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Research 10 Activity Sheet
Quarter 1 - MELC 1

A Week 4-7
Writing of a Revised Research
Proposal

S
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S REGION VI - WESTERN VISAYAS

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Research 10
Activity Sheet No. 2- IMRaD Format
First Edition, 2020

Published in the Philippines

By the Department of Education
Region 6 - Western Visayas

Republic Act 8293, section 176 states that: No copyright shall subsist
in any work of the Government of the Philippines. However, prior approval of
the government agency or office wherein the work is created shall be
necessary for exploitation of such work for profit. Such agency or office may,
among other things, impose as a condition the payment of royalties.

This Learning Activity Sheet is developed by DepEd Region 6 -

Western Visayas.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this learning resource may be

reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic or
mechanical without written permission from the DepEd Regional Office 6 –
Western Visayas.

Development Team of Learning Activity Sheet in Research 10

Writer: Lonie L. Baranda

Schools Division of Capiz Management Team:

Salvador O. Ochavo, Jr.
Nicasio S. Frio
Segundina F. Dollete
Shirley A. De Juan
Andres D. Quiachon
Glenn Dollete
Judy B. Dunton
Regional Management Team:
Ramir Barberan Uytico
Pedro T. Escobarte, Jr.
Elena P. Gonzaga
Donald T. Genine
Rovel R. Salcedo
Moonyeen C. Rivera
Anita S. Gubalane
Minda L. Soldevilla
Daisy L. Lopez
Joseph M. Pagalaran

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Introductory Message

Welcome to Research 4 Grade 10!

The Learning Activity Sheet is a product of the collaborative efforts of

the Schools Division of Capiz and DepEd Regional Office VI - Western Visayas
through the Curriculum and Learning Management Division (CLMD). This is
developed to guide the learning facilitators (teachers, parents and responsible
adults) in helping the learners meet the standards set by the K to 12 Basic
Education Curriculum – Special Science Program Research.

The Learning Activity Sheet is self-directed instructional materials

aimed to guide the learners in accomplishing activities at their own pace and
time.. This will also assist the learners in acquiring skills needed as they go
along in the next grade level.

For learning facilitator:

The Learning Activity Sheet in Research 10 will help you facilitate

the leaching-learning activities specified in each Most Essential Learning
Competency (MELC) with no face-to-face encounter between you and learner.
This will be made available to the learners with the references/links to ease
the independent learning.

For the learner:

The Learning Activity Sheet in Research 10 is developed to help you

continue learning even if you are not in school. This learning material provides
you with meaningful and engaging activities for independent learning. Being
an active learner, carefully read and understand the instructions then
perform the activities and answer the assessments. This will be returned to
your facilitator on the agreed schedule.

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Name of Learner: _________________________________________________________
Grade and Section: __________________________ Date: _____________________

RESEARCH 10 ACTIVITY SHEET No .2

Writing of a revised Research Proposal

I. Learning Competency

• Revise/ enhance/expand the research project by incorporating the

suggestions given by peer/group/experts (SSP_RS10-WRP-I-b-f-2)

II. Background Information for Learners

“IMRaD” format refers to a paper that is structured by four main

sections: Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion. This format is
often used for lab reports as well as for reporting any planned, systematic
research in the social sciences, natural sciences, or engineering and computer
sciences.
IMRaD format does not include a separate theory chapter. It is usually
short and concise. The language is as plain and as unambiguous as possible.
There is no place in this type of writing for personal views and fanciful
language. The IMRaD format is also known as the APA format, as the
American Psychological Association. IMRaD is simply a more 'defined' version
of the "IBC" (Introduction, Body, Conclusion) format used for all academic
writing. These are discussed in the following:

INTRODUCTION
• Beginning of the research article and lays down the foundation on
which the entire paper is based.
• Concise and includes the background for the study indicating what is
already known and what is already existing in the information.
• The issue, needs, specific problem, hypothesis and way of addressing it
in this experiment or study are often described in several paragraphs.
• The introduction should explain what we know, and what we are
uncertain about. It should explain and summarize, but it should also
ask questions, clarify, compare etc.
• Common mistake done is inclusion of large number of references.
Include references that are related to the topic under investigation and
not all that exist on that topic. Also, it is important to include the recent
references on the topic, which can easily be obtained in today’s world
using PUBMED or other search engines.
• The introduction must be short and arresting.
• Explains why the study has been undertaken.
• From a broad perspective to a specific aim of the study.
• Supplies sufficient background information for understanding.

