{"id":106,"date":"2022-08-23T12:54:57","date_gmt":"2022-08-23T12:54:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/press.wpunj.edu\/researchmethodsdesign\/chapter\/9-writing-your-research-question\/"},"modified":"2022-12-12T15:52:32","modified_gmt":"2022-12-12T15:52:32","slug":"9-writing-your-research-question","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/press.wpunj.edu\/researchmethodsdesign\/chapter\/9-writing-your-research-question\/","title":{"raw":"Writing your research question","rendered":"Writing your research question"},"content":{"raw":"<div class=\"textbox textbox--learning-objectives\">\n<div class=\"textbox examples\">\n<h3>Chapter Outline<\/h3>\n<ol>\n \t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/sfuedl.pressbooks.com\/chapter\/9-writing-your-research-question\/#9.1\">Empirical vs. ethical questions<\/a> (4 minute read)<\/li>\n \t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/sfuedl.pressbooks.com\/chapter\/9-writing-your-research-question\/#9.2\">Characteristics of a good research question<\/a> (4 minute read)<\/li>\n \t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/sfuedl.pressbooks.com\/chapter\/9-writing-your-research-question\/#9.3\">Quantitative research questions<\/a> (7 minute read)<\/li>\n \t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/sfuedl.pressbooks.com\/chapter\/9-writing-your-research-question\/#9.4\">Qualitative research questions<\/a> (3 minute read)<\/li>\n \t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/sfuedl.pressbooks.com\/chapter\/9-writing-your-research-question\/#9.5\">Evaluating and updating your research questions<\/a> (4 minute read)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\nContent warning: examples in this chapter include references to sexual violence, sexism, substance use disorders, homelessness, domestic violence, the child welfare system, cissexism and heterosexism, and truancy and school discipline.<a id=\"9.1\" href=\"\"><\/a>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h1>9.1 Empirical vs. ethical questions<\/h1>\n<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\n<h3>Learning Objectives<\/h3>\nLearners will be able to...\n<ul>\n \t<li>Define empirical questions and provide an example<\/li>\n \t<li>Define ethical questions and provide an example<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"p\"><span style=\"font-size: 1em\">Writing a good research question is an art and a science. It is a science because you have to make sure it is clear, concise, and well-developed. It is an art because often your language needs \"wordsmithing\" to perfect and clarify the meaning. This is an exciting part of the research process; however, it can also be one of the most stressful.<\/span><\/p>\nCreating a good research question begins by identifying a topic you are interested in studying. At this point, you already have a working question. You've been applying it to the exercises in each chapter, and after reading more about your topic in the scholarly literature, you've probably gone back and revised your working question a few times. We're going to continue that process in more detail in this chapter. Keep in mind that writing research questions is an iterative process, with revisions happening week after week until you are ready to start your project.\n<h2>Empirical vs. ethical questions<\/h2>\nWhen it comes to research questions, social science is best equipped to answer [pb_glossary id=\"474\"]<strong>empirical<\/strong>&nbsp;<strong>questions<\/strong>[\/pb_glossary]\u2014those that can be answered by real experience in the real world\u2014as opposed to&nbsp;[pb_glossary id=\"497\"]<strong>ethical<\/strong>&nbsp;<strong>questions<\/strong>[\/pb_glossary]\u2014questions where people have moral opinions and which may not be answerable in reference to the real world. While educators have explicit ethical obligations (regarding teaching and students), research projects ask <em>empirical<\/em> questions to help actualize and support the work of upholding those ethical principles.\n\n&nbsp;\n\n<img class=\"aligncenter wp-image-103 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/press.wpunj.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2022\/08\/patrick-starfish-2062906_1920-1024x669.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"669\">\n\nIn order to help you better understand the difference between ethical and empirical questions, let\u2019s consider a topic about which people have moral opinions. How about SpongeBob SquarePants?[footnote]Not familiar with SpongeBob SquarePants? You can learn more about him on Nickelodeon\u2019s site dedicated to all things SpongeBob:&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nick.com\/spongebob-squarepants\/\">http:\/\/www.nick.com\/spongebob-squarepants\/<\/a>[\/footnote] In early 2005, members of the conservative Christian group Focus on the Family (2005)[footnote]Focus on the Family. (2005, January 26). Focus on SpongeBob.&nbsp;<em>Christianity Today<\/em>. Retrieved from&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/ct\/2005\/januaryweb-only\/34.0c.html\">http:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/ct\/2005\/januaryweb-only\/34.0c.html<\/a>[\/footnote] denounced this seemingly innocuous cartoon character as \u201cmorally offensive\u201d because they perceived his character to be one that promotes a \u201cpro-gay agenda.\u201d Focus on the Family supported their claim that SpongeBob is immoral by citing his appearance in a children\u2019s video designed to promote tolerance of all family forms (BBC News, 2005).[footnote]BBC News. (2005, January 20). US right attacks SpongeBob video. Retrieved from:&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/news.bbc.co.uk\/2\/hi\/americas\/4190699.stm\">http:\/\/news.bbc.co.uk\/2\/hi\/americas\/4190699.stm<\/a>[\/footnote] They also cited SpongeBob\u2019s regular hand-holding with his male sidekick Patrick as further evidence of his immorality.\n\nSo, can we now conclude that SpongeBob SquarePants is immoral? Not so fast. While your mother or a newspaper or television reporter may provide an answer, a social science researcher cannot. Questions of morality are ethical, not empirical. Of course, this doesn\u2019t mean that social science researchers cannot study opinions about or social meanings surrounding SpongeBob SquarePants (Carter, 2010).[footnote]In fact, an MA thesis examines representations of gender and relationships in the cartoon: Carter, A. C. (2010).&nbsp;<em>Constructing gender and<\/em>&nbsp;<em>relationships in \u201cSpongeBob SquarePants\u201d: Who lives in a pineapple under the sea<\/em>. MA thesis, Department of Communication, University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL.[\/footnote] We study humans after all, and as you will discover in the following chapters of this textbook, we are trained to utilize a variety of scientific data-collection techniques to understand patterns of human beliefs and behaviors. Using these techniques, we could find out how many people in the United States find SpongeBob morally reprehensible, but we could never learn, empirically, whether SpongeBob is in fact morally reprehensible.\n\nLet's consider an example. Say a student group wanted to research funding for on reserve indigenous schools and their original research question was: \u201cHow can <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbo-dpb.gc.ca\/en\/blog\/news\/First_Nations_Education\">funding for on-reserve indigenous schools be so much lower than the funding for provincial schools<\/a>?\u201d Outside of the research context, that is a darn good question! It speaks to how colonial systems have disadvantaged indigenous students over time.\n\nUnfortunately, it is an ethical question, not an empirical one. To answer that question, you would have to draw on philosophy and morality, answering what it is about human nature and society that allows such unjust outcomes. However, you could not answer that question by gathering data about people in the real world. If I asked people that question, they would likely give me their opinions about school spending, rural and urban education, affordability, colonialism, and student educational needs. But I wouldn't get the real answer about why our society tolerates such an imbalance in support for education.\n\nInstead, as you worked on the project the research question would hopefully become more empirical as you read more empirical articles about the topic. One option that might be to ask, \"How does provincial funding in schools near indigenous reserves compare to the funding provided to the on reserve school?\" Another option might be to ask, \"What is the cost of educating students on and off reserve, and how do funding allocations align (or nor) with those costs?\" These projects would address the ethical question of funding inequity but do so in a way that gathered and analyzed&nbsp;<em>empirical<\/em> real-world data. Our job as researchers is to gather social facts about issues, not to judge or determine morality.\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\n<h3>Key Takeaways<\/h3>\n<ul>\n \t<li>Empirical questions are distinct from ethical questions.<\/li>\n \t<li>There are usually a number of ethical questions and a number of empirical questions that could be asked about any single topic.<\/li>\n \t<li>While educators may research topics about which people have moral opinions, a researcher's job is to gather and analyze empirical data.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"textbox exercises\">\n<h3>Exercises<\/h3>\n<ul>\n \t<li>Take a look at your working question. Make sure you have an empirical question, not an ethical one. To perform this check, describe how you could find an answer to your question by conducting a study, like a survey or focus group, with real people.<a id=\"9.2\" href=\"\"><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<h1>9.2 Characteristics of a good research question<\/h1>\n<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\n<h3>Learning Objectives<\/h3>\nLearners will be able to...\n<ul>\n \t<li>Identify and explain the key features of a good research question<\/li>\n \t<li>Explain why it is important for social workers to be focused and clear with the language they use in their research questions<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\nNow that you\u2019ve made sure your working question is empirical, you need to revise that working question into a formal research question. So, what makes a good research question? First, it is generally written in the form of a question. To say that your research question is \u201cindigenous funding\u201d or \u201cschool violence\u201d or \u201cstudent assessment\u201d would not be correct. You need to frame your topic as a question, not a statement. A good research question is also one that is well-focused. A well-focused question helps you tune out irrelevant information and not try to answer everything about the world all at once. You could be the most eloquent writer in your class, or even in the world, but if the research question about which you are writing is unclear, your work will ultimately lack direction. In particular, be wary of conjunctions that may conflate variables and embed assumptions in your question.\n\nIn addition to being written in the form of a question and being well-focused, a good research question is one that cannot be answered with a simple yes or no. For example, if your interest is in gender norms, you could ask, \u201cDoes gender affect a person\u2019s performance in school?\u201d but you will have nothing left to say once you discover your yes or no answer. Instead, why not ask, about the relationship between gender and school performance. Alternatively, maybe we are interested in how or to what extent gender affects a person\u2019s contributions in small group assignments? By tweaking your question in this small way, you suddenly have a much more fascinating question and more to say as you attempt to answer it.\n\nA good research question should also have more than one plausible answer. For example, <a href=\"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1007\/s11218-018-9472-8\">achievement may be impacted by student stereotyping<\/a>; by <a href=\"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/qje\/article\/134\/3\/1163\/5368349\">teacher stereotyping<\/a>; or by <a href=\"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1007\/s00181-019-01662-z\">assessment type<\/a>&nbsp;(among other issues). Thinking through the possible relationships between gender and achievement (and even the appropriate definition of the terms <em>gender<\/em> and <em>achievement<\/em>) would help a researcher realize that there were many plausible answers to questions about <em>how<\/em>&nbsp;gender affects a person\u2019s academic achievement. Because gender doesn\u2019t exist in a vacuum, researchers need to consider other characteristics that work together, in this case with gender, to shape people\u2019s behaviours, likes, and dislikes. By doing this, the researcher considers the third feature of a good research question\u2013relationships between concepts. In this case we began with an interest in a single concept\u2014achievement\u2014by asking ourselves what other concepts (such as gender, stereotype, or assessment) might be related to our original interest, we were able to form questions that considered the relationships&nbsp;<em>among&nbsp;<\/em>those concepts.