authors have the same opinion or idea about the same topic,
discussion and citation of the topic is under the names of the authors or writers.
Example:
The use of animated movies, computer animation, and simple drawings are constructive for
stimulating and maintaining learner’s attention (Williamson & Abraham, 1995; Ames & Ames, 1995;
Barak, 2006)

3. Chronological – related materials or references may be cited in a chronological manner, that

is, according to the year they were written or published
Examples:
Adri (2004) described the relationship between the student’s learning styles and their academic
performance.
Baldomero (2006) assessed the learning style of students in bridge programs in a public high
school and their implications on academic achievement.
Romana (2010) determined the learning styles and multiple intelligences of pupils in a
preparatory school.

APA (American Psychological Association) Style of Citing

- the most common way to cite in the field of social sciences. In using this format, the author-
date-method of in-text

1. A work by two authors

- name both authors in the parentheses whenever their work is cited. Use the word “and”
between the authors’ names within the text and use the ampersand (&) in the parentheses.
Examples:
Research is ….. (Robinson & Levi, 1997)
Robinson and Levin (1997) discussed….

2. A work by three to five authors

- include the entire author’s surname in parentheses the first time the source is cited. Use the
word and between the author’s names within the text and use the ampersand in the parentheses.
Examples:
Kim, Song, Chang, Kang, and Park (2013) posited….
Learning is ….. (Kim, Song, Chang, Kang, and Park 2013)

In subsequent citations, only use the first author’s surname followed by the words “et al.”
which means ‘and others’ in parentheses.
Examples:
Kim et al. (2013) stated…..

3. Six or more authors

14
 - use the first author’s surname followed by the words “et al.” which means ‘and others’ in
parentheses.
Example:
Choi et al. (2013) reported…..

However, if two sources have six or more authors but with some identical surnames, cite the
first author followed by as many names to distinguish one source from the other.
Example:
Orleans, Nuevo Espaῆa, Palomar, Camacho, Avilla, Sotto (2014) suggested….
Orleans, Nuevo Espaῆa, Palomar, Florentino, David, Abulon (2014) claimed…..

In the subsequent citations, the following is observed:

Orleans, Nuevo Espaῆa, Palomar, Camacho et al. (2014) argued ….

Orleans, Nuevo Espaῆa, Palomar, Florentino et al. (2014) maintained…..

4. Associations, corporations, government agencies, etc. as an author

Example:
According to the Department of Education (2013)……

However, if the association has a well-known abbreviation, the abbreviation in brackets is

included the first time it appears and then only the abbreviation in later citations.
Example:
First citation: Commission on Higher Education [CHED] (2012)….
Second citation: CHED (2012)….

5. Citing indirect sources – If a source was mentioned in another source, the citation is as follows:
Smith argued that …(as cited in Johnson, 2005, p. 92).

6. Electronic sources – are cited the same way as any other document by using the author-date style.
Example: Briones (2009) explained…

7. Citing websites – websites are cited the same way as and other source, using the author-date style if
known. If there is no author, the title and the date are cited as in the in-text citation (for long titles, the
first few words are cited). For sources with no date, “n.d.” (for no date) in place of the year is used.
Example:
Andrews, n.d.

a. In-text citation for website with no author

Example:
Bulacan has become a major link between large and concentered consumer markets in the
National Capital Region (NCR) or Metro Manila and the resource-rich provinces of Northern
Luzon (Provincial Government of Bulacan, 2007).

b. Reference entry for website with no author

Example:
Provincial Government of Bulacan. (2007). Retrieved from
http://www.bulacan.gov.ph/business/products.php

c. In-text citation for section of website with no author

Example:
In addition, bamboo bike cannot be split in two because of having so much fiber (“Philippine
Bamboo Bikes Hit”, 2012).

d. Reference entry for section of a website with no author

Example:
Philippine Bamboo Bikes Hit Market. 2012. Manila Bulletin. Retrieved from
https://ph.news.yahoo.com/philippine-bamboo-bikes-hit-market-154958087.html

15
 ETHICAL STANDARDS in WRITING RELATED LITERATURE

There are three broad issues that need to be considered when completing research report and
transmitting results. These ethical standards to be followed are as follows:

1. Plagiarism
- is an act of claiming another’s work or copying a portion of someone else’s writing. If
copying another researcher’s ideas cannot be avoided, proper citation must be done.

