Guidelines


Guidelines for Qualitative Researches

  1. Generally, the details of the qualitative research paper should be:
    • What you studied and why (Research problem or Objectives of the study)
    • Background of the study (Basis of the study)
    • How you went about the research (Description of the steps or procedures)
    • What you discovered (Findings), and
    • What are the implications of your results (Interpretations and Implications)
  2. Specifically, the content format of the final qualitative research paper is as follows:
    • Recommendation for Oral Examination (separate page)
    • Approval Sheet (separate page)
    • Editor’s Certification (separate page)
    • Results Sheet (separate page)
    • Research Title
    • Abstract (not more than 350 words)
    • Key Concepts (not more than five concepts)
    • Rationale/Objectives
    • Review of Literature
    • Conceptual Framework or Analytical Framework
    • Methodology (Research Design)
    • Results, Interpretations, and Implications
    • Conclusion
    • References
  3. For Communication Program, Creative Work, in lieu of the Thesis, shall be the research requirement with the following components:
    • Rationale/Objectives
    • Conceptual Framework
    • Research Design
    • Analysis and Discussion
    • References
    • Creative Work Itself (short film, documentary film, indie film, etcetera)
  4. For Teacher Education Program, Action Research or Teaching Module, instead of the Thesis, shall be the research requirement.
  5. The student researcher(s) shall submit a final qualitative research paper based on the following technical format:
    • Generally, the Style of Documentation for qualitative research is APA 2010, except for Literature with MLA 2000.
    • Default font used should be Arial 12.
    • The default font for the paper title should be Arial 16; texts should be centered and in bold type.
    • The default font for the author’s name and affiliations should be Arial 12; texts should be centered and in bold type.
    • Include the author’s e-mail address right below the author’s name with the default font Arial 12, with the texts centered.
    • The ‘Abstract’ should be justified with single-line spacing and the default font as Arial 10.
    • The margins should be based on short bond paper size (8.5” x 11”).
    • The left and right margins should be set at 1”.
    • The main text of the research report should be justified with single-line spacing in default font Arial 12.
    • References must be cited properly in the text of the research report. Follow the AQ guidelines for in-text citations reference list formats.
    • Tables and figures should be properly captioned and numbered. For figures, the caption should appear clear below each figure. For tables, the caption should appear immediately above the table. Place all the figures and tables at the center of the page. 
    • Paper length, in general, is limited to a minimum of ten pages and maximum of 40 pages, double-spaced. For Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, English Language, and Literature, a minimum number of 40 pages are required; for Teacher Education and Communication, a minimum number of ten pages.
    • Key concepts should be clearly indicated and a maximum number of five concepts only.
  6. For research proposal, student researchers are required to accomplish and submit Research Proposal Action Sheet (AR-003) and Research Proposal Guide document composed of the following:
    • Research Title
    • Rationale
    • Statement of the Research Problem or Objectives
    • Review of Literature
    • Conceptual Framework
    • Methodology
    • References
  7. The grading system for both the research proposal and final defenses will be as follows:
    • Research Quality (60%)
      • Subtance (50%)
      • Mechanics/Format (10%)
    • Oral Defense (40%)
      • Clarity of Ideas (15%)
      • Mastery of Topic (15%)
      • Style of Presentation (10%)
  8. Final research paper can only be submitted if it is already signed by the editor, panel of oral examiners, adviser, and college dean respectively. A CD copy (in .pdf format) will also be required from the student researchers in submitting a hard copy of the final research paper.

 

Student Research Development Program

All AQuinian students, in order to fulfill all academic requirements in the University, must undergo a major research activity in his/her chosen field. It is consequently necessary that there should be a student research development program.

The Student Research Development Program must be sensitive and sensible to the prevailing conditions of the locality and must be able to characterize the reasonable pluralism inherent in the socio-cultural, socio-political, and socio-economic contexts of the society. Hence, all student research activities regardless of the different natures of departments and colleges must adhere to the identified research theme and articulated research agenda given the advocacies of the University. Doing researches in one direction means maximization and optimization of both human and non-human resources.

The College Research Council has the power to endorse or reject research topics as proposed by the college students. This is to ensure that the programs remain consistent with the University Research Agenda. One of its tasks is to recommend to the Academic Research Bureau the list of thesis advisers, panel chairpersons, panel members, editors, and statisticians for the successful conduct of research in its entire process. The Research Course Instructors have the assignment to assist the college students in the performance of their research work. The various research outputs will be highly significant for the public information and dissemination of the community in diverse fields including and not limited to faculty research activities.

