Lesson Developing a Research Topic,

Writing the Introduction and

1 Formulating Research Questions

Have you ever thought about how the world would have been without the
advancement in technology and other fields? Well, that’s because of research!
And consequently, life of people has become easier and more comfortable.

Since research plays a very important role in our daily lives, it is therefore
essential that you also have a background knowledge on how it is being done.

Writing the Research Title

The research title summarizes the main idea of your study. A good title
contains the fewest possible words that adequately describe the contents and/or
purpose of your research paper. Look at the sample research title below.

The title indicates the respondents

which are the Junior High School
“Factors that Affect Time Management of students and the scope which only
Junior High School Students” focuses on the factors that affect
time management.

After choosing your topic and writing your title, you are now ready to write
your introduction. Just like finding the right research topic and developing the
title, you need to be guided in writing your research introduction.

What Is It

Writing the Research Introduction

The introduction of a research report serves as the roadmap of your

paper. Well-written introductions set the tone, catch the reader's interest, and
communicate the objectives of your research. For you to write a good research
introduction, read and understand the parts and the sample paragraphs below.
The example introduction is from the research study entitled “Factors that Affect
Time Management of Junior High School Students”.

Step 1 → Give a general introduction to the topic for

Provide broad audience.
background → Narrow the focus to your particular topic.
Information → State the problem and its importance.
.
Example:
Time is an invaluable resource and to effectively handle this is the
General
secret to achieving success in life. Thus, the world encourages people to Introduction
manage time effectively as early as their elementary education starts.
Time management has been a subject of research in different areas. Focused
One is in the field of learning where it occupies a central position in different Topic

courses and various handbooks on study skills. Although lots of students

know that time management is vital to perform certain goal-directed Problem
activities, many are still overwhelmed and stressed on how they will manage
to finish all their school tasks in a given time period.
→ Include an in-text citation when you refer to, summarize,
paraphrase, or quote from another source to avoid
plagiarism.
American Psychological Association (APA) in-text citation
style uses the author's last name and the year of publication.
Step 2 For example: Mental health disorders are complex and can
Review take many forms. (Roser, 2018).
Author’s Last Name Year of Publication
related → You can introduce the quotation with a signal phrase that
literature. includes the author's last name followed by the year of
Review o
It identifies publication in parentheses.
the written For example: Asmelash (2019) stated that heavy social
works/studi media use can be linked to depression
es related to and other mental disorders in teens.
your topic. → If you do not include the author’s name in the text of the
sentence, place the author's last name and the year of
publication in parentheses after the quotation.
For example: Heavy social media use can be linked to
depression and other mental disorders
in teens (Asmelash, 2019).
Example:
Example 1 of in-text citation
A study conducted by Garcia (2004) showed that one of the most frequent
complaints made by students is that they do not have enough time to carry out
all the tasks assigned to them in different academic areas. The students also
pointed out that there were many classes, projects, reading assignments, exams
and other preparations that require constant dedication over a long period of
time. When students faced this kind of problems, they started to procrastinate
because they lacked organizational and time management skills. As a result,
students were not able to organize duties according to their priorities. It is
therefore essential for students to improve their time management skills since it
is one of the keys to higher academic achievements (Kelly, 2014).
Example 2 of in-text citation

Step 3 → Specify the objectives of the research or analysis of the

State the
study described in the paper.
objectives and
highlight the → Establish what you intend to accomplish.
significance of → Include how your study would benefit a specific group
the study of people.
Example:
Since there is a necessity of effective time management required from
Objectives
students during their academic and professional life, this study will be
conducted with the aim of identifying the factors that affect students’ time
Significance
management and the time management practices they commonly use. The
results of this study would help students understand the effective time
management strategies and apply them to attain maximum learning
achievements.

Formulating the Research Questions

After writing your introduction, you need to formulate your research
questions which will be the bases of your research questionnaire.

Writing a good research question means you have something you want to
study. The research questions are based on the objectives identified in the
introduction. We will examine the steps and then look at how you could write
your research questions.

• Specify your concern or issue.

