West Visayas State University

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
La Paz, Iloilo City

Chapter 2

Research Design

This chapter consists of five parts: (1) Research

Design, (2) Respondents, (3) Instrument, (4) Data Gathering

Procedure, and (5) Statistical Tools.

Part One, Research Design, restates the purpose of

the study and describes the research design and variable

used in the research.

Part Two, Respondents, presents the respondents

utilized in the study.

Part Three, Instrument, describes the instruments

used for in the research investigation.

Part Four, Procedure, presents the steps undertaken

in conducting the study.

Part Five, Data Analysis, explains the kinds of

measurement and data analysis used.

 West Visayas State University
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
La Paz, Iloilo City

40
Research Design

The purpose of this descriptive study is to find

out the level of literary interpretation skills of BSED

social science and mathematics majors of the College of

Education at West Visayas State University, school year

2006-2007. According to Gay (1987), descriptive research

involves “collecting data to answer questions concerning

the current status of the subjects concerning the study”.

Likewise, Good says that Descriptive studies “present

current conditions concerning to the nature of the group of

persons, objects and clarifications. This is the method of

gathering facts with adequate evaluation and interpretation

of anything one may wish to study”.

The process of descriptive research is beyond mere

gathering and tabulation of data. It involves an element of

interpretation of meaning or significance of what is and

contrasts involving measurements.

The dependent variable of this study was the

literary interpretation skills of BSED social science and

mathematics majors of the College of Education at the West

 West Visayas State University
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
La Paz, Iloilo City

41
Visayas State University, school year 2006-2007. The

student-respondents of this study were a product of random

sampling method and were then classified according to their

fields of specialization as to Social Science and

Mathematics. Statistical tools made were mean, standard

deviation and t-test.

Respondents

The respondents of this study were 58 BSED social

Science and Mathematics majors of the College of Education

at the West Visayas State University, school year 2006-

2007. The random sampling method was used in this study.

There were 58 student-respondents; 39 or 67.2% were Social

Science majors and 19 or 33.8% were Mathematics majors.

They came from different curriculum year levels and were

randomly selected.

The distribution of the respondents is shown in

Table 1.
 West Visayas State University
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
La Paz, Iloilo City

42
Table 1.

Distribution of Respondents according to certain

categories.

Category Frequency (F) Percentage (%)

A. Entire Group 58 100

B. Major

Social Science 19 32.8

Mathematics 39 67.2

Instruments

To gather data needed for the study, a test in

literary interpretation was utilized adopted from the

unpublished master’s thesis of Victoria S. Villa (2003)

entitled “English Proficiency and Literary Interpretation

Skills of College Freshmen at West Visayas State

University”.

Permission to use the instrument was secured and

was granted for the purpose of this study.

 West Visayas State University
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
La Paz, Iloilo City

43
Test in Literature. The instrument contained 50

multiple-choice items intended to test the students’

literary interpretation skills. Each item was equivalent to

one (1) point.

Scoring. To determine the students’ skills in

interpreting literary lines, the following arbitrary scales

and descriptions were utilized:

Scale Description

41 - 50 Excellent

31 - 40 Very Satisfactory

21 - 30 Satisfactory

11 - 20 Fairly Satisfactory

10 and below Poor

Procedure

After permission was granted by the author for the

use of the test instrument, approval from the Dean of the

College of Education was secured for the conduct of the

study. Upon the finalization of the data gathering

instrument, the researchers personally distributed and

 West Visayas State University
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
La Paz, Iloilo City

44
administered the instrument among BSED Social Science and

Mathematics majors the instrument. The student-respondents

were instructed on how to answer the test. During the test

administration, the respondents were asked to answer the

questions truthfully and honestly, leaving no numbers

unanswered.

Upon retrieval of the accomplished copies of the

test, the researchers scored, tallied, classified, and

tabulated the data for proper statistical analysis and

interpretations.

Data Analysis

The data were treated using appropriate statistical

tools. Mean, standard deviation, and t-test for independent

samples were used to obtain the needed data.

Mean. To determine the level of literary

interpretation skills of the respondents, the mean of the

students’ scores in the test was utilized to determine the

average value of the students’ scores in the literature

test taken as a whole and by major.

 West Visayas State University
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
La Paz, Iloilo City

45
Standard Deviation. Standard deviation was used to

treat characteristics that might be different in the sample

or to determine the respondents’ homogeneity or

heterogeneity in terms of their performance in the

literature test.

t-test. The t-test for independent samples was used

to determine the significant difference between two level

category variables. The significance level was set at 0.05

alpha.