Step Two : Research Questions and Hypotheses

Research MethodsLecture 4

Determining what research to do :FINER F – FeasibleI – InterestingN – NovelE – EthicalR – Relevant

Using FINER, you should be able identify or frame an

actual research question.

Statement of purpose

• A sentence which states what you want to learn about in a research.

• It other words, it is your aim.• For example :• The aim of this research if to find out how

computer assisted learning can aid in language acquisition.

Discussion : Discuss if the 5 sentences below relate to one’s statement of purpose and if they are “acceptable” in a piece of academic writing.

• I want to learn about what is being done by our government to stop air pollution.

• "I want to know how teenage pregnancy affects young fathers and young mothers differently.“

• The goal of this paper is to examine the effects of Chile's agrarian reform on the lives of rural peasants.

Framing your statement of purpose

Some key phrases you can use:•"This paper examines . . .," •"The aim of this paper is to . . .," •"The purpose of this essay is to . . ."

Research question

• Formulating the research question is an important step in research.

• By wording your research question, you will be directed towards what you are to be focusing your research on.

• Therefore, a research question must always be in question form.

Study the relationship between the different items below and explain to the class.

Type of researchconducted

Types of research question

Types of statisticsused

Types of questions

Types of Questions

Descriptive questions

Relational questions

Causal questions

With a partner, frame:

A descriptive question

A relational question

A causal question

Based your discussion on the topic :

Social media and teenagers

Descriptive research questions

• Are teenagers spending too much time on social media?

• What is the age in which teenagers spend the most time on social media?

• What is the main factor for social media addiction among teenagers?

• What is the age group in which social media is most popular in?

Relational research question

• Is there a relationship between the age and the number of hours spent on social media?

• Are teenagers who spend more time on social media spending less time on studies?

• Is there a relationship between the hours spent on social media and academic results?

Causal research question

• What is the main difference in lifestyle between the above and below 16 year olds that explains the difference?

• What makes the social media so attractive to teenagers?

• Does time spent on social media affect the attention span of teenagers?

• Is there a difference in academic results in teenagers spending more than 5 hours on social media?

Descriptive question

• Focused on describing characteristics of a population.

• The statistics used are normally descriptive statistics.

• For example :– Sleeping habits of students– Qualities of a good manager– Characteristics of a schizophrenic

Relational question

• Focused on looking at relationships present among variables.

• Normally looks at associative statistics• For example :

– The relationship between reading and writing scores– The relationship between alcohol readings and severity

of accidents.

Causal question

• Looking at if a change in one thing affects another.

• This requires an individual to control the extraneous variable and manipulate the explanatory variable.

• Usually utilizes inferential statistics (chi-squares, anova, t-tests)

Discussion : Think of a causal question for the topic:

Personality traits and success in studies

Steps to developing your research question

1. Identify your topic2. Write down preliminary thoughts about your

topic3. Search the literature for gaps4. Explore your thoughts on the gaps5. Convert your thoughts into questions.

Constructing your hypothesis

• A good hypothesis hinges on having a good research question.

• Unless a research is exploratory in nature, most research studies start with a hypothesis.

• A hypothesis is a researcher’s informed prediction of the results of a study

• A hypothesis is normally formed based on previous research and must have a strong logical rationale.

Connecting the dots

Discuss and provide an example for thisExample :•The study is aimed at looking at whether gender is a key influence in determining one’s pay in the education industry.•Are men paid more than women in the education industry?•There is no difference between the pay for men and women in the education industry.

Connecting

Statement of purpose

Research question

Hypothesis

Constructing your research report

• Identify the statement of purpose for your study.• Formulate your research question (s)• Formulate your hypothesis based on your

research question.

Is Singapore a gracious society

• Introductory paragraph :• You will give a brief overview of Singapore and

the Singaporean society

• Statement of problem • Although Singapore has achieved developed

status, yet much has been said about so called “graciousness” of Singaporeans. The study thus aims to identify and isolate if Singaporeans are indeed lacking in “graciousness”.

• Email : pearl_wong@easb.edu.sg

• As such, the study aims to answer three relevant questions to the main topic which are:

• A• B• C

• It is hypothesized that hypothesis A, hypothesis B and hypothesis C

Literature review