CHAPTER 3

RESEARCH
METHODOLOGY
Parts of Research Methodology:
Research Design
Respondents of the Study
Research Locale
Instrumentation
Procedure
Statistical Treatment of the
Data
Research Design

Under this section, the researcher has to

choose the most appropriate research design
which is applicable to the study. The method of
research that will be used should be explained
and defined briefly including its
appropriateness to the study.
Sample Research Design
This study employed the descriptive method of
research in determining the level of mathematical
competence of the college freshmen identified using the
mathematics assessment test. As cited in the book of
Adanza (1999), Best defined the descriptive method as a
research method that describes and interprets a certain
behavior or condition. It establishes associations between
variables; the practices that prevail and the beliefs and
processes that are going on and effects that are being felt
or trends that are developing. In particular, the
researcher utilized the assessment or evaluation type.
Respondents of the Study
The researcher has to explain how and
where the subjects are taken. The brief
description of the respondents is
presented and how they will be selected.
Sample Respondents of the Study

The subjects of the study were the college

freshmen enrolled in Rogationist College during the
school year 2006-2007 and under the departments
of Business Administration and Accountancy,
Engineering, Education and Information
Technology. The researcher used the purposive
sampling technique. Freshman students from these
departments were taken as samples since they offer
courses that require high mathematical skills and
abilities.
Research Locale

The place / institution where the study

will be conducted.
Sample Research Locale

This study was conducted in Rogationist College –

College Department, Silang, Cavite. It is one of the
colleges in Cavite composed of two departments,
the college and the high school department. The
college department consists of six departments
namely Business Administration and
Accountancy, Engineering, Education,
Information Technology, Hotel and Restaurant
Management and Technical Education. The
researcher is currently working as a mathematics
instructor in the college department.
Sample Research Locale

Despite the fact that the high school department is

already established, the college department is still
in the process of establishing its name. The said
college can be considered as young because it only
has 861 students from which 402 are freshmen.
Since it is not yet stabilized, there are no researches
conducted for further development of the college.
This study was the very first research work that
was conducted for the benefit of the school and
this was the researcher’s contribution for the
development of the school.
Instrumentation

In this section, there is a need to

describe and explain explicitly the
adoption or construction, validation and
administration of research instruments
that will be used in gathering data.
 Sample Instrumentation
To assess the competence of the respondents in mathematics the
researcher adapted the instrument “Test of Logical Operation (TLO)
in Mathematics”. The said instrument was designed, constructed and
developed by Leongson (2001) for his master’s thesis, which
investigated the cognitive skill achievement in mathematics of 59
college freshmen of Bataan Polytechnic State College. Consequently,
its validity and reliability had already been established. This
instrument consists of seven reasoning patterns such as classification,
seriation, logical multiplication, compensation, proportionality,
probability reasoning and correlation based on Piaget’s logical
operations. There were five items on each reasoning pattern giving 35
items and that should be answered in one and a half hour. The items
were limited to the topics covered mostly in high school mathematics
curriculum, which includes the topics in arithmetic, algebra,
trigonometry, geometry and basic statistics.
Procedure

The procedure followed in conducting

the study should be likewise be explained
in complete detail.
Sample Procedure

After the approval of the proposal of this

study, the researcher coordinated with her
department head, dean and rector of the
school to allow her to utilize the freshman
students’ records such as fourth year high
school grade in mathematics and the results
of their mathematics college entrance test
(Appendix F and Appendix G).
Sample Procedure

The researcher sought the permission of the

author of the Test of Logical Operation (TLO) to
be utilized as the main instrument of the study
(Appendix A). With the permission of the
school’s administration and with the
coordination among the teachers of the students
in their respective mathematics subject, the said
instrument was administered to the college
freshmen during the school year 2006-2007.
Sample Procedure

Afterwards, the students’ grade in

fourth year high school mathematics and
results of their mathematics college
entrance test were correlated to their
scores in the TLO.
 Statistical Treatment of the
Data

The researcher must utilize the most

appropriate statistical tools used to
answer the research questions of the
study. The statistical tools must be
described and the formula must be
presented and explained. If the level of
significance is needed, it must be stated to
determine the significance of the findings.
Sample Statistical Treatment
The following statistical methods were utilized for the
analysis of the data and interpretation of the results:
In order to know the level of the mathematical
competence of the college freshmen in mathematics,
the mean score was determined, given by the formula
X 
 fX
n

where: = mean
X
f = frequency
x = score
n = total number of respondents
Back Pages
Back Pages

References
Appendices