2. Self-Plagiarism
- when the researchers reuse their own work or data in a “new” written product without
letting the readers know that the manuscript appeared in another literature.

3. Copyright
- the exclusive legal right, given to an originator or an assignee to print, publish, perform,
film, or record literary, artistic, or musical material, and to authorize others to do the same.

Prepared by:

Karen Joan Malawis-Galino

Subject Teacher
FOURTH GRADING

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH DESIGN

Design – is a word which means a plan or something that is conceptualized by the mind.

Research design – is the process of structuring techniques and strategies that help researchers solve
their problems or answer their inquiry.
- serves a blueprint or skeletal framework of a research study which includes many
related aspects of the research work.

TYPES OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH DESIGN

- involves studying particular group or population in the natural setting or in
their habitat. It aims to describe, analyze, and interpret behavior patterns, belief
systems, and unique language of people in a particular culture and ethnicity.
- Observational techniques are used to gather data from the subjects as they are
naturally observed. There are no alterations done in the environment of the
research subjects.
1. ETHNOGRAPHY
- usually takes a long period of time to be finished
- best used in studying culture-sharing groups in their natural environment which
can be a school, a family, or a community.
- example of this approach may be a study of the life of indigenous people in a
particular locality or a study of school practices and changes to deliver relevant
and meaningful education to students
- commonly used to elicit different ideas, opinions, or beliefs from the
respondents when a unified theoretical explanation is needed about an event, an
action, or a process that fits the situation or actual work in practice.
2. GROUNDED - aims at developing a theory to increase understanding of something in a
THEORY psycho-social context.
- occurring in an inductive manner, wherein one basic category of peoples’
action and interactions gets related to a second category, third category; and so
on until a new theory emerges from the previous data.

16
 - is a better alternative than its equivalent theory taken “off the shelf” because it
is generated from the persons concerned in their actual habitat, academic setting,
or work environment.
- usually involves series of data gathering procedures to validate the information
gathered from the participants.

- is done when a researcher would want to know the deeper details about a
certain situation, event, process, and even a group of individuals.
- a series of thorough and in-depth data collection procedures from multiple
3. CASE STUDY sources of information is done.
- example of case studies include a study on the role of the school in assimilation
of immigrant orphans or a study that deals with finding out the reasons why it is
difficult for some people to withdraw from the vices.
- a phenomenon is something you experience on Earth as a person. It is a
sensory experience that makes you perceive or understand things that naturally
occur in life such as death, joy, friendship, caregiving, defeat and victory.
4. - describes the common meaning of several individuals’ lived experiences about
PHENOMENOLOGY a phenomenon. Primarily, the purpose of this approach is to generate a universal
description of a phenomenon from its several contexts.
- an example of phenomenology is studying the green flash that sometimes
happens just after sunset or just before sunrise.
- is a systematic collection and evaluation of information, which may include
documents, stories, and artifacts to describe, explain, and eventually understand
events and actions that happened in the past.
- evaluation of documents involves external and internal criticism. External
criticisms refers to the examination of the authenticity of the materials like “Who
wrote the document and for what purpose the document was written?”, “When,
where, and under what circumstances the document was written?”, and “Do
other forms of the document exist?”are asked. Internal criticisms mean
examination of the accuracy of the information in the document and the
truthfulness of the author.
5. HISTORICAL
- presence at and participation in the event, and competence of the author are
APPROACH
important factors in this evaluation.
- researchers use this information to critically analyze the cause for the current
situation and to be able to recommend possible solution that could resolve the
issues and problems.
- the data collecting techniques are biography or autobiography reading,
documentary analysis, and chronicling activities.
- this approach is best used to gather information about particular historical
event like the 1986 EDSA revolution, martial law period.
Note: However, one drawback of historical study, is the absence, or loss of
complete and well-kept old may hinder the completion of the study.

STEPS IN SELECTING APPROPRIATE STRATEGIES FOR QUALITATIVE INQUIRY

1. Identify the specific strategy of inquiry that will be used.

2. Provide some background information about the strategy, such as discipline, applications, and
definition.
3. Discuss why is it an appropriate strategy to use in the proposed study.
4. Identify how to use of the strategy will be helpful as to the types of questions asked the form of data
collection, the steps of data analysis, and the final write-up.