\n\nWe have one final component to consider. Education research questions must contain a target population. Our study would be very different if we were to conduct it on older adult learners or immigrants who just arrived in a new country. The <strong>[pb_glossary id=\"639\"]target population[\/pb_glossary]<\/strong> is the group of people whose needs your study addresses. Maybe the we noticed issues with achievement as part of our teaching practice with first-generation immigrants, and so we made it our target population. Maybe we wants to address the needs of another community (like fifth grade students in our school). Whatever the case, the target population should be chosen intentionally.\n\nIn sum, a good research question generally has the following features:\n<ul>\n \t<li>It is written in the form of a question<\/li>\n \t<li>It is clearly written<\/li>\n \t<li>It cannot be answered with \"yes\" or \"no\"<\/li>\n \t<li>It has more than one plausible answer<\/li>\n \t<li>It considers relationships among multiple variables<\/li>\n \t<li>It is specific and clear about the concepts it addresses<\/li>\n \t<li>It includes a target population<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\n<h3>Key Takeaways<\/h3>\n<ul>\n \t<li>A poorly focused research question can lead to the demise of an otherwise well-executed study.<\/li>\n \t<li>Research questions should be clearly worded, consider relationships between multiple variables, have more than one plausible answer, and address the needs of a target population.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"textbox exercises\">\n<h3>Exercises<\/h3>\nOkay, it's time to write out your first draft of a research question.\n<ul>\n \t<li>Once you've done so, take a look at the checklist in this chapter and see if your research question meets the criteria to be a good one.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nBrainstorm whether your research question might be better suited to quantitative or qualitative methods.\n<ul>\n \t<li>Describe why your question fits better with quantitative or qualitative methods.<\/li>\n \t<li>Provide an alternative research question that fits with the other type of research method.<a id=\"9.3\" href=\"\"><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<h1>9.3 Quantitative research questions<\/h1>\n<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\n<h3>Learning Objectives<\/h3>\nLearners will be able to...\n<ul>\n \t<li>Describe how research questions for exploratory, descriptive, and explanatory quantitative questions differ and how to phrase them<\/li>\n \t<li>Identify the differences between and provide examples of strong and weak explanatory research questions<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Quantitative descriptive questions<\/h2>\nThe type of research you are conducting will impact the research question that you ask. Probably the easiest questions to think of are quantitative descriptive questions. For example, \u201cWhat is the average student debt load of education students?\u201d is a descriptive question\u2014and an important one. We aren\u2019t trying to build a causal relationship here. We\u2019re simply trying to describe how much debt education students carry. Quantitative descriptive questions like this one are helpful in education practice as part of community scans, in which researchers survey the various needs of the community they serve. If the scan reveals that the community requires more services related to education, governing bodies like the province or school district can use the community scan to create new programs that meet a defined community need (for example, adult education; pre-school services; after-school services).\n\nQuantitative descriptive questions will often ask for percentage, count the number of instances of a phenomenon, or determine an average. Descriptive questions may only include one variable, such as ours about student debt load, or they may include multiple variables. Because these are descriptive questions, our purpose is not to investigate causal relationships between variables. To do that, we need to use a quantitative explanatory question.\n\n&nbsp;\n\n<img class=\"aligncenter wp-image-104 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/press.wpunj.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2022\/12\/financial-2860753_1920-1024x678.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"678\">\n<h2>Quantitative explanatory questions<\/h2>\nMost studies you read in the academic literature will be quantitative and explanatory. Why is that? If you recall from <a href=\"https:\/\/sfuedl.pressbooks.com\/chapter\/2-starting-your-research-project\/\">Chapter 2<\/a>, explanatory research tries to build nomothetic causal relationships. They are generalizable across space and time, so they are applicable to a wide audience. The editorial board of a journal wants to make sure their content will be useful to as many people as possible, so it\u2019s not surprising that quantitative research dominates the academic literature.\n\nStructurally, quantitative explanatory questions must contain an independent variable and dependent variable. Questions should ask about the relationship between these variables. The standard format I was taught in graduate school for an explanatory quantitative research question is: \u201cWhat is the relationship between [independent variable] and [dependent variable] for [target population]?\u201d You should play with the wording for your research question, revising that standard format to match what you really want to know about your topic.\n\nLet\u2019s take a look at a few more examples of possible research questions and consider the relative strengths and weaknesses of each. Table 9.1 does just that. While reading the table, keep in mind that I have only noted what I view to be the most relevant strengths and weaknesses of each question. Certainly each question may have additional strengths and weaknesses not noted in the table. Each of these questions is drawn from student projects in research methods classes and reflects the work of many students on their research question over many weeks.\n\n&nbsp;\n<table style=\"height: 412px\"><caption>Table 9.1 Sample research questions: Strengths and weaknesses<\/caption>\n<tbody>\n<tr style=\"height: 29px\">\n<td style=\"height: 29px;width: 342.604px\"><strong>Sample question<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 29px;width: 133.715px\"><strong>Question\u2019s strengths<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 29px;width: 147.049px\"><strong>Question\u2019s weaknesses<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 29px;width: 348.16px\"><strong>Proposed alternative<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 29px\">\n<td style=\"height: 118px;width: 342.604px\" rowspan=\"3\">What are the internal and external effects\/problems associated with children witnessing domestic violence?<\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 29px;width: 133.715px\">Written as a question<\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 29px;width: 147.049px\">Not clearly focused<\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 118px;width: 348.16px\" rowspan=\"3\">How does witnessing domestic violence impact a child\u2019s relationships with adults in school?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 60px\">\n<td style=\"height: 60px;width: 133.715px\">Considers relationships among multiple concepts<\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 89px;width: 147.049px\" rowspan=\"2\">Not specific and clear about the concepts it addresses<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 29px\">\n<td style=\"height: 29px;width: 133.715px\">Contains a population<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 60px\">\n<td style=\"height: 118px;width: 342.604px\" rowspan=\"3\">What causes foster children to drop out of school?<\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 60px;width: 133.715px\">Considers relationships among multiple concepts<\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 118px;width: 147.049px\" rowspan=\"3\">Concepts are not specific and clear<\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 118px;width: 348.16px\" rowspan=\"3\">What is the relationship between school enrolment and adolescents in foster care?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 29px\">\n<td style=\"height: 29px;width: 133.715px\">Contains a population<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 29px\">\n<td style=\"height: 29px;width: 133.715px\">Not written as a yes\/no question<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 29px\">\n<td style=\"height: 89px;width: 342.604px\" rowspan=\"2\">How does income inequality predict academic achievement in major &nbsp;Canadian cities as target populations?<\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 29px;width: 133.715px\">Written as a question<\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 29px;width: 147.049px\">Unclear wording<\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 89px;width: 348.16px\" rowspan=\"2\">How does income inequality affect academic achievement in high-density urban areas?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 60px\">\n<td style=\"height: 60px;width: 133.715px\">Considers relationships among multiple concepts<\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 60px;width: 147.049px\">Population is unclear<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 29px\">\n<td style=\"height: 58px;width: 342.604px\" rowspan=\"2\">Why are mental health rates higher in white foster children than African Americans and other races?<\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 29px;width: 133.715px\">Written as a question<\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 29px;width: 147.049px\">Concepts are not clear<\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 58px;width: 348.16px\" rowspan=\"2\">How does race impact rates of mental health diagnosis for children in foster care?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 29px\">\n<td style=\"height: 29px;width: 133.715px\">Not written as a yes\/no question<\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 29px;width: 147.049px\">Does not contain a target population<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h2>Making it more specific<\/h2>\nA good research question should also be specific and clear about the concepts it addresses. A student investigating gender and achievement knows what they mean by \u201cachievement.\u201d You likely also have an impression of what \u201cachievement\u201d means. But are your definition and the student\u2019s definition the same? A participant in their study may think that achievement is best represented by GPA, but the researcher may be interested in scores on provincial exams. The only way to ensure your study stays focused and clear is to be specific about what you mean by a concept. The student in our example could pick a achievement item that was interesting to them or that the literature indicated was important\u2014for example, literacy or numeracy. Or, the student could have a broader view of achievement, one that encompasses grades across courses and time (like GPA). Any option is probably okay, as long as the researcher is clear on what they mean by \u201cachievement.\u201d Clarifying these distinctions is important as we look ahead to specifying how your variables will be measured in <a href=\"https:\/\/sfuedl.pressbooks.com\/chapter\/11-quantitative-measurement\/\">Chapter 11<\/a>.\n\nTable 9.2 contains some \u201cwatch words\u201d that indicate you may need to be more specific about the concepts in your research question.\n\n&nbsp;\n<table><caption>Table 9.2 \u201cWatch words\u201d in explanatory research questions<\/caption>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 181.493px\"><strong>Watch words<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 815.938px\"><strong>How to get more specific<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 181.493px\">Factors, Causes, Effects, Outcomes<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 815.938px\">What causes or effects are you interested in? What causes and effects are important, based on the literature in your topic area? Try to choose one or a handful you consider to be the most important.