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The Research Process: Identifying a Purpose for the Research and Writing Research Questions

Dr. Daphne E. Williams and Dr. Liangyue Lu

Grambling State University

DEED 634: Professional Writing

This work is licensed by Dr. Liangyue Lu and Dr. Daphne Williams under a  Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

This work is licensed by Dr. Liangyue Lu and Dr. Daphne Williams under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Identifying a Purpose for the Research and Writing Research Questions

Identifying a Purpose for the Research and Writing Research Questions

DEED 736: Qualitative Research Methods-Week 4

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Designing Qualitative and Quantitative Purpose Statements

  • In terms of designing purpose statements, it is important for us to first make distinctions between quantitative and qualitative purpose statements.
  • Qualitative purpose statements should be designed to “indicated that the intent of the study is to explore or understand some phenomenon experienced by certain individuals at a specific research site” (Christensen & Johnson, 2012, p. 74).
  • Therefore, Christensen and Johnson (2012) recommend that within your qualitative statement of the purpose, you should:
  • 1. state that the purpose of the study is to “convey an emerging design” by stating that the study will “describe, understand, develop or discover something” (p. 74). Emerging research designs are “designs that may adjust their methods even after data collection begins” (Lochmiller & Lester, 2017, p. 99).
  • 2. “state and clearly define the central idea that you want to describe, understand, or discover” (p. 74).

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Designing Qualitative and Quantitative Purpose Statements

  • 3. identify the research design that you will use to collect and analyze your data. That is, will you use grounded theory, narrative design, phenomenology, ethnography, case study, etc.
  • 4. “state the unit of analysis and/or the research site (e.g., fourth-grade students participating in a specific program)” (Christensen & Johnson, 2012, p. 74)

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Designing Qualitative and Quantitative Purpose Statements

  • A quantitative purpose statement “is a declarative statement that identifies the type of relationship investigated between a set of variables” This relationship could be causal or descriptive” (Christensen & Johnson, 2012, p. 71).
  • The relationships in quantitative purpose statements can be causal, predictive, or descriptive (Christensen & Johnson, 2012, p. 82).

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Designing Qualitative and Quantitative Purpose Statements

  • Christensen and Johnson (2012) recommend that within your quantitative statement of the purpose, you should:
  • 1. “explain, predict, or statistically describe some outcome or event” (p. 71).
  • 2. “identify the variables being investigated and the intent of the study” (p. 71).
  • 3. “identify...the way in which these variables will be investigated” (p. 71)

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Designing Qualitative and Quantitative Purpose Statements

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Purpose

Statement

Research

Questions

Overall

direction

Intent

Form

Use

Placement

One or more

sentences

Quantitative

and qualitative

research

End of

introduction

Raise questions

to be answered

One or more

questions

Quantitative

and qualitative

research

End of the introduction, after

the literature review, or in a separate section of the study

Figure 1. Distinguishing Among Various Forms of Direction in Research (Adapted from Creswell, 2008)

Distinctions Between the Purpose Statement and Research Questions

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Differences Between Qualitative and Quantitative Statements and Questions

  • Qualitative
  • Researcher does not create hypotheses. The researcher creates only research questions
  • Statements and questions are open-ended
  • The term “central phenomenon” is used instead of the term “variable”. However, from a quantitative perspective, a central phenomenon may be considered a variable
  • The researcher identifies themes based upon the responses of participants
  • The researcher explores the perspectives of one group or individual
  • Quantitative
  • Researcher creates hypotheses

  • Statements and questions are closed
  • Several variables are identified and measured

  • The researcher tests theories and predicts probable cause- and-effect of variables

  • The researcher explores differences between groups and the magnitude of changes in variables over time

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Concepts in Qualitative Research: Central Phenomenon

  • Central phenomenon
  • Begin with the exploration of a single concept that may or may not culminate with comparing or exploring the relationships between external forces.
  • May be considered, from a quantitative perspective, a variable that you want to explore and understand in-depth.
  • Figure 2 on the next slide illustrates the differences between the exploration of variables and central phenomenon.

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Quantitative

Explaining or Predicting Variables

Qualitative

Understanding or Exploring a Central Phenomenon

X Y

The independent variable (X)

influences a dependent

variable (Y)

In-depth understanding of Y;

external forces shape and are

shaped by Y

Y

Figure 2. Variables Versus Central Phenomemon (Adapted from Creswell, 2008)

Concepts in Qualitative Research: Central Phenomenon

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Start of Project

Initial Data Collection

Continued Data Collection

Initial, organizing questions

Shaped Questions

Further shaped questions

What are high school students’ experiences with smoking tobacco?

Where do they smoke: at or near the high school?

When they try to quit smoking, where does this occur: at or near the high school?

Figure 3. Emerging Questions in Qualitative Research (Adapted from Creswell, 2008)

Concepts in Qualitative Research: Central Phenomenon

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Strategies for Writing Quantitative and Qualitative Research Questions

  • As indicated earlier, a quantitative research question allows you to ask questions about the relationships between two or more variables.
  • The next few slides will provide you with scripts for writing descriptive, predictive, and causal research questions.
  • Descriptive-allows the researcher to answer questions that ask frequency questions such as how much? and how often? and longitudinal questions such as what has happened over time? and what has happened across different situations? (Christensen & Johnson, 2012).
  • The authors also provided specific scripts to assist you with writing these types of questions.

