Research questions in PhD

Palitha EdirisinghaUniversity of Leicester, UK.

Developing research questions

For PhD Researchers

Bryman, A. (2008) Social Research Methods, 3rd Edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Carey, M. (2009) The Social Work Dissertation: Using Small-Scale Qualitative Methodology. Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill and Open University Press.

De Vaus, D. (2001) Research Design in Social Research. London: Sage.

Gilbert, N. (2008) Researching Social Life, 3rd Edn. London: Sage.

Punch, K. F. (2006) Developing Effective Research Proposals, 2nd Edn. London: Sage.

Silverman, D. (2010) Doing Qualitative Research, 3rd Edn. London: Sage.

White, P. (2009) Developing Research Questions: A guide for social scientists: Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

References

Objective

‘Not to convert you ... But to help you to speed

along your ordained path’

(Silverman, 2010, p. 97)

'People are often impressed when they find out that you are "doing research". They may even want to know more. If

you have ever been in this situation, you will know how embarrassing it can be if you are unable to explain clearly what

you intend to study. Such embarrassment can be multiplied a

thousand-fold if your interrogator is, say, a smart professor you have never met

before. How are you to respond?'


'You should not underestimate how difficult or time consuming it can be to

develop research questions. [It] is one of the most challenging stages of the

research process. [Developing research questions] requires considerable

imagination and ... disciplined and logical thought. But time spent thinking about

your research questions will pay dividends at later stages of the research.'

(White, 2009, p. 1)

Main themes

Questions that the proposal

needs to answer

Content

What is the proposed research aboutWhat is it trying to find out / achieve

What?Research questions, general and specific

What we will learn from that and why it is worth learning

Why?Justification, significance, importance, contribution, expected outcomes

How will I go about doing that

How?The methods of the research

What is in a research proposal ...

Punch (2006)

What before how ...

Questions before methods ...

Research Research topic and topic and problemproblem

Research Research topic and topic and problemproblem

RESEARCH RESEARCH QUESTIONS QUESTIONS and purposeand purpose

RESEARCH RESEARCH QUESTIONS QUESTIONS and purposeand purpose

RESEARCH RESEARCH STRATEGIESSTRATEGIESRESEARCH RESEARCH

STRATEGIESSTRATEGIES

ExploreDescribe

UnderstandPredictChangeEvaluateAssess impact

Basic researchApplied research

'What' questions

'Why' questions

'How' questions

Blaikie (2010, p. 58 and p. 81)

InductiveDeductive

Issues for researchers

Findings a workable (not just narrow) research topic [and questions]

Recognising 'feedback loops' between topic(s) and data analysis

Understanding that your categories (or variables) are always theoretically saturated


Workable research questions - 3 features


1. Answerabilitydata required to answer the questions, how the data are going to be collected

2. Interconnectedness

a meaningful connection among the questions

3. Substantively relevant

questions 'interesting' and 'worthwhile', justifying the investment and effort

Approach 1

The research area

Approach 1

The research topic

General research questions

Specific research questions

Data collection questions

180

180

180

180

180

180

180

180

180

180

180

180

180

180

180

180

(Punch, 2008)

Research area

Research topic

General research question

s

Specific research question

s

Data collectio

n questions / items

Research areaYouth

suicideAbsenteeism at workYouth culture in

high schoolsLiving with

Tourette’s syndrome

Academic success and failures at university

Membership of volunteer organisatio

ns(Punch, 2008)

Research area

Youth suicide

Research topic

Suicide rates among different groups [quantitative]

Factors associated with the incidence of youth suicide [quantitative]

Managing suicide behaviour among teenagers [qualitative]

Youth culture and the meaning of suicide [qualitative]

(Punch, 2008)

Research area

Youth suicide

Research topic



What is the relationship between family background factors and the incidence of youth suicide?

What is the relationship between school experience factors and the incidence of youth suicide?

Research area

Youth suicide

Research topic



What is the relationship between family background factors and the incidence of youth suicide?

Specific research questions

What is the relationship between family income and the incidence of youth suicide?

OR

Do youth suicide rates differ between families of different income levels?

What is the relationship between the emotional attachment to parents and the incidence of youth suicide?

ORDo youth suicide rates differ between families where parents and children have a close emotional attachment, and families where they are not?

(Punch, 2008)

Approach 2

Research objectives

Approach 2

Research questions

Research objective

Research questions

To find out why certain individuals and groups adopt new technologies before others

1). What are the patterns of consumption of new technologies amongst different groups of adults in the United Kingdom?

2). What reasons do different individuals provide for adopting or not adopting new technologies?

(White, 2009, p. 45)

Approach 3

Approach 3

Aims

Objectives

Research questions

Aims of the research

Research objectives

To investigate the nature of transnational higher education networks of learning and teaching in geography by focusing on history, organisation, access, participation and impact.

To reconstruct the network’s history – from inception and evolution to the present day

To explain why academics participate within these networks

To explore how academics participate and to evaluate what role technology plays in their networking practice

To assess the perceived value of these networks and the impact they have on learning and teaching practice

What are the motivations of geographers to participate in these networks?

What are the incentives to join these networks?

What experiences of barriers have network members faced?

Research questions

Wakefield (PhD proposal, personal communication)

Aims of the research

Research objectives

To investigate the nature of transnational higher education networks of learning and teaching in geography by focusing on history, organisation, access, participation and impact.

To reconstruct the network’s history – from inception and evolution to the present day

To explain why academics participate within these networks

To explore how academics participate and to evaluate what role technology plays in their networking practice

To assess the perceived value of these networks and the impact they have on learning and teaching practice

Research questions

How do the members of these networks benefit within their research and learning and teaching practice?

