Some Points to Consider in

Writing a Thesis from

Preliminaries to Chapter 1

Dr. Estela C. Itaas &

Dr. Sol G. Simbulan

PRELIMINARIES

1. Use 8”x11” substance 20 bond paper

2. Margins: 1 inch for top, bottom and right margins; 1.5 inches for left margin

3. Use Times New Roman 12 or Courier New 12 or Bookman Old style 12

4. Chapter title is at the center heading. Not all capital letters. Only the beginning of the word is capitalized, and use the numeral. e.g. Chapter 1

5. Use 3 single spaces after encoding

Chapter 1, then encode the next title

heading: The Problem. This should NOT

be all capital letters; not written in bold; not

underlined. This is still at the center

6. Use 4 single spaces after encoding: The

Problem

7. Type: Introduction - at the left margin. This

is italicized; not bold, not all caps.

8. All subsequent side subheadings are

italicized, e.g. Framework, Assumptions,

Statement of the Problem, Hypotheses, etc.

9. Use double space all throughout the

manuscript

10. For BSU thesis: Right justified

11. Pagination: Except for the Chapter

page, where no pagination is done,

the rest have page number at the

upper right hand portion.

12. As much as possible, the ink in

your computer should produce a clear

print-out.

What are the contents of Chapter 1?

1. Title heading: Chapter 1 The

Problem

2. Introduction

3. Theoretical/Conceptual Framework

4. Assumptions (Optional)

5. Statement of the Problem

6. Hypothesis/Hypotheses

7. Significance of the Study

8. Delimitation of the Study

9. Definition of Terms

Students Guide in Writing the

Introduction

Based from the title,

• Give a brief general overview of the study in one paragraph.

• Example: If your title is on Instructional Practices of Teachers in Combination Classes: Bases for Policy Guidelines.

• Introduce what is Instructional practicesall about in one paragraph; and what is a combination class on the 2nd paragraph.

• Cite the problems related to instructional practices in combination classes. These problems are true to your locale, the place where the study has to be conducted.

• Get a baseline data from what you have

observed; from interviews with teachers;

from some readings. Support this with

some statistical baseline data to have

evidences.

• You can give scenarios, examples, etc to

solidify your claim about the problem.

• For instance, you can state the problem

by saying: As observed, there are many

instructional practices of teachers in

combination classes where teachers

encountered some problems. Some of

these problems are….. These could run

from 3 to 4 paragraphs with logical ideas.

• Give the importance or rationale of the

study. Why are you studying this? What

makes this study relevant or important:

to your degree program;

to your institution or place of work;

to the local, regional, national concerns

(even global);

to you as the researcher; etc.?

• This could be 1 or 2 paragraphs.

• Make a concluding paragraph to cite the

relevance of your study

• Remember, you should make your

introduction interesting so that the reader

will continue to read your paper. Sustain

the interest of your reader.

Tips for writing Introduction

• 1. Give a brief general overview to introduce the

topic

• 2. Give the background of the problem

• 3. Cite baseline data; information; observations;

situation to illustrate the problem

• 4. Give strong rationale/justification of the study

• 5. Make a concluding paragraph

FRAMEWORK OF THE STUDY

(Conceptual or Theoretical)

Cite where your study is anchored. What is the framework of your study. Where did you base your study.

If you have several sources, you have to cite them. You can get their ideas but do not copy them verbatim.

Should you copy verbatim, this should be indented and single spaced. However, it is not advisable to have a long verbatim citation.

The discussion of the anchorage of the

study could be 1 to 4 paragraphs.

Introduce your schema/framework.

See to it that the variables are described

and discussed.

The discussion should be coherent and

interrelated.

Do not discuss in isolation, as if you are

defining terminologies.

You could to represent your framework

• as a relationship (cause-effect, that is, one factor

influences/affects/causes the other);

• as an input-process-output schema;

• as a developmental process (e.g. pre-

development, development, post-development);

• as a variable with several determinants;

• as a flow of the concepts interfacing the main

concept, etc.

Remember: Concentrate on the focus of your

study.

FRAMEWORK

• FRAMEWORK provides the base where

concepts/theories are anchored, focusing

the attention of the research on certain

features of the phenomenon under

investigation and provides a language

system for describing and interpreting the

evidence gathered during the study.

• Embedded within the frameworks are

general ideas concerning what and who

will be investigated.

• These provide a point of view and a

language system for describing the

features of the phenomenon and their

relationships.

3 types of conceptual system

(a)paradigms and research

programs,

(b)theories, and

(c)models

THEORY

• A set of interrelated constructs/concepts,

definitions and propositions that present a

systematic view of phenomena by

specifying relations among variables with

the purpose of explaining and predicting

the phenomena.

