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Chapter I

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study/The Problem and its Setting

This part/section should contain the following:1

 What is the problem all about;

 problematic situations must surface;

 justifications for the claimed problem (legal bases,

results of previous studies, observations);

 the relation of the research to the researcher;

 the expected result significant to the researcher and

other group/entities; and

 the expected contribution to the pool of knowledge.

Use simple words which are straight to the point.

Should not be a cut-and-paste. Limit the borrowing of

ideas

Quotations must not be more than five lines. Do not

under write nor over write. Statistical proof to the

claimed problem must be the latest/most recent.

1
T. M. Cabili, “Thesis format for social “soft” sciences.” A
paper presented during the Seminar on Thesis, Dissertation, Colloquium,
Re-entry Plan Writing on December 20, 2014 at the Center for Advance
Studies.
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Note: Background of the Study is for master’s thesis;

The Problem and its Setting is for dissertation.

Footnote is for masters’ work; while parenthetical

notes is for the dissertation. Use APA style of

documentation.

Another thing, use paragraph form; the bullet form

indicated here is used for the purpose of listing down the

items that should be included in every section.

Objectives of the Study

 Objectives of the Study should be stated in

general and specific form

 The specific questions must start with

independent, then dependent, and other variables.

Specific objectives should be numbered.

 For relationship, consider the hypothesized

relationship between the dependent and independent

variables.

 Quantitative: Always specify pre-determined

variables/indicators, etc. and sub

variables/indicators

 Qualitative: no pre-determination of

variables/indicators/parameters
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Significance of the Study

 This section should spell out the name of agency,

group of persons, individuals who are the

beneficiaries of the study.

 Benefits may not just be from the result but from

any part of the study.

 Benefit is the specific thing a beneficiary

directly or indirectly gets.

The first paragraph is the general statement of the

significance of the study, then the beneficiaries should be

written as follows:

The Academe. Findings of this study will be useful to

the academic institutions like the University of Eastern

Philippines to conduct potential researches pertaining to

coastal and marine conservation, protection, and management.

Information from this study will also serve as valuable

baseline data or reference for future research undertakings.

Scope and Limitation of the Study

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 Scope is the coverage of the study: subject areas of

the study, the respondents, the place, and the

time frame.

 Limitation is the weakness of the research and may

be the researcher.

Theoretical Framework

 A core theory must be that theory which really

captures the substance of the study.

 Support theories strengthen the claim of the major

theory

 Corresponding explanation in relation to the study

must be provided.

 In the presentation, start with what the theory

is, who the theorist is, when it was established,

what the theory claims in relation to the study

and the utility of the same to other studies

previously conducted.

Conceptual Framework
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 If the study is quantitative, explain or discuss

relationship of the variables.

 If the study is qualitative, explain or discuss

the interplay of the concepts in the entire study.

 Relationships/correlations are dependent on the

research design/type of research.

Paradigm of the Study

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 This section (usually contained in one page) shows

the flow of the study.

 It shows the relationships/interplay of the

variables/concepts/parameters

 Its structure is dependent on the type of

research.

Hypotheses
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 This section will be part of the paper depending

on the type of research.

 The hypothesis lends itself to the relationships

of the variables/concepts.

 This section shall be presented as follows:

This study will prove the following:

1. that there is no significant difference on the

extent of practices…,

2. that there is no significant correlation between…

Definition of Terms

 Important words should be defined conceptually and

operationally.

 The words usually defined are the variables in the

paradigm.

The format is:

An introductory sentence like: “Some terms are herein

defined to facilitate understanding of the study.” Then the

key terms will be presented as:

Coastal resources. Conceptually and operationally, the

term refers to…

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 Remember that conceptual definition must be taken

from technical book/references which is cited as

footnote.

Chapter II

REVIEW OF LITERATURE
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Teacher-student Interaction

Certain elements of teaching and teacher’s work in the

classroom were understandably considered important elements

of appraisal and feedback. In fact, across TALIS countries,

the quality of teachers’ relations with students was the

most important item as it emphasizes the importance accorded

to teacher-student relations in school education.2

This perspective is supported by research suggesting

that teachers who develop such relationships experience

fewer classroom behavior problems and better academic self-

efficacy which ultimately result to better academic

performance.3 Similarly, Brekelmans and his associates4

explore the significance of the experience of the teacher in

realizing appropriate relationships with students. They have

proven that this can contribute to general improvement of

the learning environment and that teacher-student

2
_________Creating Effective Teaching and Learning Environments:
First Results from Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) –
ISBN 978-92-64-05605-3. P. 10 retrieved from
http://www.oecd.org/education/preschooland school/43023606.pdf, on
January 3, 2013.
3

D. M. Decker, Dona, D. P. & Christenson, S. L. (2007).

“Behaviorally at-risk African-American students: The importance of
student-teacher relationships for student outcomes.” Journal of School
Psychology, 45(1), 83-109.
4

M. Brekelmans, T. Wubbels and P. den Brok, “Teacher experience

and the teacher-student relationship in the classroom environment.”
Studies in Educational Learning Environments: An International
Perspective, Singapore: WorK Scientific, pp. 73-99).
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interactions are an important means for preventing

discipline problem and fostering professional development.

The example page shows how studies and literature are

intertwined in the discussion of teacher-student

interaction.

 This chapter is arranged according to essential or

substantial topics, concepts, or variables.

