I. What is Research?

1. Research is defined as the scientific investigation of phenomena which

includes collection, presentation, analysis and interpretation of facts that
lines an individual‘s speculation with reality.
2. Solutions to problems must be based on knowledge not on mere beliefs,
guesses or theories.
3. In research a systematic and well-planned procedure is required to meet
the need in order that information is acquired and evaluate its accuracy
and effectiveness.
4. It is a process of inquiring1.

II. Nature of Inquiry. (Lichman,G.,2013)

1. Inquiry is defined as “a seeking for truth, information or

knowledge”. It is a problem solving technique.
2. The information and data pursued through questioning begins with
gathering by applying the different human senses.
3. Individuals carry on the process of inquiry from birth till death.
4. Inquiry is synonymous with the word investigation.

III. Investigation and Immersion

Investigation has a deeper meaning compared to “inquiry”.

It is a systematic examination of a certain event or phenomenon.

Immersion is a process whereby a researcher immerses (deeply involves)

himself in the data gathering activities and the data he has gathered is carefully
read or examined by him in detail.

IV. Differentiate Inquiry from Research

Inquiry is a term that is synonymous with the word ‘investigation’. When you
inquire or investigate, you tend to ask questions to probe or examine
something to request for truth, information, or knowledge.

Research is systematic and objective creation of knowledge systematic (with a

system or method, the scientific method), objective (no bias, all angles
presented), knowledge creation (a creative process)

V. Purpose of Research

1. To inform action.
2. To prove or generate a theory.
3. To augment knowledge in a field or study.

VI. Importance of Research in Daily Life

 1. Research directs us to inquire about the right information by conducting
further investigation of the actual condition. It leads us to be cautious in
giving results and findings by proving lies and supporting the truth.
2. Research empowers us with knowledge and discovers new things and
issues in life. It helps us solve problems in health, crimes, business,
technology and environment.
Research facilitates learning as an opportunity to share valuable information to others as a way of
recognizing various concerns for public awareness

I. What is a Research Title1?

1. The most important element that defines the research problem.

2. It is usually read first and the most read part of the research.
3. It contains the least words enough to describe the contents and the
purpose of your research paper.
It can be revised any and many times as the research develops and reach its final phase. It becomes final
on its final defence before the panel of judges

 Elements of a Research Title

The research title does not need to be entertaining but informative.

A part of a research title has the following information:

1. The subject matter or topic to be investigated. (“What?”)
2. The place or locale where the research is to be conducted. (“Where?”)
3. The population like the respondents’ interviewees. (“Who”?)
4. The time period of the study during which the data are to be
collected. (“When”?)

Example:

Subject matter: The teaching of English

Place or locale: in the high schools of Province A Time
period: during the school year 1989-1990 Population:
as perceived by teachers and students

Subject matter: The effects of the use of cell phones on the

academic performance
Population to senior high school students
Place or locale: at Department of Education
Time period: during the first semester, school year 2018-2019

II. Rules in Choosing a Research Topic1

1. Interest in the subject matter. Interest in a subject drives you to research,

investigate, or inquire about it with full motivation, enthusiasm, and energy.
2. Availability of information. Information will serve as evidence to support your
claims about your subject matter from varied forms of literature like books,
journals, and newspapers, among others, is a part and parcel of any research
work.

What to include in the investigation of the available materials?

a. Update and authority of the materials.
b. Copyright dates of the materials? Are they new or old?
c. Expert or qualification of the writers of reading materials about your topic
3. Timeliness and relevance of the topic.

How relevant is the topic?

a. It yields results that are useful in society
b. Related to the present. (Except for pure or historical research)

4. Limitations on the subject. Connect your choice with course requirements. You
need to decide on one topic to
finish your course.

5. Personal resources. Do an assessment on your research abilities in terms of your

financial standing, health condition, mental capacity, needed facilities, and time
schedule to enable you to complete your research. You have to raise an amount
of money needed to spend on questionnaire printing and interview trips.

