School of Communication, Information and Library Studies

Generating and Developing Research Questions

Methods of Inquiry Syllabus:514

Gustav W. Friedrich

Three Types of Questions:
1. Those that require value judgments or critical statements (rhetorical)
2. Those that require describing the phenomena (historical)
3. Those that require generalization beyond the observed phenomena (scientific)

Scientific questions:

1. Research question: an interrogative statement that asks, "What relation exists between two or more concepts/constructs?" Three criteria:
a. It expresses a relation between two or more concepts/constructs.
b. It is stated clearly and unambiguously in question form.
c. It implies possibilities of empirical testing.

2. Hypothesis: a conjectural statement of the relation between two or more variables. Two types:
a. Research hypothesis: the particular prediction of a relation between two or more variables that the researcher wants to test (directional or non-directional).
b. Null hypothesis: states that no relationship other than chance expectation exists between the variables for which a relationship is predicted in the research hypothesis.

3. Evaluating Questions:

a. Evaluative Criteria:
1) Solution will contribute to the body of organized knowledge.
2) Solution will lead to new problems and further research.
3) Problem is suitable for a particular researcher
a) interest and enthusiasm
b) knowledge and experience
c) Resources: time, subjects, equipment, etc.

b. Some Debates:
1) Basic vs. Applied
2) Broad vs. Narrow
3) Descriptive vs. Theoretical
4) Prediction vs. Explanation
5) Interpretive vs. Functional

c. Sources of Researchable Problems:
1) Intensive case studies: Piaget.
2) Paradoxical incidents: devastating earthquake in Bihar, India, which produced rumors of additional catastrophes.
3) Analogy: inoculation and resistance to persuasion
4) Hypothetico-deductive method: Hovland's learning theory
5) Practitioner's rule-of-thumb: chess-keep control of the center of the board
6) Accounting for conflict results: primacy/recency in learning and attitude change
7) Accounting for exceptions

d. Some Negative Checks:
1) Choosing method before questions
2) Trying to capture the publication policies of the research outlets
3) Picking a topic because it is current

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