Chapter 1 Introduction – is the introduction of your study.

You need to introduce what your study is all about and the
reason why you are studying it. You need to present the main motivation of your study.
a. Background of the Study – The background will discuss about what your study is all about and the
current situation of your identified variables or topic. You need to connect one paragraph to another by
having keywords or main ideas that will connect to the other paragraph. The last sentence of the
preceding paragraph should connect to the first sentence of the next paragraph. It is suggested that you
will follow this outline:

i. Discuss in your first paragraph the topic or definition of the variable/s of the study. If it is an
agricultural crop or commodity, you need to specify the scientific name. Alternatively, you may
start with an introduction that will capsulize what your whole background is all about. This is
your intro paragraph.

ii. Present the current situation of your topic or each variable/s that you are considering in your
study. You need to present what is currently happening (about your topic or variable/s) to
understand what problem will emerge because of the situation you are discussing. This is your
body paragraph/s. You should relate one paragraph topic to another and build a story out of it.
Your body can be 2 or more paragraphs depending on the complexity of the topic that needs
further discussions.

iii. Your concluding paragraph should discuss the connection and relation of the current
situations you have presented. You need to discuss how these current situations contribute to
the emerging problem (this is your research problem or question). The last sentence of your
concluding paragraph should connect to the first sentence of your rationale.

b. Rationale of the study – The rationale of the study discuss about the main research problem you are
trying to investigate. You also need to specify your solution to the existing problem and what motivates
you to conduct the study. This is the important portion of your study because this is where you need to
justify the urgent need to conduct the study and how we can benefit from its future results. You should
discuss a strong rationale because this is the main backbone of your study (the soul of your study). The
same with the background, you need to connect 1 paragraph to another. It should be organized and
coherent. The flow of discussions should be properly stitched. The following outline for the rationale is
highly recommended:

i. Based on the background you have presented, what is the emerging problem (this refers to the
research problem/question)? Describe how this problem affects certain stakeholders. Note:
This paragraph should connect to the concluding paragraph in the background of the study.

ii. How big is the problem? What are the implications of the problem?

iii. Given that the problem is known, what are the current actions in answering the problem? How
do stakeholders (government, households, firms, NGOs, etc.) answer the problem? What are
the attempts to answer the problem? What are the current programs and projects
implemented to answer the problem (if any)?

iv. What are the previous studies conducted to answer the research problem (locally, nationally,
and internationally)? What are the results of their study?

v. Discuss why their actions are not enough to answer the problem? What are the existing gaps
(even if they have already made actions and studies) about the topic? What is lacking? Why is
it not enough?

vi. With these emerging problems/gaps/lack (that still exist even with the actions they have
made), what is your proposed solution through your study? How can your research study
answer the problem?
 vii. In your concluding statement in the rationale, summarize the main problem and solution.
Discuss what will be the significant results if the study will be conducted. This paragraph
should connect to the objectives you have set because these objectives will help answer the
problem.

c. Objectives of the study – this should discuss the major actions you need to take to answer the main
research problem. This should connect to the concluding paragraph of the rationale. Note that the
objectives will contribute to the results and this should help in answering the problem you have
presented.

d. Significance of the study – If the objectives are answered, what is the major significance of the results.
The significance of the study should discuss the relevance of the result to your major stakeholders or
your major clients for this study. Who will benefit from this study?

e. Scope and limitations – Discuss what is included and not included in the study. This should discuss
the specific range or coverage of your study. Discuss also the limitations of the study. Usually these will
refer to the data coverage of your study. Your population or sampling frame is also discussed. This
portion is important in order for the readers to know that you cannot solve all problems in your topic.
You are just focusing on certain aspects that is possible given the resources and data requirements of
the study.