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 181.493px\">Effective, Effectiveness, Useful, Efficient<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 815.938px\">Effective at doing what? Effectiveness is meaningless on its own. What outcome should the program or intervention have? Reduced symptoms of a mental health issue? Better socialization?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 181.493px\">Etc., and so forth<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 815.938px\">Don\u2019t assume that your reader understands what you mean by \u201cand so forth.\u201d Remember that focusing on two or a small handful concepts is necessary. Your study cannot address everything about a social problem, though the results will likely have implications on other aspects of the social world.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\nIt can be challenging to be this specific <span style=\"font-size: 1em\">in education research,<\/span><span style=\"text-align: initial;font-size: 1em\"> particularly when you are just starting out your project and still reading the literature. If you\u2019ve only read one or two articles on your topic, it can be hard to know what you are interested in studying. Broad questions like \u201cWhat are the causes of chronic homelessness, and what can be done to prevent it?\u201d are common at the beginning stages of a research project as working questions. However, moving from working questions to research questions in your research proposal requires that you examine the literature on the topic and refine your question over time to be more specific and clear. Perhaps you want to study the effect of a specific reading program that you found in the literature. Maybe there is a particular model used to fight&nbsp;antisocial behaviours in school, and create a schoolwide feeling of community, like <a href=\"https:\/\/ies.ed.gov\/ncee\/wwc\/Intervention\/103\">Caring School Community<\/a>, that you want to investigate further. You may want to focus on a potential cause of homelessness such as LGBTQ+ discrimination that you find interesting or relevant to your school. As you can see, the possibilities for making your question more specific are almost infinite.<\/span>\n<h2>Quantitative exploratory questions<\/h2>\nIn exploratory research, the researcher doesn\u2019t quite know the lay of the land yet. If someone is proposing to conduct an exploratory quantitative project, the watch words highlighted in Table 9.2 are not problematic at all. In fact, questions such as \u201cWhat factors influence the academic achievement?\u201d are good because they will explore a variety of factors or causes. In this question, the independent variable is less clearly written, but the dependent variable, academic achievement, is quite clearly written. The inverse can also be true. If we were to ask, \u201cWhat outcomes are associated with small classes in elementary schools?\u201d, we would have a clear independent variable, small classes, but an unclear dependent variable, outcomes. Because we are only conducting exploratory research on a topic, we may not have an idea of what concepts may comprise our \u201coutcomes\u201d or \u201cfactors.\u201d Only after interacting with our participants will we be able to understand which concepts are important.\n\nRemember that exploratory research is appropriate only when the researcher does not know much about topic because there is very little scholarly research. In our examples above, there is extensive literature on the outcomes in small classes and the factors that influence student achievement. Make sure you've done a thorough literature review to ensure there is little relevant research to guide you towards a more explanatory question if that is where your interests lie.\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\n<h3>Key Takeaways<\/h3>\n<ul>\n \t<li>Descriptive quantitative research questions are helpful for community scans but cannot investigate causal relationships between variables.<\/li>\n \t<li>Explanatory quantitative research questions must include an independent and dependent variable.<\/li>\n \t<li>Exploratory quantitative research questions should only be considered when there is very little previous research on your topic.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"textbox exercises\">\n<h3>Exercises<\/h3>\n<ul>\n \t<li>Identify the type of research you are engaged in (descriptive, explanatory, or exploratory).<\/li>\n \t<li>Create a quantitative research question for your project that matches with the type of research you are engaged in.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nPreferably, you should be creating an explanatory research question for quantitative research.<a id=\"9.4\" href=\"\"><\/a>\n\n<\/div>\n<h1>9.4 Qualitative research questions<\/h1>\n<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\n<h3>Learning Objectives<\/h3>\nLearners will be able to...\n<ul>\n \t<li>List the key terms associated with qualitative research questions<\/li>\n \t<li>Distinguish between qualitative and quantitative research questions<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\nQualitative research questions differ from quantitative research questions. Because qualitative research questions seek to explore or describe phenomena, not provide a neat nomothetic explanation, they are often more general and openly worded. They may include only one concept, though many include more than one. Instead of asking how one variable causes changes in another, we are instead trying to understand the <em>experiences<\/em>,&nbsp;<em>understandings<\/em>, and&nbsp;<em>meanings<\/em> that people have about the concepts in our research question. These keywords often make an appearance in qualitative research questions.\n\nLet\u2019s work through an example from our last section. In Table 9.1, a student asked, \"What is the relationship between school enrolment and adolescents in foster care?\"&nbsp;In this question, it is pretty clear that the student believes that adolescents in foster are at a greater risk of school enrolment challenges than their peers not in foster care. This is a nomothetic causal relationship\u2014foster care status causes changes in enrolment.\n\nHowever, what if the student were less interested in&nbsp;<em>predicting<\/em>&nbsp;enrolment based on foster care status and more interested in&nbsp;<em>understanding<\/em>&nbsp;the stories of foster care youth who may be at risk for dropout? In that case, the researcher would be building an [pb_glossary id=\"473\"]<strong>idiographic causal explanation<\/strong>[\/pb_glossary]. The youths whom the researcher interviews may share stories of how their foster families, peers, teachers, and others treated them. They may share stories about how they thought of their own academics ability and how it changed over time. They may have different ideas about what it means to transition out of foster care.\n\n<img class=\"aligncenter wp-image-105 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/press.wpunj.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2022\/12\/target-group-3460039_1920-1024x456.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"456\">\n\nBecause qualitative questions usually center on idiographic causal relationships, they look different than quantitative questions. Table 9.3 below takes the final research questions from Table 9.1 and adapts them for qualitative research. The guidelines for research questions previously described in this chapter still apply, but there are some new elements to qualitative research questions that are not present in quantitative questions.\n<ol>\n \t<li>Qualitative research questions often ask about lived experience, personal experience, understanding, meaning, and stories.<\/li>\n \t<li>Qualitative research questions may be more general and less specific.<\/li>\n \t<li>Qualitative research questions may also contain only one variable, rather than asking about relationships between multiple variables.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n&nbsp;\n<table style=\"width: 692px;height: 505px\"><caption>Table 9.3 Quantitative vs. qualitative research questions<\/caption>\n<tbody>\n<tr style=\"height: 16px\">\n<td style=\"width: 332.40625px;height: 16px\"><strong>Quantitative Research Questions<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 330.734375px;height: 16px\"><strong>Qualitative Research Questions<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 60px\">\n<td style=\"height: 60px;width: 332.40625px\">How does witnessing domestic violence impact a child\u2019s relationships with adults in school?<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 330.734375px;height: 60px\">How do people who witness domestic violence understand its effects on their relationships with adults in school?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 60px\">\n<td style=\"height: 60px;width: 332.40625px\">What is the relationship between school enrolment and adolescents in foster care?<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 330.734375px;height: 60px\">What is the experience of being a high school student in the foster care system?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 60px\">\n<td style=\"height: 60px;width: 332.40625px\">How does income inequality affect academic achievement in high-density urban areas?<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 330.734375px;height: 60px\">What does \"academic achievement\" mean to residents of an urban neighbourhood with high income inequality?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 60px\">\n<td style=\"height: 60px;width: 332.40625px\">How does race impact rates of mental health diagnosis for children in foster care?<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 330.734375px;height: 60px\">How do Indigenous Canadians experience seeking help for mental health concerns?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\nQualitative research questions have one final feature that distinguishes them from quantitative research questions: they can change over the course of a study. Qualitative research is a reflexive process, one in which the researcher adapts their approach based on what participants say and do. The researcher must constantly evaluate whether their question is important and relevant to the participants. As the researcher gains information from participants, it is normal for the focus of the inquiry to shift.\n\nFor example, a qualitative researcher may want to study how a new truancy rule impacts youth at risk of expulsion. However, after interviewing some of the youth in their community, a researcher might find that the rule is actually irrelevant to their behavior and thoughts. Instead, their participants will direct the discussion to their frustration with the school administrators or the lack of job opportunities in the area. This is a natural part of qualitative research, and it is normal for research questions and hypothesis to evolve based on information gleaned from participants.\n\nHowever, this reflexivity and openness is unacceptable in quantitative research for good reasons. Researchers using quantitative methods are testing a hypothesis, and if they could revise that hypothesis to match what they found, they could never be wrong! Indeed, an important component of open science and reproducability is the preregistration of a researcher's hypotheses and data analysis plan in a central repository that can be verified and replicated by reviewers and other researchers. This<a href=\"https:\/\/projects.fivethirtyeight.com\/p-hacking\/\"> interactive graphic from 538<\/a> shows how an unscrupulous research could come up with a hypothesis and theoretical explanation&nbsp;<em>after<\/em> collecting data by hunting for a combination of factors that results in a [pb_glossary id=\"641\"]<strong>statistically significant<\/strong>[\/pb_glossary] relationship. This is an excellent example of how the positivist assumptions behind quantitative research and intepretivist assumptions behind qualitative research result in different approaches to social science.\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\n<h3>Key Takeaways<\/h3>\n<ul>\n \t<li>Qualitative research questions often contain words or phrases like \"lived experience,\" \"personal experience,\" \"understanding,\" \"meaning,\" and \"stories.\"<\/li>\n \t<li>Qualitative research questions can change and evolve over the course of the study.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"textbox exercises\">\n<h3>Exercises<\/h3>\n<ul>\n \t<li>Using the guidance in this chapter, write a qualitative research question. You may want to use some of the keywords mentioned above.