REVIEWER FOR PRACTICAL RESEARCH 1

4rth Quarter

LESSON 1

You have to formulate a general problem and at least three specific problems. The specific problems
can be stated in question form. For example:

General Problem: The study aims to explore the students’ images and views on chemistry.

Specific problems:

1. What are the students’ images on chemistry based on their drawings?

2. What are students’ views on Chemistry?
3. What learning theories are embedded on these images?

In the example, the research wanted to determine the images and views of students on chemistry.
The general problem gives the overview of the research. This provides the direction and overall
picture of what the researcher aims to achieve. Moreover, to concretize the general problem, a set of
specific problems needs to be formulated. In the given example, there are three specific problems
that were generated from the general problem.

The following are some guidelines in formulating research problems:

1. The general problem provides the overall picture and direction of the research. This is
usually stated in narrative form.
2. The specific problems give the details of the research. These are generated from the general
problem.
3. A set of specific problems are needed to be formulated. These problems are usually stated in
question form.
4. Reading a lot of research articles in journals, books, magazines, and other reading materials
can help you formulate good research problems.

Now that you have formulated your research problems, you can now write your working research
title. It is called a “working title” because it can be revised or modified as the study progresses. The
research title sums up all the variables you want to study in your research. Usually, the research title
reflects the statement of the general problem.

Let’s use again our previous example. The general problem stated as : the study aims to explore the
students’ images and views on Chemistry. From this statement, the variables being studied are
images and views on chemistry. The last specific research problem looks into the learning theories
out of these images. These variables should be reflected in your research title. In our example of
research problem, the title could be Students’ Images and Views of Chemistry: Its Implication to
Education. 

The following are some guidelines in writing the research title:

1. The research title sums up the variables being studied in the research.
2. Usually, the general problem is reflected in the research title.
3. Avoid titles that are too long. A good research title is usually composed of 12 to 15 words.
LESSON 2

After forming a working research title, the next section to write is the significance of the study. In this
section, you are expected to write the importance of the study. Your study should specify the role of
your study to different groups of people. Let’s take a look at the following example.

The outcomes of this study are the students’ images and general views of the students toward
chemistry and learning chemistry which can serve as a diagnostic toll before instruction begins and
may also serve as an assessment tool after a topic has been discussed to facilitate the learning
process in the classroom.

The students’ images on chemistry described in their drawings and their views’ general profile are of
educational value because insights into the students’ images will direct teachers to think of
appropriate teaching strategies to effectively address the students’ problem in understanding
specific concepts.

Lastly, curriculum developers, researchers, and classroom teachers could also creatively develop
appropriate methods of discussing a particular concept among students to demonstrate or acquire a
deep and holistic approach in managing their learning process in chemistry.

Based on this example, the results of the research will be beneficial to certain groups of people such
as the curriculum developers, researchers, and most importantly, to the teachers. This is how you
state the significance of your study. You may use the following guidelines in writing the significance
of the study:

1. The results of your study should benefit certain groups of people.

2. Write the significance of the study in paragraph form.
3. Limit the number of paragraphs depending on the number of beneficiaries of your study.

Aside from the significance of the study, you also need to write the scope and delimitation of the
study. This section describes the scope of your research and some limitations such as the time
allotment, limited instruments, and your sample size. The following is an example:

The study is focused and limited only on the students’ images about chemistry depicted on their
drawings and further validated based on their responses on the open-ended questions, while the
students’ profiles on their views on chemistry and learning chemistry were categorized based on the
survey instrument.

The research instruments were only administered once and no achievement tests were given to the
respondents. The achievement in chemistry of the respondents based on the final grades in S-CHM
11 (General Chemistry 1) taken during the first semester. S.Y. 2008-2009.

Only four groups of students were used as respondents of the study. They were all second year
college students taking up Bachelor of Secondary Education majors in Biology, Chemistry, General
Science, and Physics.

