Planning for Research Notes

Selecting a Research Problem

  • When selecting a problem, be SELFISH: focus on what interests YOU, because that interest sustains you when things get rough.
  • Find a problem of significance (meaningful) that will contribute to the knowledge in the area.
  • Find something that is manageable.

Characteristics of a Good Research Problem

  • It should be of interest to you.
  • It should be within your expertise or expertise to which you have access.
  • It should be worthwhile or significant.
  • It should be do-able (it can be investigated by collecting and analysing evidence).
  • It should be manageable.

Sources of problem areas

  • Meaningful problems may be derived from:
    • theory
    • other research literature (refining, replicating, developing)
    • personal knowledge / experience
    • current issues of social relevance in your context

Focusing Your Research Problem

  • This means that you must narrow the topic down to something more manageable (delimiting the problem).
  • Helps to keep it manageable.
  • Helps to focus your literature review.

Stating the Problem

  • A Problem Statement is a sentence (statement or question) that tells the reader succinctly what it is you are researching.
  • Rule: Always state your problem statement in a complete grammatical sentence, in as few words as possible.
  • A good problem statement:
    • identifies the variables of interest;
    • identifies the relationship between the variables that is to be investigated;
    • ideally identifies the types of participants to be involved.

Example 1

  • Broad Area: Mathematics achievement among students in St. Vincent & the Grenadines.
  • Problem Statement: This study investigates the effects of a constructivist approach to teaching mathematics on the mathematics achievement of Grade 3 students in St. Vincent & the Grenadines.
  • Question form: Is there a difference in mathematics achievement of Grade 3 students in St. Vincent & the Grenadines who are taught using a constructivist approach and those who are not?

Example 2

  • Broad Area: HIV/AIDS in schools
  • Problem Statement: The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between knowledge about HIV/AIDS and attitudes towards infected children among primary school teachers.
  • Question form: Is there a relationship between knowledge that primary school teachers have about HIV/AIDS and their attitudes towards children infected with the virus?

For the two examples: What are the variables? Who are to be participants? Can you formulate another problem statement for each of the broad topics? Give it a try!

Types of Variables

  • Variable: a characteristic that takes on different values or conditions. Examples include gender, scores, teaching method.
  • Independent variable (IV): the characteristic or condition that affects other variables.
  • Dependent variable (DV): the variable that is affected.
  • In experimental research, the independent variable is manipulated.

Operationalization

  • Variables must be OPERATIONALIZED or given an OPERATIONAL DEFINITION.
  • This means you must define the variable in such a way that the reader knows how you are going to measure it.
  • E.g. an operational definition for mathematics achievement in Example 1 might be: the scores obtained by students on a teacher-made mathematics test.

Problem Statement vs Research Questions & Hypotheses

  • It is not always possible or desirable to include all the specific information in the problem statement.
  • RESEARCH QUESTIONS & HYPOTHESES may be developed for more specificity and direction.

What is a Hypothesis?

  • A hypothesis is a conjecture or guess at the solution to a problem or a tentative explanation for certain phenomena.
  • A hypothesis derived from theory is called a deductive hypothesis (associated with quantitative research).
  • The researcher’s goal is to test these hypotheses and data are collected with this in mind.
  • What is a Hypothesis?

The researcher sets out to test the hypothesis not by proving it, but by looking for evidence that supports or does not support it.

Types of Hypotheses

  • Non-directional: H: A ≠ B (there is a significant difference between measurements for Group A & Group B).
  • Directional: H: A < B (Group A has a significantly lower measurement than Group B).
  • Directional: H: A > B (Group A has a significantly higher measurement than Group B).
  • NULL: H0: A = B (there is no significant difference between measurements for Group A & Group B).

Types of Hypotheses (continued)

  • Research hypothesis – the researcher’s expectation.
  • Alternative hypothesis – it is alternative to the null hypothesis.
  • Null Hypothesis – the hypothesis that is tested by statistical tests of significance.

Problem statement and possible hypotheses (Example 1)

  • Problem statement: This study investigates the effects of a constructivist approach to teaching mathematics on the mathematics achievement of Grade 3 students in St. Vincent & the Grenadines.
  • Possible hypotheses:
    • There is a significant difference between the mean scores on a mathematics achievement test of students who are taught using a constructivist approach and those taught by some other approach.
    • Students who are taught mathematics by a constructivist approach achieve a significantly higher mean score on a mathematics achievement test than students who are taught by some other means.
    • There is no significant difference between the mean scores on a mathematics achievement test of students who are taught using a constructivist approach and those who are taught by some other approach.

Problem statement and possible hypotheses (Example 2)

  • Problem statement: The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between knowledge about HIV/AIDS and attitudes towards infected children among primary school teachers.
  • Possible hypotheses:
    • There is a significant relationship between knowledge of HIV/AIDS and attitudes towards infected children among primary school teachers.
    • There is a significant positive relationship between the knowledge about HIV/AIDS that primary school teachers have and their attitude towards infected children.
    • There is no significant relationship between knowledge of HIV/AIDS and attitudes towards infected children among primary school teachers.

Research Questions

  • You may decide to formulate questions to which you seek answers by collecting evidence.
  • These questions should be clearly related to your problem statement.

Sample Research Questions (HIV/AIDS example)

  • What attitudes do primary school teachers have towards children who are HIV positive?
  • What knowledge do primary school teachers have about HIV/AIDS?
  • Is there a relationship between knowledge of HIV/AIDS and attitudes towards infected children among primary school teachers?
  • Is there a difference in attitudes towards infected children between primary school teachers who took a sensitisation course about HIV/AIDS and those who did not take the course?
  • Is there a difference in attitudes towards infected children between primary school teachers with over 10 years experience in teaching and those with 10 or less years experience?

Sample Research Questions (Constructivist math example)

  • How do students who are taught mathematics using a constructivist approach perform on an achievement test?
  • Is there a significant difference between the mathematics achievement of boys and girls who are taught mathematics using a constructivist approach?
  • How does the performance of students taught using a constructivist approach compare with that of students taught using some other method?

What next?

  • After you have refined your problem statement and research questions or hypotheses, you must select a research design – decide the best approach to collect data to address your questions or hypotheses.
  • Whichever approach you select, you will need to identify sources of data and data collection approaches. This is all part of the process.

The End

  • End of the transcript notes