Background of the Study

The background of the study section is the gateway of the reader to your study. In this section, you initially describe the concepts and situations related to your topic at hand. At the end of this section, the reader must be convinced that the problem you have chosen to do a study on is relevant and is a need.

In this section, you need to establish that your study is timely and important in terms of four dimensions: (1) socio-cultural-political-historical relevance; (2) theoretical and disciplinary relevance; (3) institutional relevance, and, (4) personal relevance.

To establish socio-cultural-political-historical relevance, you must address the question: why is this study important to society? Below is an outline of suggested strategies that you may use to establish the timeliness of your chosen inquiry:

·      Use statistical findings (if available, show findings from the following scales: global, regional, national, local)

o   Maybe, you are doing a research on HIV. You may want to argue its relevance by stating HIV infection and mortality rates. The use of prevalence rates, health related expenditures, predicted rates, and other epidemiologic data and health econometrics are good statistics to use in health studies.

o   If you are doing a research on Overseas Filipino Workers, you may want to know the number of OFWs working around the world, how many Filipinos avail employment in foreign countries in an annual basis, the share of OFW remittances on important economic findings.

o   If you are doing a study on sustainable tourism, you may want to use information on GDP shares on local and foreign tourism, number of communities that showed economic development due to improved tourism management, etc.

·      Establish the legal, policy and scriptural bases of your study

o   Maybe, you are doing a study on computer-mediated teaching strategies among faculty. You may want to cite UNESCO, and how it persuades faculty to address digital divide among students. You may also want to cite DepEd or CHED documents that mandates schools to have eLearning platforms.

o   If you are doing a study on reproductive health practices, you may need to cite UN sustainable goals that are related to reproductive health. Also, you may also want to look into the Reproductive Health and Responsible Parenthood law to support the relevance of your study.

o   You may be doing a study on environmental stewardship among Catholic students. You can cite certain excerpts from Laudato Si to support the timeliness of the response to the ecological crisis that our world is facing.

·      Mention current events that are related to your study

o   You may make use of news and issues present during the time of your conception of the study. For instance, studies on the awareness of human rights may be inspired by extra-judicial killings reported by the media; studies on proper social media behavior may be prompted by viral videos of bullying; studies on women’s rights may be related with the news of rape and perpetuation of misogyny among government leaders.

·      Support your claims with widely accepted ideas

o   You may also make use of socially and culturally universal truths to justify your study. Statements like: “globalization is inevitable, and all institutions are affected by it”; “social media is embedded in the daily life of the Filipino”; “millennials have always been stigmatized by older generations”; “because of the changing educational landscape, academic stress will always be present for students and teachers alike”; “an old adage says, it is difficult to teach old dogs new tricks.”

·      Invoke thought leaders

o   Another strategy to convince the reader about the relevance of the study is appealing to a reputable and credible thought leader by featuring a related quote (i.e. The Philippine National Hero, Jose Rizal, declared, “the youth is the hope of our nation”).

The second point that you need to argue for in this section is the theoretical and disciplinary relevance of your study. Basically, you have to address the question: why is this topic, and the focus of your inquiry important in your field? How will your study contribute to the growing body of knowledge in your discipline and/or profession? Here are some strategies you can employ to achieve this:

·      Feature the novelty of your topic and focus of inquiry: what has been the trail of studies published as regards to your topic, and what area of inquiry is new in your study?

·      Discuss what is new in the methodology that you are employing for this specific study in comparison to those that have been conducted before?

·      Does your professional organization have a research agenda? If so, is your study an attempt to address any of the topics stipulated in the agenda?

·      Briefly discuss the data gap that you are addressing in the study.

·      Explain why your study is related to your degree and major.

The third point that you need to argue for in this section is the institutional relevance of your study, that is, how your study is a realization of Paulinian educational philosophy? You may address any of the following to establish this:

·      What Paulinian value/s are you upholding in choosing to conduct this study?

·      What Institutional Graduate Outcome of SPU Manila are you trying to enflesh as you conduct this study?

·      Is your study related to a Paulinian Advocacy?

·      Is your study attempting to address an identified institutional need based on operational and strategic performance?

·      Is your study attempting to address any of the research agenda of SPU Manila?

Fourth, you need to discuss how this study is personally important for you. You may share your personal or local context or situation, or narrate an experience that prompted you to conduct this study.

Lastly, the final statement of your background of the study should be a mention of your main research objective.

Remember: all the information stated in the background of the study that were based from studies and reports must be cited properly.