As you can see in the above example, what you can write in the scope and delimitation of the study
section of your research may include range of topics of your research, limitations of your methods,
time frame of the study, and your sample size. This is an important part of your research because
this will define the range of the research. In writing the scope and delimitation, you may use the
following guides:

1. Use only two to three paragraphs.

2. Write only the range of topics being studied.
3. You may include the time frame, sample size, and the limitation of the methods to be
employed.

LESSON 3

A literature review is a process of studying what has already been written on a particular topic. The
process involves identifying, locating, and analysing documents that contain information related to a
researcher’s research topic.

Literature review can serve multiple purposes at different stages of the research process. One of its
major purposes is to determine what has already been done or studied about your topic. This
knowledge does not only prevent you from unintentionally duplicating another person’s research, it
also gives you a wider understanding of your topic and which will help you identify what has been
done and what needs to be done about your topic. Previous studies can provide the rationale for
your research hypothesis and can help you justify the significance of your study.

The role of literature review in qualitative researches in not entirely defined. Some qualitative
researchers argue that reviewing the literature is used to determine the direction of the research and
thus should be avoided at the early stages of the research process. Others suggest that the review
of related literature is important early in the qualitative research process because it serves the
following functions:

 The literature review demonstrates the underlying assumptions (propositions) behind the
research questions that are central to the research proposal.
 The literature review provides a way for the novice researcher to convince the proposal
reviewers that he or she is knowledgeable about the related research and the “intellectual
traditions” that support the proposed study.
  The literature review provides the researcher with an opportunity to identify any gaps that
may exist in the body of literature and to provide a rationale for how the proposed study may
contribute to the existing body of knowledge.
 The literature review helps the researcher to refine the research questions and embed them
in guiding hypotheses that provide possible directions the researcher may follow.

The review of literature involves the skill of identifying documents to be reviewed. The documents
are not limited to books and research journals, it can include articles, abstracts, reviews,
monographs, dissertations, other research reports and electronic media. Thus, you also have to
develop the skill of identifying or selecting materials for review before doing the actual review. The
following are some tips on how to select materials for literature review:

1. The material should be relevant or related to the topic or problem that you are studying.
2. The material should be recent as much as possible. However, old materials that are pioneer
in the topic may sometimes be included.
3. Gather materials from varied sources such a previous studies, journals, books, monographs
and even magazines. Additionally, you may take advantage of the information available
online; however, you must be extra careful when using online sources.

After gathering materials for review, the next step is writing the literature review section of the
research. One important skill that you need to learn when writing the literature review is proper
citation. This is to avoid plagiarism in you research work.

There are different styles of citing information in a literature review. The two most commonly used
are the American Psychological Association (APA) citation style and the Modern Language
Association (MLA) citation style.

APA CITATION STYLE

The APA style is commonly used within the social sciences discipline. It follows the author date
system of citation. This means that the last name of the author and the date of publication of the
work must appear in the text (e.g., Avilla, 2009), and the complete bibliographic information should
appear on the “Reference List” page. Note that in APA citation style, the page number is used only if
you are directly quoting the material, or making reference to an entire book, article or other work.

The following are the basic guidelines when using the APA style of citation which is adapted from
Purdue University Online Writing Lab.

1. Write by a single author: The last name of the author and the year of publication are placed
in text. When the name of the author is part of the narrative, only the date is placed in the
parentheses. When both information are in the parenthesis, the year is separated from the
surname with a comma.

Examples:

Santos(2014) asserted that education alleviates poverty.

…education alleviates poverty (Santos, 2014)

 2. Work by two authors: Name both authors in the signal phrase or in the parentheses each
time you cite the work. Use the word “and” between the authors’ names within the text and
use the ampersand in the parenthesis.

Examples:

Santos and Reyes (2014) explained that…

…as has been shown (Santos & Reyes, 2014)

3. Work by three to five authors: list all the authors in the signal phrase or in parentheses the
first time you cite the source. Use the word “and” between the authors names within the text
and use the ampersand in the parenthesis.

