COMMUNICATION RESEARCH (COMM 18)

LESSON 4: FINALS
PART IV: THE THESIS PROPOSAL

Stating the Thesis Title, Objectives and Writing the Introduction

Explaining the Significance and Scope and Limitations of the Study

THESIS TITLE

A good title should be:

Short

Reflective of the content, problem and main variables to be studied; and free of value
judgment.

EXAMPLES of Titles using the Descriptive Design

“TV Viewership of College Students in Metro Manila”

“Media Habits of Assumption College Students, SY 1993-94”

“Newsseeking Behavior of Household Heads of UP ORCOM Students, SY 1993-94”

“Readership of Movie Magazines Among High School Students of Quezon City”

Descriptive Survey to Relational

Descriptive: “TV Viewership of College Students in Metro Manila”

Relational: “TV Viewership and Awareness of Social Problems of Metro Manila
Students.”

Additional Variable – awareness (dependent)

TV Viewership (independent)

To some extent, the title and introduction enhance the prospect of the study to attract
institutional support such as funding or coordination assistance from the school
administration, private development agencies, advertising and media companies.

INTRODUCTION

A good introduction should:

Tell the background of the problem;

Show the rationale or justification for choosing the study; and

Present the research gap that can be filled by the study and therefore the study’s
significance.

Required to do a review of related literature

PROBLEM/OBJECTIVES

Capsulize the questions to be answered by the research and its direction. They specify the
specific factors or variables of the communication phenomenon, process or event to be
studied.

The research problem states the question or questions that the study hopes to answer. The
research problem should be relevant to the times, measurable and testable, and linked to a
certain theory or principle.

EXAMPLES (Undergraduate theses):

How did NPC deal with the power crisis from a public relations perspective?

What is the role of culture in interpersonal conflict management in a multicultural
environment?

What is the role of the Philippine National Police in projecting a better image of its
agency?

What levels of exposure do the youth have to newspapers, magazines, television, radio
and cinema?

The research objective states what the study wants to find out based on the objectives of
the project or activity. A good objective should be:

Consistent with the research problem;

Able to include major variables;

Specific in citing variables that can be measured;

Clearly stated and

Logically presented.

Whereas the research problem is stated in question form, the objectives are stated in
declarative form (“To determine,” or “to find out”...)

EXAMPLES OF OBJECTIVES ARE:

Descriptive: “To determine the level of mass media exposure of Assumption College
students”

Relational: “To determine if there is a relationship between mass media exposure and
level of knowledge of Assumption College students about environment”

Causal: “To determine the effect of mass media exposure of Assumption College
students on their level of knowledge about environment”

The research problem should always guide you in formulating research objectives.
Stating objectives that are not within the scope of the research problem can mislead you
in designing the study.

EXAMPLE:

Problem: “What are the audience’s reactions to canned and locally produced television
commercials using Caucasian and Filipino talents?”

Objectives: “To determined comparative rating of television commercials using Caucasian

and local talents in terms of appeal, believability, persuasiveness and class.”

“To find out if the audience can identify better with situations and characters of
television commercials using Caucasian and local talents.”

“To determine whether the audience prefer Caucasian or local talents for TV
commercials for certain products.”

Steps in formulating objectives are:

Identify and include the key variables or factors in stating the objectives;

State the objective in declarative form based on the problem, e.g. “To find out if the
training increased the level of participants’ knowledge of the communication process”;

Match the objectives with the problem. See to it that they are consistent in terms of the
number of concepts; and

Include in the objectives only those variables that are found in the action objective.

HOW TO STATE THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The significance of the study points out the vital contribution your thesis will make in the
field of communication and specify the group (s) who will benefit from the results of the
study.

Examples are on attached paper

SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

This section of the first chapter of the theses states clearly the coverage of the study in
terms of location and they type and size of respondents to be studied.

Examples are on the attached paper.