Research Writing Difficulties of Senior High School Students

The study determined the research writing difficulties of senior high school students for the school year 2023-2024. This also sought to create an instructional material to address the research writing difficulties entitled Senior High School Students’ Guide to Practical Research Writing. The design of this study is qualitative descriptive. The informants in this study were twenty senior high school students from Donsol National Comprehensive High School. The instruments used in this study was research manuscripts submitted by the participants. This study explored the difficulties faced by senior high school students when writing practical research papers. Through a corpus analysis approach, five authentic research papers, representing various strands (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics STEM; Humanities and Social Sciences HUMSS; Accountancy, Business, and Management ABM; General Academic Strand GAS; Technical-Vocational Livelihood TVL-Tourism), were examined. The analysis, conducted collaboratively with a fellow practical research teacher, focused on elements crucial for clear and effective research writing. These elements included word choice, sentence structure, tone, grammar, mechanics, and adherence to research structure. The analysis further investigated specific challenges students encountered in each section of the research paper. On writing the titles, the informants experienced difficulties in selecting relevant topics and ensuring proper grammar, timeliness, and contemporary relevance. On the other hand, for writing the introductions, the informants experienced difficulties in identifying suitable sources, crafting clear problem statements, specifying contributions and beneficiaries, defining study parameters (setting, sample selection), and avoiding redundancy in highlighting research significance. In addition, for writing the literature reviews, locating reputable sources within time constraints, and distinguishing between relevant literature and related studies were the difficulties. In writing the methodology, justifying the chosen research method's connection to research questions and its contribution to research validity and reliability, and selecting appropriate data collection techniques were the difficulties experienced. For results and discussions, choosing suitable graphical representations, organizing data effectively, maintaining objectivity in data presentation, interpreting, and discussing results, connecting findings to research questions and existing literature, and exploring broader research applications were the difficulties experienced. As for writing the conclusions, synthesizing, and summarizing information concisely, generalizing findings while avoiding redundancy, and reiterating key points without repetition were the difficulties informants experienced. Lastly, in formatting, adhering to the American Psychological Association (APA) style guide, ensuring proper referencing practices to avoid plagiarism, and distinguishing between paraphrased, summarized, and directly quoted information were the difficulties experienced. The findings from this analysis highlighted the diverse challenges students encounter when writing practical research papers. To address these difficulties and enhance research writing skills, the study proposes the development of an instructional material titled "Workbook in Writing Quantitative Research for Senior High School Students." This workbook aims to provide students with the necessary tools and strategies to navigate the research writing process effectively.