Writing chapter 1

The Problem and Its Background

 Introduction
• This may be one chapter including the Problem, the Review
of Related Literature and Method. Or, if these subsections
are long they may be assigned separate chapters. The
research writer must use his judgment here. There seems
no point in assigning separate chapters to those
subsections if they are less than ten pages each. Except for
a shift to the past tense of the verb in the method section,
the whole proposal becomes the introduction to the thesis
 Parts of the chapter
• Chapter 1 – Introduction
• Background of the study
• Theoretical Framework
• Conceptual Framework
• Statement of the Problem
• Research Objectives
– Main Objective
– Specific objectives
• Hypothesis
• Significance of the Study
• Scope and Limitations
• Definition of terms
 Introduction
• Start with general ideas (global) and proceed to
specific ideas (local) mentioning the research
locate/environment and specific problems that
led you to conduct study.
• This is where you should discuss the background
of your study
-why you went on this study personally,
professionally, theoretically
 Background of the Study
• The first paragraph should link the last
paragraph based on his/her experience.
• The next part of the background should be a
description of the research locate or setting of
the study by citing only those features or
aspects related to the research problem or
title of the study.
 Theoretical Framework
• Given the problem at hand, it is in this section
where you present the theories that were
made in reference to your problem. Note that
you must ensure that all the variables in your
problem are well supported in other works.
Ex. Stress or anxiety
Yerkes-Dobson Law
Vishnoi
 Conceptual Framework

• This is your conceptual representation of the

theories which you have earlier presented. It
is in this section where you would present a
diagram showing the relationship of your
identified variables.
 Example

Level of educational Salary rate

attainment
 Statement of the Problem
• Begin this section by stating in statement form
your problem.
• Ex. The study aims to find out the effect of
guided imagery in the alleviation of test
anxiety among third year high school students
of School of St Anthony.
• This shall be followed by your specific
questions.
 Statement of the Problem
• In writing your specific questions, make sure that your
questions are mutually exclusive and exhaustive. If you
have follow-up questions regarding your major
(specific) question, write them as “sub-questions”
• Ex. . What is the profile of the respondents in terms of
their:
1.1. Age;
1.2. Sex;
1.3. Occupation;
1.4. Educational Attainment;
1.5. Residence?
 Research Objectives
• While your problem formulation serves to
describe the aim of your thesis, the objectives
provide an accurate description of the specific
actions you will take in order to reach this aim.
As with the problem formulation, the overall
objective should be framed in a single
sentence. -
• Statement of the problem
• “Is the level of knowledge on recommended nutritional practices
related to the nutritional status of pregnant women attending
antenatal care in Northern Uganda?”
General/Main Objective
• “To analyse the association between nutritional knowledge and the
nutritional status of pregnant women attending antenatal care
(ANC) in Northern Uganda.
Specific Objectives
• To assess the knowledge level among ANC attendees on the
recommended nutritional practices during pregnancy
• To assess the nutritional status of pregnant women attending ANC
• To analyse the statistical association between nutritional knowledge
level and nutritional status in pregnant women attending ANC
 Research Objectives
• Example Objectives: general and specific
• OBJECTIVES The general objective of this study is to project
the impact of the AIDS epidemic on the Russian economy. This
will be achieved through the following specific objectives:
1.Project the demographic impact of a hypothetically
generalized HIV/AIDS epidemic on the Russian population.
2. Identify key linkages between relevant demographic and
economic variables within the Russian context
3. Define impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic as the difference
between GDP growth paths of "no AIDS" and "with AIDS"
scenarios of varying degrees.
 Hypothesis
• Your hypothesis should always be presented in
the null format.
• Ex. In this study, the following hypothesis was
formulated.
1. There is no significant relationship between
age and voting preference.
 Significance of the Study
• It is in this subsection wherein your perceived
importance of your work must be stated. The
question that you must consistently answer is:
why is my study important?
• You can go from discussing its significance to
the national community, to industry practice,
to university, to personal, or vice-versa.
 Scope and Limitations
• It is here where you discuss the extent of your
study in terms of the variables your are
evaluating, the relationship between them, the
environment. The main question you have to
answer is up to what extent am I trying to explore
and explain this problem?
• May include the limitation on subjects (who can
only participate), on the instrument (what can
only be used), and the time frame (until when)
 Definition of Terms
• In your study you are bound to use several terms
which your readers may not be familiar with. It is
your duty to enlighten them of the terms you
have used in your study.
• Be wary of defining terms for the sake of
definition. This subsection must contain more
than just a dictionary-based definition. We are
after your “operational definition”, meaning a
definition of the term based on how you have
used and understood it in your study.
 Example
• Urban Palawan- This shall purposively refer to
the City of Puerto Princesa.
• Residence- This refers to the socio-economic
setting in which the respondents live. This is
classified as either rural or urban.

• Note: make sure that all of your variables are

present in this section
 Post script
• The assumption is that prior to writing your
chapter 1 you should have been well-
acquainted with related literatures and
studies.
• Hence, you are required to submit 10 reviews
of books and 20 reviews of journals related to
your study