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Choosing a topic and identifying research questions

Learn how to develop clear, focused, and arguable research questions for your academic research projects with practical examples and valuable tips.

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Choosing a topic and identifying research questions

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  1. Choosing a topic and identifying research questions • Ana Kedveš, Marta Natalia Wróblewska University of Warwick Centre for Applied Linguistics MA English Language Teaching Additional sessions in Term 3

  2. What are the keyelementsof a good research project ? • ... • ... • ... • ... • ...

  3. Research Topics Topic – the subject or subject matter of your proposed study. You should be able to express this in a few words or sentences. But is this enough?

  4. Research Question RQ: the question around which you centre your research. It should be: • clear • focused • concise • arguable

  5. Research Questions -Examples • What metacognitive strategies do ESL students use and report when reading and learning from printed and web-based texts? • What face-threatening communicative interactions do students encounter in problem-based learning tutorials?

  6. Research hypothesis • Focused statement which predicts an answer to your research question • Based on previous studies or your experience with the subject • Null hypothesis • The Bowen technique will have no significant effect on intermediate-level, college-age ESL students' accuracy when pronouncing voiced and voiceless consonants and tense and lax vowels.' • Alternative hypothesis • The "Bowen technique" will significantly improve intermediate-level, college-age ESL students' accuracy when pronouncing voiced and voiceless consonants and tense and lax vowels.

  7. From research questions to hypotheses (Lim, Loi, Hashim 2014)

  8. Good or bad researchhypothesis? • Students with high levels of anxiety will be less motivated to engage in oral presentations than students with low levels of anxiety. • Women are better at intercultural communication than men. • Task planning by the teacher will lead to differences in oral performance from task planning which is group-based. • Students who are nominated frequently by the teacher to answer questions during a course of study will show higher levels of attentiveness and on-task behaviour than students who are never nominated. • There is a positive relationship between good teaching and student progress. • Analytically-oriented learners will learn grammar more effectively through a deductive approach than an inductive approach.

  9. Where to look forresearch topics, questions & hypotheses The best RQ will be here interesting for me interesting for the ‘audience’ I could answer

  10. How to come up with a good research question- step by step 1.Find an issue which interests you 2. Explore the issue 3. Start asking questions 4. Refine and focus a question

  11. Mobilising own resources 1.Theories I'm familiar with 2. Methods I am familiar with 3. My own experience and expertise that can be helpful Possible RQ: 1. .... 2. ..... 3. ..... ‘field of interests’ (see slide 12)

  12. Thanks and good luckwith your thesis :) Ana a.kedves@warwick.ac.uk Marta m.n.wroblewska@warwick.ac.uk

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