A. SAMPLING and SAMPLING PROCEDURE

TERMINOLOGIES:
1. Population – is the complete group of persons, animals, or objects that possess characteristics that are
of the researcher’s interest.
Two kinds of Population

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 a. Target population – is made up of all research elements that the researcher would want to
his/her findings to be generalized.
b. Accessible population – is a group of research elements within which the researcher
respondents will be taken from.
2. Sample – is a group of individuals that represents the characteristics of a population.
3. Sampling – refers to the method of process of selecting respondents or people to answer question
meant to yield data for research study.

ADVANTAGES OF SAMPLING

1. It saves time, effort and resources.

2. It minimizes casualties.
3. It paves the way for thorough investigation.
4. It allows easy data handling, collection, and analysis.

CLASSIFICATION OF SAMPLING

1. Probability Sampling or Unbiased Sampling

- is a sampling technique, in which the subjects of the population get an equal opportunity to be
selected as a representative sample.
2. Non-Probability Sampling
- is a method of sampling wherein, it is not known that which individual from the population will
be selected as a sample.
-
SAMPLING IN QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

1. Extreme or deviant case sampling – focuses at highly unusual manifestation of the phenomenon of
interest. This strategy tries to select particular cases that would gather the most information about a
given research topic.
Example: In a group of patients in a psychiatric ward, a researcher might choose to include in
his/her samples those who have extreme cases of schizophrenia or those who have suicidal
tendencies.
2. Intensity sampling – involves information-rich cases that manifest the phenomenon intensely, but not
extremely (ex. good and poor students, above average and below average). This strategy is similar to
extreme or deviant case; the difference is that the cases are not that extreme. This type of sampling
requires prior information on the variation of the phenomena under study.
3. Maximum variation sampling – selects a wide range of variation on dimension of interest and its
purpose is to discover or uncover central themes, core elements, and/or shared dimensions that cut
across a diverse sample. It also provides an opportunity to document unique or diverse variations. To
implement this sampling, matrix is created where each item on the matrix as different as possible from
all other items.
4. Homogeneous sampling – brings together people of similar backgrounds and experiences. It reduces
variations, simplifies analysis, and facilities group interview. This strategy is used most often when
conducting focus groups.
Example: study about parenting program, all single-parent, female head of the household is
selected.
5. Typical case sampling – adopted when presenting a qualitative profile of one or more typical cases.
Example: a study that involves development projects in the Third World countries, a typical
sampling case of “average”.
6. Critical case sampling – cases that will produce critical information. This method permits logical
generalization and maximum application of information. Usually presented to a group of highly
educated people.
7. Snowball or chain sampling – done by relevant people if they know someone or somebody fitted or is
willing to participate in a study. For instance, a researcher will use the social media to ask people if
they can refer persons who meet the criteria to become the respondents for the research study.
8. Criterion sampling – is typically applied when considering quality assurance issues.
Example: the average length of stay of a patient who have undergone a certain surgical procedure
in three days. Any patient who have undergone the same surgical procedure and whose stay
exceeded three days may be set as a criterion of becoming a sample in the study.
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 9. Operational construct or theoretical sampling – is used in grounded theory studies in which people or
incidents are sampled based on whether or not manifest an important theoretical or operational
construct.
10. Confirming and disconfirming sample – seek cases that are both “expected” band the “exception” to
what is expected. This strategy deepens initial analysis, seeks exceptions, and test variation and this
strategy is typically adopted after an initial fieldwork has established must be found.
Example: study about factors affecting the academic performance
11. Stratified purpose sampling – focuses on characteristics and comparisons of particular subgroups of
interest. Similar to stratified random sampling (samples within the samples). The main goal of this
sampling is to capture major variations.
12. Opportunistic or emerge sampling – follows new leads during fieldwork, takes the advantage of the
unexpected, and is flexible. This strategy takes advantage of whatever is readily available.
Example: studying sixth grade pupils’ awareness of the topic
13. Purposeful random sampling – is a random sampling that uses small sample sizes, its goal is to
increase credibility, not to encourage representatives or the ability to generalize
14. Convenience sampling – selects cases based on ease of accessibility. This strategy saves time, money,
and effort, however, it has the weakest rationale and the lowest credibility. This strategy may yield
information-poor cases because they are picked simply because they are accessible rather than based
on a specific strategy/rationale.
15. Combination or mixed purposeful sampling – combines two or more samplings techniques.

