Developing the Research Question: From Interest to Science

Samuel R. Mathews, PhD.The University of West FloridaPensacola, Florida, USAandVisiting ProfessorTallinn Pedagogical UniversityTallinn, Estonia Developing the Research Question: From Interest to Science

Our Goal • To emerge with one or more research questions or problem statements supported by a brief rationale grounded in critical reviews of relevant empirical literature and sound logic.

Requirements • Attend seminar meetings (If you must miss a meeting, email smathews@uwf.edu; • Participate in discussions; • Read assigned readings; • Read and analyse empirical articles relevant to the topic of research; • Compose a brief integrated rationale for the question based on the articles reviewed and relevant theoretical literature; • Participate in peer reviews of drafts;

Sources of the “Idea” • Personal experiences • Family • Personal educational history • Friends • Local, regional, national events • Professional experiences • As a teacher • As a school leader • With colleagues, school leaders, others • As part of a community

Sources of the “Idea” • Professional reading • Professional journals • Texts for classes • Ministry reports • Institutional interest • School policy statements, mission, vision • Ministry priorities, official positions • Parliamentary legislation

Sources of the “Idea” • Regardless of the source, the topic is best served when you have an interest in it and it reflects something of your values, passions, or professional goals; • When the source of the idea is based on a very close personal theme, a personal bias could cloud the ability to approach the topic scientifically

Ways of “knowing”—Systems of Inquiry • Intuition—it just seems so; all my feelings point to the answer; • Faith/belief—based on my values and my firm commitment to a set of principles it is so; • Authority—this or that person is a powerful person and so, the views must be correct;

Ways of “knowing”—Systems of Inquiry • Common sense— • all my personal experiences lead me to a conclusion; my experiences are varied and extensive, my conclusions must be correct; • Rational method— • based on logic emerging from “self-evident” truths; proof for “self-evident” truths is not required • These “ways of knowing” are all valuable to our everyday lives but, our profession demands more;

Ways of “knowing”—Systems of Inquiry • Science—systematic inquiry into natural phenomenon; • Goals of a Scientific Inquiry • Describing • Predicting • Understanding/Explaining • Applying

Describing • Definition—list and elaborate the key attributes of the phenomenon under study; What are the main attributes of the phenomenon we are studying? • Differentiation--set some phenomenon apart from others; How is the phenomenon we are studying different from other related ones?

Describing • Recording, measuring, or counting examples of the phenomenon; How do I know when the phenomenon occurred? • Relationships between the phenomenon of interest and other, related phenomena; How is the phenomenon I am studying related to other phenomena?

Predicting • Forecasting—estimating with some degree of certainty outcomes at a future time on some measure of performance at an earlier time; • Hypothesizing—given a set of conditions based on a theory, some specific change in a particpant's behavior might be predicted;

Understanding or Explaining • Most difficult of the goals of science to achieve; • The aim is to establish that changes in one factor or set of factors causes change in participant's performance on some task; • This is a major part of building or testing a theory;

Understanding or Explaining • Criteria for Establishing Causal Relationships: • When there is a change in one factor, there is a change in the second factor (covariation) • The change in the factor associated with the cause always precedes a change in the factor associated with the effect (precedence) • The factor (or factors) claimed to be the cause must be the most likely and alternative explanations must be eliminated;

Applying Results of Scientific Inquiry • Scientific inquiry provides a strong and powerful base from which to develop new approaches and evaluate existing practices; • Questions that arise from individuals in the field of psychology frequently address: • Impact of new approaches to prevention or intervention • Evaluation of existing practices; • Theory testing or theory building;

Characteristics of Scientific Inquiry • Empirical—data are based on observable evidence • Public—rationale, procedures and methods, analyses, results, and interpretations are subjected to public evaluation • Tentative—considers alternative interpretations and conclusions and reflects opposing viewpoints;

Characteristics of Scientific Inquiry • Non-trivial--the importance of the question with regard to theory, informing practice, or resolving contradictions in a field is clearly established; • Based in existing literature—researcher links premises underlying research question or problem statement with empirical and theoretical literature.

Research Questions and Problem Statements • Specify key constructs or concepts to be addressed • Specify key relationships among constructs or concept • Reflect an empirical approach to the problem

Research Questions or Problem Statements • Reflect a plausible and non-trivial scope of investigation given the existing knowledge on the themes • Reflect a plausible scope of investigation given resources of the investigator

Specify Key Constructs or Concepts • Constructs reflect theoretical entities (hypothetical construct) that may not be directly observed (e.g. personality, cognition, self efficacy, self esteem) • Constructs within research question are based on empirical and theoretical literature

Specify Key Relationships Among Constructs • Relationships among constructs are based on findings within empirical studies and theoretical positions • Relationships among constructs are based on sound and internally consistent logical arguments

Reflect an Empirical Approach to the Problem • Constructs specified within the research question can be translated into some observable indicator • Indicators are derived from existing empirical literature and include tests, interview questions, observation checklists, or other means of gathering data through the senses.

Reflect a Plausible and Non-trivial Scope of Investigation • The scope of the question is sufficient to be interesting to relevant individuals • The scope makes sense given previous studies • The results and interpretations emerging from the study provide new and useful insights into the problem being studied

Reflect a Plausible Scope given Resources of the Investigator • Potential participants are available and accessible to the researcher • Assessment and measurement strategies are within the skills and resources of the researcher

Reflect a Plausible Scope given Resources of the Investigator • The data analysis procedures are consistent with the researcher’s resources • The time available to the researcher is sufficient for conducting the study and writing the report

Developing the Research Question: From Interest to Science