Self-directed Learning (SDL) for July 3, 2013 Group Members: Castillo, Cary E. Gomez, Juan Carlos D.

Selecting a Research Short-answer questions: 1. Explain why the following personal criteria in selecting a research topic is important: a. Interest Choosing a topic that interests you is important. It will help you to be more enthusiastic in searching the topic you have chosen.You'll be able to enjoy the topic while working on it. Also, if you're interested with your topic you're eager to learn new things from it. And it saves time for the researcher because being interested with the topic means that you're determined to finish your research and will not change it anymore and also to know the results of it. b. Researchers capability and limitation i. Technical Technical means that does the researcher can explain the topic properly. And does he have the ability to elaborate or emphasize the topic to be understandable by ordinary people. The topic chosen must meet the capabilities of the researcher as a presenter. ii. Economical And economical means that does the topic chosen can be provided by the researchers capabilities. The researcher must sustain or provide what is needed for the topic. so the topic chosen must be able to meet the researchers financial funds and expectations. c. Size Size is important in selecting a research topic because you must select a topic that is not too broad or not too narrow. For example, a topic that is too broad will lead you to a general topic that has different sub topics that you must explain each one properly and selecting a too narrow topic will make your research too small or short. You must select a topic that is specific and just fine. so you can discuss it properly.

Maliwat, Jerickson F. . _____________________________

2. Define the following terms used as external criteria in selecting a research topic a. Novelty By latin word novus for "new" it means in selecting research must be unique,creative and search something new. Novelty is the quality of being new, or following from that, of being striking, original or unusual. b. Value of problem it is the reflection of the research because in the end of research you can say about the knowledge that you get by solving the problem of your research you can share what is the value of each problem and what is your experience in solving the problem so very important in choosing of problem because this is the first step of making a research. c. Critical mass In social dynamics, critical mass is a sufficient number of adopters of an innovation in a social system so that the rate of adoption becomes self-sustaining and creates further growth. Social factors influencing critical mass may involve the size, interrelatedness and level of communication in a society or one of its subcultures. Another is social stigma, or the possibility of public advocacy due to such a factor. Critical mass may be closer to majority consensus in political circles, where the most effective position is more often that held by the majority of people in society. In this sense, small changes in public consensus can bring about swift changes in political consensus, due to the majority-dependent effectiveness of certain ideas as tools of political debate.

3. Why do you think the following topics are to be avoided in selecting a research topic: a. Moral and ethical It is because you usually cannot do a research paper about yourself. After all, by definition, a research paper requires you to do research. This means that there must be sources available for you to use to do that research. Some people may wonder if there are any specific topics to avoid because they might be "hot button issues." You can't (and shouldn't) just present your opinions or views on an issues - especially not a hot button one. If you make sound and logical arguments supported by research and data, the reader of your paper should be able to appreciate its accuracy and validity of the research, even if they don't necessarily share the views espoused in the paper. b. Philosophical Just as you can't write a research paper about yourself due to the lack of "researchable" information, you also can't write a research paper about a topic upon which there is no data. If you choose something too esoteric (like the color of Napoleon's socks or what Albert Einstein ate for breakfast) you probably aren't going to find a lot of detailed information about it and you won't have enough information to write a successful paper. c. Theological It is also possible that a topic will have too much information available and will also not be good for a paper. If you have too much data, or there are too many different things involved, you won't be able to go into any depth about them and your paper might not be a good one.