Discussion: Research Questions

 

Creating the research questions is key to designing a study:  Research questions “must have both substance--for example, What is my study about?—and form—for example, Am I asking a ‘who, ‘what,’ ‘where,’ ‘why,’ or ‘how’ question? . . .  The form of the question can provide an important clue regarding the appropriate research method to be used” (Yin, 2014, p. 11). In this Discussion, you will create research questions and evaluate the extent to which they align with other components of your Prospectus, and, ultimately, Proposal.

To prepare for your Discussion, review the Dissertation resources in this week’s Learning Resources.

Pay particular attention to specific examples of problem statements. Also, go to the Walden Library webpage "Dissertations," find at least two Walden Dissertations from SPPA completed in the past year, and read the problem statements, purpose, and research questions for each.

ASSIGNMENT

 Post your Dissertation topic, problem statement, purpose, and at least four research questions. Explain what you learned from your required readings and Walden Dissertations, on problem and purpose statements and formulating research questions that flow logically from these. Summarize the ways all of these sections are aligned and why that is required for quality and rigorous dissertation research. 

(PLEASE SEE THE ATTACHED FILE FOR THE INFO DO NOT DUPLICATE ) (add to what's there and do the research questions ) use subheadings 

 

Required Readings

Criminal Justice

Maxfield, M., & Babbie, E. (2018). Research methods for criminal justice and criminology (8th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
Chapter 4, "General Issues in Research Design"
Chapter 5, "Concepts, Operationalization, and Measurement"

Web Center for Social Research Methods. (n.d.). Research Methods Knowledge Base. Retrieved from http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/index.php

Dissertation

Rudestam, K. E., & Newton, R. R. (2015). Surviving your dissertation: A comprehensive guide to content and process (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. ISBN: 978-1-4522-6097-6
In Chapter 2, “Selecting a Suitable Topic,”  ‘Generating researchable questions’ (pp. 21–26)
Chapter 3, “Methods of Inquiry: Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches” (pp. 27–65)
Chapter 5, “The Method Chapter: Describing Your Research Plan” (pp. 99–135)
Readings on research design, pages listed in Subject Index under “Research design,” (p. 359)
Readings on research questions, pages listed in Subject Index under “Research questions,” (p. 359)
Chapter 10, “Writing” (pp. 259–279)

Brause, R. S. (1999). Identifying your dissertation topic and your research questions. In Writing your doctoral dissertation: Invisible rules for success (pp. 37–47). New York, NY: Routledge.

Web Center for Social Research Methods. (n.d.). Research Methods Knowledge Base. Retrieved from http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/index.php

Walden University. (2010). Research design: Some thoughts on the research process. Minneapolis, MN: Walden University.

Trochim, W., & Land, D. (1982). Designing designs for research. The Researcher, 1(1), 1–6. Retrieved from http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/desdes.php

Walden University Library. (n.d.-a). Dissertations. Retrieved from http://academicguides.waldenu.edu/library/dissertations

Simon, M. K. (2011a). Developing research questions. In Dissertation and scholarly research: Recipes for success (pp. 1–3). Seattle, WA: Dissertation Success. Retrieved from http://dissertationrecipes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Developing-Research-Questions.pdf

Walden University, Center for Research Quality. (2012). Ph.D. dissertation process and documents. Retrieved from http://academicguides.waldenu.edu/researchcenter/osra/phd
Dissertation Prospectus Guide
Dissertation Student Process Worksheet