<a id=\"9.5\" href=\"\"><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<h1>9.5 Evaluating and updating your research questions<\/h1>\n<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\n<h3>Learning Objectives<\/h3>\nLearners will be able to...\n<ul>\n \t<li>Evaluate the feasibility and importance of your research questions<\/li>\n \t<li>Begin to match your research questions to specific designs that determine what the participants in your study will do<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Feasibility and importance<\/h2>\nAs you are getting ready to finalize your research question and move into designing your research study, it is important to check whether your research question is feasible for you to answer and what importance your results will have in the community, among your participants, and in the scientific literature\n\nKey questions to consider when evaluating your question's [pb_glossary id=\"640\"]<strong>feasibility<\/strong>[\/pb_glossary] include:\n<ul>\n \t<li>Do you have access to the data you need?<\/li>\n \t<li>Will you be able to get consent from stakeholders, gatekeepers, and others?<\/li>\n \t<li>Does your project pose risk to individuals through direct harm, dual relationships, or breaches in confidentiality? (see <a href=\"https:\/\/sfuedl.pressbooks.com\/chapter\/6-research-ethics\/\">Chapter 6<\/a> for more ethical considerations)<\/li>\n \t<li>Are you competent enough to complete the study?<\/li>\n \t<li>Do you have the resources and time needed to carry out the project?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nKey questions to consider when evaluating the [pb_glossary id=\"496\"]<strong>importance<\/strong>[\/pb_glossary] of your question include:\n<ul>\n \t<li>Can we answer your research question simply by looking at the literature on your topic?<\/li>\n \t<li>How does your question add something new to the scholarly or professional literature? (raises a new issue, addresses a controversy, studies a new population, etc.)<\/li>\n \t<li>How will your target population benefit, once you answer your research question?<\/li>\n \t<li>How will the community, teaching practice, and\/or the broader social world benefit, once you answer your research question?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"textbox exercises\">\n<h3>Exercises<\/h3>\n<ul>\n \t<li>Using the questions above, check whether you think your project is feasible for you to complete, given the constrains that student projects face.<\/li>\n \t<li>Realistically, explore the potential impact of your project on the community and in the scientific literature. Make sure your question cannot be answered by simply reading more about your topic.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Matching your research question and study design<\/h2>\nThis chapter described how to create a good quantitative and qualitative research question. In Parts 3 and 4 of this textbook, we will detail some of the basic designs like surveys and interviews that social scientists use to answer their research questions. But which design should you choose?\n\nAs with most things, it all depends on your research question. If your research question involves, for example, testing a new intervention, you will likely want to use an experimental design. On the other hand, if you want to know the lived experience of people in a public school, you probably want to use an interview or focus group design.\n\nWe will learn more about each one of these designs in the remainder of this textbook. We will also learn about using data that already exists, studying individual students in your class, and evaluating programs, which are other examples of designs. Below is a list of designs we will cover in this textbook:\n<ul>\n \t<li>Surveys: online, phone, mail, in-person<\/li>\n \t<li>Experiments: classic, pre-experiments, quasi-experiments<\/li>\n \t<li>Interviews: in-person or via phone or videoconference<\/li>\n \t<li>Focus groups: in-person or via videoconference<\/li>\n \t<li>Content analysis of existing data<\/li>\n \t<li>Secondary data analysis of another researcher's data<\/li>\n \t<li>Program evaluation<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nThe design of your research study determines what you and your participants will do. In an experiment, for example, the researcher will introduce a stimulus or treatment to participants and measure their responses. In contrast, a content analysis may not have participants at all, and the researcher may simply read the marketing materials for a school or look at a politician\u2019s speeches to conduct the data analysis for the study.\n\nI imagine that a content analysis probably seems easier to accomplish than an experiment. However, as a researcher, you have to choose a research design that makes sense for your question and that is feasible to complete with the resources you have. All research projects require some resources to accomplish. Make sure your design is one you can carry out with the resources (time, money, staff, etc.) that you have.\n\nThere are so many different designs that exist in the social science literature that it would be impossible to include them all in this textbook. The purpose of the subsequent chapters is to help you understand the basic designs upon which these more advanced designs are built.&nbsp;As you learn more about research design, you will likely find yourself revising your research question to make sure it fits with the design. At the same time, your research question as it exists now should influence the design you end up choosing. There is no set order in which these should happen. Instead, your research project should be guided by whether you can feasibly carry it out and contribute new and important knowledge to the world.\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\n<h3>Key Takeaways<\/h3>\n<ul>\n \t<li>Research questions must be feasible and important.<\/li>\n \t<li>Research questions must match study design.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"textbox exercises\">\n<h3>Exercises<\/h3>\n<ul>\n \t<li>Based on what you know about designs like surveys, experiments, and interviews, describe how you might use one of them to answer your research question.<\/li>\n \t<li>You may want to refer back to <a href=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.rampages.us\/msw-research\/chapter\/2-starting-your-research-project\/\">Chapter 2<\/a> which discusses how to get raw data about your topic and the common designs used in student research projects.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>","rendered":"<div class=\"textbox textbox--learning-objectives\">\n<div class=\"textbox examples\">\n<h3>Chapter Outline<\/h3>\n<ol>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/sfuedl.pressbooks.com\/chapter\/9-writing-your-research-question\/#9.1\">Empirical vs. ethical questions<\/a> (4 minute read)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/sfuedl.pressbooks.com\/chapter\/9-writing-your-research-question\/#9.2\">Characteristics of a good research question<\/a> (4 minute read)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/sfuedl.pressbooks.com\/chapter\/9-writing-your-research-question\/#9.3\">Quantitative research questions<\/a> (7 minute read)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/sfuedl.pressbooks.com\/chapter\/9-writing-your-research-question\/#9.4\">Qualitative research questions<\/a> (3 minute read)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/sfuedl.pressbooks.com\/chapter\/9-writing-your-research-question\/#9.5\">Evaluating and updating your research questions<\/a> (4 minute read)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Content warning: examples in this chapter include references to sexual violence, sexism, substance use disorders, homelessness, domestic violence, the child welfare system, cissexism and heterosexism, and truancy and school discipline.<a id=\"9.1\" href=\"\"><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h1>9.1 Empirical vs. ethical questions<\/h1>\n<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\n<h3>Learning Objectives<\/h3>\n<p>Learners will be able to&#8230;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Define empirical questions and provide an example<\/li>\n<li>Define ethical questions and provide an example<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"p\"><span style=\"font-size: 1em\">Writing a good research question is an art and a science. It is a science because you have to make sure it is clear, concise, and well-developed. It is an art because often your language needs &#8220;wordsmithing&#8221; to perfect and clarify the meaning. This is an exciting part of the research process; however, it can also be one of the most stressful.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Creating a good research question begins by identifying a topic you are interested in studying. At this point, you already have a working question. You&#8217;ve been applying it to the exercises in each chapter, and after reading more about your topic in the scholarly literature, you&#8217;ve probably gone back and revised your working question a few times. We&#8217;re going to continue that process in more detail in this chapter. Keep in mind that writing research questions is an iterative process, with revisions happening week after week until you are ready to start your project.<\/p>\n<h2>Empirical vs. ethical questions<\/h2>\n<p>When it comes to research questions, social science is best equipped to answer <a class=\"glossary-term\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-describedby=\"definition\" href=\"#term_106_474\"><strong>empirical<\/strong>&nbsp;<strong>questions<\/strong><\/a>\u2014those that can be answered by real experience in the real world\u2014as opposed to&nbsp;<a class=\"glossary-term\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-describedby=\"definition\" href=\"#term_106_497\"><strong>ethical<\/strong>&nbsp;<strong>questions<\/strong><\/a>\u2014questions where people have moral opinions and which may not be answerable in reference to the real world. While educators have explicit ethical obligations (regarding teaching and students), research projects ask <em>empirical<\/em> questions to help actualize and support the work of upholding those ethical principles.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-103 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/press.wpunj.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2022\/08\/patrick-starfish-2062906_1920-1024x669.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"669\" srcset=\"https:\/\/press.wpunj.edu\/researchmethodsdesign\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2022\/08\/patrick-starfish-2062906_1920-1024x669.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/press.wpunj.edu\/researchmethodsdesign\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2022\/08\/patrick-starfish-2062906_1920-300x196.jpg 300w, https:\/\/press.wpunj.edu\/researchmethodsdesign\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2022\/08\/patrick-starfish-2062906_1920-768x502.jpg 768w, https:\/\/press.wpunj.edu\/researchmethodsdesign\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2022\/08\/patrick-starfish-2062906_1920-1536x1003.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/press.wpunj.edu\/researchmethodsdesign\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2022\/08\/patrick-starfish-2062906_1920-65x42.jpg 65w, https:\/\/press.wpunj.edu\/researchmethodsdesign\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2022\/08\/patrick-starfish-2062906_1920-225x147.jpg 225w, https:\/\/press.wpunj.edu\/researchmethodsdesign\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2022\/08\/patrick-starfish-2062906_1920-350x229.jpg 350w, https:\/\/press.wpunj.edu\/researchmethodsdesign\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2022\/08\/patrick-starfish-2062906_1920.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>In order to help you better understand the difference between ethical and empirical questions, let\u2019s consider a topic about which people have moral opinions. How about SpongeBob SquarePants?<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Not familiar with SpongeBob SquarePants? You can learn more about him on Nickelodeon\u2019s site dedicated to all things SpongeBob:\u00a0http:\/\/www.nick.com\/spongebob-squarepants\/\" id=\"return-footnote-106-1\" href=\"#footnote-106-1\" aria-label=\"Footnote 1\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[1]<\/sup><\/a> In early 2005, members of the conservative Christian group Focus on the Family (2005)<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Focus on the Family. (2005, January 26). Focus on SpongeBob.