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3 Paragraphs of an Introduction
• First paragraph:
- a short story of the present information of the attempted
research area. Leading directly into…

• Second paragraph:
- summarizes literatures done in the field of study,
- limitations encountered to date, and what questions still
need to be answered?

• Third paragraph:
- clearly quote what was done and why
- the most essential part, which gives detail of the aim of the
study
- this part sets up the expectations for the rest of the paper

METHODS
Methods deals with the following details of the methodology:
a. Materials and equipment
• Exact technical specification of materials used must be
indicated.
• Quantities of materials used must be cited.
• In naming the materials, avoid trade names, generic or
chemical names (small caps) is preferred.
• Method of preparation must be included.

For the equipment,

• Details of the equipment manufacturer, calibration criteria and
recording settings should be specified.
• All the procedures used and replicable techniques implemented
must be detailed.

b. Study group (animals, subjects or patients, experimental animals or

microorganisms)
• Genus, species, or strain designations of study groups should
be identified accurately.
• Sources of study groups should be also listed.
• Its special characteristics such as age, gender must be
specified.
• Genetic and physiological status of study group must be
described.

c. Participants/subjects/samples – also called research or study

participant or subject are person who participates and responds in
research by being the target of observation and source of data.
• Consider some socio-demographic characteristics like age,
gender, educational attainment, economic status and the like.

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Other Important Guidelines in Writing Methodology

1. Describe in logical sequence how the study was designed and carried
out.

2. Procedures or techniques used in earlier studies should be cited

properly. It shall provide sufficient detail for the replicable procedure

3. State the exact form of treatment used to allow replication which

would lead to reproducible results if scientifically valuable.

4. Describe precisely the experimental design. Research design should

be described briefly and concisely.

5. Statistical analysis along with the confidence intervals should be

specified. Statistical software along with its version used for data
analysis must be cited.

6. Declare if research on animals and humans is approved or not by the

Institutional Ethical Committee. Specify if written informed consent
was carried out in studies involving human volunteers.

7. Details of the ethical approval should be quoted. Cite the protocol

including the basis of exclusion and inclusion of the subjects in the
study.

8. Uncommon/ unique methods should be described fully and cited

properly. Further information on methods, devices, or techniques
widely known/found in standard textbooks is unnecessary.

9. Consistency for this section and the results section is essential to

grasp quickly the relationship.

RESULTS
▪ Deals only with the presentation of the analyzed data without any
discussion or conclusion.
▪ Arrange results in order of importance.
▪ Data can be presented as:
– a paragraph,
– in tables or in figures.
– Duplication of the data in words with that presented in figures
and tables should be avoided.
– It is good to present important results in the form of graphs.
▪ The data should be reported as Mean, SD beside with the levels of
significance.

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▪ Results is the most important part of the scientific paper because it
provide answers to questions.
– answers are expected to be reported even if they refute the
original idea.
▪ The easiest section to write but there are several possible traps
waiting for inexperienced authors. To avoid these traps take note of
the following:
• start this section with the sentence instead of tables and
figures.
• follow the author’s thoughts by using a suitable mixture of
text, tables and illustrations.
• begin with characteristics of the study sample.
• use a table and never a figure when describing the baseline
characteristics of samples. Baseline characteristics allow to
generalize the results.
• describe comparability of the control and the study groups,
as well as to show the distribution of the variable in each
group are needed.
• starts with a text to be followed by readers as a story, and go
on logically from the beginning to the end.
• use tables to present the essence of the results and to
establish the statistical validity of the conclusions.
• illustrations are used for emphasis of the important points.
• both tables and the illustrations are capable of standing
alone. Sufficient information associated with them without
reading back to the text.
• realize that results and data are not the same thing.
• Numbers presented in a table (or in a figure) should not be
repeated in the text.
• A good practice is to describe in the text what was found,
and then back it up with the data that are shown in a table
or a figure. That is the easiest way to convey to readers the
message that can be derived from a table or figure, and not
to leave them to interpret the data themselves.
• It is possible to show a vast amount of data in the tables.
Make each table deal with a specific problem and give details
of the answers.
• Each table needs a title that tells the reader how to interpret
the data.
• Generally, the results should be presented in columns where
the changes run from the leftmost column.
• The way of presenting data in the tables should match the
statistical analysis that was performed

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• Good illustrations will display the data and lead the reader to
think about the substance of the answers provided; they will
get the message across clearly.
• Different types of illustrations: graphics, drawings,
photographs or micrographs adjusted based on the
guidelines:
➢ photographs must include measures to protect the
anonymity of patients
➢ micrographs need measures of scale; both need
professional production
➢ technical quality is required
➢ illustration should be followed by an appropriate legend
with clearly defined possible abbreviations or symbols

▪ To sum it up, the results section is not difficult to write if the text tells
the story fluently, the tables summarizes the evidence, and the
illustrations highlight the points.