 Topics are arranged according to significance as

they appear in the title, objectives or paradigm

of the study.

 Literatures and studies are lumped.

 Similarities and differences are given as

literatures and studies are presented; no more

separate section for the similarities and

differences.

 Sub-variables, concepts and topics are integrated

in the major variable, concepts or topic.

Note: The dissertation manuscript uses parenthetical notes

instead of footnotes.

Chapter III

METHODOLOGY
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Locale of the Study

This section presents the description of the locale of

the study

 Vivid description of the specific place; highlight the

place of study.

 Layout and features of the place will be described.

 In case of an institution like UEP, show curricular

offerings, indicate the area in hectare, population.

 The rationale behind the choice of the research locale

must be presented.

 If map is to be used, contain only the necessary

feature/s.

Research Design

This section indicates the research design utilized in

the study .

 Must answer the “why this research design” and not the

definition of the research design.

The Variables
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This section describes the variables, and their general

categories such as independent and the dependent variables

and their components; no need of indicating the detailed

description, definition or categorization of every variable.

Population and Sampling

The sampling technique and procedure used must be very

well-described. Steps in the selection must be presented in

detail. The nature and characteristics of the sampling

groups as well as the rationale for their choice must be

well explained.

The Respondents

Present in this section the following:

 total population and the number of the samples of the

study,

 nature of the sample, and

 the universally-accepted sampling technique used.

 There should be delineation of terms used: subjects of

the study for experimental; informants or research

participants of the study for qualitative; and

respondents of the study for surveys.

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Research Instrument

The research instrument must be very adequately

presented. State if it is researcher made, standardized and

adopted from whom/where/what study. Acknowledge and

properly document the source.

Explain briefly the parts of the research

instrument/s.

Scoring and Interpretation

Indicate how the variables are scored/categorized.

Indicate the range and how the scores will be interpreted or

the meaning of the data. This section may include comparison

with and in the light of all previous researches, therefore,

documentation or citing the source is important.

Validation of Research Instrument

Explain in this section how, where, to whom (the

valuators) the research instrument is validated.

It must be comprehensively discussed especially how

validity and reliability indices are established.

If the research instrument is standardized and no

longer needs validation, state the reason why validation

is no longer necessary.
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Data Gathering Procedure

Present adequate explanation how the data is gathered.

Steps in the data gathering must be well-explained. Point

out the control employed to insure the validity of the

results, environmental conditions, and other occurrences.

Statistical Treatment

See to it that the statistical measures used are

appropriate for the kind of data used. Present the

statistical tools, reasons for using such statistical

tests, and explanation on the scoring, weighing of scores

and other essentials.

The level of significance must be stated in cases

where the treatment requires hypothesis testing.

Chapter IV

PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS, AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA

 This part follows the sequence of the objectives.

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Data are presented textually first, followed by the

tabular presentation. Use the following table format:

Profile of the Respondents

Educational Qualification. The data gathered,

categorized according to educational attainment of the two

groups of respondents are presented in Table 1. There were 2

or 5.26% administrators and 36 or 94.74% faculty who were

college graduate…

Table 1

Profile of the Respondents

Note: it is in this chapter where the reviewed literatures and studies

(presented in chapter II) will be used to support the findings of the study
conduct
Chapter V

SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Summary
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• This section presents the summary of findings only;

arranged according to the sequence of the objectives.

Conclusions and Implications

 Conclusions are not mere repetitions of findings

 A conclusion answers to question “if this is the

finding, so what?

 Conclusions may or may not include reviewed theories

and other literatures

 Implications to persons/education must be stated

Theory Evolved

 this section is for dissertation only

 Contains the theory formulated by the researcher out of

the results, conclusions, and implications of the study

conducted.

Recommendations

 One to one correspondence is usually observed

 Recommendations must be doable.

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 Recommendations are numbered.

Note: Chapters IV and V should be presented following the one-to-

one correspondence: objective 1 – finding 1 – conclusion and implication
1 – and recommendation 1.

LITERATURE CITED

This section presents the alphabetically (by authors’

surname) arranged references of all kinds; no grouping as
to books, journals, etc.
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Use APA documentation style or format. Examples

presented below are unpublished material, internet source,
journal, book, respectively.

Cerbito, E.(2012). “Communicative Competence of the college

and arts and communication english language and
literature and literature teachers as rated by the
students in the university of eastern Philippines.”
Unpublished Master’s Thesis. University of Eastern
Philippines.

Doenia, D. “Deviations in linguistics conventions on poetry

(English version). Retrieved August 21, 2014.
http://doeniadevi.wordpress.com.

Nofal, KH (2011). “Systematic aspects of poetry: a

pragmatic perspective.” International Journal of
Business and Social Sciences. Vol. II, No. 16, 2-6.

Zulueta, F. M. (2006). Principles and Methods of Teaching.

Manila: National Bookstore.

Note: You may underscore or italicize title of books and

journals.

APPENDICES

This section may include the following:

A. Letter request
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B. Research Instrument

C. Other support documents

D. Tables generated/printed from the program like SPSS

Note: chapter pages will not bear page numbers; first page of
preliminary and supplementary sections/parts will not be numbered, too.
First page of Abstract and Literature Cited, for example, are included
in the counting of pages but page number will not appear on the page.

Prepared by Dr. Analiza M. Salazar/2014

Revised and improved in April 2017/AMS