III. Research Topics to be avoided1

1. Controversial topics.
It depends more on the writer’s opinion leading to biases. Facts cannot
support this topic.

2. Highly technical subjects.

Not advisable for beginners as these topics require an advanced study,
technical knowledge, and skills.

3. Hard-to-investigate subjects.
Happens if there are no available reading materials about it and if such materials
are not up-to-date.

4. Too broad subjects.

It prevents you from to focus on the subject matter of the paper.
Narrow down or limit the subject to eliminate the problem.

5. Too narrow subjects.

Subjects that are so limited where an extensive searching is necessary.

6. Vague subjects.
Titles beginning with indefinite adjectives such as several, many, some, etc., as
in “Some Remarkable Traits of a Filipino” or “Several People’s Comments on the
RH Law,” are vague enough to decrease the readers’ interests and curiosity.
IV. Sources of Research Topics1

1. Mass media communication – press (newspapers, ads, TV, radio, films, etc.)

2. Books, Internet, peer-reviewed journals, government publications

3. Professional periodicals like College English Language Teaching Forum,

English Forum, the Economist, Academia, Business Circle, Law Review, etc.

4. General periodicals such as Readers’ Digest, Women’s Magazine,

Panorama Magazine, Time Magazine, World Mission Magazine, etc.

5. Previous reading assignments in your other subjects

6. Work experience – clues to a researchable topic from full-time or part-time

jobs, OJT (on-the-job training) experience, fieldwork, etc.

Literature is an oral or written record of man’s significant experiences

that are expressed in an ordinary manner. It is conveyed directly or
indirectly. Direct expressions is in books, journals, periodic papers, and
online reading materials. Indirect expressions are not written or spoken at
all but is mirror image of his environment (Ridley 2012).

The Review of Related Literature is one of the main components of a

research study, specifically in the second chapter. It gives an overview of
all the writings relative to a specific topic (Prieto, Naval & Carey, 2017).
Therefore, selecting the right sources for the literature review is very
important in producing a quality research paper.

A review of related literature is the process of collecting, selecting, and

reading books, journals, reports, abstracts, and other reference materials.
The following information may be collected:

1. Background knowledge about the problem and associated ideas.

2. Theories that give details of the presence of the problem and certain
variables that is connected to the problem.
3. Data that prove the occurrence and gravity of the problem
4. Detailed and broad results of related studies
5. Gaps and recommendations for additional study specified in related studies

The significance and rationale of related literature and studies is to

find out the similarities and differences between the past and present
studies, to get ideas into the critical and controversial aspects of the
problem. It helps recognize and define a research problem. It gives the
researcher a background analysis aspect, which have been studied. It
 guides the researcher on what to do on the mechanism of the research
methods; this also provides the thoughts to advance with the study until
its conclusion. It avoids redundant duplication of a study. Moreover,
reading extensively will enrich your background knowledge on your
research topic that will enable you to establish a good groundwork or
course of your research endeavor.

Exposed to a wide source of facts and conditioned by a limited

timeframe during the conduct of study, it is necessary that you have a
guided approach in reading or reviewing various literature works that are
related to your research topic. Here are some points to consider in an
effective literature review:

Step 1: Search for the Literature

There are many sources of information available such as the Internet,
books, peer-reviewed articles in journals, publications, unpublished works
like theses and dissertations (detailed and comprehensive accounts of a
research work submitted for a higher degree at a university), conference
proceedings (brief summaries of research work presented at
conferences),books, leaflets, posters, blogs, and other library materials
offline and online. Some websites might give valuable information such as
Wikipedia, Facebook, Twitter, and the likes but they are not as
dependable as other sources of knowledge since it can be edited and
considered not a scholarly article (Baraceros, 2016). Therefore, there is a
need to carefully evaluate online sources as to accuracy and veracity of
information. Furthermore, the following are key points in searching
literature:
1. In gathering sources, have focus, a clearly indicated scope and
purpose of the review.
2. Isolate and centre your research on key themes or issues related to
your own research interests.
3. Choose articles which are closely related to your research interest.
4. Choose studies conducted by experts and authorities in that
same field of knowledge with your study.
5. Peer-reviewed materials are much preferable than general sources of ideas.