DISCUSSION
▪ The discussion is a vital part of the paper and begins with the
summary of the research problem that has been addressed in the
article.
▪ There should not be a repetition of the results in discussion.
▪ This section describes the possible reason or hypothesis of the study
and compares it to that of the studies done previously.
▪ It explains how the present study addressed the lacunae in knowledge
and what additional information has been gained by the work done.
▪ The negative findings should also be described along with the possible
reasons. It’s a misconception that only positive findings are important.
The negative findings too are important as they may reveal something
that had not been reported earlier.
▪ Discussion is the hardest section to write; it is even difficult to define
it simply.
▪ The true meaning of the data, even though the data of the paper might
be both valid and interesting. It may be completely obscured by the
awkward interpretation presented in the discussion, especially when it
becomes needlessly long and wordy.
▪ Confine attention only to substantial research in the area instead of a
long and detailed critique of "every paper ever written on the subject".
▪ Writing results is an exercise in logic and skill. It depends on several
circumstances when writing this section. It starts with a brief
summary what was really found and why it is important.

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▪ Restate the aim of the study in general terms without repeating
exactly the results section.
Discussion is composed of three paragraphs:
First paragraph:
• focus on the general picture of what the results of the study are really
all about.
• explain how the findings can add to current knowledge.
Second paragraph:
• address the strengths and limitations of the study design and
methods.
• honestly comment how chance or bias might have influenced the
results, how it was minimized.
• how the presented research is better than other that has been done
before.
• continued by explaining how the results agree or disagree with other
studies or related theories.
• point out findings that relate only to other scientifically valid studies.
• If conclusions differ to those reached by other researchers who have
conducted similar studies, try to explain why this has happened.
Third paragraph:
• an exciting summary of scientific implications of the findings.
• the "so what?" of the research needs to be unambiguous here.
• extend slightly the reflections without overstating the significance.
• strongly suggested not to finish the discussion with "Further studies
are needed..." or a similar boring presumption to readers what they
should do next.

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III. Activity Proper

Directions: Perform the following activities and answer the questions that
follow in a separate sheet of paper.

Activity 1. Let’s Check!

Refer to the checklist below, evaluate the Introduction of the Research Plan you’ve
made previously.

Checklist of Guidelines in Writing the Introduction of a Yes/No

Research Paper
1. Begun with a statement of the main issues being
addressed?
2. Made a clear case as to why the study was needed.
3. Made reference to relevant literature? Literature is
relevant if it shows why the research questions are
important or gives an indication of how the result may
turn out. It is essential to search for and give due
credit to studies of a similar nature wherever they
originate and whatever their conclusions.
4. Stated the limitations encountered to date, and the
questions that still need to be answered?
5. Described any necessary background information
about the setting for the study? Quoted what was
done and why?
6. Clearly stated the research questions/hypotheses?
This can be done with a bulleted or numbered list.
7. Set up the expectations for the rest of the paper?

B. Given the checklist below, evaluate the method or procedure you’ve

made in your Research Plan by putting a check (√) mark in the
appropriate column.

Guidelines and standards in writing methodology Evident Not

of a research paper Evident
1. Exact technical specification of materials
used is indicated.
2. Quantities of materials used is cited.
3. Generic or chemical names (small caps) is
used in naming some of the materials.
4. Method of preparation of materials is
included.
5. Details of the equipment manufacturer,
calibration criteria and recording settings is
specified.
6. All the procedures used and replicable
techniques implemented is in detailed.
7. Genus, species, or strain designations of
study groups is identified accurately.
8. Sources of study groups is listed.