• Decide what you want to know about the specific concern or issue.
• Turn what you want to know and the specific concern into a question.
• Ensure that the question is answerable.
Two Categories of Research Questions

There are two main categories of research questions: quantitative and

qualitative. Each has its own strengths and weaknesses when it comes to the
data they yield. The category you will choose depends on what kind of data you
are hoping to collect.
Common quantitative
Quantitative research will result in data
methods include:
that are easy to convert into objective, numbers-
based analysis. They are easier to measure using → experiments
statistical analysis because you can assign → observations recorded
numeric values and directly compare different as numbers
answers to the same questions. → surveys with closed-
ended questions

Example:
Have you ever applied time management when accomplishing your school
tasks?
*This question is answerable by yes or no.

Qualitative research involves collecting and Common qualitative

analyzing non-numerical data to understand methods include:
concepts, opinions, or experiences. It can be used → interview
to gather in-depth insights into a problem or → observations in
generate new ideas for research. Qualitative data detailed field notes
are more difficult to analyze than quantitative → surveys with open-
data. It consists of text, images or videos instead
ended questions
of numbers.
Example:
What ideas and suggestions could you give towards effective time
management?

*This is an example of an open-ended question where students would have

different answers defending on their perspectives and/or experiences.
 Writing the
Lesson
1 Research Body
and Conclusion
Research starts with curiosity. As rational individuals, we feel the urge
and the necessity to satisfy this curiosity that’s why we do research. We are
challenged by the idea of contributing to the existing body of knowledge that
we have today. After all, the common facts of today are the products of
yesterday’s research.
In the previous module, you learned how to select a sound research
topic and formulate research questions derived from it. According to Mark
Twain, “It is wiser to find out than to suppose.” This is the very heart of the
research body and conclusion.
In this lesson, you will learn how to gather research data using a
specific tool/method, tabulate these data and present your findings using
graphical presentations. Finally, from these findings, you’ll learn how to make
or write research conclusions. Thus, answering your formulated research
questions.

What is It

FORMULATING QUESTIONS FOR A SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE

If you take the time to write good survey questions, you’ll be well on
your way to getting the reliable responses you need to reach your research
objectives.

The first choice you have to make is the type of questions to use. Most
questionnaires for quantitative researches, if not all, make use of close-ended
questions that give respondents a fixed set of options to choose from. These
close-ended choices can be simple yes/no options, multiple choice
options, Likert rating scales, and more.

But the decisions don’t end there! You’ll also have to decide how to ask
your questions. To help you construct a top-notch questionnaire, here are tips
in constructing a survey:

✓ Focus on asking close-ended questions.

✓ Don’t ask for two things at once.
✓ Make sure your questions do not overlap.
✓ Keep your survey questions neutral.
✓ Keep a balanced set of answers/choices.
 Formulating questions for a quantitative research is different from a
qualitative one. If you remember, quantitative research involves collecting and
analyzing numerical data while qualitative research collects and analyzes
non-numerical data.
The commonly used data-collection method for a qualitative research is
‘interview’ (personally asking people questions in one-on-one conversations)
but you may also gather qualitative data through a ‘survey’. The only
difference is that your questions here should be open-ended.
For example:

The question above is an open-ended one. If you notice, it does not

provide the respondents a pre-determined set of answer choices, instead
allowing them to provide responses in their own words. Their answers will
serve as your qualitative data.
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In the previous module, you learned how to write an effective research
introduction. You also learned how to formulate research questions that are
anchored from the selected and limited research topic. To answer these
questions, you have to administer a survey to a certain group of people
through a questionnaire. Thus, there is a need to translate these research
questions to survey ones. For example:
Research Question: What are the common factors that affect students’ time
management?
Survey Question: Which of the following factors commonly affect your time
management?
_____ Distraction
_____ Motivation
_____ Priorities
_____ Procrastination
_____ Stress
Others, please specify: __________

Do the same process with your other research questions. Now, you are
ready to gather your research data by administering your survey to your target
respondents.
PRESENTATION OF RESEARCH DATA
• Data Presentation (Quantitative Data)
Data presentation is perhaps the most important part of a research
report because it is the culmination of all your efforts. People would like to
know what you have found out after conducting your survey. It is a big deal
because the findings are the essence of the whole research report.
Before presenting your data, briefly remind your readers about the
purpose or the significance of the study and your research questions as well.
Also, tell them about your research design and your data-gathering tool.