\u00a0Christianity Today. Retrieved from\u00a0http:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/ct\/2005\/januaryweb-only\/34.0c.html\" id=\"return-footnote-106-2\" href=\"#footnote-106-2\" aria-label=\"Footnote 2\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[2]<\/sup><\/a> denounced this seemingly innocuous cartoon character as \u201cmorally offensive\u201d because they perceived his character to be one that promotes a \u201cpro-gay agenda.\u201d Focus on the Family supported their claim that SpongeBob is immoral by citing his appearance in a children\u2019s video designed to promote tolerance of all family forms (BBC News, 2005).<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"BBC News. (2005, January 20). US right attacks SpongeBob video. Retrieved from:\u00a0http:\/\/news.bbc.co.uk\/2\/hi\/americas\/4190699.stm\" id=\"return-footnote-106-3\" href=\"#footnote-106-3\" aria-label=\"Footnote 3\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[3]<\/sup><\/a> They also cited SpongeBob\u2019s regular hand-holding with his male sidekick Patrick as further evidence of his immorality.<\/p>\n<p>So, can we now conclude that SpongeBob SquarePants is immoral? Not so fast. While your mother or a newspaper or television reporter may provide an answer, a social science researcher cannot. Questions of morality are ethical, not empirical. Of course, this doesn\u2019t mean that social science researchers cannot study opinions about or social meanings surrounding SpongeBob SquarePants (Carter, 2010).<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"In fact, an MA thesis examines representations of gender and relationships in the cartoon: Carter, A. C. (2010).\u00a0Constructing gender and\u00a0relationships in \u201cSpongeBob SquarePants\u201d: Who lives in a pineapple under the sea. MA thesis, Department of Communication, University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL.\" id=\"return-footnote-106-4\" href=\"#footnote-106-4\" aria-label=\"Footnote 4\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[4]<\/sup><\/a> We study humans after all, and as you will discover in the following chapters of this textbook, we are trained to utilize a variety of scientific data-collection techniques to understand patterns of human beliefs and behaviors. Using these techniques, we could find out how many people in the United States find SpongeBob morally reprehensible, but we could never learn, empirically, whether SpongeBob is in fact morally reprehensible.<\/p>\n<p>Let&#8217;s consider an example. Say a student group wanted to research funding for on reserve indigenous schools and their original research question was: \u201cHow can <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbo-dpb.gc.ca\/en\/blog\/news\/First_Nations_Education\">funding for on-reserve indigenous schools be so much lower than the funding for provincial schools<\/a>?\u201d Outside of the research context, that is a darn good question! It speaks to how colonial systems have disadvantaged indigenous students over time.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, it is an ethical question, not an empirical one. To answer that question, you would have to draw on philosophy and morality, answering what it is about human nature and society that allows such unjust outcomes. However, you could not answer that question by gathering data about people in the real world. If I asked people that question, they would likely give me their opinions about school spending, rural and urban education, affordability, colonialism, and student educational needs. But I wouldn&#8217;t get the real answer about why our society tolerates such an imbalance in support for education.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, as you worked on the project the research question would hopefully become more empirical as you read more empirical articles about the topic. One option that might be to ask, &#8220;How does provincial funding in schools near indigenous reserves compare to the funding provided to the on reserve school?&#8221; Another option might be to ask, &#8220;What is the cost of educating students on and off reserve, and how do funding allocations align (or nor) with those costs?&#8221; These projects would address the ethical question of funding inequity but do so in a way that gathered and analyzed&nbsp;<em>empirical<\/em> real-world data. Our job as researchers is to gather social facts about issues, not to judge or determine morality.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\n<h3>Key Takeaways<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Empirical questions are distinct from ethical questions.<\/li>\n<li>There are usually a number of ethical questions and a number of empirical questions that could be asked about any single topic.<\/li>\n<li>While educators may research topics about which people have moral opinions, a researcher&#8217;s job is to gather and analyze empirical data.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"textbox exercises\">\n<h3>Exercises<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Take a look at your working question. Make sure you have an empirical question, not an ethical one. To perform this check, describe how you could find an answer to your question by conducting a study, like a survey or focus group, with real people.<a id=\"9.2\" href=\"\"><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<h1>9.2 Characteristics of a good research question<\/h1>\n<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\n<h3>Learning Objectives<\/h3>\n<p>Learners will be able to&#8230;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Identify and explain the key features of a good research question<\/li>\n<li>Explain why it is important for social workers to be focused and clear with the language they use in their research questions<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>Now that you\u2019ve made sure your working question is empirical, you need to revise that working question into a formal research question. So, what makes a good research question? First, it is generally written in the form of a question. To say that your research question is \u201cindigenous funding\u201d or \u201cschool violence\u201d or \u201cstudent assessment\u201d would not be correct. You need to frame your topic as a question, not a statement. A good research question is also one that is well-focused. A well-focused question helps you tune out irrelevant information and not try to answer everything about the world all at once. You could be the most eloquent writer in your class, or even in the world, but if the research question about which you are writing is unclear, your work will ultimately lack direction. In particular, be wary of conjunctions that may conflate variables and embed assumptions in your question.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to being written in the form of a question and being well-focused, a good research question is one that cannot be answered with a simple yes or no. For example, if your interest is in gender norms, you could ask, \u201cDoes gender affect a person\u2019s performance in school?\u201d but you will have nothing left to say once you discover your yes or no answer. Instead, why not ask, about the relationship between gender and school performance. Alternatively, maybe we are interested in how or to what extent gender affects a person\u2019s contributions in small group assignments? By tweaking your question in this small way, you suddenly have a much more fascinating question and more to say as you attempt to answer it.<\/p>\n<p>A good research question should also have more than one plausible answer. For example, <a href=\"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1007\/s11218-018-9472-8\">achievement may be impacted by student stereotyping<\/a>; by <a href=\"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/qje\/article\/134\/3\/1163\/5368349\">teacher stereotyping<\/a>; or by <a href=\"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1007\/s00181-019-01662-z\">assessment type<\/a>&nbsp;(among other issues). Thinking through the possible relationships between gender and achievement (and even the appropriate definition of the terms <em>gender<\/em> and <em>achievement<\/em>) would help a researcher realize that there were many plausible answers to questions about <em>how<\/em>&nbsp;gender affects a person\u2019s academic achievement. Because gender doesn\u2019t exist in a vacuum, researchers need to consider other characteristics that work together, in this case with gender, to shape people\u2019s behaviours, likes, and dislikes. By doing this, the researcher considers the third feature of a good research question\u2013relationships between concepts. In this case we began with an interest in a single concept\u2014achievement\u2014by asking ourselves what other concepts (such as gender, stereotype, or assessment) might be related to our original interest, we were able to form questions that considered the relationships&nbsp;<em>among&nbsp;<\/em>those concepts.<\/p>\n<p>We have one final component to consider. Education research questions must contain a target population. Our study would be very different if we were to conduct it on older adult learners or immigrants who just arrived in a new country. The <strong><a class=\"glossary-term\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-describedby=\"definition\" href=\"#term_106_639\">target population<\/a><\/strong> is the group of people whose needs your study addresses. Maybe the we noticed issues with achievement as part of our teaching practice with first-generation immigrants, and so we made it our target population. Maybe we wants to address the needs of another community (like fifth grade students in our school). Whatever the case, the target population should be chosen intentionally.<\/p>\n<p>In sum, a good research question generally has the following features:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>It is written in the form of a question<\/li>\n<li>It is clearly written<\/li>\n<li>It cannot be answered with &#8220;yes&#8221; or &#8220;no&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>It has more than one plausible answer<\/li>\n<li>It considers relationships among multiple variables<\/li>\n<li>It is specific and clear about the concepts it addresses<\/li>\n<li>It includes a target population<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\n<h3>Key Takeaways<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>A poorly focused research question can lead to the demise of an otherwise well-executed study.<\/li>\n<li>Research questions should be clearly worded, consider relationships between multiple variables, have more than one plausible answer, and address the needs of a target population.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"textbox exercises\">\n<h3>Exercises<\/h3>\n<p>Okay, it&#8217;s time to write out your first draft of a research question.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Once you&#8217;ve done so, take a look at the checklist in this chapter and see if your research question meets the criteria to be a good one.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Brainstorm whether your research question might be better suited to quantitative or qualitative methods.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Describe why your question fits better with quantitative or qualitative methods.<\/li>\n<li>Provide an alternative research question that fits with the other type of research method.<a id=\"9.3\" href=\"\"><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<h1>9.3 Quantitative research questions<\/h1>\n<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\n<h3>Learning Objectives<\/h3>\n<p>Learners will be able to&#8230;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Describe how research questions for exploratory, descriptive, and explanatory quantitative questions differ and how to phrase them<\/li>\n<li>Identify the differences between and provide examples of strong and weak explanatory research questions<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Quantitative descriptive questions<\/h2>\n<p>The type of research you are conducting will impact the research question that you ask. Probably the easiest questions to think of are quantitative descriptive questions. For example, \u201cWhat is the average student debt load of education students?\u201d is a descriptive question\u2014and an important one. We aren\u2019t trying to build a causal relationship here. We\u2019re simply trying to describe how much debt education students carry. Quantitative descriptive questions like this one are helpful in education practice as part of community scans, in which researchers survey the various needs of the community they serve. If the scan reveals that the community requires more services related to education, governing bodies like the province or school district can use the community scan to create new programs that meet a defined community need (for example, adult education; pre-school services; after-school services).