NOTE: The sample size is estimated based on the approached used in the study or the data collection method
employed. However, experts prescribe number for sample sizes in some qualitative research studies. Cited
from Creswell (2013), one to ten subjects are recommended for phenomenology (Dukes, 1984), 20 to 30
individuals for grounded theory (Charmaz, 2006), 4 – 5 respondent for case study, and single culture-sharing
groups for ethnography.

THE DATA AND DATA COLLECTION

Data (singular: datum) – are set of characteristics representing the research variable. These characteristics
are analyzed and interpreted in order to draw valid conclusion.
Classification of Data According to Source

1. Primary data – refer to data sets that include first-hand information and experiences about an event.
Usually collected from primary sources and gathered for a particular research problem. Primary data are
considered to be a more valid data source than secondary data.
Note: Primary data are those collected by university-based researchers and stored in data archives intended
for future use and dissemination of the general research community.
Some examples of primary source formats include:
 archives and manuscript material
 photographs, audio recordings, video recordings, films
 journals, letters and diaries
 speeches
 scrapbooks
 published books, newspapers and magazine clippings published at the time
 government publications
 oral histories

2. Secondary data – are mostly data consisting of studied objects that are coded according to their
characteristics. Data that has already been collected through primary sources and made readily available for
researchers to use for their own research. It is a type of data that has already been collected in the past.
They are also composed of transcripts of audio and video recordings and data that stem from previous
research studies. The advantage of collecting these data over primary ones is that it is more economical and
more accessible.
Some examples:
 books (textbooks, reference books)
 journals
 newspaper
 websites
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Data Collection Instrument - device used to collect data, such as a paper questionnaire or computer assisted
interviewing system.

Characteristics of a Good Data Collection Instrument

1. A good data collection instrument should be brief but effective. It should be short enough to be completed
by the respondents but should elicit information-rich data that the researcher needs.

2. The data collection instrument must be able to gather information other than what is available. Otherwise,
there is no need for developing the instrument since the data that the researcher needs to be found somewhere
else.

3. The arrangement of questions in the instrument must be sequenced in increasing difficulty. Easy questions
must be placed first then the harder ones. Less sensitive questions must be placed first then the more complex
or controversial ones.

4. Research instruments must be validated and evaluated for its reliability. A valid and reliable instrument
provides valid and reliable data.

5. The data to be collected from the instrument should be easily be tabulated, analyzed, and interpreted. The
instrument should serve as a tool for the researcher to help him/her in the study.

Common Data Collection Instruments in a Qualitative Research

I. Documentary analysis – this instrument requires the researcher to examine available resources or
documents. Inspecting the primary and secondary sources is important when using this type of data
collection.
II. Interview – happens when the researcher personally asks the key informants about things or
information he/she needs from the subjects. The interviewer must be trained to conduct an effective
interview.

Types of Interview
a. Structured interview – happens when the researcher prepared and organized questions that the
respondents will answer. The researcher does not ask beyond what is written in the interview sheet
but could ask the interviewee for the purpose of clarifying his/her answers.
b. Unstructured interview – occurs when the researcher prepares an outline of the topics that he/she
needs personally ask from the interviewee in spontaneous and conversation-like manner. In this
kind of interview, the researcher should be knowledgeable about the topic and skilled in probing
questions.
c. Semi-structured interview – a process when the researcher prepares a specific set of questions but
could ask follow-up questions to the respondents for them to elaborate their answers. It is easy for
the researcher to gather additional information and to have an in-depth perspective on the responses
of the interviewee when this type of interview is used.

Approaches
a. Individual interview – one respondent is interviewed one at a time. This is a time-consuming type
of interview.
b. Group interview – often used in the field of business, specially marketing research.
c. Mediated interview – no face to face since its conducted through electronic communication devices
such as telephones, mobile phones, emails, among others.
Note: Synchronous mediated interview if you talk with the subjects through the telephone, mobile
phone, or online chat and find time to see each other. It is Asynchronous if only two persons are
interviewed at a different time through different social media platform.

STEPS IN CONDUCTING INTERVIEW

1. Getting to know each other

20
 2. Having an Idea of the research
3. Starting the interview
4. Conducting the interview proper
5. Putting an End to the interview
6. Pondering over interview afterthoughts

III. Observation – is a technique of gathering data whereby you personally watch, interact, or
communicate with the subjects of your research.