To provide context to your findings, present the socio-demographic

characteristics of your respondents when it is necessary and relevant to your
topic. These include age, sex, religion and other information about your
respondents.
For example, if you are doing a research about students’ time
management, the respondents’ sex may be considered as a relevant
information along with their age, respective grade levels, etc. You may use
tables to present and describe the socio-demographic characteristics of your
respondents. Refer to the example below.

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Table 1. Socio-demographic Characteristics
Sex Frequency Percentage
Male 30 60%
Female 20 40%
Total 50 100%

There are different ways of presenting your data as you may use various
graphical presentations such as pie charts, bar graphs, line graphs, etc.

Since our focus is a survey research report, this module is limited only
to the use of descriptive statistics wherein frequency counts and percentage
will be used.

Frequency Count simply counts the number of times that each variable
occurs, such as the number of males and females within the sample. On the
other hand, here’s a review on how to calculate what percentage one number
is of another number:

For example, in your questionnaire, your fifty respondents answered a

Yes/No question. Thirty of them answered ‘yes.’ Here’s how you compute for
the percentage.
 When you present descriptive statistics in a table or figure, you do not
need to repeat everything in text form. A common error is to tell nothing about
the table or to tell in writing everything in the table. Consider the following
guidelines in presenting quantitative data.

✓ Support your presentation with tables, graphs, charts and

figures.
✓ Focus on discussing the most important information in
the graphics.
✓ Make sure that each graphic is clearly labelled with a title
so that readers can easily identify and understand them.
✓ Do not judge or give your opinion on the results obtained.
✓ Remember to write for the reader and it should be logical
and easy to follow.

7
You have to decide on what are the key findings or features that should
be written about. You cannot say, “Just look at the table and interpret for
yourself what was found.”

For example:
Table 2. Common Factors Affecting Students’ Time Management
Factors Affecting Frequency Percentage
Time Management
Distractions 10 20%
Motivation 2 4%
Priorities 5 10%
Procrastination 25 50%
Stress 8 16%
Total 50 100%

Consider the sample discussion below:

Table 2 presents the data about the common factors that affect students’
time management. The survey results show that half or 50% of the respondents
consider ‘procrastination’ as the greatest factor that affects how they manage
their time, followed by ‘distractions’ and ‘stress’ with 20% and 16%
respectively. On the other hand, ‘priorities’ are less likely to affect students’
time management with 4% respectively.
 Notice that not everything in the table is discussed, only the relevant
findings. These are the items with the GREATEST frequency/percentage and
the one/s with the LEAST frequency/percentage.

• Data Presentation (Qualitative Data)

On the other hand, here are some guidelines in presenting qualitative
data.

✓ Transcribe interviews or type up fieldnotes.

✓ Examine the data for patterns, repeated ideas or
recurring themes that emerge.
✓ Focus on the recurring data as they relate to your
research questions
✓ Your findings should be backed up by evidences. These
evidences take the form of quotations from
survey/interviews.

8
Including large portions of a survey or interview data in a research
paper is not necessary and often tedious for the reader. The interviewee/s
should be established in the text at the end of the quote.
For example:
The student describes how remote learning affects how he manages his
time, “My home is not conducive to learning. I’m having a hard time to focus,
accomplish my tasks and be more productive in an environment with so many
distractions. As a result, it’s challenging and frustrating for me to manage my
time.” (interviewee 15, male)

WRITING THE RESEARCH CONCLUSION

The last part of the research report is the conclusion. The objective of
this section is to refresh the reader’s understanding of the ‘findings’ or
‘results’. Here are the important things that you should take into
consideration in writing your conclusion.

✓ highlight the main or major findings that you had stated

in your research body.
• There is no need to explain in detail the findings or
results and avoid the temptation to copy and
paste from your discussion in the body.
✓ keep it simple and do not include too much research
jargon.
✓ use simple non-statistical language to summarize.
✓ use the research questions as a guide in presenting your
conclusions.
✓ synthesize the findings and show how they converge to
answer the research questions.
 Going back to our sample table (refer to Table 2. Common Factors
Affecting Time Management on page 8), let us try to come up with a
CONCLUSION to answer our research question, What are the common factors
that affect students’ time management?

Remember that your conclusion should be derived from your results or

findings. Based on the table, we may conclude that:

“Procrastination, distractions and stress are the common factors

that affect students’ time management.”

There you have it. Good job! You have just written a sound conclusion
that answers our research question. You just have to do the same with the
other ones.