 

Guidelines for Undergraduate Thesis/Research

  1. All AQuinian students, in order to fulfill all academic requirements in the University, must undergo a major research activity in his/her chosen field. Conversely, thesis research is only a partial major requirement of a given program.
  2. All AQuinian students shall have to complete two major research subjects equivalent to six credit units.
  3. Thesis 101 (Research 101, Research Design, Feasibility Study, or Project Design generally described as Methods of Research) should focus on the formulation of the thesis title and the approval of the proposal; Thesis 102 (generally described as Research in the Discipline) should target on the conduct of the final defense and the submission of bound manuscript and read-only CD copy of the final manuscript.
  4. The thesis topic and/or title should be approved by the College Research Council (CRC). The CRC shall ensure that the student research is along the articulated research theme and agenda and in consideration of the thirteen advocacies of the university. The panel during proposal defense should focus on the content of the first three chapters and not on the thesis topic and/or title.
  5. The student research may be done singly, in tandem, or group-based, depending on the policy, tradition, and/or practice of the program provided that the quality and integrity of research are not compromised.
  6. All AQuinian students should conform to the standard format of research set by the university. Only in specified areas of the research format denoting special characteristics of the program research shall inclusion or exclusion be allowed.
  7. All forms will be prepared by the Office of Academic Affairs and will be issued to the respective colleges for distribution.
  8. The Qualifications and Functions for Research Adviser, Panel Chairperson and Members, Research Course Instructor, Editors, and Statisticians for the undergraduate academic research requirement are as follows:

 

    1. RESEARCH ADVISER
      • Qualifications of Research Adviser
        • must at least be a Master’s Degree holder in his/her academic field
        • A professional license is required for faculty in the technical programs (Engineering, Architecture, Fine Arts)
        • In the absence of a Master’s Degree or Professional License, desired skills and experience must be the basis for advisership
        • must be a faculty member of a Department where his/her academic field forms a part
        • is considered by his colleagues as expert on the object of the considered research
        • must be recommended by the College Research Council of his/her College to become part of the Pool of Research Advisers

 

 

    1. RESEARCH PANEL CHAIRPERSON
      • Qualifications of Research Panel Chairperson
        • at least a Master’s Degree holder in his/her academic field
        • must be a faculty member of a Department where his/her academic field forms a part
        • considered by his/her colleagues as expert on the object of the considered research
        • recommended by the College Research Council of his/her College to become part of the Pool of Research Panel Chairpersons

 

 

    1. RESEARCH PANEL MEMBER
      • Qualifications of Research Panel Member
        • preferably a Master’s Degree holder in his/her academic field
        • must be a faculty member of a Department where his/her academic field forms a part
        • considered by his colleagues as expert on the object of the considered research
        • must be recommended by his/her College to become one of the members in a research panel

 

 

    1. RESEARCH COURSE INSTRUCTOR
      • Qualifications of Research Course Instructor (Research 101)
        • at least a Master’s Degree holder in his/her academic field
        • should have relatively wide knowledge on research in general vis-Ã -vis form, format, methods, approaches, and style

 

 

    1. RESEARCH EDITOR
      • Qualifications of Research Editor
        • A faculty member of the Department of Literature and Languages, or
        • A recognized editor of his/her colleagues, or
        • As recommended by the College Research Council of his/her College to become part of the Pool of Editors
      • Functions of Research Editor
        • responsible for editing (only) the syntactic and semantic features of the manuscript

 

    1. RESEARCH STATISTICIAN
      • Qualifications of Research Statistician
        • preferably a Master’s Degree holder in Statistics 
        • must be a faculty member of the Department of Mathematics
        • must be a recognized statistician of his/her colleagues
        • must be recommended by the College Research Council of his/her College to become part of the Pool of Statisticians

 

      • Functions of Research Statistician
        • expected to assist the researcher in the sampling procedure, statistical technique used, preparation of the research instrument, dummy tables, graphs, master data sheets, interpretation of data, and/or computation of test statistics

 

