Ethics is a system of moral principles. It consists of d.

Do not take on a research if personal, financial,

norms for conduct that distinguish between legal or other interest if it might impair your
acceptable and unacceptable behavior. Generally is judgment and objectivity as a researcher.
• Observe proper decorum in the conduct
considered to deal with beliefs about what is right or
of the study.
wrong, proper or improper, good or bad. To be • Exercise culture and gender sensitivity.
ethical is to conform to accepted professional
practice. III. UNETHICAL PRACTICES IN CONDUCTING
RESEARCH
II. ETHICS IN RESEARCH
The following are ethical standards in research. Read 1. Deceiving a respondent about the true purpose of
and understand each. a study.
1. Keep the integrity of the research.
a. Make sure that the gathered data are accurate, 2. Asking a respondent questions that cause him or
correct and validated. her extreme embarrassment; guilt emotional turmoil
by remaining him or her of an unpleasant experience
b. Exercise intellectual honesty in reporting data,
results, methods, procedures and publication status. 3. Invading the privacy of a respondent

c. Properly cite all sources of information. 4. Studying the respondents or research subjects
without their knowledge
d. No fabrication, falsification, misinterpretation of
data and plagiarism 5. When analyzing the data—revealing only part of
the facts, presenting facts out of context, falsifying
e. Honor patents, copyrights and other forms of findings or offering misleading presentation such as
intellectual property. lying with statistics

2. Respect the dignity of the research participants. 1. Types of Research Based on Data: Qualitative and
Quantitative
a. Respect for Persons
• Anonymity Protect respondent’s identity Qualitative research is a type of educational
by making it anonymous. research in which the researcher relies on the views
• Confidentiality Handle gathered data and of participants; asks broad, general questions;
personal information of respondents with collects data consisting largely words (text) from
confidentiality participants; describes and analyzes these words for
themes; and conducts the inquiry in a subjective,
b. Informed consent biased manner.
• Has full knowledge of the study
• Recognize the right to withdraw. Quantitative research is a type of educational
• Get consent to record interview or to research in which the researcher decides what
take pictures and videos
to study; asks specific, narrow questions;
collects quantifiable data from participants;
c. Beneficence (It is an action that is done for the
benefit of others.) analyzes these numbers using statistics; and
• Maximize benefits of the study to the conducts the inquiry in an unbiased, objective
respondents manner.
• Assure safety and no harm to the
participants I. KINDS OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
• Strive to promote social good and prevent
or mitigate social harm. 1. Case Study- This qualitative research is an in-
depth and detailed investigation of an
d. Justice individual, group, organization, institution,
• Exercise fairness in the selection process situation, event or entity within its real-life
of participants.
context.
• Show proper respect and care for animals
2. Ethnography According to Coleman and
when using them in research. Simpson in Discover Anthropology, ethnography
is the recording and analysis of a culture or
3. Exercise responsibility and obligation to the society, usually based on participant-
research community observation and resulting in a written account
of people, place or institution.
a. Seek different perspectives. 3. Phenomenology This qualitative research
aims to understand the meaning of people’s
b. Continuously seek opportunities for professional lived experiences. It explores the experience of
development. Maintain and improve professional
people in a certain phenomenon.
competence and expertise.
4. Grounded Theory This qualitative research
c. Take credit for work actually performed or aims to discover or develop a theory from
substantially contributed. systematically collected data which are
analyzed and interpreted inductively.
5. Narrative This qualitative research explores 1. The title must contain the following elements:
and conceptualizes human experience as it is a. the subject matter or research problem;
represented in textual form. As a researcher, b. the setting or locale of study;
you capture the narration of life experiences of c. the respondents or involved in study; and
d. the time or period when the study was
an individual through interviews, family stories,
conducted.
journals, field notes, letters, autobiography, 2. Titles are usually in the form of a phrase but can
conversations, pictures or other artifacts. also be in the form of a question.
6. Historical This qualitative research aims to
describe, explain and understand actions or 3. Rarely use abbreviations or acronyms unless they
past events in order to understand present are commonly known.
patterns and anticipate future choices.
4. Identify key variables, both dependent and
Guidelines in Choosing a Research Topic independent.
Written below are guidelines in choosing a research
topic (Baraceros 2017, 37-38). 5. The title must be broad enough to include all
aspects of the study but should be brief and concise
1. Interest in the subject matter as possible.
2. The availability of information 6. The use of terms as “Analysis of “, “A study of”,
3. Timeliness and relevance of the topic “An Investigation of” and the like should be avoided.
4. Limitations on the subject
5. Personal resources 7. If the title contains more than one line, it should
Research topics to be avoided be written in an inverted pyramid.
1. Controversial topics
2. Highly Technical 8. When typed or encoded in the title page, all words
3. Hard-to-investigate subject in the title should be in capital letters.
4. Too broad subjects
5. Too narrow subjects 9. Use correct grammar and capitalization with all
6. Vague subjects first words and last words capitalized, including the
first word of a subtitle. All nouns, pronouns, verbs,
Sources of Research Topics adjectives, and adverbs that appear between the
1. Mass media communication and press first and last words of the title are also capitalized
(newspapers, ads, TV, radio, films, etc.)
10. If possible, the title should not be longer than 15
2. Books, Internet, peer-reviewed journals and substantive words.
government publications networking
11. Avoid a long, detailed title that gives too much
3. Lectures, talks, seminars and forums information.