Examples:

David, Garcia, and Isabelo (2014)

(David, Garcia, & Isabelo, 2014)

In subsequent citations, only use the first author’s last name followed by “et al.” in the signal phrase
or in parenthesis

(David et al.,2014)

4. Six or More Authors: use the first author’s name followed by “et al.” in the signal phrase or
in parentheses.

Examples:

David et al. (2014) argued…

(David et al., 2014)

5. Unknown Author: if the work does not have an author, cite the source by its title in the
signal phrase or use the first word or two in the parenthesis. Titles of books and reports are
italized or underlined; titles of articles, chapters and Web pages are in quotation marks.

Example:

A similar study was done  of students learning to format research papers (“Using APA,” 2001)

Note: in the rare case the “Anonymous” is used for the author, treat it as the author’s name
(Anonymous, 2001). In the reference list, use the name “Anonymous” as the author.

6. Organization as an Author: if the author is an organization or a government agency,

mention the organization in the signal phrase or in the parenthetical citation th first time you
cite the source.

Examples:
First citation: according to the National Institute of Chemistry (2013),…

(national Institute of Chemistry, 2013)

Second citation: (NIC, 2013)

MLA Citation Style

Commonly used within the liberal arts and humanities disciplines, the MLA format follows the author-
page method of in-text citation. Instead of the author’s surname and year of publication, this style
uses the author’s last name and the page number(s) from which the quotation or paraphrase in the
citation was lifted, and the complete bibliographic information appears on the “Works Cited” page.
The author’s name may appear either in the sentence itself or in parenthesis following the quotation
or paraphrase, but the page number(s) should always appear in the parentheses, not in the next of
your sentence.

Examples:

Author’s name in text:

Palomar emphasized that (20-21)

Author’s name in parentheses:

This is given an emphasis (Palomar 20-21)

Multiple authors:

                This formula (Avilla and Santos 9) proved

                ---to be tested (Garcia and Reyes 24)

Organization as author:

                (National Institute of Chemistry, 40-42)

APA and MLA are the two most commonly citation styles. The APA style is used within the social
sciences while the MLA style is used within the liberal arts and humanities.

WRITING THE REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Now that you have learned how to cite sources, the next thing to learn is how to write the literature
review itself. The following are some guidelines on how to write the review of related literature as
enumerated by Galvan (cited in Mongan-Rallis, 2014):

1. Identify the broad problem.

2. Indicate why the topic is being reviewed.
3. Distinguish between research findings and other sources of information.
4. Indicate why certain studies are important.
 5. If citing classic or landmark studies, identify it as such. A landmark study is a pioneering
study on a certain topic. In the review, it is suggested to include this kind of study to give
emphasis on the topic being reviewed.
6. Discuss other literature reviews on your topic.
7. Avoid long lists of nonspecific references.
8. Cite separately inconsistent or varying results of previous studies.
9. Cite all relevant references.

It is also suggested to make outline of the topics and subtopics as reflected in the statement of the
problem before you write the review. This will help you avoid adding unnecessary literature as you
write your review.

Writing the review of related literature is an important part of the research. Thus, this will entail time,
effort and analysis.

After you have reviewed related literature from previous studies, you are now ready to develop a
coherent essay on related literature. Galvan (2006), as cited in the article of Mongan-Rallis (2014),
enumerated some guidelines on developing a coherent essay. These are some of the guidelines:

1. If your review is long, provide an overview near the beginning of the review. The overview
provides the reader of what the author s aiming at. This also gives a clear picture of what the
literature is all about.
2. State explicitly what will and will not be covered in the review. There are may possible
literature and studies that might be related to your present study. However, not all can be
included in your review. To avoid getting all unnecessary literature, it is important to make an
outline of your topics to be covered in writing your literature.
3. Specify your point of view. You have to be very specific on the details and know where you
are heading to. This is important in writing the review to avoid confusion on the part of the
reader.
4. Aim for a clear and cohesive essay that integrates the key details of the literature and
communicates your point of view. A coherent review of related literature reinforces and
concretizes your study.
5. Use subheadings especially in a long review. Your review is coherent based on certain topic.
To distinguish a topic or theme from one another, use titles or subheadings.
6. Use transitions to help trace your argument.
7. Consider reviewing studies from each discipline separately.
8. Write a conclusion at the end of the review. This is actually the synthesis of the review of the
related literature and addresses your research questions.
9. Make sure that the flow of the argument is coherent.