Manners of Observation Interview

a. Naturalistic observation – in this type of observation, the researcher observes the subjects in the
natural setting or in their actual environment. The observation is done outside the environment.
b. Participative observation – type of observation that requires the researcher to be involved in the
usual activities of the subjects. This gives the researcher direct and first-hand experience of what the
respondents are experiencing.
c. Non-naturalistic observation – also called “ideal-situation” observation. Subjects are taken away
from their actual environment and are subjected to ideal conditions determined by the researcher.

Methods of Observation

1. Direct observation – observation method that lets the researcher see or listen to everything that
happens in the area of observation. For instance, things happening in a classroom, court trial, street trafficking.
2. Indirect observation – is also called behavior archaeology because, here the researcher observes
traces of the past events to get information or a measure of behavior, trait, or quality of your subject. Central
to this method of observation are things you listen to through tape recordings and those you see in pictures,
letter, notices, minutes of meetings, business correspondence, garbage cans and so on.

Methods of Indirect Observation

a. Continuous Monitoring or CM – the main data gathering technique used in behavioral psychology.
b. Spot Sampling – this was done first by behavioral psychologist in 1920 with focus on researching
the extent of children’s nervous habits as they would go through their regular personality development. For a
continuous or uninterrupted focus on the subjects, oral manner is used in recording. This method comes from
two types: Time Allocation (TA) and Experience Sampling (ES).
Advantages

1. It uses simple data collection technique and data recording method.

2. It is inclined to realizing its objectives because it just depends on watching and listening to the
subjects without experiencing worries as to whether or not the people will say yes or no.
3. It offers fresh and firsthand knowledge that will help you come out with an easy understanding and
deep reflection data.
4. It is quite valuable in research studies about organizations.

Disadvantages
1.It requires long time for planning.
2. Engrossed in participating in the subjects’ activities, the researcher may neglect his/her primary role.
3. It is prone to hearing derogatory statements from some people in the group that will lead to biased
stand toward other group embers.

IV. Questionnaire – most commonly used, requires respondents to answer prepared questions and easier
to administer.

Types of questions used:

a. Yes or No
b. Recognition – respondents are made to choose from the choices given
c. Completion – respondents are requested to supply necessary information in the blanks and also
called open-ended question
d. Coding – respondents are asked to rank or give numerical rating for the information required
21
 e. Subjective – respondents are free to give their opinions and answer the questions
f. Combination – makes use of one or more type of questions in a single questionnaire

V. Focus Group Discussion (FGD) – the strength of this data collection instrument relies on allowing
participants to agree or disagree with each other. In this case, it provides an insight of how the group
thinks about issues, inconsistencies, and variations that exist in a community. It can be used to explore
the meanings of survey findings that cannot be explained statistically and also useful in providing
insight about opinions among parties involved in the change process. It is also a good method to
employ prior to designing questionnaires.

A. DATA ANALYSIS
Analysis – refers to the meticulous study of research variables to learn about their constituent part and
how they are related to each other within the given research problem.

COMMON WAYS/THEMES TO ANALYSE QUALITATIVE DATA

I. Thematic Analysis
- in this kind of analysis, the researcher looks across all the data to identify some reoccurring issues.
Main stages of Thematic Analysis
1. Read and annotate transcript – the researcher can have a feel for the data because primary
observations are provided.
2. Identity Themes – the researcher can look at the data in details to identify themes.
Different Themes:
a. Ordinary themes – are those that researchers expect to find (ex. student’s exposure to bullying
situation in school)
b. Unforeseen themes – are those that the researchers do not expect to come out in the
investigation (ex. school policies on bullying that are not implemented)
c. Hard-to-classify themes – those that researchers find difficult to classify because they overlap
with one or several themes (ex. students assemble in the ground)
d. Major and minor themes – those that researchers represent as major and secondary ideas in
the database (ex. major idea – desire to quit smoking; secondary idea – body’s reaction to
smoking)
3. Develop a coding scheme – is recommended for use as soon as initial data have been gathered
using different themes.
4. Coding the data – application of codes to the whole data set.