  1. The grading system for research course (Research 101 and/or equivalent depending on the program curriculum) will be as follows:
    1. Preliminary Term
      • Term Test (30%)
      • Class Participation (25%)
      • Project (25%)
      • Quizzes (20%)
    2. Middle Term
      • Term Test (30%)
      • (Modified Manuscript)
      • Academic Exercises
      • (Submission of 3 Chaps)
      • Chapter 1 (30%)
        • ntroduction, 5%
        • Problem, 10%
        • Scope/Limits, 5%
        • Significance, 10%
      • Chapter 2 (20%)
        • Literature (L/F), 5%
        • Studies (L/F), 5%
        • TF, 5%
        • CF, 5%
      • Chapter 3 (20%)
        • Design, 10%
        • Method, 10%
    3. Final Term
      • Oral Defense (100%)
  2. The grading system for research defense (both for the proposal and final defenses) will be as follows:
    1. Research Quality (60%)
      • Substance 40%
      • Mechanics 10%
      • Style Format 10%
    2. Oral Defense (40%)
      • Clarity of Ideas 10%
      • Mastery of Topic 20%
      • Style of Presentation 10%
  3. Guidelines on Research Proposal Part
    1. Each student enrolled in a Research course should submit research topic and/or title on the second week of classes of the given semester.
    2. The CRC should convene to critique, recommend, and approve the submitted research topics and/or titles. In case there are research topics and/or titles that have not been approved, the student researchers concerned should be informed and must re-submit the title a week after. The student researchers cannot pursue the research unless the CRC approves their research topics and/or titles. (Please see AR-003 to be accomplished by the student researchers)
    3. Only after the CRC has approved the research topic and/or title that the concerned student researcher will have his/her research adviser. The research adviser must be selected from the pool of research advisers in consideration of the expertise of the professor on the concerned research topic and/or title.
    4. All students enrolled in Research subjects are expected to start submitting their research proposal two weeks after the midterm examination but not later than four weeks before the end of the given semester.
    5. All students enrolled in Research subjects are expected to submit their manuscripts to their respective advisers five days before the submission to the research instructor.
    6. The conduct of defense for the proposal documents can only be allowed two weeks after the midterm examination of the semester.
    7. The schedule of defense shall be prepared by the research instructor in coordination with the head of the CRC.
    8. The proposal defense will only be scheduled at least one week after the manuscript has been submitted. This will give the members of the panel enough time to read, critique, and evaluate the proposal document ready for defense.
    9. The proposal document must be submitted to the research instructor with the note of recommendation for defense by the research adviser. (See AR-004)
    10. Copies of the manuscript should be given to the panel members with a note from the research instructor that it is ready for defense. (See AR-005)
    11. Copies of the manuscript shall only be given to the panel members after the research instructor has scheduled the date of defense. The schedule of defenses shall be posted on the college bulletin board for public information.
    12. The research panel for the proposal defense shall be composed of a chairperson and two members. They are chosen based on the pools of panel chairpersons and members of the CRC. The presence of research adviser is required during the defense to facilitate in the conduct of the defense but he is not to be considered part of the panel. In the case of quantitative researches, a statistician may be required to be present during the defense.
    13. The CRC shall deliberate on the consideration of outside experts as part of the research panel in case the expertise needed and demanded by the research cannot be addressed by the pool of research panels in the university.
    14. The composed research panel will be the official panel of the student researcher(s) in the proposal defense. In cases of unexpected situations relative to the composition of the panel, the CRC has the power and burden of decision for substitution.
  4. Guidelines on Research Final Part
    1. All students enrolled in Research subjects are to submit their final research paper one week after the midterm examination but not later than four weeks before the end of the semester.
    2. All students enrolled in Research subjects are to submit their final research paper to their respective advisers one week before the submission to the research instructor.
    3. The conduct of final defense can only be allowed one week after the midterm examination of the first semester.
    4. The schedule of final defense shall be prepared by the research instructor in coordination with the head of the CRC.
    5. The final defense will only be scheduled at least one week after the final research paper has been submitted. This will give the members of the panel enough time to read, critique, and evaluate the final research paper ready for final defense.
    6. The final research paper must be submitted to the research instructor with the note of recommendation for final defense by the concerned research adviser. (See AR-004)
    7. Copies of the final research paper should be given to the panel members with a note from the research instructor that it is ready for defense. (See AR-005)
    8. Copies of the final research paper shall only be given to the panel members after the research instructor has scheduled the date of defense. The schedule of final defenses shall be posted on the college bulletin board for public information.
    9. The research panel for the final defense shall be composed of a chairperson and two members. They are chosen based on the pools of panel chairpersons and members of the CRC. The presence of research adviser is required during the defense to facilitate in the conduct of the defense but he is not to be considered part of the panel. In the case of quantitative researches, the statistician may be required to be present during the defense.
    10. The CRC shall deliberate on the consideration of outside experts in case the expertise needed and demanded by the research cannot be addressed by the pool of research panels in the university.
    11. The composed research panel will be the official panel of the student researcher(s) in the final defense. In cases of unexpected situations relative to the composition of the panel, the CRC has the power and burden of decision for substitution.
    12. After the final defense, the student researcher(s) will be given enough time to include the recommendations of the research panel. The final copy of the research paper should be submitted, however, within the week after the final examination.
    13. In case the research panel has decided for a re-defense, the student researcher(s) will be given a grace period of two weeks only to improve the research paper. After the grace period, re-defense shall be conducted. If the research paper has been approved, the student researcher(s) will be given the week after the final examination to submit the final copy of the research paper. If the research paper has still been rejected, the student researcher(s) will be given a grade of INC and will be allowed to complete the research requirement for the entire period of the following semester. Failure of completion would mean a grade of 65% for the final research requirement and re-enrolment of the course. In case the student researcher(s) submit(s) an improved paper, another defense will be scheduled for the purpose of completion.
    14. Final research paper can only be submitted if it is already signed by the editor, statistician if required, panel chair and members, adviser, and college dean respectively. A CD copy will also be required from the student researcher(s) in submitting the final hardbound copy of the final research paper.
    15. The undergraduate research format can be download here. (Note: A student researcher may design a new research format depending on the nature of his/her research design especially if the research is qualitative, exploratory type, and/or basic research)