4. General periodicals such as Readers’ Digest, 12. To shorten the title, delete the terms assessment
Women’s Magazine, Panorama, Time Magazine and or evaluation if these are already emphasized in the
World Mission Magazine text.

5. Previous reading assignment in your other The Parts of the Introduction to a Research Paper
subjects The introduction to a research paper simply
introduces the topic being researched. The
6. Work experience-clues to researchable topics introduction contains a topic sentence, a background
from full-time to a parttime job, OJT (on the job of the study that consists of a thesis statement, then
training) experience, fieldwork. three to five reasons, details, and/or facts supporting
your research followed by a conclusion. It should be
5 Steps in Writing a Good Research Title relatively brief, concise, and clear. The thesis
statement and the supporting sentences provide the
1. Ask yourself these questions and write down
background information the reader needs about the
all the answers.
topic. An introduction doesn't explain the findings in
detail. It provides the setup for the paper.
2. Use your answers to list keywords
1. Topic sentence
3. Create a sentence that includes the keywords The topic sentence in the introduction simply states
you listed. the main idea of your paper. It should be clear and
concise yet thorough enough for a reader to
4. Delete all unnecessary/ repetitive words and understand what will be presented. It is
link the remaining. unquestionably the most important sentence in the
paragraph.
5. Delete non-essential information and reword
2. Background of the study
the title. This part discusses the historical background of the
problem when it started, how and where, if possible.
Guidelines in the Formulation of a Research Title It describes the problematic situation, the extent,
and gravity of the problem, who are affected by it, its
The final title must have the following effects, etc.
characteristics:
 b. Will the study involve applied or basic
A. The Thesis Statement research?
A thesis statement identifies the topic being
discussed, includes the points discussed in the paper, Guidelines in Formulating Research Questions
and is written for a specific audience. Your thesis 1. Establish a clear relation between the research
statement is placed at the end of the first paragraph questions and the problem or topic.
of your introduction.
B. Supporting Sentences 2. Base your research questions on your Review of
Three to five reasonable arguments should be Related Literature.
presented in the form of reasons,
details, and/or facts 3. Formulate research questions that can arouse
C. Rationale your curiosity and surprise you with your findings.
The rationale of your research is the reason for
conducting the study. The rationale should answer 4. State your research questions in a way that they
the need for conducting the said research. include all dependent and independent variables
3.The Conclusion Sentence referred to by the theories, principles and concepts,
The concluding sentence of the introductory underlying your research work.
paragraph simply recalls the main idea and adds a
strong ending to a paragraph. 5. Let the set of research questions or sub-problems
Stating Research Questions be preceded by one question expressing the main
This problem drives you to think of one topic to problem of the research.
investigate or focus on for the solution that would
benefit whoever is affected by the problem 6. Avoid asking research questions that are
answerable with yes or no.
Techniques for Narrowing Down the Topic into a
Research Question Neum (2007) presented 7. Be guided by the acronym SMART (specific,
techniques to narrow down a topic into a measurable, attainable, realistic and time-bound) in
research question: formulating the research questions