STEPS IN CODING DATA

a. Get an idea of the entire data set.
b. Select one interesting document.
c. Start the document coding process
d. List all code words
e. Review the list against the data
f. Categorize the codes for emerging themes or descriptions of the subject or setting

II. Narrative Analysis

- in this theme the researcher looks narratively within each case to ensure that the story or subject of
the research or the description of the setting is not lost. This process uses documents and observations
that focus on how stories are made rather than on the outcome of the narrative.

III. Content Analysis

- enables the researcher to focus on human behavior indirectly through discourse analysis. The written
documents like reference books, newspapers, magazines, songs, advertisements, and photographs can
be analyzed using this theme. Often used in conjunction with other methods like ethnography and
historical research and very valuable in the analysis of data collected from observations and interviews.

B. WAYS TO PRESENT DATA

Data processing – is any operation done on the data such as gathering and managing it.
22
Data presentation – refers to the process of arranging data into logical, sequential, and meaningful manner
to make them acceptable for analysis and interpretation.

I. Textual Presentation
1. Construct a hierarchical tree diagram

quality of ingredients
food
variation of food

attention

Customer customer
Satisfaction service professionalism of waiter

atmosphere

ambiance
table presentation

décor

Figure 1. A sample tree diagram about customer satisfaction

2. Capture ideas in figures 3. Draw a map
Conditions

facilitating
interregional interaction
communications
consequences
supplementing
introducing traditional care
modern vital
education public use benefits

suffering embracement
epidemic
disease

Figure 2. A sample figure about grounded theory research

II. Tabular Presentation
Table – is a systematic arrangement of related data which a row is designated to each group of
numerical data and a column for each subgroup. The purpose of a table is to facilitate the analysis and
interpretation, and the making of the inferences an implications of the relationships of the grouped
data.

Advantages of tabular over textual presentation of data

1. Tables are concise representations of vast information because data are arranged and grouped
systematically. It also a good way to explain data briefly but comprehensively.
2. Tables enable easy interpretation of data because information can be more easily read, understood,
and compared.
3. Tables gives the whole information even without combining numerical data with the textual data.

Note: For reference purposes, each table should have a number. In most cases, Hindu-Arabic number
are used. It is necessary because only the table numbers are cited in the discussion. Usually, the
number is written above of before the title of the table. The style of the table number and the title

23
 depends on the format. The title of the table should include the subject matter where it is situated, to
what object or person it belongs, or from whom the data about the subject matter were gathered.

TWO TYPES OF TABLE

A. Demographic Table – provides information about personal or demographic information of the

research subjects or settings.

Population Distribution per Administrative District

Demographic
Administrative District Population Area Density 60 years and older
(Inhabit/km2)
Pederia 140,822 18.7 7,530.6 9,364 6.6%
Cidade Ademar 262,091 12.0 21,840.9 23,271 8.8%
Campo Grande 98,918 13.1 7,550.9 12,658 12.8%
Total 501,831 43.8 11,457.3 45,293 9.02%
Municipality of S. Paulo 11,093,746 1,509.0 7,351.7 1,256,413 11.3%

B. Comparison Table – compares groups under one theme

Key Performers in Selected Primary School Efficiency Indicators

Best Performers Needs Improvement
Dropout Rate Cohort Survival Rate Dropout Rate Cohort Survival Rate
Bataan 2nd District Bohol Basilan
rd
Batangas 3 District Iloilo Lanao del Sur
th
Davao del Sur 4 District Northern Samar Negros Occidental
Misamis Oriental Bulacan Quirino Sarangani
Mt. Province Rizal Sultan Kudarat Sulu

III. Graphical Presentation

- may represent individual categories and descriptive statistics, if needed.

24
 THINGS TO CONSIDER IN CONSTRUCTING GRAPH
1. Number
2. Title
3. Scale
4. Classification and arrangement
5. x and y axis
6. Symmetry of the graph
7. Footnote
8. Source

A. DRAWING CONCLUSIONS

Conclusion – is a type of inferential or interpretative thinking that derives its validity, truthfulness, or
reasonableness from sensory experience.

Recommendations – are suggestive statements that put the research findings into practical utility of the
stakeholders. They may also be suggestions for further investigation to improve the use of the present
research findings by all interested parties.

