research questions in phd
Post on 15-Nov-2014
10.488 Views
Preview:
DESCRIPTION
TRANSCRIPT
Palitha EdirisinghaUniversity of Leicester, UK.
Developing research questions
For PhD Researchers
Bryman, A. (2008) Social Research Methods, 3rd Edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Carey, M. (2009) The Social Work Dissertation: Using Small-Scale Qualitative Methodology. Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill and Open University Press.
De Vaus, D. (2001) Research Design in Social Research. London: Sage.
Gilbert, N. (2008) Researching Social Life, 3rd Edn. London: Sage.
Punch, K. F. (2006) Developing Effective Research Proposals, 2nd Edn. London: Sage.
Silverman, D. (2010) Doing Qualitative Research, 3rd Edn. London: Sage.
White, P. (2009) Developing Research Questions: A guide for social scientists: Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
References
Objective
‘Not to convert you ... But to help you to speed
along your ordained path’
(Silverman, 2010, p. 97)
'People are often impressed when they find out that you are "doing research". They may even want to know more. If
you have ever been in this situation, you will know how embarrassing it can be if you are unable to explain clearly what
you intend to study. Such embarrassment can be multiplied a
thousand-fold if your interrogator is, say, a smart professor you have never met
before. How are you to respond?'
(Silverman, 2010, p. 83)
'You should not underestimate how difficult or time consuming it can be to
develop research questions. [It] is one of the most challenging stages of the
research process. [Developing research questions] requires considerable
imagination and ... disciplined and logical thought. But time spent thinking about
your research questions will pay dividends at later stages of the research.'
(White, 2009, p. 1)
Main themes
Questions that the proposal
needs to answer
Content
What is the proposed research aboutWhat is it trying to find out / achieve
What?Research questions, general and specific
What we will learn from that and why it is worth learning
Why?Justification, significance, importance, contribution, expected outcomes
How will I go about doing that
How?The methods of the research
What is in a research proposal ...
Punch (2006)
What before how ...
Questions before methods ...
Research Research topic and topic and problemproblem
Research Research topic and topic and problemproblem
RESEARCH RESEARCH QUESTIONS QUESTIONS and purposeand purpose
RESEARCH RESEARCH QUESTIONS QUESTIONS and purposeand purpose
RESEARCH RESEARCH STRATEGIESSTRATEGIESRESEARCH RESEARCH
STRATEGIESSTRATEGIES
ExploreDescribe
UnderstandPredictChangeEvaluateAssess impact
Basic researchApplied research
'What' questions
'Why' questions
'How' questions
Blaikie (2010, p. 58 and p. 81)
InductiveDeductive
Issues for researchers
Findings a workable (not just narrow) research topic [and questions]
Recognising 'feedback loops' between topic(s) and data analysis
Understanding that your categories (or variables) are always theoretically saturated
(Silverman, 2010, p. 96)
Workable research questions - 3 features
(Silverman, 2010, p. 97)
1. Answerabilitydata required to answer the questions, how the data are going to be collected
2. Interconnectedness
a meaningful connection among the questions
3. Substantively relevant
questions 'interesting' and 'worthwhile', justifying the investment and effort
Approach 1
The research area
Approach 1
The research topic
General research questions
Specific research questions
Data collection questions
180
180
180
180
180
180
180
180
180
180
180
180
180
180
180
180
(Punch, 2008)
Research area
Research topic
General research question
s
Specific research question
s
Data collectio
n questions / items
Research areaYouth
suicideAbsenteeism at workYouth culture in
high schoolsLiving with
Tourette’s syndrome
Academic success and failures at university
Membership of volunteer organisatio
ns(Punch, 2008)
Research area
Youth suicide
Research topic
Suicide rates among different groups [quantitative]
Factors associated with the incidence of youth suicide [quantitative]
Managing suicide behaviour among teenagers [qualitative]
Youth culture and the meaning of suicide [qualitative]
(Punch, 2008)
Research area
Youth suicide
Research topic
Factors associated with the incidence of youth suicide [quantitative]
General research questions
What is the relationship between family background factors and the incidence of youth suicide?
What is the relationship between school experience factors and the incidence of youth suicide?
Research area
Youth suicide
Research topic
Factors associated with the incidence of youth suicide [quantitative]
General research questions
What is the relationship between family background factors and the incidence of youth suicide?
Specific research questions
What is the relationship between family income and the incidence of youth suicide?
OR
Do youth suicide rates differ between families of different income levels?
What is the relationship between the emotional attachment to parents and the incidence of youth suicide?
ORDo youth suicide rates differ between families where parents and children have a close emotional attachment, and families where they are not?
(Punch, 2008)
Approach 2
Research objectives
Approach 2
Research questions
Research objective
Research questions
To find out why certain individuals and groups adopt new technologies before others
1). What are the patterns of consumption of new technologies amongst different groups of adults in the United Kingdom?
2). What reasons do different individuals provide for adopting or not adopting new technologies?
(White, 2009, p. 45)
Approach 3
Approach 3
Aims
Objectives
Research questions
Aims of the research
Research objectives
To investigate the nature of transnational higher education networks of learning and teaching in geography by focusing on history, organisation, access, participation and impact.
To reconstruct the network’s history – from inception and evolution to the present day
To explain why academics participate within these networks
To explore how academics participate and to evaluate what role technology plays in their networking practice
To assess the perceived value of these networks and the impact they have on learning and teaching practice
What are the motivations of geographers to participate in these networks?
What are the incentives to join these networks?
What experiences of barriers have network members faced?
Research questions
Wakefield (PhD proposal, personal communication)
Aims of the research
Research objectives
To investigate the nature of transnational higher education networks of learning and teaching in geography by focusing on history, organisation, access, participation and impact.