Step 2: Reading and Citing Source of Material

In reviewing related literature, you come up with ideas borrowed from
someone else; therefore, it is but polite, honesty, and courtesy to learn to
acknowledge other people’s intellectual rights and to avoid plagiarism.
The following are three terms to express recognition of author’s ownership
of borrowed ideas (Sharp, 2012).
1. Acknowledgment. It identifies individuals who have contributed to
the making of the manuscript, written at the start of the paper.
 2. References or Bibliography. A whole list of literary materials
including all books, journal, theses, and dissertations along with
other sources mentioned above. References are arranged
alphabetically in some papers or in order of sequence as it comes
out in the paper. This holds the summary of the information of all of
your sources. Information needed in making the referencing list
involves the following:
a. Author’s name
b. Date of the publication of the source.
c. Page number where you found the information.
d. Publisher
e. Place of Publishing
f. Volume
g. Edition
h. Other relevant information –date of

access Example of References

Baptista, P. Benefits to Teaching Hydroponics in the Classroom. August

15, 2014. http://blog.zipgrow.com/teaching-hydroponics-in-the-
classroom/

Benton,J.J.2004.Hydroponics. A practical guide for the

soiless grower.2nd Edition,CRC press
pp.35-150.

Brechner, M. Floating Hydroponics: A Guide to Student Experiments

Growing Plants without Soil. Cornell University. http://csip.cornell.edu.

Divina, J. C. 2015. Lettuce Production Guide.Department of Agriculture.

Bureau of Plant Industry-National Crop Research and
Development Center.
Retrievedfromhttp://bpi.da.gov.ph/bpi/images/Production_guide/pdf/
Lettuce.pdf. Accessed 12/7/2018

3. Citation, or In-text-citation. Referring author within the main body of

the text. Citations can be done by paraphrasing, summarizing, or
through quotations. It can be written in the beginning of a text,
between the text, or at the last part of the paragraph. Examples are
shown:

Sanchez (2015) found out building food systems that are more
sustainable, resilient and responsive …

A study by Chojnacka (2012) revealed that extracts derived

from algae contain such components as polysaccharides

This planting system is a sustainable alternative that reduces

dependence on water and fertilizer and requires less space
(Alshrouf, 2017), making it ideal in urban places.
 Productivity is declining as the country is facing a
burgeoning population of more than a hundred million,
where majority of Filipinos are suffering from malnutrition
(Briones, et al, 2017).

There are three basic methods of referencing the author

referred in your paper. These are the APA (American Psychological
Association), MLA (Modern Language Association), and the Chicago
Manual Style. In this module, we will be focusing on the two most
commonly used styles of referencing. Moreover, between the two,
APA is the most frequently used within the social sciences in citing
various sources. The following table shows examples of MLA and
APA styles of referencing:

Features in APA System MLA System

writing
Author’s name Carreon, J.B. Carreon, Janice B.
Title of Phenombased Phenombased Learning:
the The New Approach; or
reading learning: the new Phenombased Learning: The
material approach New Approach
Copyright date Carreon, J.B. 2019. Carreon, Janice B.
Phenombased learning: Phenombased Learning:
the new approach. The New Approach.
EduTech EduTech Journal. Wordstar
Press.2016. Manila,
Journal. Wordstar Philippines
Press Inc.
Manila, Philippines
What have you noticed in the styles of writing the above entries?

Step 3: Creating or synthesizing your review of related literature

Developing your review of related literature by gathering ideas
from other researches can be done by some patterns or
techniques like paraphrasing, quoting, and summarizing it. In
doing so, you may either change the arrangement of ideas,
structures of language by using synonyms, changing format of
words by comparison- contrast, chronological order, passive-active
sentences, inductive-deductive order, or by fusing opinions with
the author’s ideas. In quoting, a part of an author’s words are
repeated in writing but the page number of copied text should be
written, ideas must be essential and quoted judiciously, meaning
with full understanding. Summarizing is a shortened version of the
original text expressed in your own language, picking only the
most important details of the text. Paraphrasing on the other hand
permits you to explain the idea in your own words.