Guidelines in Writing the Conclusions

1. Conclusions are inferences, implications, interpretations, general statements, and or generalization
based upon the results or finding of the study.
2. Conclusions should properly answer the specific questions presented at the start of the
investigation.
3. Conclusions should be expressed in a concise statement that conveys all the important information.
4. Conclusions should be stated in a strong, clear, and definite manner.
5. Conclusions should pertain only to the subject or topic of the study.
6. Conclusions should not include repetitions of the statements in the study.

Guidelines in Writing the Recommendations

1. Recommendations should aim to solve problems discovered in the study.
2. Recommendations should be based only based within the context of the research problem. If it is
not within the scope of the study, it is irrelevant.
3. Recommendations can be statements signifying continuance of a good practice and for its
improvement.
4. Recommendations should be doable, attainable, and practical. It must also be logical, rational, and
valid.
5. Recommendations can be addressed to individuals, agencies institutions or offices to whom or
which in a proper position to implement them.

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6. Recommendations should be for further research on the same topic. It can cover other places to
confirm and validate the study.

B. REPORTING AND SHARING

Report – defined as a document that examines an issue or topic. It usually suggests actions to solve a
particular problem and makes recommendations after.

Steps
1. Decide on what sections to include.
2. Write clearly and concisely.
3. Cite references carefully.
4. Edit several times.

Integral Parts of the Report

1. Introduction – contains the reasons why the research was conducted, the research framework, the
statement of the problem or objectives, and the significance of the study.
2. Review of Related Literature – involves discussing ideas, claims, and arguments, one after the
other. Citing references must also be done with accuracy.
3. Methodology – presents the research design, research respondents or setting on how they were
chosen, the research procedure, and the data analysis of the data. The chosen research design must
be justified to give the reader a clear perspective of the research.
4. Results and Discussion – results should be written objectively and clearly. Tables, graphs, figures,
and maps may help organize the data effectively.
5. Summary of Findings, Conclusions, and Recommendations – summary recaps the research the
research problems, methodology, and findings. The conclusion provides direct answers to the
research problems presented in the introduction.

C. TECHNIQUES IN LISTING REFERENCES

List of references or bibliography – is the accounting of all document citations used in the research
report to enable readers to retrieve the cited sources for further information of verification of some
related ideas. References must provide complete information about all the cited sources.

Listing references – refer to creating a page for references made in the study

APA reference style

Type of Reference Format
Fraenkel, J.R. & Wallen, N.E. (2009). How to design and evaluate
Book
research in education (7th ed.) San Francisco: Mc Graw-Hill
Jacoby, R., & Glauberman, N. (Eds.). (1995). The bell curve debate:
Edited Book
History, documents, opinions. NY: Random House
Gauld, S. J. (1995). Mismeasure by any measure. In R. Jacoby & N.
Chapter in a book Glauberman (Eds.), The bell curve debate: History, documents,
opinions. (pp. 3-13). NY: Random House.
Clarke, A. T., & Kurtz-Costes, B. (May/June, 1997). Television
Journal Article viewing, educational quality of the home environment, and school
readiness. The Journal of Educational Research, 90(5), 279-285
Spitzer, S. L. (2001). No words necessary: An ethnography of daily
Dissertation
activities with young children who don’t talk. Unpublished doctoral
(unpublished)
dissertation, University of Southern California
Liss, A. (2004) Whose America? Culture wars in the public schools
Book review (Review of the book Whose America? Culture wars in the public
school.) Social Education, 68, 238.
Learnframe. (2000, August). Facts, figures, and forces behind e-
Electronic source learning. Retrieved October 15, 2002, from
http://www.learnframe.com/aboutlearning/

CRITERIA IN EVALUATING QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

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 (by Corbin and Strauss 1990)

1. How was the sample selected?

2. What major themes or categories emerge?
3. What are some evident or incidental proofs pointing to the categories?
4. What were some of the statements of relationships made during the analysis and on what
grounds were they formulated and validated?
5. Were there discrepancies and how were they accounted for?
6. How and why was the core theme, if applicable, selected?
7. Are the concepts systematically related? The concepts and their relationship must be
developed systematically to generate a theoretical explanation of a phenomena of interest.
8. Was the process taken into account? A clear discussion of the process enables theory users
to explain theory consequences under changing circumstances.
9. Are the theoretical findings significant and to what extent?
10. Do the findings become part of the body of the research topic?

Prepared by:

Karen Joan Malawis-Galino

Subject Teacher

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