To reconstruct the network’s history – from inception and evolution to the present day
To explain why academics participate within these networks
To explore how academics participate and to evaluate what role technology plays in their networking practice
To assess the perceived value of these networks and the impact they have on learning and teaching practice
Research questions
How do the members of these networks benefit within their research and learning and teaching practice?
How supported do the network members feel by their department / institution in participating these networks?
Approach 4
Main research questions
Approach 4
Subsidiary research questions
Main question
How do young people make educational and career decisions at the end of compulsory schooling?
(White, 2009)
Main question Subsidiary questions
How do young people make educational and career decisions at the end of compulsory schooling?
1. What factors do young people consider when making their choices?
2. What sources of information do they use to help their decision-making?
3. Which individuals are influential in shaping their choices?
(White, 2009)
Other examples of research questions
The research questions, informed by the theoretical framework presented in Chapter 3, are designed to provide insight into the overarching question: What are the implications of media change for learning and literacy?
•Three more specific questions guided data collection and analysis.In what ways are university students appropriating new media to advance learning?How are emerging tensions and contradictions created by media convergence experienced by students? How do these tensions manifest themselves in practices mediated by digital tools and resources?How might we conceptualise the New Media Literacies required to learn effectively with the aid of digital tools and resources?(Francis, 2008)
The objective Research questions
To consider [...] problems and or identify factors, actors, processes and outcomes of innovations in higher education in CEE.
1. How did the five innovative higher education institutions develop between 1989 and 2005?
2. What descriptive and analytical ideas regarding the establishment and development of the five innovative institutions are revealed by participats in the stuudy
Romenska (2010)
(Blaikie, 2010, p. 111 - 112)
Concepts'the building blocks of social theories'
Important in the theoretical framework that sets a context for the research
Determine the data that will be collected
How data will be categorised
Help to describe the findings
More on Concepts: Chapter 5, Blaikie (2010)
Wellbeing
Financial Material SocialPhysical Psy'cal Emotional
CONCEPT
DIMENSIONS
SUB-DIMENSION
S
FURTHER SUB-
DIMENSIONS
INDICATORS
DATA
Safety of localityRelationshipsDiscrimination
With peersWith motherWith fatherWith siblingsWith grandparents
Frequency of contactLevel of conflict
Feelings of closenessAmount of helping
Types of activities engaged in
(De Vaus, 2001, p. 26)
From research questions to data collection
questions
‘a common mistake in questionnaire design is to ask respondents the research question rather than a data collection question’ ... or ‘slightly modified versions of the study’s research questions’
(White, 2009, p. 45).
A research question
a question the research itself is trying to answer
A data collection question
a question which is asked in order to collect data in order to help answer the research question
data need to be linked to concepts, and concepts to data.
a process of making general questions more specific by showing its dimensions, aspects, factors, components, or indicators
defining a general concept ‘downwards’ towards it's data indicators.
From specific research questions to data collection questions
(White, 2009)
ExamplesDo the lecturing staff in your institution feel they are over-worked?
Do the lecturing staff in your institution think that they are under-paid?
(White, 2009, p. 45).
Better versions
Do you think you are over-worked?
Do you think you are under-paid?
ExamplesDo the lecturing staff in your institution feel they are over-worked?
Do the lecturing staff in your institution think that they are under-paid?
(White, 2009, p. 45).
Now let's turn to your research
questions
Next time...
Research design: key components
Research topic and Research topic and problemproblem
Research topic and Research topic and problemproblem
RESEARCH QUESTIONS RESEARCH QUESTIONS and purpose / objectiveand purpose / objectiveRESEARCH QUESTIONS RESEARCH QUESTIONS and purpose / objectiveand purpose / objective
RESEARCH STRATEGIESRESEARCH STRATEGIESRESEARCH STRATEGIESRESEARCH STRATEGIES
Basic researchApplied research
Adapted from Blaikie (2010)
RESEARCH PARADIGMSRESEARCH PARADIGMSRESEARCH PARADIGMSRESEARCH PARADIGMS
Concepts, Concepts, theories, theories,
hypothesis hypothesis and modelsand models
Concepts, Concepts, theories, theories,
hypothesis hypothesis and modelsand models
Data types, forms and Data types, forms and sourcessources
Data types, forms and Data types, forms and sourcessources
Selection from data Selection from data sourcessources
Selection from data Selection from data sourcessources
Data collection and timingData collection and timingData collection and timingData collection and timing
Data reduction and Data reduction and analysisanalysis
Data reduction and Data reduction and analysisanalysis
'What' questions'Why' questions'How'
questions
InductiveDeductive
ExploreDescribeUnderstandPredictChang
eEvaluateAssess impact
Ontological considerationsEpistemological considerationsMethodological considerations
PositivismInterpretivism
FeminismOther
Natural social settings
Semi-natural settings
Artificial settingsSocial artefacts
Research Research methodology / methodology /
designdesign
Research Research methodology / methodology /
designdesign
Top downBottom up
Primary dataSecondary data
Tertiary data
Qualitative dataQuantitative data
Qualitative methodsQuantitative methods
Mixed methods
PopulationProbability sampling
Non-probability sampling
HistoricalCross-sectional
LongitudinalCase study
ExperimentsComparative
Other?
Grand theoriesMid-range theoriesLiterature (as proxy
for theory)
Grounded theoryThematic analysisContent analysis
Criteria of good Criteria of good research:research:
ethics, validity, ethics, validity, reliability, reliability,
generalisabilitygeneralisability, other?, other?
Criteria of good Criteria of good research:research:
ethics, validity, ethics, validity, reliability, reliability,
generalisabilitygeneralisability, other?, other?
Thank u!
pe27@le.ac.uk
top related