1. Examine the literature. Published articles are an Scope and Delimitation

excellent source of Scope and delimitation are two elements of a
a. Replicate a previous research project research paper. The scope of a study tells what
exactly or with slight variations. is and what is not in the domain of your
research.
b. Explore unexpected findings discovered
in previous research. Delimitations are the characteristics that limit
the scope and describe the boundaries of the
c. Follow suggestions an author gives for study, such as the sample size, geographical
future research at the end of an article. location, or setting in which the study takes
place, population traits, etc.
d. Extend an existing explanation or theory
to a new topic or setting. Delimitation vs Limitation
Limitations are influences that the researcher
e. Challenge findings or attempt to refute a cannot control. Limitations are related to qualitative
relationship. research in terms of validity and reliability. They are
the shortcomings, conditions, or influences that
f. Specify the intervening process and cannotbe controlled by the researcher that place
consider linking relations. restrictions on the methodology andconclusions. Any
limitations that might influence the results should be
2. Talk over ideas with others. mentioned.
a. Ask people who are knowledgeable about Usual Limitations of the study
the topic. • The issues with sample and selection
• The insufficient sample size for statistical
b. Seek out those who hold opinions differ treatment
from yours on the topics and discuss • Lack of previous research studies on the topic
possible research questions with them. • Methods, an instrument to collect the data
Delimitations refer to the boundaries of the
3. Relate a topic to a specific context. research study, arising from the researcher’s
a. Focus the topic on a specific historical decisions of what to exclude. They describe the
period. boundaries that the researcher has set for the study.
b. Narrow a topic to a specific society or
geographical study. Tips in Writing Scope and Delimitations
c. Consider which subgroups or categories Indicate the principal variables, size, locale, time
of people or units are involved and whether frame, and justification.
there are among them. • To whom your research is directed to?
4. Define the aim or desired outcome of the • What is the size of the population?
study. • What is the subject matter of the study?
a. Will the research question be of an • Where will the study take place?
exploratory, explanatory, or descriptive • What is the time frame? (Indicate the time
study? coverage of the study)
• Don’t forget the limitation. What is the limitation
of your study?

Steps to Follow in Writing Scope and

Delimitation

Step 1: Refer to the research problem and objective.

Step 2: Provide details to the following information.
General purpose:
Subject matter:
Population or participants:
Location of the study:
Step 3: Generate a paragraph using those details.

Significance of the study is divided into two parts

1. The introductory statement is a very short prelude
or introduction to this part of your research. This
part of the research contains the beneficiaries of
your research.
2. The presentation of the beneficiaries contains the
accounts or descriptions of how the beneficiaries
benefit from the study.

Method of presenting the beneficiaries

1. Hierarchical Method considers the positions of the
beneficiaries, from the highest position to the lowest
position.
Examples of hierarchical method
A. Administrators
B. Teachers
C. Parents
D. Students
E. Researchers
2. Presentation according to importance is a method
that tells who would benefit most on your research.
Example of presentation according to the
importance
A. Students
B. Parents
C. Teachers
D. Administrators

Tips on Writing the Significance of the study

1. Refer to the statement of the problem
2. Write from general to specific

Literature Review- refers to the understanding

of these documents developed by modern
scholars to explain the probable causes of the
event.
Literature vs. Studies
Literature refers to any written document which is
related to the topic being investigated. These may be
from books, magazine articles, pamphlets, public
records, or even online articles.
Studies are specific examples of literature that are
produced scholarly. This consists of published
research found in journals, unpublished research
found in university libraries, case studies, position
papers, and other articles that are products of
scholarly research.