RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The purpose of this chapter is to look at the research methodology used in this study.
The specific components covered in the chapter are the total population of respondents,
the laying out of the data gathering instruments, the process on how they were
recovered and how were the data treated through the use of statistical tools and
measurement.

Research Design
This study was considered as a preliminary investigation of stressors and coping
mechanisms of CTE freshmen students at Palawan State University. As such, it is
quantitative research in nature wherein the survey method in gathering the data needed
was applied to answer the research problems.
According to Matthews and Ross (2007), the quantitative research methods are
basically applied to the collection of data that is structured and which could be
represented numerically. Generally quantitative data is collected when researcher has
adopted the positivist epistemological approach and data is collected that can be
scientifically analysed.

Furthermore, Berg(2004) argued that quantitative research is usually given more

respect and acceptance reflecting the tendency of general public to regard science as it
uses scientific methods and implying precisions. In comparison qualitative research
requires greater time, more clarity of goals during setting the research design, and
cannot be measured or analysed by using computer programmes. Many authors say
that qualitative research methods and analytic strategies can’t be associated with high
tech society in the ways quantitative research technique could be.

The Respondents/Population
The respondents of the study consisted of College of Teacher Education freshmen
students, that composed of BEEd(), BSEd(), and BPEd() at Palawan State University.
These freshmen students comprised the total population of the study,
The respondents had been mostly available and agreed to complete the questionnaire
and gave time to provide the necessary data. All CTE freshmen students mentioned
above were given the questionnaire.
Statistical Treatment of Data
The data collected were grouped according to the major questions of the research
problem. Frequency, percentage, and rank were also constructed for the responses
under each major questions. P-level, Pearson Correlation, 2-tailed, mean, and standard
deviation were employed. In most cases, the statistical treatment used was simple
percentage. Pearson Correlation was used in measuring the relationship between the
causes of stress and university adjustments.