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Strategies for Writing Quantitative Research Questions

Quantitative Research Question Scripts

  • Descriptive questions according to Christensen and Johnson (2012):
  • “(Descriptive question) do(es) (participants)(variable stated in verb form) at (research site)?(p. 75)
  • Example:
  • “How frequently do kindergarten children engage in aggressive acts on the playground?”(p. 75)
  • Degree of relationship between variables:
  • “”What is the relationship between (variable 1) and (variable 2) for (participants?)” (p. 75)
  • Example:
  • “What is the relationship between amount of time studied and grades for high school students?”(p. 75).

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Quantitative Research Question Scripts

  • Predictive questions according to Christensen and Johnson (2012) “ask whether one or more variable can be used to predict some future outcome”:
  • “Does (predictor variable) predict (outcome variable) in (setting)? (p. 75)
  • Example:
  • “Does parental educational level predict students’ propensity to drop out of high school?”(p. 75)
  • Causal questions “compare different variations of some phenomenon to identify the cause of something”(p. 75).
  • “Does variation (or change) in the (independent variable) produce change (or an increase or decrease) in (a dependent variable?) (p. 75)
  • Example:
  • “Does variation in amount of homework assigned produce a change in students’ test performance?”(p. 75).
  • Null Hypotheses Scripts according to Creswell (2012):
  • “There is no difference between (independent variable, group 1) and (independent variable, group 2) in terms of (dependent variable) for (participants) at (research site)”(p. 126).
  • Example:
  • “There is no difference between at-risk and non-at risk students in terms of student achievement on math test scores for third-grade students in a Midwest school district” (p. 126).

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Quantitative Research Question Scripts

  • Alternative Hypotheses Scripts according to Creswell (2012) can be directional and nondirectional:

  • Directional-”(group 1, independent variable) at (research site) will have (some difference, such as higher, lower, greater, lesser) on (dependent variable) than (group 2 of independent variable).(p. 127).
  • Example-”Students who participate in direct learning in four elementary schools will have higher achievement scores than students who participate in whole-language learning” (p. 126).
  • Non-Directional-”There is a difference between (group 1, independent variable) in terms of (dependent variable)” (p. 127)
  • Example-There is a difference between varsity athletes in high school who smoke and those who do not smoke in terms of athletic accomplishments” (p. 127).

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Quantitative Research Question Scripts

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Strategies for Writing Qualitative Research Questions

  • A researcher should follow these suggestions for writing effective research questions:
  • Expect that the research questions will change as the study progresses.
  • Ask five to seven general questions that encourage the participants to share information.
  • Ask non-directional, neutral questions using action verbs such as generate, discover, understand, describe, explore. Avoid words that imply cause-and-effect such as affect, relate, compare, determine cause, and influence.
  • Design two types of questions: central questions and subquestions.

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Qualitative Research Question Scripts

  • Qualitative Research Questions “asks a question about some process, issue, or phenomenon that is to be explored” (p. 76). This question is the overall question that your study will answer.
  • The Central question according to Creswell (2012) asks How? Or What? About a central phenomenon.
  • Script:
  • “What is (the central phenomenon) for (participants) at (research site)? (p. 133)
  • Example:
  • “What is creativity for five students at Roosevelt High School?”(p. 133)
  • “How does the social context of a school influence preservice teachers’ beliefs about the principal?” (Christensen & Johnson, p. 76).
  • Research Subquestions are designed to further refine and explore the central question, as well as to help the researcher to answer the central question.
  • Scripts:
  • “What is (the subquestion issue) for (participants) at (research site?” (p. 134).
  • Example:
  • “What is self-esteem for high school students?(central question)”(p. 134)
  • “What is self-esteem as seen through friends? (subquestion)” (p. 134).
  • “What is self-esteem for the participant’s family? (subquestion)”(p. 134).

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Qualitative Research Question Scripts

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Scripts for Writing Quantitative Purpose Statements

  • We have discussed the difference between quantitative and qualitative purpose statements earlier in this presentation. Now, we will provide you with information for drafting these statements. According to Creswell (2012): the following scripts can help:
  • Script:
  • “The purpose of this study is to test (the theory) by relating (the independent variable) to (the dependent variable) for (participants) at (the research site)”(p. 123); or
  • The purpose of this study to compare “(independent variable) with (group 1) and (group 2) in terms of (dependent variable) for (participants) at (the research site)” (p. 123.

  • Example:
  • “The purpose of this study is to test Smart’s theory (1999) by comparing autocratic leaders (group 1) with consensus-building leaders (group 2) in terms of the satisfaction of teachers (dependent variable) in colleges in State X (research site)”.(p. 123).
  • According to Creswell (2012): the following scripts can help as you develop your qualitative purpose statements:
  • Script:
  • “The purpose of this qualitative study will be to (explore/discover/understand/describe)(the central phenomenon) for (participants) at (research site)”(p. 131); or

  • Example:
  • “The purpose of this qualitative study is to describe classroom learning using the Internet for five high-school students participating in a sign language class”.(p. 123).
  • “The purpose of this qualitative study is to explore the experiences with weapons of five high school students in the school district” (p. 132).

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Scripts for Writing Qualitative Purpose Statements

  • We have provided detailed rubrics that contain the elements that should appear in your purpose statements and in your research questions. Please be certain to review the rubric carefully and thoroughly as you work to develop your purpose statement and your research questions.

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Strategies for Writing Quantitative and Qualitative Purpose Statements and Research Questions

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Sources

  • Creswell, J. W. (2008). Reviewing the literature. In J. W. Creswell, Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research (3rd ed., pp. 88-119). Upper Saddle Ridge, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
  • Creswell, J. W. (2012). Educational research: Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed approaches (4th ed). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.
  • Johnson, B., & Christensen, L. (2012). Educational research: Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed approaches (4th ed). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
  • Lochmiller, C. R., & Lester, J. N. (2017). An introduction to educational research: Connecting methods to practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.