RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND

PLAN

SGR and RWP Help

The Research Plan Question Method Plan Timeline

The Question: Focus Interest – If you don’t find something that interests

you, you won’t invest the time in it, and it won’t be a good project.

Topic – the topic is the general category of thing you are looking at. It’s the landscape. Aristotle’s use has become the cornerstone of the etymology, and it literally means “place.”

Issue – the specific thing you are looking at in the landscape.

Question – A question that is unanswered about the issue.

Significance – Why would anybody care?

Formulating a Research Question Name your topic

I am studying _____________________________ Formulate a question

Because I want to find out who/what/where/when/why_________________

State the rationale (significance)In order to understand/explain________________

adapted from: Booth, Wayne C., Gregory Colomb, and Joseph Williams. The Craft of Research. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1995.

Topic

Issue

Question

Or

Formulating a Research Question Name your topic

I am studying the cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde

Formulate a questionBecause I want to find out what the

towers were for State the rationale (significance)

In order to understand why there was only one tower per dwelling place

Method Once the question has been asked, you have to

design a method for answering it:

1. Do a lot of living people know about X?2. Are specialized apparatuses needed or useful for

studying about X?3. Do only a few living people know about X?4. Can I easily observe X in its natural state?5. Is there a lot of previous research about X?6. Are there written or photographic records around

the time/place of X?

Quantitative If a lot of people know about X, then you can

conduct a survey (many questions) or poll (one question) then tabulate the responses.Do you count how many calories you eat in a day?Do you know how many calories you are

supposed to eat in a day? If you need specialized equipment to

measure X, then the measurement will be quantifiable.How many calories are in this food?

Qualitative If only a few people know about X, then you want

to collect as much data from those few people as possible.Did you see anybody suspicious in the bushes last

night?Did you go to the club on Saturday?What was it like on the beaches of Normandy?

If you can observe X in a natural setting, then you want to write as many notes as possible.How do women react differently than men at the

grocery store? At a clothing store?How do chimpanzees react to speed metal?

Interpretive If there is a lot of previous research about X, then

you can synthesize multiple sources about X. If there isn’t previous research about X, then you

can look for previous research on V and Y and attempt to triangulate X.

If there isn’t research at all, then you can situate X through other means such as photographs, letters, movies, diaries, novels, toys, technology, clothing, art, and furthermore, absence or abundance of any of these things.

Plan If other research has been done on your topic, what have they

failed to find or account for? This is a good moment to begin writing your introduction. Your

introduction rough draft can come when you have determined your research question, why it is important, and why other researchers haven’t answered the research question

How will you go about following your method? Also in your rough introduction, you want to outline how you will follow

your method, when you will study X, how you will study X. How will you interpret your data?

In qualitative studies, this involves reviewing your observations, formulating interview questions, reviewing the responses to those interview questions, possibly coding the observations/interviews, and looking for patterns.

In quantitative studies, this involves statistical or mathematical modeling against measures of significance.

Timeline A major research project needs a

timeline for each step. Successful projects (and students) have a plan with time-on-task measures along the way. I have attempted to insert those into the syllabus, but it is up to you to create a timeline for every step of the way.

Timelines are best start in reverse, from when something is due.

Brainstorm… Working with your SGR groups, begin

formulating a research question and plan for your SGR.

Try to get research plan approved from me by end of class.