Asking Answerable Questions

1. Asking Answerable Questions

2. “One cannot get a clear answer to a vague question. The language of science is particularly distinguished by the fact it centers around well-stated questions. If there is one part of a scientific experiment that is more important than any other part, it is the framing of the question that the experiment is to answer. If it is stated vaguely, no experiment can answer it precisely. If the question is stated precisely, the means of answering it are clearly indicated. The specific observations needed, and the conditions under which they are to be made, are implied in the question itself.” Wendell Johnson (1946)

3. Two Parts to Asking Answerable Questions • How can I generate relevant questions for research? • How can I structure the research question to make them “answerable”?

4. How do I generate questions for research? • We use the scientific method as a set of rules for asking and answering questions • the scientific method suggests rules or criteria for formulating questions, making observations to answer them, and relating the answers to the existing body of knowledge • questions formulated for research should be unambiguous, clearly defined, and precise

5. How do I decide what I want to investigate? • FIRST, must decide what to investigate • what question do you want to try to answer • deciding what to study is important because it affects the impact of the research as well as the likelihood that you will complete the research

6. How do I decide what I want to investigate? • Impact - the effect that answering a particular question will likely have on the clinical process in SLP or AUD • Likelihood of completing the research - several factors must be considered: • the time required to make the necessary observations -- the longer you take to make the observations, the less likely you are to complete your research

7. Factors (con’t) • The complexity of the procedures required to make the necessary observations • the more complex the procedures, the less likely you may be in completing the research • the availability of subjects • if subjects aren’t available in sufficient numbers within a reasonable time period, the probability is reduced that the project will be completed

8. Factors (con’t) • Time available for the project • the longer it takes to complete the project, the less likely it will be completed • availability of supporting personnel or equipment • statistician • technician • available funding • if the costs for completing the project are high, the less likely it will be completed

9. How do I generate questions for research? • “So what” or “who cares” -- need to generate relevant questions for which there is a need to answer • Identify a problem area -- several factors to consider in identifying a problem area: • personal interests • try to identify the problem area within the field of CDIS that is of most interest to you

10. How do I generate questions for research? • Competencies • identify an area in which you have the training and expertise to be able to carry out the project • availability of equipment and facilities for making observations and analyzing data • population of subjects available for the study

11. How do I generate questions for research? • Generate one or more questions to answer that are relevant to the area • these questions define the research topic • they indicate what the investigator is trying to find out • you can usually determine from the question what the possible answers could be • questions specify what has to be done to answer them

12. What approaches can you use to generate a question? • Review literature in the area selected in order to identify: • questions that have been formulated but only partially answered • questions that have been formulated but not answered • questions that have not been formulated but should be

13. Formulated questions that have been partially answered • May be didn’t use a random sample of subjects to answer the question • observations may not have been reliable, valid, or both • experimenter bias

14. Formulated questions that have not been answered • May be found in discussion section of articles • review papers in an area of interest which summarizes and integrates the research in a particular area • best way to locate review papers is through an abstracts journal (psychological abstracts, dsh abstracts, language and language behavior abstracts, index medicus, and dissertation abstracts • publications in which individuals or committees indicate what research they feel is needed in particular areas

15. Questions that have not been formulated but should be • The strategy here is to: • 1. Do a careful search of the literature in the area to determine what is known • search can be facilitated by using abstracts journals • organize the literature so that it is apparent what is known about the area • 2. Formulate questions which, if answered, would be likely to increase our understanding of the area.

16. What approaches can you use to generate a question? • Use personal interests • examine your clinical experience in the area of interest for questions that seem worth answering and then search the relevant literature to determine whether they have been answered • ask yourself, “what clinically relevant questions have I wanted answers for but there were not data to answer it?” What questions am I assuming have been answered, but haven’t?

17. What approaches can you use to generate a question? • EX. One might ask whether the number of sessions per week of a particular length is optimal for reducing the severity of their clients’ communicative disorder. Perhaps the sessions are 1) longer and more frequent than necessary; 2) longer but not more frequent than necessary; 3) less frequent but no longer than necessary; 4) shorter and less frequent than necessary

18. What approaches can you use to generate a question? • Ask questions that are based on answers of authority or tradition rather than empirical data. • EX. How do we know that a procedure does what it is supposed to do? • Brainstorm with colleagues

19. How can I structure the question to make it answerable? • You need to structure a question so it is obvious what observations have to be made to answer it • EX: 1. Is hypnosis effective in treating stuttering? 2. Is the post-hypnotic suggestion, “you will not stutter any more”, effective in reducing stuttering frequency? • you must have observations that are possible to make

20. How can I structure the question to make it answerable? • The question must be clear and unabmiguous • EX: Do persons with cleft palates have normal intelligence? • What segment of the CP population are you investigating (lip only, hard palate only, soft palate only, hard and soft palate, etc.) • what is meant by intelligence (performance on what task or test?) • More answerable question: Are five year old children who have clefts of the palate only more likely to have below normal intelligence as measured by the Stanford-Binet than five year old children who do not have this condition?

21. Less Answerable Ques How much can aphasics be expected to improve between 1 month and 1 year following trauma? More Answerable Ques How many points can receptive aphasics be expected to gain on the average on the MAT between 1 mo. and 1 yr. following trauma? Asking Answerable Questions

22. Less Answerable Ques Does drinking alcoholic beverages reduce stuttering? More Answerable Ques Does drinking 5 highballs in a period of 2 hrs reduce the stuttering frequencies of most adult stutterers? Asking Answerable Questions

23. Less Answerable Ques Are home assignments helpful for correcting articulation errors? More Answerable Ques Are homework drill sheets for final consonant deletion helpful in the transfer stage of therapy in correcting this error? Asking Answerable Questions

24. Less Answerable Ques Is a particular ear-protector effective in preventing noise induced hearing loss? More Answerable Ques Is a particular ear-protector effective in preventing a temporary threshold shift if used in the presence of noise of a particular intensity with a particular spectrum for a particular period of time? Asking Answerable Questions

25. In Sum ... • To ask answerable questions, must specify: • WHO subjects are • WHAT conditions are • WHAT measurements will be