<\/p>\n<p>Quantitative descriptive questions will often ask for percentage, count the number of instances of a phenomenon, or determine an average. Descriptive questions may only include one variable, such as ours about student debt load, or they may include multiple variables. Because these are descriptive questions, our purpose is not to investigate causal relationships between variables. To do that, we need to use a quantitative explanatory question.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-104 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/press.wpunj.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2022\/12\/financial-2860753_1920-1024x678.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"678\" srcset=\"https:\/\/press.wpunj.edu\/researchmethodsdesign\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2022\/12\/financial-2860753_1920-1024x678.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/press.wpunj.edu\/researchmethodsdesign\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2022\/12\/financial-2860753_1920-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/press.wpunj.edu\/researchmethodsdesign\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2022\/12\/financial-2860753_1920-768x508.jpg 768w, https:\/\/press.wpunj.edu\/researchmethodsdesign\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2022\/12\/financial-2860753_1920-1536x1017.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/press.wpunj.edu\/researchmethodsdesign\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2022\/12\/financial-2860753_1920-65x43.jpg 65w, https:\/\/press.wpunj.edu\/researchmethodsdesign\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2022\/12\/financial-2860753_1920-225x149.jpg 225w, https:\/\/press.wpunj.edu\/researchmethodsdesign\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2022\/12\/financial-2860753_1920-350x232.jpg 350w, https:\/\/press.wpunj.edu\/researchmethodsdesign\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2022\/12\/financial-2860753_1920.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2>Quantitative explanatory questions<\/h2>\n<p>Most studies you read in the academic literature will be quantitative and explanatory. Why is that? If you recall from <a href=\"https:\/\/sfuedl.pressbooks.com\/chapter\/2-starting-your-research-project\/\">Chapter 2<\/a>, explanatory research tries to build nomothetic causal relationships. They are generalizable across space and time, so they are applicable to a wide audience. The editorial board of a journal wants to make sure their content will be useful to as many people as possible, so it\u2019s not surprising that quantitative research dominates the academic literature.<\/p>\n<p>Structurally, quantitative explanatory questions must contain an independent variable and dependent variable. Questions should ask about the relationship between these variables. The standard format I was taught in graduate school for an explanatory quantitative research question is: \u201cWhat is the relationship between [independent variable] and [dependent variable] for [target population]?\u201d You should play with the wording for your research question, revising that standard format to match what you really want to know about your topic.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s take a look at a few more examples of possible research questions and consider the relative strengths and weaknesses of each. Table 9.1 does just that. While reading the table, keep in mind that I have only noted what I view to be the most relevant strengths and weaknesses of each question. Certainly each question may have additional strengths and weaknesses not noted in the table. Each of these questions is drawn from student projects in research methods classes and reflects the work of many students on their research question over many weeks.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<table style=\"height: 412px\">\n<caption>Table 9.1 Sample research questions: Strengths and weaknesses<\/caption>\n<tbody>\n<tr style=\"height: 29px\">\n<td style=\"height: 29px;width: 342.604px\"><strong>Sample question<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 29px;width: 133.715px\"><strong>Question\u2019s strengths<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 29px;width: 147.049px\"><strong>Question\u2019s weaknesses<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 29px;width: 348.16px\"><strong>Proposed alternative<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 29px\">\n<td style=\"height: 118px;width: 342.604px\" rowspan=\"3\">What are the internal and external effects\/problems associated with children witnessing domestic violence?<\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 29px;width: 133.715px\">Written as a question<\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 29px;width: 147.049px\">Not clearly focused<\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 118px;width: 348.16px\" rowspan=\"3\">How does witnessing domestic violence impact a child\u2019s relationships with adults in school?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 60px\">\n<td style=\"height: 60px;width: 133.715px\">Considers relationships among multiple concepts<\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 89px;width: 147.049px\" rowspan=\"2\">Not specific and clear about the concepts it addresses<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 29px\">\n<td style=\"height: 29px;width: 133.715px\">Contains a population<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 60px\">\n<td style=\"height: 118px;width: 342.604px\" rowspan=\"3\">What causes foster children to drop out of school?<\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 60px;width: 133.715px\">Considers relationships among multiple concepts<\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 118px;width: 147.049px\" rowspan=\"3\">Concepts are not specific and clear<\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 118px;width: 348.16px\" rowspan=\"3\">What is the relationship between school enrolment and adolescents in foster care?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 29px\">\n<td style=\"height: 29px;width: 133.715px\">Contains a population<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 29px\">\n<td style=\"height: 29px;width: 133.715px\">Not written as a yes\/no question<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 29px\">\n<td style=\"height: 89px;width: 342.604px\" rowspan=\"2\">How does income inequality predict academic achievement in major &nbsp;Canadian cities as target populations?<\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 29px;width: 133.715px\">Written as a question<\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 29px;width: 147.049px\">Unclear wording<\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 89px;width: 348.16px\" rowspan=\"2\">How does income inequality affect academic achievement in high-density urban areas?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 60px\">\n<td style=\"height: 60px;width: 133.715px\">Considers relationships among multiple concepts<\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 60px;width: 147.049px\">Population is unclear<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 29px\">\n<td style=\"height: 58px;width: 342.604px\" rowspan=\"2\">Why are mental health rates higher in white foster children than African Americans and other races?<\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 29px;width: 133.715px\">Written as a question<\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 29px;width: 147.049px\">Concepts are not clear<\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 58px;width: 348.16px\" rowspan=\"2\">How does race impact rates of mental health diagnosis for children in foster care?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 29px\">\n<td style=\"height: 29px;width: 133.715px\">Not written as a yes\/no question<\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 29px;width: 147.049px\">Does not contain a target population<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h2>Making it more specific<\/h2>\n<p>A good research question should also be specific and clear about the concepts it addresses. A student investigating gender and achievement knows what they mean by \u201cachievement.\u201d You likely also have an impression of what \u201cachievement\u201d means. But are your definition and the student\u2019s definition the same? A participant in their study may think that achievement is best represented by GPA, but the researcher may be interested in scores on provincial exams. The only way to ensure your study stays focused and clear is to be specific about what you mean by a concept. The student in our example could pick a achievement item that was interesting to them or that the literature indicated was important\u2014for example, literacy or numeracy. Or, the student could have a broader view of achievement, one that encompasses grades across courses and time (like GPA). Any option is probably okay, as long as the researcher is clear on what they mean by \u201cachievement.\u201d Clarifying these distinctions is important as we look ahead to specifying how your variables will be measured in <a href=\"https:\/\/sfuedl.pressbooks.com\/chapter\/11-quantitative-measurement\/\">Chapter 11<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Table 9.2 contains some \u201cwatch words\u201d that indicate you may need to be more specific about the concepts in your research question.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<table>\n<caption>Table 9.2 \u201cWatch words\u201d in explanatory research questions<\/caption>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 181.493px\"><strong>Watch words<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 815.938px\"><strong>How to get more specific<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 181.493px\">Factors, Causes, Effects, Outcomes<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 815.938px\">What causes or effects are you interested in? What causes and effects are important, based on the literature in your topic area? Try to choose one or a handful you consider to be the most important.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 181.493px\">Effective, Effectiveness, Useful, Efficient<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 815.938px\">Effective at doing what? Effectiveness is meaningless on its own. What outcome should the program or intervention have? Reduced symptoms of a mental health issue? Better socialization?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 181.493px\">Etc., and so forth<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 815.938px\">Don\u2019t assume that your reader understands what you mean by \u201cand so forth.\u201d Remember that focusing on two or a small handful concepts is necessary. Your study cannot address everything about a social problem, though the results will likely have implications on other aspects of the social world.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>It can be challenging to be this specific <span style=\"font-size: 1em\">in education research,<\/span><span style=\"text-align: initial;font-size: 1em\"> particularly when you are just starting out your project and still reading the literature. If you\u2019ve only read one or two articles on your topic, it can be hard to know what you are interested in studying. Broad questions like \u201cWhat are the causes of chronic homelessness, and what can be done to prevent it?\u201d are common at the beginning stages of a research project as working questions. However, moving from working questions to research questions in your research proposal requires that you examine the literature on the topic and refine your question over time to be more specific and clear. Perhaps you want to study the effect of a specific reading program that you found in the literature. Maybe there is a particular model used to fight&nbsp;antisocial behaviours in school, and create a schoolwide feeling of community, like <a href=\"https:\/\/ies.ed.gov\/ncee\/wwc\/Intervention\/103\">Caring School Community<\/a>, that you want to investigate further. You may want to focus on a potential cause of homelessness such as LGBTQ+ discrimination that you find interesting or relevant to your school. As you can see, the possibilities for making your question more specific are almost infinite.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Quantitative exploratory questions<\/h2>\n<p>In exploratory research, the researcher doesn\u2019t quite know the lay of the land yet. If someone is proposing to conduct an exploratory quantitative project, the watch words highlighted in Table 9.2 are not problematic at all. In fact, questions such as \u201cWhat factors influence the academic achievement?