PhD Research Seminar Series: Writing the Introduction Dr. K. A. Korb University of Jos.

PhD Research Seminar Series:Writing the Introduction

Dr. K. A. Korb

University of Jos

Outline

Research: Process of identifying something unknown and collecting data to make it known. Writing the Introduction

Background Statement of Problem Purpose, Research Questions, and Hypotheses Significance Theoretical Framework Operational Definitions Writing Tips

Dr. K. A. KorbUniversity of Jos

Review

Choose a research focus. Basic: Test a theory Applied: Improve practice Extension: Repeat a previously conducted study

with a different sample Write the conclusion you want to make. Turn the conclusion into your general research

question. Identify IV and DVs

IV (Independent Variable): Cause DV (Dependent Variable): Effect


Introductory Advice

Tell a story.

Be exhaustive, but don’t be extensive. Go into great detail on your key variables,

but do not include distally related topics.


Example Study

The Effect of Goal Setting on Academic Achievement at the University of Jos DV (Effect)

Academic Achievement IV (Cause)

Goal Setting


Background

Purpose: Provide the rationale for your study. Include:

Construct definition of your DV Build a case for why your DV is important Description of why your DV needs to be somehow

changed Basic: Why is the theory not quite accurate? Applied: Why does your DV need to improve? Extension: Why do you think your sample will be

different?


Background: Example

Construct definition of your DV Many diverse definitions of academic achievement Definition in this paper: Knowledge and skills developed

primarily by formal schooling (Lohman, 2005). Build a case for why your DV is important

Academic Achievement is related to many future variables: university performance, job performance, etc.

Description of why your DV needs to be somehow changed

Applied: Why should the DV improve? Want to improve our society, and academic

achievement is related to many positive variables. Should continue to find ways to improve academic achievement.


Statement of Problem

Purpose: State the problem you hope to fix.

Include: How do you think you can fix the problem? Why do you think your solution will work? Briefly explain the methods you will use to

try to fix the problem.


Statement of Problem: Example How do you think you can fix the problem? Why do you think your solution will work?

Goal setting theory states that setting goals improves performance. Think can improve academic achievement by providing a short seminar on how to set goals and providing time for students to set goals. Will work because previous studies have established relationship between goal setting and performance in many other domains.

Explain methods you will use to fix the problem. Have treatment and control groups. Treatment will

take a seminar on goal setting, during which will set goals for the ed psych class. Then compare final grades of treatment and control groups.


Purpose, Research Questions, and Hypotheses Purpose: Describe the answers you hope to

ascertain from your study Include:

Direct relationship between each Purpose, Research Question, and Hypothesis.

Purpose: Statement of the problem Research Question: Only for descriptive questions Null Hypothesis: No significant difference between

IV groups on DV Correlational: No significant relationship between

variables


Purpose, Research Questions, and Hypotheses: Example

PurposePurposeResearchResearchQuestionQuestion

Determine whetherDetermine whethergoal setting improvesgoal setting improves

academic achievement.academic achievement.

Do students haveDo students havehigher academic achievementhigher academic achievement

when they set goals or when they set goals or when they do not set goals?when they do not set goals?

Determine whetherDetermine whethera seminar on goal settinga seminar on goal settingimproves the quality ofimproves the quality ofgoals that students set.goals that students set.

Do students who haveDo students who havea goal setting seminar seta goal setting seminar setbetter goals before or afterbetter goals before or after

the seminar?the seminar?

HypothesisHypothesis

There is no There is no significant significant

difference between difference between students who set students who set goals and those goals and those who do not on who do not on

academic academic performance.performance.There is no There is no

significant difference significant difference between students between students who do and do not who do and do not

attend a goal setting attend a goal setting seminar on the seminar on the

quality of their goals.quality of their goals.Dr. K. A. KorbUniversity of Jos

Significance

Purpose: Describe how your study will influence theory and practice

Include: Summary from your Background of why

the DV is important How practice or theory will change based

on the results of your study


Significance: Example

Summary from Background of why the DV is important A good way to improve society is to improve

academic achievement How practice or theory will change based on the

results of your study Practically: Since academic achievement is related

to job performance, if improve academic achievement, also likely improve future job performance

Theoretically: Test goal-setting theory to determine whether the theory generalizes to a Nigerian context