LESSON 4

APPROACHES IN QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

1. ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCH- is a qualitative research method that aims to get a holistic picture
of a specific group, society, institution or any situation. Usually, ethnographic research studies the
culture of one group by documenting the everyday experiences of the people involved through in-
depth interviews and continuous participant observation. The topics, voting behaviour of people in
one barangay or town, science-related practices of one tribe in Luzon and the waste management,
practices of one school are all good examples of topics for ethnographic research.
Ethnographic research requires three important things: a detailed description of the group being
studied; analysis of the group in terms of themes and constructs; and the interpretations of the
researchers to the group as to meanings, symbols, and generalizations.

If you opt to employ ethnographic research, you are supposed to immerse in the group to obtain a
first-hand source of information and become participant of the study itself in order to get the
participants’ perspective. Fraenkel and Wallen (2010) listed down some important concepts when
doing ethnographic research; culture, holistic perspective, contextualization, emic and etic
perspective, thick description, member checking, and non-judgemental orientation.

Culture is the sum of the group’s customs and behaviours. It also pertains to the ideas and beliefs
that describe a specific group of individuals. However, it is the researcher’s interpretation on the
culture of the group being studied that is the primary concern of ethnography. This interpretation is
based on the researcher’s observation and views about the members of the group.

As an ethnographer, you are supposed to study the holistic perspective about the culture of the
group. This means that you are expected to observe the everyday activities of the participants and
understand how and why they do things. This is the reason why ethnographers should spend time
with the participants and participate in their activities.

Contextualization of data means putting into a larger perspective what is seen, heard, and observed.
There are two important perspectives in doing ethnographic research: emic perspective and etic
perspective.

Emic perspective means insider’s perspective of reality while etic perspective is the external

objective on reality. Ethnographers usually look at the data on these two perspectives. This is done
in order to have a thorough analysis and a rich interpretation of data.

Thick description involves describing what the researcher has seen, heard, and observes in details
and including quotation directly from the participants in writing the final report. As an ethnographer,
you are also expected to have a non-judgemental orientation. This means that you should refrain
from making value judgement about unfamiliar practices. Though in ethnography, you cannot be
completely neutral.

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF ETHNOGRAPHY

The following are some of the advantages and disadvantages of ethnographical research

ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES
Dependent on the researcher’s observations
More comprehensive
and interpretation
Gains deeper and richer understanding of
Observer bias is difficult to eliminate
one’s behavior in a natural setting
Suited in studying group behaviour over time Close supervision is needed
2. HISTORICAL RESEARCH

                Whatever events happened in the past can be studied and traced back. This can be done
by conducting historical research. As defined by Fraenkel and Wallen (2010), historical research is a
systematic collection and evaluation of data to describe, explain, and understand events that
occurred in the past.

                Historical research is conducted to become aware of what happened in the past in order to
come up with the best decision in the present. For instance, you may be interested to conduct a
research on the highlights of previous curriculum in order to find out why the present curriculum is
revised. Moreover, historical research is also performed to test relationships, trends, and patterns. In
turn, this will help you in predicting relationships or trends. Here are some of the examples of
research questions that might led to conduct historical research:

1. What has been the role of government in promoting quality education?

2. What inter-school competitions were won by the students in your school since its
establishment?
3. What science activities were performed inside the classroom in the decade?

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF HISTORICAL RESEARCH

The following are some of the advantages and disadvantages of historical research:

ADVANTAGE DISADVANTAGE
Threats to internal validity is quite impossible to
Permits investigation of topics and questions
control
Limitation of sample of documents and
Can study evidence from the past
instrumentation process
Can use wider range of evidence Sampling cannot be ensured
Provides alternative and richer source of
Probable bias in the data collection and analysis
information
 

3. CASE STUDY

Another type of qualitative research method is case study. Case study is a documented study on a
particular person, group, institution, or event. The case study is done to analyse constructs or
themes. Usually, these constructs or themes lead to the identification of variable which is important
for the discussion of your study.

