HIGHER educational institutions (HEIs) today are racing to establish a research culture in their systems. They believe that schools sit on a tripod – instruction, research and community extension (outreach). The other two legs, instruction and outreach, have been answered quite well. In fact, many national and international accrediting agencies have agreed on this. According to experts in the field, it is in research that most HEIs have failed. So, let us have a deeper look at this reality.
The term “research” comes from two terms “re-“ meaning “again” and “search” which means “to look for” or “to find.” Having it combined, one gets the definition to be “to find again.” So, research is a process of putting to a test a theory or principle into a perceived problem that comes out with favorable and workable solutions. This is the easiest way to define research. If one would look at research this way, he will not fear the process nor feel that it is like hell doing research projects.
Today, research seems to be a monster lurking in the dark sides of schools ready to devour the minds and time of students. Once a student gets to enroll in research, it will be the start of the burden of education. It means long hours in the library and long hours under the sun looking for respondents. It also would mean shorter time for recreation and longer time in front of the computer trying to convert the computer into a typing machine. It would now mean the application of an alien statistical process that would tell the student that his null hypothesis has been rejected or accepted. Worst, this means that the student will now start saving for the costly production of this academic project.
In higher studies, research becomes a requirement to get a degree. We call them theses or dissertations. For the candidate to get a degree, he must defend the work he or she had done. In other countries, a Doctor of Philosophy had been granted the degree for proving or disproving a theory. His research shall be soon criticized and be given an “antithesis” by another researcher. After such, another researcher will challenge the two previous theses and would come out with a synthesis which in turn would become a new thesis. The research cycle continues and there will be the development of evolution in the thesis.
In the Philippines, aside from the form and style that are being debated in a thesis defense, the researcher would only present the qualitative and quantitative results of his study. The researcher would often fail to make a statement of his study or a finding that would lead to a principle or theory. Most of our researchers in the country follow a certain format and new ideas are doomed to fail for lack of previous studies and previous thoughts on the subject matter of the research. In short, schools accept studies that are only within the realm of the panel’s knowledge. Philippine schools have failed to come out with researchers who could develop principles or theories that they could really claim as their own. We are often overwhelmed by studies that look like a patchwork (the more cited works, the better).
Conducting research should be an enjoyable and leisurely activity. It should be done to answer perceived problems that recur every now and them. Researchers should continue their study and find new knowledge and wisdom in their studies. Researchers should stop quoting and should start developing new ideas. The main objective of research is to find principles or create theories that will help explain the intricacies of the existing phenomenon.
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St. Ezekiel Moreno; Sts. Pedro Calungsod and Lorenzo Ruiz; Pope St. John Paul II; Mons. John Liu and John Su; Father Cornelio Moral, OAR and Father Loreto Dacanay, OAR; Manoy Bill and Sir Faraon Lopez, pray for us.