Theoretical Framework

Purpose: Connect your research study to the already-existing body of knowledge

Include: The theory that you think best describes

the behavior of your DV Basic: The theory you want to refute Applied: The theory that says that your

treatment will improve your DV Extension: The theory that says that your

sample will be different than the original sample


Theoretical Framework: Example

The theory that you think best describes the behavior of your DV Applied: The theory that says that your

treatment will improve your DV Theory of Goal-setting by Locke and Latham

(2002) Building a practically useful theory of goal setting and task motivation

Describes how goal setting works and what makes a good goal


Construct vs. Operational Definitions

Construct Definition: Explanation of your construct by relating it to other constructs

Operational Definition: Statement of specifically how the construct will be measured or implemented in your study



AcademicAcademicAchievementAchievement

Self-Report on Self-Report on IM QuestionnaireIM Questionnaire

Behavioral ObservationsBehavioral Observations

State ExamsState Exams

IntrinsicIntrinsicMotivationMotivation

NECO ScoresNECO Scores

WAEC ScoresWAEC Scores

Final Course ExamFinal Course Exam



TeachingTeachingInterventionIntervention

Weekly one-hour lessonsWeekly one-hour lessonson number senseon number sensefor four monthsfor four months

GroupGroupCounselingCounseling

Bi-weekly one-hourBi-weekly one-hourmeetings with othermeetings with other

bereaved adults focusedbereaved adults focusedon discussing lonelinesson discussing loneliness

TechnologyTechnologyWorkshopWorkshop

Two morning seminarsTwo morning seminarsthat introduce key principlesthat introduce key principles

of PowerPointof PowerPoint



Performance onPerformance onLiteracy TestLiteracy Test

Self-Report ofSelf-Report ofReading AbilityReading Ability

IlliteracyIlliteracy

Self-Report of Parents’Self-Report of Parents’Yearly IncomeYearly Income

Free/ReducedFree/ReducedLunch EligibilityLunch Eligibility

EconomicEconomicStatusStatus



StudentStudentSecondary school and aboveSecondary school and above

Any person who attends schoolAny person who attends school


Operational Definitions: Example Dependent Variables

Academic Achievement: Final course grade in Educational Psychology course

Quality of Goal: Rating from 1 (Low) to 5 (High) by an independent judge on two dimensions: difficulty and specificity

Independent Variables Goal: The outcome that the student hopes to

accomplish for their course grade in Educational Psychology.

Goal-setting seminar: A two hour PowerPoint presentation on setting quality goals.


Writing Tips

Give a construct definition for every psychological term you use.

Explicitly state how each theory or concept you write about directly relates to your study.

Be specific! Avoid vague words like it, this


Writing Tips

Be generous with providing examples Examples make an abstract concept more

concrete. Examples help examiners know that you

understand what you are writing.

Even though preschoolers successfully solve quantitative tasks that require either the exclusive use of verbal counting or nonnumerical quantitative skills, they appear incapable of solving tasks that require both of these abilities at the same time (Resnick, 1989; Siegler & Robinson, 1982). For example, preschoolers have difficulty answering the question “Which is bigger, 9 or 5?”


Writing Tips

Re-read and Revise Re-re-read and Revise Re-re-re-read and Revise Re-re-re-re-read and Revise Re-re-re-re-re-read and Revise Re-re-re-re-re-re-read and Revise Re-re-re-re-re-re-re-read and Revise Re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-read and Revise


Technical Writing Tips: APA Style Acronyms: University of Jos (UJ)

Only give the acronym if you will repeat the phrase many times throughout your paper.

If you only use the phrase once, do not give the acronym

If you use the phrase multiple times, explain the acronym once. Thereafter, always use the acronym.

The University of Jos (UJ) is located in Jos, Plateau State. Prof. Andzayi is the dean of the Faculty of Education at UJ.


Technical Writing Tips: APA Style Numbers

NEVER spell out and give the numeral for a number. There were ten (10) students.

Always spell the first number in a sentence. Fifteen chickens crossed the road.

If the sentence contains only numbers below ten, spell out all numbers.

There were nine plates of jollof rice and five pieces of chicken.

If the sentence contains a number greater than ten, write the numeral for every number in the sentence (except when the first word is a number, in which case spell it out).

Eleven students attended the retreat, as well as 15 workers and 5 retirees.


PhD Research Seminar Series: Writing the Introduction Dr. K. A. Korb University of Jos.

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