\u201d are good because they will explore a variety of factors or causes. In this question, the independent variable is less clearly written, but the dependent variable, academic achievement, is quite clearly written. The inverse can also be true. If we were to ask, \u201cWhat outcomes are associated with small classes in elementary schools?\u201d, we would have a clear independent variable, small classes, but an unclear dependent variable, outcomes. Because we are only conducting exploratory research on a topic, we may not have an idea of what concepts may comprise our \u201coutcomes\u201d or \u201cfactors.\u201d Only after interacting with our participants will we be able to understand which concepts are important.<\/p>\n<p>Remember that exploratory research is appropriate only when the researcher does not know much about topic because there is very little scholarly research. In our examples above, there is extensive literature on the outcomes in small classes and the factors that influence student achievement. Make sure you&#8217;ve done a thorough literature review to ensure there is little relevant research to guide you towards a more explanatory question if that is where your interests lie.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\n<h3>Key Takeaways<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Descriptive quantitative research questions are helpful for community scans but cannot investigate causal relationships between variables.<\/li>\n<li>Explanatory quantitative research questions must include an independent and dependent variable.<\/li>\n<li>Exploratory quantitative research questions should only be considered when there is very little previous research on your topic.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"textbox exercises\">\n<h3>Exercises<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Identify the type of research you are engaged in (descriptive, explanatory, or exploratory).<\/li>\n<li>Create a quantitative research question for your project that matches with the type of research you are engaged in.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Preferably, you should be creating an explanatory research question for quantitative research.<a id=\"9.4\" href=\"\"><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h1>9.4 Qualitative research questions<\/h1>\n<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\n<h3>Learning Objectives<\/h3>\n<p>Learners will be able to&#8230;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>List the key terms associated with qualitative research questions<\/li>\n<li>Distinguish between qualitative and quantitative research questions<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>Qualitative research questions differ from quantitative research questions. Because qualitative research questions seek to explore or describe phenomena, not provide a neat nomothetic explanation, they are often more general and openly worded. They may include only one concept, though many include more than one. Instead of asking how one variable causes changes in another, we are instead trying to understand the <em>experiences<\/em>,&nbsp;<em>understandings<\/em>, and&nbsp;<em>meanings<\/em> that people have about the concepts in our research question. These keywords often make an appearance in qualitative research questions.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s work through an example from our last section. In Table 9.1, a student asked, &#8220;What is the relationship between school enrolment and adolescents in foster care?&#8221;&nbsp;In this question, it is pretty clear that the student believes that adolescents in foster are at a greater risk of school enrolment challenges than their peers not in foster care. This is a nomothetic causal relationship\u2014foster care status causes changes in enrolment.<\/p>\n<p>However, what if the student were less interested in&nbsp;<em>predicting<\/em>&nbsp;enrolment based on foster care status and more interested in&nbsp;<em>understanding<\/em>&nbsp;the stories of foster care youth who may be at risk for dropout? In that case, the researcher would be building an <a class=\"glossary-term\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-describedby=\"definition\" href=\"#term_106_473\"><strong>idiographic causal explanation<\/strong><\/a>. The youths whom the researcher interviews may share stories of how their foster families, peers, teachers, and others treated them. They may share stories about how they thought of their own academics ability and how it changed over time. They may have different ideas about what it means to transition out of foster care.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-105 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/press.wpunj.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2022\/12\/target-group-3460039_1920-1024x456.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"456\" srcset=\"https:\/\/press.wpunj.edu\/researchmethodsdesign\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2022\/12\/target-group-3460039_1920-1024x456.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/press.wpunj.edu\/researchmethodsdesign\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2022\/12\/target-group-3460039_1920-300x134.jpg 300w, https:\/\/press.wpunj.edu\/researchmethodsdesign\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2022\/12\/target-group-3460039_1920-768x342.jpg 768w, https:\/\/press.wpunj.edu\/researchmethodsdesign\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2022\/12\/target-group-3460039_1920-1536x684.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/press.wpunj.edu\/researchmethodsdesign\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2022\/12\/target-group-3460039_1920-65x29.jpg 65w, https:\/\/press.wpunj.edu\/researchmethodsdesign\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2022\/12\/target-group-3460039_1920-225x100.jpg 225w, https:\/\/press.wpunj.edu\/researchmethodsdesign\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2022\/12\/target-group-3460039_1920-350x156.jpg 350w, https:\/\/press.wpunj.edu\/researchmethodsdesign\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2022\/12\/target-group-3460039_1920.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Because qualitative questions usually center on idiographic causal relationships, they look different than quantitative questions. Table 9.3 below takes the final research questions from Table 9.1 and adapts them for qualitative research. The guidelines for research questions previously described in this chapter still apply, but there are some new elements to qualitative research questions that are not present in quantitative questions.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Qualitative research questions often ask about lived experience, personal experience, understanding, meaning, and stories.<\/li>\n<li>Qualitative research questions may be more general and less specific.<\/li>\n<li>Qualitative research questions may also contain only one variable, rather than asking about relationships between multiple variables.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<table style=\"width: 692px;height: 505px\">\n<caption>Table 9.3 Quantitative vs. qualitative research questions<\/caption>\n<tbody>\n<tr style=\"height: 16px\">\n<td style=\"width: 332.40625px;height: 16px\"><strong>Quantitative Research Questions<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 330.734375px;height: 16px\"><strong>Qualitative Research Questions<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 60px\">\n<td style=\"height: 60px;width: 332.40625px\">How does witnessing domestic violence impact a child\u2019s relationships with adults in school?<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 330.734375px;height: 60px\">How do people who witness domestic violence understand its effects on their relationships with adults in school?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 60px\">\n<td style=\"height: 60px;width: 332.40625px\">What is the relationship between school enrolment and adolescents in foster care?<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 330.734375px;height: 60px\">What is the experience of being a high school student in the foster care system?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 60px\">\n<td style=\"height: 60px;width: 332.40625px\">How does income inequality affect academic achievement in high-density urban areas?<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 330.734375px;height: 60px\">What does &#8220;academic achievement&#8221; mean to residents of an urban neighbourhood with high income inequality?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 60px\">\n<td style=\"height: 60px;width: 332.40625px\">How does race impact rates of mental health diagnosis for children in foster care?<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 330.734375px;height: 60px\">How do Indigenous Canadians experience seeking help for mental health concerns?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Qualitative research questions have one final feature that distinguishes them from quantitative research questions: they can change over the course of a study. Qualitative research is a reflexive process, one in which the researcher adapts their approach based on what participants say and do. The researcher must constantly evaluate whether their question is important and relevant to the participants. As the researcher gains information from participants, it is normal for the focus of the inquiry to shift.<\/p>\n<p>For example, a qualitative researcher may want to study how a new truancy rule impacts youth at risk of expulsion. However, after interviewing some of the youth in their community, a researcher might find that the rule is actually irrelevant to their behavior and thoughts. Instead, their participants will direct the discussion to their frustration with the school administrators or the lack of job opportunities in the area. This is a natural part of qualitative research, and it is normal for research questions and hypothesis to evolve based on information gleaned from participants.<\/p>\n<p>However, this reflexivity and openness is unacceptable in quantitative research for good reasons. Researchers using quantitative methods are testing a hypothesis, and if they could revise that hypothesis to match what they found, they could never be wrong! Indeed, an important component of open science and reproducability is the preregistration of a researcher&#8217;s hypotheses and data analysis plan in a central repository that can be verified and replicated by reviewers and other researchers. This<a href=\"https:\/\/projects.fivethirtyeight.com\/p-hacking\/\"> interactive graphic from 538<\/a> shows how an unscrupulous research could come up with a hypothesis and theoretical explanation&nbsp;<em>after<\/em> collecting data by hunting for a combination of factors that results in a <a class=\"glossary-term\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-describedby=\"definition\" href=\"#term_106_641\"><strong>statistically significant<\/strong><\/a> relationship. This is an excellent example of how the positivist assumptions behind quantitative research and intepretivist assumptions behind qualitative research result in different approaches to social science.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\n<h3>Key Takeaways<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Qualitative research questions often contain words or phrases like &#8220;lived experience,&#8221; &#8220;personal experience,&#8221; &#8220;understanding,&#8221; &#8220;meaning,&#8221; and &#8220;stories.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>Qualitative research questions can change and evolve over the course of the study.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"textbox exercises\">\n<h3>Exercises<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Using the guidance in this chapter, write a qualitative research question. You may want to use some of the keywords mentioned above.<a id=\"9.5\" href=\"\"><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<h1>9.5 Evaluating and updating your research questions<\/h1>\n<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\n<h3>Learning Objectives<\/h3>\n<p>Learners will be able to&#8230;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Evaluate the feasibility and importance of your research questions<\/li>\n<li>Begin to match your research questions to specific designs that determine what the participants in your study will do<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Feasibility and importance<\/h2>\n<p>As you are getting ready to finalize your research question and move into designing your research study, it is important to check whether your research question is feasible for you to answer and what importance your results will have in the community, among your participants, and in the scientific literature<\/p>\n<p>Key questions to consider when evaluating your question&#8217;s <a class=\"glossary-term\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-describedby=\"definition\" href=\"#term_106_640\"><strong>feasibility<\/strong><\/a> include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Do you have access to the data you need?