PARADIGM

• Ways of thinking or models, patterns,

schemata for research that when carried

out, can lead to the development of theory.

They often represent variables and their

relationships in some graphic or outline

form (Gage, 1985)

MODELS

• Models are well developed descriptive

analogies used to help visualize, often in

simplified or imitative way, phenomena

that cannot easily or directly observed.

Each model is thus a projection of a

possible system of relationships among

phenomena, realized in verbal, material or

symbolic terms

Tips to write the Framework

1. Use a stronger anchorage or bases for

your study.

2. Get an authority to back you up.

3. Study the history/origin of the concept.

Who is the proponent?

4. Get the variables/indicators for the

concepts

5. Draw the schema to conceptualize the

study

6. Schema should jibe with title and

problems

7. Discuss the schema; interconnect the

variables that you mentioned

8. Discuss the variables of the study such

that you relate them to the present

study.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

• Introduce the problem with a general

statement.(Deductive approach – General

to specific) Example: This study will

examine the instructional practices of

teachers in combination classes in

_______ during the SY _____ to provide

bases for policy guidelines

• Give the specific problems. As much as

possible you should have the appropriate

instrument to answer the problems raised.

• Example:

• Specifically, it seeks to answer the

following problems:

(cite the problems)

Tips for writing the Statement of

the problem

1. Give a brief into to contain the answer to “who, what, when, where, how”

2. State problems clearly. These should be researchable

3. Problems should jibe with appropriate instrument

4. As much as possible use instrument that will yield empirical data not just perceptions

5. Problems should be relevant to answer the need of the study

Significance of the study

• Give a brief introductory statement, like:

The result of this study will benefit the

following:

• Cite the beneficiaries of the study from the

most benefited to the least benefited. Give

the benefits that could be derived from the

result of the study. Example.

• The teachers will be most benefited

because knowing their instructional

practices, they could improve on their

weaknesses. They could continue to

practice their strengths. They could check

on which practices would need to be

replaced…. Give 4-6 sentences. Continue

with another paragraph for the next

beneficiary.

• Cite only those who will be benefited and

how they will be benefited

• The benefits should be realistic and

doable, and relevant

• Example: The teacher, the pupils, the

administrators;

• Do not number the beneficiaries.

• Use paragraph form.

Tips for writing the Significance

of the Study

Delimitation of the study

• Give a brief introductory paragraph,

indicating what the study is about, when it

is conducted; where it is conducted; This

could give the reader the physical/

geographical delimitation of the study.

Example: This study is delimited to the

instructional practices of teachers in _____

during the school year ____

• Indicate how limited is the content; the

variables used; the instrument

delimitation (Content delimitation).

• Example: The variables utilized in this

study is delimited to classroom

organization; classroom management;

classroom teaching; and classroom

activities

• Indicate how limited is the procedure

(Procedural delimitation).

• Example: The instruments utilized in the

study will be the researcher-developed

questionnaire with interview guide

questions which will be conducted to

some of the selected respondents.

Remember: Indicate the delimitation that is

true to the particular study. You can use

the word only or delimited.

Delimitations are not weaknesses, but those

which you limit because you would only

need these parameters. You could have

included the variables to your study but

you opt not to include these.

Tips for writing the delimitation

1. Consider the following delimitation

• a) physical/geographical delimitation

• b) content delimitation

• c) subject delimitation

• d) theoretical delimitation

• e) procedural delimitation

2. As much as possible state your sentences

a delimitation and not as methodology

3. You don’t have to be extensive; Be brief

and concise.

4. Write the delimitation in paragraph form

Definition of Terms Used

• Give a brief introductory paragraph,

Example: The following terms are defined

theoretically and/or operationally as used

in the study:

• Get only the important key words. You can

get these from the title and the variables

used in the problem. Example:

instructional practices, combination

classes, policy guidelines, etc.

Accordingly, define only the new

terminologies.

• Remember: Get the author and year for

the theoretical definition and see to it that

your operational definition is what you

meant in your study.

Tips for writing the Definition of

Terms

1. Define only the important terminologies/key concepts

2. Use both theoretical and operational definition

3. Authorities should be taken from primary

sources. Avoid using the dictionary

4. Other terms could be discussed in the

conceptual framework

Tips for citing references

1. Use APA format. Author’s name are not all capitals

2. List references cited in the text

3. Check if sources are related and relevant to the topic

4. Use internet sources especially from journals, ISI journals, pdf materials…those with authors only.

Do not use the wikipedia because these are still unedited and could change.

Work Activity

1. Prepare Chapter 1 of your Research study

1.1 Introduction

1.2 Framework of the study

1.3 Statement of problem

1.4 Significance of the Study

1.5 Delimitation of the Study

1.6 Definition of Terms Used

2. Submit this next week