CHAPTER 2 IDENTIFYING AND STATING THE PROBLEM

RESEARCH TOPIC

-The first challenge of any researcher.

-An intellectual stimulus calling for answer in the form of inquiry.
-Are general questions about relations among variables, or characteristics of the phenomenon
which a researcher needs to undertake.

SOURCES OF RESEARCH TOPICS or PROBLEMS

1. Prevailing theories or Philosophy

2. Observations, intuitions or a combination of booth
3. Different subjects taken & form them identify a problem that interests a student-researcher
most
4. Fields of interest of specialization or event from related fields
5. Existing problems in the classroom/school/campus/university/ which one may want to solve are
good sources of research problems
6. Existing needs of the community or society
7. Repetition or extension of investigations already conducted or may be an offshoot of studies
underway (Angeles, 1996, p. 86)
8. Related studies and literatures
9. Advice of authorities or experts from funding agencies
10. Offshoots of friendly conversations
11. Incidental from interesting topics of professors during the course meeting /session

SELECTING THE RESEARCH

1. It should be something new or different from what has already been written about.
2. It must be original.
3. It must be significant to the field of study or discipline.
4. It must be necessarily arouse intellectual curiosity.
5. It should be a modest one for a beginner to be carried on within a limited period of
time.
6. It should be clear, not ambiguous.
7. It should be of researcher’s interest and researcher must be with the topic.
8. It should be specific, not general.
9. It should consider the training and personal qualifications of the researcher.
10. It should consider the availability of data involved in the study and the methods and
techniques to be employed in gathering them.
11. It should consider the availability of effective instruments for gathering the data and
their treatment.
12. It should be consider the financial capacity of the researcher to support the project.
13. It should be consider the time factor involved in the undertaking.

SELECTED GUIDELINES IN THE FORMULATION OF A RESEARCH TITLE

- The title must be contain the following elements:
 a. The subject matter or research problem;
b. The setting or locale of the study;
c. The respondents or participants involved in the study; and
d. The time or period when the study was conducted (if the title becomes too long
because of these elements, the timeframe or period may be omitted except in
evaluation studies.

2. The title must be broad enough to include all aspects of the study but should be brief
and concise as possible.

3. The use of terms as “Analysis of “, “A Study of”, “An Investigation of” and the like
should be avoided. All these are understood to have been done in a research.

4. If the title contains more than one line, it should be written in inverted pyramid.

5. When typed or encoded in the title page, all words in the title should be in capital
letters.

6. If possible, the title should not be longer than 15 substantive words.

7. Avoid a long, detailed title that gives too much information.

8. To shorten the title, delete the terms “assessment” or “evaluation” if these are
already emphasized in the text.

CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD TITLE

1. A title should give readers information about the contents of the research and is preferable to
one that is vague or general.
2. Titles do not need to be stuffy or dull but they should generally give readers some idea at the
outset of what the research paper will contain.
3. Choose a title that is a phrase rather than a complete sentence.
4. Select a straightforward title over other kinds.
5. Use no punctuation at the end of the title.
6. Do not underline the title of research or enclose it in quotation marks, instead, use a word
processing program or printer that permits italics. Use them in place of underlining.