Ethical Considerations of the Study

In this section of the paper, the researcher will discuss the ethical considerations

that will be considered during the study. The main goal of these ethical considerations is

to ensure human participants' safety and well-being while adhering to universal ethical

principles. As mandated by the Department of Science and Technology-Philippine

Health Research Ethics Board (DOST-PHREB), as per CMO 15, s.2019, the research

will respect the rights of the respondents/participants. These guidelines and standards

provide clear definitions and outlines of the responsibilities of researchers, with a

specific emphasis on safeguarding the human respondents.

The study follows ethical considerations set forth by the SPCT Research and

Publications Office, based on the guidelines provided by DOST and PHREB. These

considerations include social values, informed consent, risks and benefits, safety,

privacy and confidentiality of information, justice, transparency, researcher qualification,

facility adequacy, and community involvement.

Social Value.

This study investigates senior high school students' critical thinking, writing, and

research skills. The findings of this study will be valuable to various stakeholders.

The Department of Education can benefit from this study since the data can

provide insight into senior high school students' critical thinking, writing, and research

skills. This insight can help implement relevant programs, activities, and interventions to

improve these skills.

determine their critical thinking, writing, and research skills. With this data, students can

assess their strengths, identify areas for improvement, and use this information to guide

them in their academic journey.

Lastly, this study can benefit the institution since it can use the data generated

from this inquiry to gain perspective on students' skills, particularly in critical thinking,

writing, and research, and align its programs and strategies to improve the quality of

education provided. This can enhance students' critical thinking, writing, and research

skills.

Informed Consent/Assent.

One of the most important ethical considerations when conducting a study is to

obtain informed consent from the participants. This is necessary to ensure that the

participants are fully aware of the study's purpose, role, and rights as participants. By

providing informed consent, participants can make an informed decision about whether

or not they want to participate in the study without any pressure or coercion. Informed

consent also includes informing participants that they have the right to refuse to

participate or to withdraw from the study at any point without any negative

consequences.

Before gathering data for this study, the researcher will obtain informed consent

from all participants. As this study involves senior high school students who are minors,

both the students and their parents or guardians will need to provide their consent for

the students to participate. The researcher will provide the students with the necessary
assent form documents and the parents with the necessary parental consent form. After

a set period, we will collect the forms. Only those respondents who have provided

consent, along with their parent's or guardians' consent, will be included in the data-

gathering process by being given the survey form.

Since this study will utilize face-to-face survey administration, the respondents

will be given a hard copy of the instrument. Before the actual data gathering, the

researcher will distribute the parental consent form to the target respondent for their

parents to accomplish. This is because the respondents for this study are senior high

school students between 16 and 18 years old. After a given period, the parental consent

will be retrieved from the respondents. Then, the researcher will identify respondents

whose parents and guardians consented and those who did not.

Only those respondents whose parents consented to participating in the study

will be given an assent form. Then, the researcher will retrieve the assent form to

identify the respondents who have consented to participate in the study. Since the

Assent Form and Parental Consent Form will be provided as hard copies, parents and

the respondents must complete the form, especially on whether they consent or do not

consent, and affix their signature on the documents. The researcher will then take

charge of compiling the documents for review purposes.

However, as a general principle, participation in this study is voluntary, even if

consent has been obtained. These respondents can refuse to participate or withdraw

from the study without fear of negative consequences.

Risks, Benefits, and Safety.

constructed instrument validated and tested for reliability as the primary data-gathering

tool. Moreover, this study will use Face to Face modality to obtain consent and collect

data. This means that to obtain consent, the researcher will identify a suitable time and

schedule to distribute. Then, the respondents will be given ample time for them and

their parents to complete the consent and assent forms before they are collected back.

The consent and assent form will be collected during the identified vacant time outside

the academic period to avoid academic disruptions.

After obtaining the necessary consent and identifying specific respondents, the

next step is distributing the survey form. Most target respondents are students so that

the research instrument will be distributed during their classes. However, to prevent

disruption of classes, the researcher will distribute the research instrument before the

scheduled class begins. Students can answer the survey form independently to avoid

any interference with their academics. The completed forms will be retrieved outside of

the student's academic period. This means that students can submit their completed

survey form directly to the researcher, or the researcher will use the identified vacant

period to retrieve the survey form.

In addition, as to the overall study itself, the researcher ensures that the study's

respondents will be subject to no undue harm and risk. Furthermore, the researcher

ensures that the study protects respondents' rights and well-being. Also, needed

permission will be secured from the school administration to ensure that the activity will

be duly recognized.
 Finally, once the data-gathering process has been done, the researcher will

thank the students for their time and effort participating in the study by giving them a

token of gratitude. The tokens will comprise school supplies (notepads, ball pens, sticky

notes), which they can use in their study. Also, on the macro level, the study's results

can serve as a basis for developing appropriate programs and activities to benefit the

students and the schools.

