Writing Significance of the Study

Significance and Objective might sound confusing.  The difference is that Objective of the Study discusses the output.  Significance of the Study, on the other hand, identifies who will benefit and how.

This part of Chapter I has two parts.  Each should have the specific subheadings.

• Theoretical Significance
• Practical Significance

Each should have 1 or more paragraphs each.  Identifying, enumerating in paragraph form, who will benefit and discussing how each of those listed will benefit.

The Theoretical Significance is involved with the academe, while the Practical Significance is involved with the industry (or profession) where the discipline or topic can be found.

E.g.  A thesis on migrants is theoretically significant to migration scholars, professors, students, and researchers.  Each having their own reason why.  It will be practically significant to migrants and government officials.  Better to identify which particular government officials or offices. 

A very important part of the Theoretical Sigificance is that you have to state how the thesis is significance to the discipline to where you belong.  This is called “filling in the gap.”  You made a survey of existing literature and studies.  From this, you are supposed to have found where in the sequence of all the discoveries on the topic does your idea fit in.  And it fits in because your thesis is new.  Among all the published works, what does your thesis add to the existing body of knowledge of your discipline.

Say for instance, a thesis on social capital.  It was Putnam who first wote on social capital.  From then on other social scientists have made wrote new articles.  If I write on social capital, do I add something new?  A new way to study?   A new way to approach?  A new thesis about it?