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9. Special characteristics of study groups such
as age, gender is specified.
10. Genetic and physiological status of study
group is described.
11. Logical sequence how the study was
designed and carried out is completely
described.
12. Procedures or techniques used in earlier
studies is cited properly.
13. Number of treatment and replication is
stated.
14. Experimental design and research design is
described and illustrated.
15. Statistical analysis, confidence intervals and
statistical software version to be used for
data analysis is cited.
16. Approval of the Institutional Ethical
Committee in the use of animals and
humans as experimental group is declared.
17. In studies involving human volunteers,
written informed consent was carried out.
18. Ethical approval and protocol in selecting
study or experimental group is quoted.
19. Only uncommon/ unique methods is
described fully and cited properly.
20. Procedural plan, variables, control and
experimental groups are clearly recognized
and defined.

Activity 2. Let’s Help!

Direction: Read the study below and answer the questions that follows.

Janelle conducted a study entitled “Shelf-life of Tomatoes Covered with

Different Amounts of Fresh Guava Leaves”. She placed ten unripe tomatoes
of the same size in each basket. The tomatoes were covered with fresh guava
leaves following the treatments: Treatment A - 50 grams fresh guava leaves,
Treatment B - 100 grams fresh guava leaves and Treatment C - 150 grams
fresh guava leaves. Ten tomatoes were kept in a refrigerator (as positive
control) and another ten were left exposed (as negative control). The
experimentation was done inside a science laboratory for one month. In this
study, shelf-life of tomatoes refers to the number of days the tomatoes exhibit
no dark spot. Every day, the tomatoes were observed especially its color and
appearance.
She had the following results: Treatment A – replication 1 - 16 days,
replication 2 – 16 days, replication 3 – 18days.; Treatment B – replication 1 -
20 days, replication 2 – 22 days, replication 3 – 21 days.; Treatment –
replication 1 - 25 days, replication 2 – 28 days, replication 3 – 29 days;
Positive control – replication 1 - 29 days, replication 2 – 30days, replication

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3 – 28 days; and Negative control – replication 1 - 13 days, replication 2 – 10
days, replication 3 – 13 days.

Can you help Janelle present her results in a more comprehensive way?
Write your answer below.

Answer the following questions based on the above experiment.

1. What did Janette wanted to find out?

_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
2. What problem in the community did the study wanted to solve?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

3. Which treatment got the longest time for the tomatoes to ripe?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

4. Which treatment got the shortest time for the tomatoes to ripe?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
5. Which treatment shows at least similar results to the positive control?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
6. Could you say that the different amounts of fresh guava leaves affect
the shelf-life of tomatoes? How do you say so?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

7. Are there studies already conducted similar to this study? Cite some
findings of other researchers.
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
8. What is in the guava leaves that contributed in increasing the shelf-
life of tomatoes?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
9. What implications can Janelle derived from her study?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

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Activity 3. Let’s Apply!

A. Below is an example of an introduction from a unpublished

research study. Read and answer the given questions that
follow.

Helminthes infections are among the most common infections in human

beings in which human intestinal parasitic worms are vectored through air, food,
and water, which causes disease state, secretes toxins, and steals the vital
nutrients from host bodies. Soil-transmitted helminth infections are caused by
different species of parasitic worms. They are transmitted by eggs present in
human feces, which contaminate the soil in areas where sanitation is poor.
Approximately 1.5 billion people are infected with soil-transmitted helminths
worldwide. Infected children are nutritionally and physically impaired. Soil-
transmitted helminth infections are among the most common infections
worldwide and affect the poorest and most deprived communities (World Health
Organization, 2019).

Natural products have made and continue to make important

contributions to this therapeutic area. The drugs currently used for helminthes
infections include combinations of DEC (diethylcarbamazine) and albendazole,
ivermectin and albendazole or the use of DEC fortified salt (Muruganami, 2012).
However, present treatment regimens for these diseases have limitations as the
currently used anthelmintic drugs are mainly microfilaricidal, with little effect on
the adult worms; hence new drugs are urgently required.

Talahib or commonly called as tigbau (Saccharum spontaneum Linn.), is a

perennial grass native to South Asia and abundantly found occupying large areas
throughout the Philippines. The study assesses its leaves and stalk extracts as a
potential anthelmintic using earthworms (Eudrilus eugeniae) as model of
parasitic worms. Specifically, this study assesses the anthelmintic properties of
the leaves and stalk of talahib based on the paralysis and death time of the model
worm. This study seeks to answer the following questions: a.) what is the time of
paralysis time of earthworms (E. eugeniae) exposed to talahib leaves and stalk
ethanolic extract? b.) what is the time of death time of earthworms (E. eugeniae)
exposed to talahib leaves and stalk ethanolic extract? c.) Is there a significant
difference in the time of paralysis time of earthworms (E. eugeniae) as exposed to
talahib leaves and stalk extract? d.) Is there a significant difference in the time of
death of earthworms (E. eugeniae) as exposed to talahib leaves and stalk extract?
This study could help economically disadvantaged communities or countries in
the fight against heminthes infection in both children and animals alike.
Moreover, this could lead to further research and production of a new
pharmaceutical drug based on the findings of this study.