<\/li>\n<li>Will you be able to get consent from stakeholders, gatekeepers, and others?<\/li>\n<li>Does your project pose risk to individuals through direct harm, dual relationships, or breaches in confidentiality? (see <a href=\"https:\/\/sfuedl.pressbooks.com\/chapter\/6-research-ethics\/\">Chapter 6<\/a> for more ethical considerations)<\/li>\n<li>Are you competent enough to complete the study?<\/li>\n<li>Do you have the resources and time needed to carry out the project?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Key questions to consider when evaluating the <a class=\"glossary-term\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-describedby=\"definition\" href=\"#term_106_496\"><strong>importance<\/strong><\/a> of your question include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Can we answer your research question simply by looking at the literature on your topic?<\/li>\n<li>How does your question add something new to the scholarly or professional literature? (raises a new issue, addresses a controversy, studies a new population, etc.)<\/li>\n<li>How will your target population benefit, once you answer your research question?<\/li>\n<li>How will the community, teaching practice, and\/or the broader social world benefit, once you answer your research question?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"textbox exercises\">\n<h3>Exercises<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Using the questions above, check whether you think your project is feasible for you to complete, given the constrains that student projects face.<\/li>\n<li>Realistically, explore the potential impact of your project on the community and in the scientific literature. Make sure your question cannot be answered by simply reading more about your topic.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Matching your research question and study design<\/h2>\n<p>This chapter described how to create a good quantitative and qualitative research question. In Parts 3 and 4 of this textbook, we will detail some of the basic designs like surveys and interviews that social scientists use to answer their research questions. But which design should you choose?<\/p>\n<p>As with most things, it all depends on your research question. If your research question involves, for example, testing a new intervention, you will likely want to use an experimental design. On the other hand, if you want to know the lived experience of people in a public school, you probably want to use an interview or focus group design.<\/p>\n<p>We will learn more about each one of these designs in the remainder of this textbook. We will also learn about using data that already exists, studying individual students in your class, and evaluating programs, which are other examples of designs. Below is a list of designs we will cover in this textbook:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Surveys: online, phone, mail, in-person<\/li>\n<li>Experiments: classic, pre-experiments, quasi-experiments<\/li>\n<li>Interviews: in-person or via phone or videoconference<\/li>\n<li>Focus groups: in-person or via videoconference<\/li>\n<li>Content analysis of existing data<\/li>\n<li>Secondary data analysis of another researcher&#8217;s data<\/li>\n<li>Program evaluation<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The design of your research study determines what you and your participants will do. In an experiment, for example, the researcher will introduce a stimulus or treatment to participants and measure their responses. In contrast, a content analysis may not have participants at all, and the researcher may simply read the marketing materials for a school or look at a politician\u2019s speeches to conduct the data analysis for the study.<\/p>\n<p>I imagine that a content analysis probably seems easier to accomplish than an experiment. However, as a researcher, you have to choose a research design that makes sense for your question and that is feasible to complete with the resources you have. All research projects require some resources to accomplish. Make sure your design is one you can carry out with the resources (time, money, staff, etc.) that you have.<\/p>\n<p>There are so many different designs that exist in the social science literature that it would be impossible to include them all in this textbook. The purpose of the subsequent chapters is to help you understand the basic designs upon which these more advanced designs are built.&nbsp;As you learn more about research design, you will likely find yourself revising your research question to make sure it fits with the design. At the same time, your research question as it exists now should influence the design you end up choosing. There is no set order in which these should happen. Instead, your research project should be guided by whether you can feasibly carry it out and contribute new and important knowledge to the world.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\n<h3>Key Takeaways<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Research questions must be feasible and important.<\/li>\n<li>Research questions must match study design.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"textbox exercises\">\n<h3>Exercises<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Based on what you know about designs like surveys, experiments, and interviews, describe how you might use one of them to answer your research question.<\/li>\n<li>You may want to refer back to <a href=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.rampages.us\/msw-research\/chapter\/2-starting-your-research-project\/\">Chapter 2<\/a> which discusses how to get raw data about your topic and the common designs used in student research projects.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<hr class=\"before-footnotes clear\" \/><div class=\"footnotes\"><ol><li id=\"footnote-106-1\">Not familiar with SpongeBob SquarePants? You can learn more about him on Nickelodeon\u2019s site dedicated to all things SpongeBob:&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nick.com\/spongebob-squarepants\/\">http:\/\/www.nick.com\/spongebob-squarepants\/<\/a> <a href=\"#return-footnote-106-1\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 1\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-106-2\">Focus on the Family. (2005, January 26). Focus on SpongeBob.&nbsp;<em>Christianity Today<\/em>. Retrieved from&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/ct\/2005\/januaryweb-only\/34.0c.html\">http:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/ct\/2005\/januaryweb-only\/34.0c.html<\/a> <a href=\"#return-footnote-106-2\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 2\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-106-3\">BBC News. (2005, January 20). US right attacks SpongeBob video. Retrieved from:&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/news.bbc.co.uk\/2\/hi\/americas\/4190699.stm\">http:\/\/news.bbc.co.uk\/2\/hi\/americas\/4190699.stm<\/a> <a href=\"#return-footnote-106-3\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 3\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-106-4\">In fact, an MA thesis examines representations of gender and relationships in the cartoon: Carter, A. C. (2010).&nbsp;<em>Constructing gender and<\/em>&nbsp;<em>relationships in \u201cSpongeBob SquarePants\u201d: Who lives in a pineapple under the sea<\/em>. MA thesis, Department of Communication, University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL. <a href=\"#return-footnote-106-4\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 4\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><\/ol><\/div><div class=\"glossary\"><span class=\"screen-reader-text\" id=\"definition\">definition<\/span><template id=\"term_106_474\"><div class=\"glossary__definition\" role=\"dialog\" data-id=\"term_106_474\"><div tabindex=\"-1\"><p>research questions that can be answered by systematically observing the real world<\/p>\n<\/div><button><span aria-hidden=\"true\">&times;<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Close definition<\/span><\/button><\/div><\/template><template id=\"term_106_497\"><div class=\"glossary__definition\" role=\"dialog\" data-id=\"term_106_497\"><div tabindex=\"-1\"><p>unsuitable research questions which are not answerable by systematic observation of the real world but instead rely on moral or philosophical opinions<\/p>\n<\/div><button><span aria-hidden=\"true\">&times;<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Close definition<\/span><\/button><\/div><\/template><template id=\"term_106_639\"><div class=\"glossary__definition\" role=\"dialog\" data-id=\"term_106_639\"><div tabindex=\"-1\"><p>the group of people whose needs your study addresses<\/p>\n<\/div><button><span aria-hidden=\"true\">&times;<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Close definition<\/span><\/button><\/div><\/template><template id=\"term_106_473\"><div class=\"glossary__definition\" role=\"dialog\" data-id=\"term_106_473\"><div tabindex=\"-1\"><p>attempts to explain or describe your phenomenon exhaustively, based on the subjective understandings of your participants<\/p>\n<\/div><button><span aria-hidden=\"true\">&times;<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Close definition<\/span><\/button><\/div><\/template><template id=\"term_106_641\"><div class=\"glossary__definition\" role=\"dialog\" data-id=\"term_106_641\"><div tabindex=\"-1\"><p>\"Assuming that the null hypothesis is true and the study is repeated an infinite number times by drawing random samples from the same populations(s), less than 5% of these results will be more extreme than the current result\" (Cassidy et al., 2019, p. 233).<\/p>\n<\/div><button><span aria-hidden=\"true\">&times;<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Close definition<\/span><\/button><\/div><\/template><template id=\"term_106_640\"><div class=\"glossary__definition\" role=\"dialog\" data-id=\"term_106_640\"><div tabindex=\"-1\"><p>whether you can practically and ethically complete the research project you propose<\/p>\n<\/div><button><span aria-hidden=\"true\">&times;<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Close definition<\/span><\/button><\/div><\/template><template id=\"term_106_496\"><div class=\"glossary__definition\" role=\"dialog\" data-id=\"term_106_496\"><div tabindex=\"-1\"><p>the impact your study will have on participants, communities, scientific knowledge, and social justice<\/p>\n<\/div><button><span aria-hidden=\"true\">&times;<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Close definition<\/span><\/button><\/div><\/template><\/div>","protected":false},"author":15,"menu_order":4,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-106","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":65,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/press.wpunj.edu\/researchmethodsdesign\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/106","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/press.wpunj.edu\/researchmethodsdesign\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/press.wpunj.edu\/researchmethodsdesign\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/press.wpunj.edu\/researchmethodsdesign\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/press.wpunj.edu\/researchmethodsdesign\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/106\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":757,"href":"https:\/\/press.wpunj.edu\/researchmethodsdesign\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/106\/revisions\/757"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/press.wpunj.edu\/researchmethodsdesign\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/65"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/press.wpunj.edu\/researchmethodsdesign\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/106\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/press.wpunj.edu\/researchmethodsdesign\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/press.wpunj.edu\/researchmethodsdesign\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=106"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/press.wpunj.edu\/researchmethodsdesign\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=106"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/press.wpunj.edu\/researchmethodsdesign\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}