Introduction
Welcome to Module 2 - Framing your research question.
In Module
1 you were asked to select 3 broad areas or themes
that you thought would make suitable research topics. It is
time now for you to select just one of these and move from
the general to the specific by framing some research questions.
The purpose of research questions is well explained by Punch
(1998).
Research questions … do five main things
- They organize the project, and give it direction and
coherence.
- They delimit the project, showing its boundaries.
- They keep the researcher focused during the project.
- They provide a framework for writing up the project.
- They point to the data that will be needed (Punch, K.F.,
1998; P.38)
One way to frame research questions is, as we are doing now,
to move from the general to the specific. Working deductively,
the researcher starts with a broad focus or theme, develops
general questions followed by more specific questions. General
questions guide our thinking and help us to organize our project.
Specific, or sub-questions are questions that are actually
answered in the research. Punch (1998) suggests thinking about
it as a hierarchy of concepts – the research focus
or area, the general research questions and the specific
research questions. Research questions can also be developed
inductively: beginning with some specific questions and working
back to more general questions (Punch 1998:34).
Robson’s (2002) advice on developing research questions is
clear and simple.
-
Know the area - Being familiar with the area
you are going to research is a good start.
-
Widen your base of experience - You should try
to widen your experience by reading within your specific
field and also in other fields. Often other disciplines
are working on similar problems.
-
Consider techniques for enhancing creativity - Developing
research questions is a creative process and there are
techniques such as brainstorming, nominal group,
Delphi and focus groups that may be useful
in getting the creative juices flowing. (For more on these
techniques see Further Reading below)
-
Avoid the pit falls - Including asking questions
that can’t be answered and/or questions that have already
been answered.
-
Cut it down to size. Robson believes that four
to six questions is a fair rule of thumb
-
Think of the purposes of your research - Clarifying
the purpose of your research can help substantially in
sorting out your research questions. Box.3.6 on pages
59 and 60 (Robson 2002) outline the difference between
Exploratory, Descriptive, Explanatory,
and Emancipatory research (pp 54-61).
Both Punch (1998) and Robson (2002) believe that good research
questions are
-
Clear – that is they are unambiguous and easily
understood
-
Specific – In the case of specific questions is
it clear what constitutes an answer?
-
Answerable – Can we see what data is needed and
how to collect it?
-
Interconnected – Do the questions relate in some
coherent way and form a coherent whole?
-
Substantially relevant – Are the questions worthwhile
and worthy of the effort?
You can now use these dot points as a framework for thinking
about your own specific research questions. So as you develop
these you need to keep asking yourself are your questions
really
-
Clear?
-
Specific enough?
-
Answerable?
-
Connected?
-
Relevant?
(A word about Ethics - Ethics refers to a code of
conduct or a set of recognized general principles & practices
that govern the behaviour of a person or group with respect
to what they should and shouldn't do. In research there can
be the potential for ethical dilemmas or conflicts of interest
for example between a researcher's need for secrecy and his
or her participants' right to know. That is why we need codes
of conduct to regulate our behaviour and minimize the chances
of these conflicts occurring. Most universities have strict
ethical guidelines in place governing the conduct of research.
It is important that you are familiar with these guidelines
and that you understand that you have an obligation to carry
out your project in a moral and ethical manner. View the applicable
Australian College of Theology ethics protocol here.)
Preparatory tasks
- To help prepare you for the assessment activity and to
increase your understanding of how to effectively frame
research questions you now need to read the following chapter
in your textbook (Robson)
- Chapter 3 – Developing Your Ideas
Assessment activities
Activity 2.1 – Your research question
Please note: This activity is individual, assessable
and should take you about 1 hour. It has a word limit of 200
words and is part of your folio of activities, which is worth
40% of your total mark. It should be emailed to your teacher
on or before week 10 of semester.
You now need to
-
Choose one of the foci you examined in Module 1 as your
research theme and state why you chose that one in particular
-
Develop 2 general questions for your research theme
- Develop 2 specific questions for each of these general
questions (you can work deductively or inductively)
-
Set your response out using the following guide.
Focus/Theme
I have chosen this particular theme for my research because
General question 1
General question 2
References
-
Robson, C., 2002, Real World Research, 2nd Ed,
Blackwell, Oxford
-
Punch, K.F., 1998, Introduction to Social Research:
Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches, Sage
Publications, London [Chapters 1 and 2]
Further resources
If you are interested to find about more about this area
then you can
-
Read the following book
Punch, K.F 1998, Introduction to Social Research:
Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches, Sage Publications,
London [Chapters 3 and 4]. You may be wondering when is
it appropriate to use a hypothesis instead of research
questions – see Punch’s section on Hypotheses on page
39.
- Visit the following websites
Brainstorming
Nominal groups
Delphi
Focus groups
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