How supported do the network members feel by their department / institution in participating these networks?

Approach 4

Main research questions

Approach 4

Subsidiary research questions

Main question

How do young people make educational and career decisions at the end of compulsory schooling?

(White, 2009)

Main question Subsidiary questions

How do young people make educational and career decisions at the end of compulsory schooling?

1. What factors do young people consider when making their choices?

2. What sources of information do they use to help their decision-making?

3. Which individuals are influential in shaping their choices?

(White, 2009)

Other examples of research questions

The research questions, informed by the theoretical framework presented in Chapter 3, are designed to provide insight into the overarching question: What are the implications of media change for learning and literacy?

•Three more specific questions guided data collection and analysis.In what ways are university students appropriating new media to advance learning?How are emerging tensions and contradictions created by media convergence experienced by students? How do these tensions manifest themselves in practices mediated by digital tools and resources?How might we conceptualise the New Media Literacies required to learn effectively with the aid of digital tools and resources?(Francis, 2008)

The objective Research questions

To consider [...] problems and or identify factors, actors, processes and outcomes of innovations in higher education in CEE.

1. How did the five innovative higher education institutions develop between 1989 and 2005?

2. What descriptive and analytical ideas regarding the establishment and development of the five innovative institutions are revealed by participats in the stuudy

Romenska (2010)

(Blaikie, 2010, p. 111 - 112)

Concepts'the building blocks of social theories'

Important in the theoretical framework that sets a context for the research

Determine the data that will be collected

How data will be categorised

Help to describe the findings

More on Concepts: Chapter 5, Blaikie (2010)

Wellbeing

Financial Material SocialPhysical Psy'cal Emotional

CONCEPT

DIMENSIONS

SUB-DIMENSION

S

FURTHER SUB-

DIMENSIONS

INDICATORS

DATA

Safety of localityRelationshipsDiscrimination

With peersWith motherWith fatherWith siblingsWith grandparents

Frequency of contactLevel of conflict

Feelings of closenessAmount of helping

Types of activities engaged in

(De Vaus, 2001, p. 26)

From research questions to data collection

questions

‘a common mistake in questionnaire design is to ask respondents the research question rather than a data collection question’ ... or ‘slightly modified versions of the study’s research questions’

(White, 2009, p. 45).

A research question

a question the research itself is trying to answer

A data collection question

a question which is asked in order to collect data in order to help answer the research question

data need to be linked to concepts, and concepts to data.

a process of making general questions more specific by showing its dimensions, aspects, factors, components, or indicators

defining a general concept ‘downwards’ towards it's data indicators.

From specific research questions to data collection questions

(White, 2009)

ExamplesDo the lecturing staff in your institution feel they are over-worked?

Do the lecturing staff in your institution think that they are under-paid?

(White, 2009, p. 45).

Better versions

Do you think you are over-worked?

Do you think you are under-paid?

ExamplesDo the lecturing staff in your institution feel they are over-worked?

Do the lecturing staff in your institution think that they are under-paid?

(White, 2009, p. 45).

Now let's turn to your research

questions

Next time...

Research design: key components

Research topic and Research topic and problemproblem

Research topic and Research topic and problemproblem

RESEARCH QUESTIONS RESEARCH QUESTIONS and purpose / objectiveand purpose / objectiveRESEARCH QUESTIONS RESEARCH QUESTIONS and purpose / objectiveand purpose / objective

RESEARCH STRATEGIESRESEARCH STRATEGIESRESEARCH STRATEGIESRESEARCH STRATEGIES

Basic researchApplied research

Adapted from Blaikie (2010)

RESEARCH PARADIGMSRESEARCH PARADIGMSRESEARCH PARADIGMSRESEARCH PARADIGMS

Concepts, Concepts, theories, theories,

hypothesis hypothesis and modelsand models

Concepts, Concepts, theories, theories,

hypothesis hypothesis and modelsand models

Data types, forms and Data types, forms and sourcessources

Data types, forms and Data types, forms and sourcessources

Selection from data Selection from data sourcessources

Selection from data Selection from data sourcessources

Data collection and timingData collection and timingData collection and timingData collection and timing

Data reduction and Data reduction and analysisanalysis

Data reduction and Data reduction and analysisanalysis

'What' questions'Why' questions'How'

questions

InductiveDeductive

ExploreDescribeUnderstandPredictChang

eEvaluateAssess impact

Ontological considerationsEpistemological considerationsMethodological considerations

PositivismInterpretivism

FeminismOther

Natural social settings

Semi-natural settings

Artificial settingsSocial artefacts

Research Research methodology / methodology /

designdesign

Research Research methodology / methodology /

designdesign

Top downBottom up

Primary dataSecondary data

Tertiary data

Qualitative dataQuantitative data

Qualitative methodsQuantitative methods

Mixed methods

PopulationProbability sampling

Non-probability sampling

HistoricalCross-sectional

LongitudinalCase study

ExperimentsComparative

Other?

Grand theoriesMid-range theoriesLiterature (as proxy

for theory)

Grounded theoryThematic analysisContent analysis

Criteria of good Criteria of good research:research:

ethics, validity, ethics, validity, reliability, reliability,

generalisabilitygeneralisability, other?, other?

Criteria of good Criteria of good research:research:

ethics, validity, ethics, validity, reliability, reliability,

generalisabilitygeneralisability, other?, other?

Thank u!

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Research questions in PhD

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