Privacy and Confidentiality of Information.

In the conduct of this study, the researcher has considered the various provisions

of RA 10173 or the Data Privacy Act of 2012 in the process of ensuring the privacy and

confidentiality of information that will be obtained in this study to protect and safeguard

the integrity of the data that is involved in this study and the identity of the respondents

in this study.

Furthermore, the researcher commits herself to maintaining the respondents'

privacy, confidentiality, and anonymity by ensuring that no specific identifying

information, particularly the name of the respondents, will be asked of them in the data-

gathering process. In addition, no other demographic indicators that may identify them

will be asked of the respondents. Furthermore, random codes will be assigned to the

survey form for tracing purposes. However, the form will be randomly distributed among

the identified respondents and will be randomly collected and filed. Lastly, since the

survey will utilize the Likert Scale, the respondents will only have to check the

corresponding value to their answers.

Following the survey, the researcher will keep the Survey, Assent, and Parent
Consent Form in her residence in a dedicated space with a lock and keys. Then, the

researcher will tabulate survey results on her laptop using a spreadsheet application.

Once data is generated and non-study data is removed, all study-related data will be

saved on the researcher's private device and in cloud storage with a secure password.

The researcher will have exclusive access to the storage and database. If the research

adviser or statistician requests information, it will only be provided for research

purposes and limited to the requested data.

Finally, at the end of the research process, the researcher will securely delete all

data about the study, either in hard copy or soft copy format. Furthermore, the data will

only be stored for the duration of the study. After the study has been completed and the

final papers have been turned over and published, the following will be the procedure to

be followed by the research in the deletion of the data about the study:

For hard copies of the data, the document will be shredded twice using a cross-

section shredder to ensure that the information contained in the document cannot be

reconstructed or accessed by individuals not authorized to access the data.

For soft copies of the data stored in the computer's hard drive, proper erasure

techniques such as the shift delete function will permanently erase the file in the storage

drive. This is to ensure that unauthorized individuals can access no traces of the data.

For soft copies of the data stored in cloud storage, the researcher will delete the

documents containing the data both in the central storage/repository and from that of

the trash bin. This is to ensure that unauthorized individuals can access no traces of the

data. Deleting the data will be reported to the course mentor and the research adviser
for verification and confirmation.

This study will be conducted from January to May 2024. It may be extended as

warranted. As such, all data about the study will be kept for at least six months and

disposed of at the end of the study period once the final paper is written and approved.

Justice.

This study explores the level of critical thinking, writing, and research skills of

senior high school students. It also seeks to explore whether there exists a significant

relation between the level between and among the various variables of the study, as

well as determine which of the independent variables, namely critical thinking skills and

writing skills, has a significant impact on the research skills of senior high school

students.

Hence, as part of its sampling, the research will utilize SIMPLE RANDOM

SAMPLING as a sampling technique. This means that all members of the target

population will have an equal chance of being chosen as part of the sample for the

study. This study will involve the research locale's grade 12 senior high school students.

Specifically, this study will utilize the following inclusion criteria: First, the respondent

must be a bona fide institution student currently enrolled herein. Second, the

respondent must be enrolled in the senior high school, specifically in grade 12. Third,

the respondents and their parents or guardians must fully consent to participate in the

study.

The target respondents are senior high school students aged 16-18. In line with
this, for respondents below 18 years old, the researcher will prepare both an assent

form and a parental consent form to procure their voluntary participation in the study.

For the respondents above 18 years old, the researcher will prepare an Informed

Consent Form for the same purposes.

As stipulated in the previous section of these ethical considerations, since the

mode of delivery is Face-to-face and the distribution of the forms and the survey will be

done within a specified period, participants for the study will incur no expense in terms

of transportation or food in their participation of the study. Furthermore, since the

distribution of the assent, parental consent, and informed consent will be done during

the vacant period identified by the researcher, no risk of disruptions to the participants'

academics will be incurred. Finally, since the survey form will only be distributed during

the vacant time and the answering can be done at the student's pace and time, no risk

of academic disruptions will be incurred.

Finally, as a way of acknowledging the valuable participation of the respondents

in the study, the researcher will be allocating an amount for the purchase of tokens as a

form of gratitude to the respondents for participating in the study. The students will

receive the tokens once they have completed the survey. In addition, the researcher will

also recognize the participants and those who help in the study in the acknowledgment

part of the study once the research is completed.

Transparency.

The researcher will ensure the study is transparent by allowing access to key

people like the adviser and statistician for review. The research document will also
include details on how the research instrument was developed, how the study will be

conducted, ethical considerations, the sampling method, and how the data will be

analyzed.

In this study, the researcher ensures transparency by preventing any potential

conflicts of interest during the study. A conflict of interest occurs when the interests of

different parties clash. If such a conflict arises between the researcher and anyone

involved in the study, the researcher will take the following steps.

