Hi, wazzup my dear Hivers! I’m back…it’s me again, 
I just want to share my journey about our research design hearing. Usually, students start their thesis during their 4th year in college, but for us Education majors in Mathematics at CTU-Main, we started as early as 3rd year!
A lot of “what ifs” entered my mind…because just hearing the word “thesis” already feels so heavy. It’s the stage where you’ll know whether you can continue to 4th year or not.
🙏 My Prayer and My Groupmates
So here’s how it went, my dear Hivers. I really prayed to God that I’d be placed in a group that’s hardworking and responsible. I also prayed not to become the leader (haha!). And yes…God truly answered my prayer and gave me even more than what I asked for!
I was grouped with people who are punctual, smart, and not lazy. To tell you honestly, being a researcher is not easy at all. You’ll have to think about so many things…especially choosing the right variables that would fit your model.
Let me introduce my groupmates!
The short girl beside me is our leader. She’s really good and always makes sure we all share ideas for our thesis.
The boy in the center is Benjur, one of my close friends and a big contributor to our research. His ideas have a huge impact on our study.
The tall girl is Zynel…she’s very digitally literate, and she’s the one who created our model.
And the girl beside her is Lovely Jane, who also helped a lot in finding related literature (RRL) and related studies (RRS) for our variables.
💡 Choosing the Right Research Design and Model
At first, just thinking about what research design and model to use was confusing. We had to make sure that everything fit together properly. We spent three days brainstorming before finalizing our variables.
Finally, we decided to use a Cross-Sectional Research Design, and our model was SEM (Structural Equation Model).
At first, we had no idea how to use it since we were only familiar with descriptive, qualitative, and quantitative designs. But through the help of our professor, we learned and overcame the challenges.
SEM (Structural Equation Model) is a type of model that analyzes complex relationships among multiple variables. In our study, we had three independent variables, one dependent variable, and one mediating variable.
It was really hard at first, but with patience and guidance, we were able to understand and manage it.
📚 The Struggles and the Process
Finding recent related studies wasn’t easy either…but we managed! There are actually a lot of studies online that are related to our variables; you just need to search patiently.
What makes our study unique is that it’s still underexplored… meaning, it hasn’t been deeply studied yet. We don’t even know what the results will be, but whether they turn out positive or negative, they’ll still be valuable.
During our design hearing, we only needed to defend up to Chapter 3, since it was still a proposal stage.
😰 The Day of the Hearing
When the schedule for our design hearing was set, we were extremely nervous and overthinking!
We kept asking ourselves, “What if our title gets rejected? ” or “What if we can’t answer the questions? ”
But we trusted ourselves because we studied our parts thoroughly. The panelists didn’t give us a hard time either.
Our preparation was intense…even though we were in a rush, especially after experiencing an earthquake that prevented us from meeting in person. Still, we found ways to meet and review together before the big day.
Here’s my tip for you guys:
👉 Familiarize yourself with your study…know what it’s all about, your research gap, why you conducted it, and its purpose. That way, you’ll be confident when answering the panelists.
👩🏫 The Presentation
This was us during our research design hearing…all in formal attire, confident and ready to defend! We didn’t let fear or nervousness take over, and in the end, our proposal was approved! 🙌
We answered every question confidently. This isn’t to brag, but I just want to share our successful moment because our chosen model (SEM) was really challenging.
And guess what? We only received three questions, and they were all clarifications! None of the hard questions we prepared for actually came up…so all that stress was worth it.
When the panelists clapped for us, we felt overwhelming joy. All of us successfully defended our proposal…no one was left behind!
🌟 Final Thoughts
We all passed, and our proposal was accepted by God’s grace. Truly, faith, teamwork, and self-confidence are the key ingredients to success.
If you have any questions about what to do during your research presentation or defense, feel free to comment below, and I’ll gladly reply! 💬💖