 

University Research Agenda and Theme

University Research Agenda

To facilitate AQ Research Culture, the University Academic Research sets the University Research Agenda with the following directions:

  1. To conduct basic researches that will provide basis for developing new knowledge and applied researches that will contextualize prevailing knowledge in the different academic fields which are relevant to Aquinian transformative education through defined AQ research categories:
    1. Developing New Knowledge in the Languages, Social Sciences, Natural Sciences, and the Humanities
    2. Sustained Growth with Equity and Stability,
    3. Promoting Full, Decent, and Productive Employment,
    4. Enhancing Competitiveness of Industry and Services,
    5. Building Strengths in Information and Communication Technology,
    6. Tourism Development,
    7. Accelerating Infrastructure Development,
    8. Modernizing Agriculture and Fisheries,
    9. Social Equity Through Agrarian Reform,
    10. Sustainable Management and Natural Resources,
    11. Investing in Education and Training,
    12. Enhancing Health Care,
    13. Access to Shelter,
    14. Protecting Vulnerable Groups,
    15. Balanced Regional Development,
    16. Securing Peace and Development,
    17. Fighting Poverty with Good Governance,
  2. To integrate research with the university’s extension programs by conducting research in a particular field of advocacy:
    1. Transformative Education,
    2. Environment and Biodiversity,
    3. Good Governance,
    4. Sustainable Development,
    5. Disaster Management,
    6. Peace,
    7. Bikol Culture,
    8. Gender and Development,
    9. Human Rights,
    10. People Empowerment,
    11. Health,
    12. Nationalization of Vital Industries, and
    13. Consumers’ Rights;
  3. To conduct research that will provide data and information for administrative policy making in quality assurance key result areas:
    1. Governance and Management,
    2. Quality of Teaching and Research,
    3. Support for Students,
    4. Relations with the Community, and
    5. Management of Resources.

 

University Research Theme

AY 2008 – 2009

Development in the Context of Disaster-Prone Region

Responding to the high vulnerability and low capacity reality of the people in the region Enriching the University Research Agenda through the identified research theme Identifying priorities for institutional, graduate, and undergraduate researches Originating unities for the integration of instruction, research, and extension services

 

AY 2009 – 2011

Development in the Context of Social, Cultural, and Environmental Spheres

 

Integration of Instruction, Research, and Extension

Aquinas University of Legazpi as a dynamic and proficient center of education rests on the premise that education should be transformative, creative, and relevant. It is an academic institution that believes in excellence and perfection and therefore should establish mechanisms ensuring the creation and production of new knowledge significant to the Bikol region, national community, and the world. This can be done best through a rationalized integration of instruction, research, and extension. Research serves as medium that connects instruction to the extension activities of the university. Convergence of the three pillars would mean higher quality of education and realization of higher academic standard.

Main Objectives

  1. To consolidate efforts of the different departments in integrating instruction, research, and extension
  2. To streamline the research program with the research agenda and the academic formation on convergence

General Objectives

  1. To establish research as the link between instruction and extension activities in the university
  2. To bridge the gap between theoria learned in the instruction and praxis found in the extension activities through academic research
  3. To ground instruction to the community extension programs of the university
  4. To conduct researches based on the needs and priorities of the Bikol region in particular and of the nation in general
  5. To realize the university thrust of convergence
  6. To establish research culture in the AQ community through well articulated research agenda
  7. To create an action group that would serve as the pool of researchers of the university

Specific Objectives

  1. To research on the relevance and effectiveness of curricular programs to the interests and achievements of students in the different disciplines
  2. To research on strategies, programs, and projects for livelihood and sustainable development
  3. To research on the richness of indigenous culture and the ways and forms by which it can be developed, showcased, and appreciated
  4. To research on systems and procedures, theories and concepts, models and frameworks on the different disciplines for full realization of transformative education

Impact

  1. systematic, rationalized, well-coordinated, participatory research programs and activities in the university
  2. members (administrators, faculty, personnel, and students) of the Aquinian community are research-based and are reflective of the research culture in the university
  3. the university contributes in the empowerment of the Bikolano people in their various activities through research


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