Initially, the researcher and involved parties will disclose any potential conflicts of

interest. They will identify these conflicts and their causes and find ways to resolve the

emerging conflict of interest. Furthermore, the identified conflict of interest will also be

reported to the research adviser, and the latter will be consulted on the potential

resolution to the emerging problem. Finally, the conflict of interest and its resolution will

be promptly reported to the Research Ethics Committee for transparency.

However, in cases where the conflict of interest is not resolved, parties that may

have a conflict of interest in the conduct and completion of the study may be asked to

recuse themselves from any direct involvement in various processes of the study. In

such a way, the integrity of the study and the dignity of others involved will not be

compromised and prevent bias from influencing the trajectory of the study.

As part of the dissemination plan for papers, this paper may be published in a

reputable journal, the access to which is subject to the protocols of the journal in which

it is published. Furthermore, this study may be presented in appropriate research

forums, conferences, colloquiums, and the like if applicable. Finally, in addition to the
previously mentioned, a copy of the research will also be provided to the Graduate

School Department of the institution as well as the Commission on Higher Education to

ensure that the results of this study will be made accessible to those who are interested.

Qualification of Researcher.

In this study, the qualifications of the researcher and those involved are important

to ensure the work's credibility, reliability, and validity.

Hence, in this study, the researcher is currently enrolled in undergraduate studies

for the Master in Education major in Teaching Filipino. The abovementioned research is

part of the course Thesis writing, which is a partial requirement leading to the

completion of the program. The researcher has undertaken a research project in her

baccalaureate degree. Hence, the researcher has foundational knowledge of the

research process.

Furthermore, in the conduct of the duty, the following are some of the course

mentors who have provided significant assistance in formulating and implementing the

research project. First, through the class sessions, the course instructor has

consistently provided the researcher and the rest of the class with the needed directions

leading to the formulation and implementation of the study. The course instructor has

provided the research and her classmates with the different timelines and goals they

have to accomplish to ensure that the class can comply with the demands in relation to

their study. Also, in their classes, the instructor provided inputs on various
considerations of the study, answered specific queries on various parts of the paper,

and provided insights on how to accomplish various parts of the paper. The course

instructor also conducts regular monitoring and checking of progress and helps issue

needed and relevant research documentation in compliance with the requirement for

review.

Second, in addition to the course instructor, the researcher has a research

adviser who assists with the actual content and formulation of the paper. The research

adviser is one of the researchers' instructors in the graduate studies teaching significant

subjects in the program. The research adviser has worked with the researcher in the

formulation of the different parts of the paper and provides an in-depth correction

focusing on the content of the paper as well as the overall structure of the paper. The

research adviser also provides sessions and coaching, providing insights on the paper,

specifically in areas that can still be improved.

Lastly, in addition to the instructor and research adviser, the researcher is

assisted by a statistician. The statistician provides the researcher with the necessary

guidance, specifically in the determination of the appropriate statistical tools that can be

used in the study, as well as helps in conducting a reliability test for the researcher-

constructed questionnaire.

Adequacy of Facilities.

For adequacy of the facilities, since the research will be employing a face-to-face

modality, all forms involved in the study, namely the assent form, parental consent form,

and the Informed Consent Form for respondents above 18 years old, will be provided as
a hard copy. This also goes the same with the survey form. As such, the researcher has

access to services such as Risograph to reproduce the survey instrument and the

informed consent form.

Furthermore, the researcher has available facilities such as laptops, tabulation

and processing of the data, the writing of the paper, and printers for printing relevant

documentation to the study.

Community Involvement.

The respondents' involvement will only be limited to answering the survey

questionnaire in the study. They will not be involved in other processes in writing the

paper. In addition, the parents and guardians of all respondents below 18 years old are

limited to the provision of consent for their student's participation in the study.

Furthermore, the researcher will exercise diligence to ensure that respect for

local traditions and culture is observed. For instance, in crafting the research

instrument, the researcher ensured that no words or statements in the instrument would

be construed as gender-biased or offensive to a specific gender. Statements are

formulated in such a way that they are generic and use as much inclusive language as

possible. The researcher also ensures that the contents of the research instruments are

respectful. Also, the research instrument has undergone a proper validation process by

an identified panel of experts to ensure proper construction and content.

Finally, in the data-gathering process, the researcher ensures respect for the

culture and local traditions of the respondents/participants' community by first securing

participants who are minors, the researcher ensures that the consent of the parents and

guardians is solicited before proceeding. Also, in the process of data gathering, the

researcher ensures that the schedule will be according to the preferences and

availability of the respondents. This is to ensure that the survey's schedule and mode

will be according to the convenience of the respondents. In addition, the researchers

ensure that in dealing with the respondents, the former will use respectful language and

exercise sensitivity to the context of the respondents. Lastly, No provision of this study

or the processes and procedures contained herein is inherently discriminatory to any

group or segments of the society.