chapter 4

CHAPTER IV

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research Design

In this study, the descriptive method of research was used since the research is more of a comparative study. This type of method focused more on correlating or contrasting two or more variables that fulfilled the intended purpose of the research, which was to compare the study habits of the honor and non-honor students. The descriptive method describes and explains the relationship between variables in order to be more precise and reasonable in attaining the goals and objectives of the study. The descriptive approach was quick and practical to use with our research. In addition, this method helped the researchers to have a flexible approach, thus, when important new issues and questions arised during the duration of the study, further investigation may was conducted.

Sampling Procedure

In the procedure, the researchers applied the purposive non-probability sampling since not all available respondents had the chance to be included in the study. In this kind of sampling, the researchers chose potential respondents that were qualified to answer the questionnaire. The first qualification was that the total half of the respondents must be honor students and the other half will be non-honor students. The chosen respondents must also be of the same university so that it will be easy to make conclusions and generalizations since the researchers can directly have a background of the respondents if only one school environment was involved rather than to have them in different schools. Respondents of the same high school level and intellectual standard were also chosen. Moreover, the researchers selected lesser respondents in order to have manageable results. There were only two fourth-year sections in the school and only a few 4^th year high school students were chosen to be respondents from the two sections. Thus, the researchers had a controllable size of respondents. Ten honor students were as respondents and the other ten were non-honor students. A total of twenty fourth-year high school students were asked to participate.

Respondents

In order to determine the similarities and differences of study habits among honor and non-honor high school students, the researchers decided to choose respondents from the same year level to specifically determine their learning techniques. The researchers opted to choose the graduating level to be the respondents since they were the ones that have more experience in the secondary level. The respondents of the study are all 4^thyear students from the University of the Philippines Cebu – High School.

Research Instrument

The survey questionnaire was used as the main data-gathering instrument. The questionnaire contained informative questions in which the students evaluated themselves. The first part consisted of the socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents such as name, age and gender. The questions in the second part were based on the sub-problem variables and were divided into sections, specifically, into Study Habits (Part I) and Attitude Toward Studying (Part II). The first half of the questions asked the students to evaluate themselves according to the study methods they use, what activities they do before/after/during studying, their note-taking habits, their study schedule, and the people they study with. The second half inquired about their feelings and views about studying.

Data Collection and Analysis

On the process of gathering the essential data that was used in the survey, we allocated one week to evaluate and interpret the survey results.

The questionnaires were distributed among the respondents. Through the questionnaires, the students were also asked to answer the questions sincerely and honestly. The answers relied on their preferences and experiences with studying. After allotting time to answer, the questions were collected. The papers were checked and analyzed.

The results of the survey were then tallied. The information gathered from the outcome of the survey was analyzed through tabulations and textual conceptions. Based on the analysis and interpretation of data, conclusions and proposals were then formed in relation to the comparison of the study habits of honor and non-honor students. Along with primary data, the researchers also used secondary resources from related articles and literatures to support the survey results.