Case study can be used if you want to focus on one particular issue (e.g., teenage pregnancy). You
can study someone you probably know who experienced the case or a group of minority in your
school. Case study is also applicable to business. Like for instance, you want to study what makes a
brand credible. You may focus on one company that is considered credible and study the factors
that contribute to its credibility.

One advantage of case study is that you are only focused on one person or group. This means that
you can have an in-depth investigation and your attention in concentrated on your study. However,
limitation of case study is the difficult of getting the cooperation of the person or the group that you
are investigating.

SAMPLING PROCEDURES IN QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

Purposive sampling is used  when participants are grouped according to a set of criteria specified in
your research, for example, varsity players in your school, or working students. Creswell (2005)
listed nine types of purposive sampling (cited in Fraenkel and Wallen, 2010):

1. A typical sample is the typical representative of that being studied such as a class of grade
9 students.
2. A critical sample is considered to be exceptional or unusual such as a group of high
achievers despite physical disabilities.
3. A homogenous sample is considered if all the members of the sample have a common
characteristics or trait such as a group of singers.
4. A theoretical sample is considered in helping the researcher to understand a new concept
or theory such as choosing a group of student leaders in assessing students’ leadership.
5. An extreme case sample is considered if all the members of the group do not fit with the
general pattern or display extreme characteristics such as group of high school students who
achieve high grades despite poor social environment.
6. An opportunistic sample is chosen during the study to take advantage of new conditions or
circumstances that have arisen such as a group of Grade 7 students who are the first to be
involved in the implementation of K-12 curriculum.
7. A confirming sample is obtained to validate initial findings such as a follow-up interview of a
group of teachers to verify the frequent absenteeism of students.
8. A maximal variation sample is selected to represent a wide perspective or characteristics
such as a group of players who possess a wide variety of behaviour on the new policy of
sports competition.
9. A snowball sample is selected as the need arises during the conduct of research such as a
group of school heads is needed because they were recommended during the inerviews of
school principals.

LESOON 5

To successfully conduct your qualitative research, it is important to plan your data gathering. A
qualitative researcher may use observation, interview, and documentary analysis to collect
necessary data.

OBSERVATION

There are research questions that can be answered through observing the actions of the
participants. For example, you may observe the attitude of a group of students toward science
experiment during an actual experiment. As a researcher, you employ four different types of
observation.

1. PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION. Participant observation involves an intensive interaction

between the researcher and the subjects or participants. This means that as a participant
observer, the researcher joins the group he or she is studying in their environment and
participate in their activities. Participant observation can be overt or covert. Overt
participant observation, as the name suggests, is a type of participant observation wherein
the identity of the researcher is known to the group being studied. This means that prior to
joining or observing the group, the researcher is likely to inform the members of the group
about his or her goal in joining the group and the purpose, scope, and length of the
research. Covert participant observation on the other hand,  is a type of participant
observation wherein the participants are not aware of the identity of the researcher nor that
 they are being observed for research. This method allows a researcher to gain access to
groups that would not normally allow themselves to be studied and to obtain a richer and
more detailed observation.

2. NONPARTICIPANT OBSERVATION. In a nonparticipant observation, the researcher does

not participate in the activities of the group being observed. Instead, he or she is usually
seated at the sidelines observing the action of the group. This means that the researcher is
not directly involved in the situation he or she is observing.

3. NATURALISTIC OBSERVATION. This method, which is commonly used by psychologist

and other social science researchers, requires that the researcher observes the subjects
under study in their natural settings. In this method, the researcher simply observes and
records what is really happening as they occur naturally. This is often used in situations
where conducting laboratory research is unrealistic in terms of costs or would affect the
subjects’ behaviour.

