Thesis Proposal

Chapter 7: Research Questions and Hypotheses

Once the purpose has been clarified for the reader, the researcher then crafts research questions or hypotheses that narrow the purpose statement to predictions about what will be learned and questions to be answered in the study. Chapter 7 begins with a discussion of qualitative research questions. Qualitative researchers ask at least one central question and several subquestions.

The chapter continues to describe quantitative research questions and hypotheses. These include variables that are described, related, or compared with the independent and dependent variables measured separately. Finally, the chapter explores mixed methods research questions.

Qualitative Research Questions

· Qualitative researchers do not pose objectives or hypotheses

· The qualitative researcher asks one or two central questions

· A broad question asked for an exploration of the central phenomenon or concept in a study

· The question is posed consistent with the emerging methodology of qualitative research

· The qualitative researcher also asks several associated subquestions

· Subquestions narrow the focus of the study but leave open the questioning

· The researcher asks no more than 5–7 subquestions

· The subquestions become specific questions used during interviews (or in observing or when looking at documents)

· Relate the central question to the specific qualitative strategy of inquiry

· Ethnography – focus on culture sharing group, questions verify accuracy of data

· Critical ethnography – builds on an existing literature

· Phenomenology – focus on what participants experienced

· Grounded theory – focus is to generate a theory

· Begin the research questions with the words what or how to convey an open and emerging design

· Focus on a single phenomenon or concept

· Use exploratory verbs that convey the language of the emerging design. For example:

· Report

· Describe

· Discover

· Generate

· Explore

· Use non-directional rather than directional words (e.g., affect, influence, cause, or impact); these directional words suggest quantitative research

· Expect the research questions to evolve and change during the study

· Use open ended questions without reference to the literature or theory, unless otherwise indicated by a qualitative strategy of inquiry

· Specify the participants in the research site for the study

Quantitative Research Questions and Hypotheses

· Quantitative research questions inquire about the relationships among variables

· Quantitative hypotheses are predictions the researcher makes about the expected outcomes of relationships among variables

· Quantitative objectives indicate goals of the study and may appear in proposals for funding

· Guidelines for writing quantitative research questions and hypotheses include:

· The use of variables is typically limited to three basic approaches

· The researcher may compare groups on independent variable to see its impact on a dependent variable

· The researcher may relate one or more independent variables to one or more dependent variables

· The researcher may describe responses to the independent, mediating, or dependent variables

· The most rigorous formal quantitative research follows from a test of a theory; the research questions or hypotheses logically follow from the relationship among variables in the theory

· The independent and dependent variables must be measured separately and not measured on the same concept

· Write only research questions or hypotheses not both unless the hypotheses built on the research questions

· There are two forms of hypotheses

· The null hypothesis represents the traditional approach; it makes a prediction that in the general population’s no relationships were significant differences exist

· The alternative hypothesis makes a prediction about the expected outcome, basing the prediction on prior literature

· The alternative hypothesis can be directional or non-directional

· Generally use non-demographic variables such as attitudes or behaviors as mediating variables; demographic variables are often used as moderating variables

· Use the same pattern of word order in the questions or hypotheses to help the reader to easily identify major variables

· A model for descriptive questions and hypotheses

· Include both independent and dependent variables

· The writer specifies descriptive questions for each independent dependent variable and important intervening or moderating variables; inferential questions that relate variables or compare groups will follow these descriptive questions

· Write descriptive questions followed by inferential questions or hypotheses

Mixed Methods Research Questions and Hypotheses

· A strong mixed methods study includes a qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods research question

· Both qualitative and quantitative research questions (or hypotheses) need to be advanced in a mixed methods study

· When writing qualitative and quantitative questions or hypotheses, follow the guidelines for scripting good questions or hypotheses

· Attention should be given to the order of the research questions and hypotheses; for example, in a two-phase project the first phase questions would come first

· In addition to quantitative and qualitative questions or hypotheses, include a mixed methods research question that addresses the mixing of the quantitative and qualitative strands

· Three ways of writing mixed method questions:

· Convey the methods or procedures in a study

· Convey the content of the study

· Combine the methods and content in a hybrid question

· An ideal format would be to write the questions into separate sections, such as a quantitative questions or hypotheses, qualitative questions, in the mixed methods question