Research Questions

Research Questions Darleen Opfer

Types of Qualitative Research Questions • Grand Tour • Sub Questions

Guidelines for writing qualitative questions • Ask one or two grand tour questions followed by no more than five to seven sub-questions. • The question format is related to specific qualitative methodologies. • For example, in ethnography there exists a taxonomy of questions about experience, language, contrast, etc. • In critical ethnography the questions come from a body of existing literature • In grounded theory the questions may relate to the procedures for data analysis – open coding “what are the categories that emerge”, axial coding “How are these categories related to one another?” • Begin the question with the words what or how. Tell the reader that the study will do one of the following: • Discover (grounded theory) • Explain or seek to understand (ethnography) • Explore a process (case study) • Describe the experiences (phenomenology) • Pose questions that use non-directional wording. • Expect the research questions to evolve and change during the study. • Use open ended questions without reference to the literature unless dictated by a specific qualitative design. • Use a single focus and specify the site in the research questions.

Ethnography example: How are conceptions of social studies played out – or not played out – in classroom practice? • How is the setting organized? • What kind of interpersonal dynamics exist? • What activities occur in each setting? • What information, opinions, and beliefs are exchanged among participants?

Case Study Example How do women in a psychology doctoral program describe their decision to return to school? How do women in a psychology doctoral program describe their reentry experiences? And, how does returning to graduate school change these women’s lives?

Activity 1: Qualitative Research Questions For the first abstract, write research questions for the study described.

Types of quantitative research questions • They can be about comparisons between groups • They can be about the relationships between two or more variables • They can describe responses to variables

Guidelines for quantitative research questions • They are developed from theory – the questions are testable propositions deduced from theory • The dependent and independent variables should be kept separate and measured separately • Select one form – hypothesis, research question, or objective – and not a combination • Choice of the forms of hypotheses used (Null or Alternative/Directional) should be determined by the audience • Hypotheses can also be stated in literary or operational. Literary means that the variables are stated in abstract concepts. Operational means they are stated specifically. • Typically use variables other than demographic variables as independent variables. Demographic variables (age, income, education, gender) are typically mediating variables in theories instead of major, independent variables. • Use the same pattern of word order in the questions to establish a formal rhetorical style – repeat key phrases and state the independent variables first and the dependent variables last. • When writing research questions or hypotheses for quantitative studies, write descriptive questions first followed by multivariate (multiple variable) questions.

Forms for Hypotheses Null Hypothesis There is no significant difference in the accumulation of resources and the productivity of faculty Directional/Alternative Hypothesis The more the accumulation of resources, the more productive the researcher

Examples of repeated phrasing and variable order in hypotheses • There is no relationship between the use of ancillary support services and academic persistence of nontraditional-aged college women. • There is no relationship between family support systems and academic persistence of nontraditional-aged college women.

Example of research question ordering for a quantitative study • How do students rate on critical thinking skills? (a descriptive question focused on the independent variable) • What are the students’ grades in science classes? (a descriptive question focused on the dependent variable) • What are the students’ prior grades in science? (a descriptive question focused on the mediating variable, prior grades) • What is the educational attainment of the parents of the students? (a descriptive question focused on the mediating variable, educational attainment of parents) • Does critical thinking ability relate to student achievement? (a multivariate question relating the independent and dependent variables) • Does critical thinking ability relate to student achievement, controlling for the effects of prior grades in science and the educational attainment of the students’ parents? (a multivariate question relating the independent and dependent variables controlling for the mediating effects of the two intervening variables)

Activity 2: Quantitative Research Questions For the second abstract provided, write research questions for the study described.

Guidelines for mixed methods research questions and hypotheses • These studies need both qualitative and quantitative research questions • The questions need to incorporate the elements of good questions and hypotheses for qualitative and quantitative approaches • It may be difficult to specify research questions for the second phase of a two-phase sequential study where the second phase is to elaborate on the first. The researcher can state the questions in the final report of the study. • The order of the questions should follow the order of the phases of the study or the weight of the methods in the design. • In sequential studies, the questions can be introduced at the beginning of each phase.

Activity 3: Mixed Method Questions For the third abstract, write research questions for the study described.

Activity 4: Your Own Research Questions Write research questions for your own study and add these to your conceptual map.

Research Questions