Lesson 20: Significance of the Study

Writing a research paper has its purpose-- may it be for you (as a researcher) or even for others. That is why, you need to identify the key reason/s why you are taking a step forward and make your query into a formal writing. In this stage, your ‘WHYs’ and ‘HOWs’ will be answered and explained.

Significance of the Study 

Cristobal and Cristobal (2017) states that research is a very noble undertaking if it makes significant contributions to the community and to the academic field or discipline where the researcher is affiliated with. This is basically the reason why the researcher needs to determine the relevance of their study. It should apparently identify the purpose that the research will serve and how it will contribute to the society, the country, the government, the institution or agency concerned, and the research community.   

Under this section of the research paper, the researcher must be able to present the valuable contribution of the study to a particular body of knowledge or area of specialization. As Cristobal and Cristobal (2017) noted, it could be in the form of a new knowledge in the field, analysis of trends over time, validation of other findings using different methodologies, confirmation of the major findings of other studies, and verification of the validity of findings in a different population. 

After identifying the general significance of the study, the researcher also has to determine the beneficiaries who will directly gain from the results of the study. They may be classified as academic or non-academic. Academic beneficiaries may include educational staff, teachers, students and researchers, while non-academic beneficiaries may include stakeholders, policymakers, agencies and organizations. They should be specifically listed according to the significance of the study’s results to them.

Example:

Research Title:  English Only Policy: Its Influence on Pre-Baccalaureate Maritime Students’ English Language Proficiency (Labrador, 2019) 

Significance of the Study

General Significance: This research will determine the significant contribution of the implementation of English Only Policy in senior high schools offering the specialized marine strand as a preparatory stage of Pre-Maritime students for their baccalaureate degree.  

Pre-Baccalaureate Maritime students. The study will help them in preparing themselves for a language-restricted environment in an international marine institution.  The study will influence them to be globally competitive as they aspire to become future seafarers who will be navigating around the world. 

Senior high school teachers. The study will provide the senior high school teachers a clear picture of the meaningful impact of English Only Policy in classroom instruction. It will enable them to integrate EOP in the teaching-learning process that will eventually build the confidence of students in speaking in English. 

Curriculum developers. The findings of this study may serve as a basis for strictly implementing English Only Policy not only for Pre-Baccalaureate Maritime classes but also for specialized strands that necessitate the use of English language in their future career.  It will enlighten the curriculum developers on the effective classroom instruction that bridges senior high school tracks and strands to college education programs and courses.  

Future researchers. This research can be a source of another study or can be replicated using additional variables in another locale or setting, or with different respondents. The findings of this study can also serve as a conceptual framework of another research.