4. SIMULATIONS. In this method, the researcher, simulates or recreates a situation,

environment, or system and observes the subject under study in the simulated environment.
He or she may ask the participants to portray a role individually or by team. However,
simulations does not guarantee that the participants’ behaviour in the simulated environment
would be the same in the natural environment.

INTERVIEW

                Observation is usually coupled with interview. Interview is done to validate the information
you have recorded in your observation. This is considered as one of the most important data
collection strategies in qualitative research. There are four types of interview: structured, semi-
structured, informal, and retrospective.

                Structured and semi-structured interviews are verbal questionnaires. In structured

interviews, the researcher has a specific set of questions designed to elicit responses from the
participants while in semi-structured interviews, the researcher prepares open-ended questions in
which the participants are free to write their responses.

                Informal interview is done to determine how the participants act on certain situations.
This is a casual conversation and be conducted without specific sequence of questions or form of
questioning. Retrospective interview is done to recall and reconstruct something that happened in
the past.

TYPES OF INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

                A crucial part of the interview process is the type of questions that you will ask. Patton
(1990) identified six types of question that can be asked during interviews (cited in the book of
Fraenkel and Wallen, 2010):

1. Background questions are routine questions about the background of the participants.

These questions include the education, age, previous work and the like.
2. Knowledge questions refer to participants’ factual information. For example, asking the
participant’s about school information such as school rules and activities.
 3. Experience questions are focused on what the participant is doing presently or in the past.
For example, “if I were attending your practices in the gym, what experiences would I be
likely to see you having?”
4. Opinion questions are asked to elicit how the participants think on certain topics or issues.
This aims to get the participant’s values, beliefs, and attitude. For example, “What do you
think about the implementation of the K to 12 curriculums?”
5. Feeling questions pertain to the emotional responses of the participants on their
experience(s). for example, “How do you feel when you solve a mathematics problem?”
6. Sensory questions focus on what the respondents has seen, tested, heard, touched, or
smelled. For example, “ When you enter the room, what did you hear?”

Below is an example of interview questions.

1. What is your perception of chemistry?

2. What do you think is the use of Chemistry? What is its purpose?
3. If you are going to rank chemistry as easy, average, and difficult, what would it be?
4. Why do you think chemistry is an easy, average, or difficult subject to study?
5. Does a chemistry teacher affect your perception of chemistry? Why or why not?

REMINDERS DURING THE INTERVIEW

Fraenkel and Wallen (2010) listed a set of expectations during interviews. Some of them are:

1. Respect the culture of the group being studied.

2. Respect the individual being interviewed. Interview should start and end at the scheduled
time. The respondents agreed to be interviewed spend their time with you do make the
interview another learning experience both for the interviewer and the interviewee.
3. Act naturally
4. Develop rapport with the participant.
5. Ask the same questions in different ways. This is to ensure the understanding of the
interviewee on what has been said.
6. Ask the interviewee to repeat an answer when there is some doubt.
7. Vary who controls the flow of communication.
8. Avoid leading questions like “You really want that?” instead ask, “What did you really want to
do?”
9. Do not ask dichotomous questions or questions which are answerable by yes or no like “Did
you really aim to be a valedictorian?”
10. Ask questions only one at a time.
11. Do not interrupt when the interviewee is talking.

FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION

                Aside from one-on-one interviews, you can also interview a small group of people to elicit
data on a certain topic. This technique is called focus group discussion.

                 In focus group discussion, you ask a small group of people what they think about certain
topic or issue. They are seated together and can hear what the others have to say on the issue. This
kind of interview can provide multiple perspectives at a time.
DOCUMENTARY ANALYSIS

                The last technique that you can use to collect data in a qualitative research is documentary
or content analysis. Fraenkel and Wallen (2010) defined content analysis as a technique to study
human behaviour indirectly by analysing documents. These documents may include books,
magazines, journals, art works, songs, pictures, and others. Through these, you can analyse the
people’s beliefs, attitudes, ideas, and values. In content analysis, you need to code or categorize
what you have gathered from the available documents. This will help you obtain common themes or
constructs for analysis.