1. What is the main issue being addressed?

_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

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2. Why is the study needed?

_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
3. What is the statement that summarizes the literatures done in the
field of study?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
4. What are the limitations encountered to date, and the questions that
still need to be answered?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
5. What was done in the study?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
6. What are the aims of the study?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
7. What are the expectations for the rest of the paper?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

B. Read some part of the methodology of a certain study below and

be able to answer the given questions.

Experimental Methods
Experimental treatments. The study was conducted with four
treatments namely: Treatment A – Saw Dust, Treatment B – Coco Dust,
Treatment C – Paper, D – Rice Bran, positive control - Commercial Fertilizer
(14-14-14) and negative control - without application replicated three times
with three experimental pots for each replication. A total of nine pots per
treatment and 54 experimental pots under study.

Experimental Design. The experimental treatments were arranged in the

experimental area in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD).

Statistical Data Analysis Procedure

The data collected from this study were analyzed using means.
Differences among means were subjected to the analysis of variance using F-
test for Completely Randomized Design and the results were interpreted at
5% level of significance. Significant differences among the factors under study
were determined using Duncan’s Multiple Range Test (DMRT). Data were
analyzed using the Star Nebula Software (IRRI, 2017).

1. What guidelines in writing methodology of research paper is evident?

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

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2. What sub-part/s of methodology is given in the above sample?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

C. Read the given situation below and answer Part C.1 and Part C.2.
A group of students conducted a study to determine the effect of different
organic fertilizers to the height of stevia plant. They put soil of the same type
and amount to 15 pots of the same size. Then, they incorporated the same
amount of different organic fertilizers following the treatments one week before
planting. The plants were watered every day with the same amount of water.
The plant height was measured two weeks after planting. The following were
the results: Treatment A – R1-15.97, R2 -16.00, R3 - 13.67 (MEAN 15.21a) ;
Treatment B - R1- 12.73, R2- 11.50, R3- 15.83 (MEAN 13.35a); Treatment C
- R1- 18.67, R2- 13.57, R3- 11.87 (MEAN 14.70a ; Positive Control - R1- 12.33,
R2- 9.00, R3- 11.00(MEAN 10.78b); and Negative Control - R1- 5.83, R2-
7.33, R3- 8.00 (MEAN 7.05ab ).

Note: CV = 16.57%; *Means with the same letter are not significantly different at α
= 0.05.
Part C.1. Present the given results in a table. Be able to give the
description of the table following the guidelines in presenting the RESULTS
section.
Part C.2. Be able to discuss the results following the guidelines in
making the DISCUSSION Section.

Write your answer in extra sheets of paper.

Activity 4. Let’s Do It

Directions: Now that you have learned the different guidelines and standards
in writing the Introduction, Method, Results and Discussion (IMRaD) of a
research paper, it’s time to revise, enhance and rewrite the Introduction and
Method only as parts of Research Plan. Make sure that all the guidelines and
standards are evident. Then submit your output to your teacher, printed or
online.

IV. Reflection

Complete the statement below

In this lesson, I learned that

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

I realized that
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

I will apply
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

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V. Links and Other References

Gregorio, G. L. (2016). Research in the Biological Sciences Principles, Methods

and Statistics (with emphasis in Agriculture, Fishery, Forestry and
Environment), ISBN: 978-971-0406-25-8, Seguiban Printing and
Publishing Enterprises, Inc. La Paz, Iloilo City

Google. “writingcenter.gmu.edu.” Accessed May 21, 2021

https://writingcenter.gmu.edu/guides/writing-an-imrad-report
Google. “onlinelibrary.wiley.com.” Accessed May 21, 2021
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1046/j.1360-
0443.2000.951217594.x

Training Materials during the

- Regional Training of Trainers in Science Investigatory Project,
February 13-15, 2014, Iloilo City.
- National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) Philippines,
2015, Iloilo City

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