Conducting Educational Research
Caroll
Caroll
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WRITING A RESEARCH QUESTION<br />
The cardinal rule in choosing a study, however, is ultimately what is of the<br />
greatest interest to you. Remember, if you do not have a vested interest in your<br />
question, your research journey will be more like a trip to the dentist for a root<br />
canal than a trip to the ocean to watch the sun rise.<br />
WRITING YOUR QUESTION<br />
Once you have your research topic in mind, it is time to write your problem<br />
statement. The format of a problem statement or research question varies depending<br />
on whether the study involves qualitative, quantitative or mixed methodologies.<br />
QUALITATIVE QUESTIONS<br />
Qualitative research is useful for describing or answering questions about particular,<br />
localized occurrences or contexts and the perspectives of a particular group toward<br />
events, beliefs or practices. The general form of a qualitative problem statement is:<br />
what are the patterns and perspectives of a group about something in a particular<br />
setting. For example:<br />
The purpose of this research project is to find out from the perspective of our<br />
parents how our school can provide children access to a broad range of engaging<br />
reading materials through home, school and community programs.<br />
How do middle school teachers feel about being required to use Student Response<br />
Systems in their classes?<br />
QUANTITATIVE QUESTIONS<br />
Quantitative research is based on the collection and analysis of numerical data.<br />
Underlying quantitative research methods is the belief or assumption that we<br />
inhabit a relatively stable, uniform, and coherent world that can be measured. For<br />
descriptive and historical studies, the general form of quantitative questions is:<br />
what are the descriptions of the characteristics of a group. For example:<br />
What is the socio-economic status of students enrolled in a self-contained seventh<br />
grade classroom in a school where other students are in rotational classes?<br />
What is the level of community participation in service projects in a community<br />
where service learning is being integrated into the elementary curriculum?<br />
For studies in which groups will be compared statistically, the general form of a<br />
quantitative question is: what are the comparisons of characteristics of groups<br />
based on an intervention. For example:<br />
Do students in a self-contained seventh grade classroom score higher on standardized<br />
language arts tests than seventh grade students in other instructional<br />
settings?<br />
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