Turning Research Idea into research

Questions & Objectives Dr. Jamshed

 ALL RESEARCHERS ASK QUESTIONS

Research methodology involves, at a minimum, three

kinds of questioning activity: personal questions, research
questions and field questions.

Personal questions.
Research questions.
Field questions.
Generate a research question

There has to be:

a problem to investigate
a research question

Research Question:
what is it that you want to know?
 Turning ideas into research projects

Examples of research ideas

and their derived focus questions

Table 2.2 Examples of research ideas and their derived focus research
questions
 Research Questions

What dimensions of perceived value

(Functional, Financial, Social, Emotional,
Epistemic and Conditional) of ecotourism
are important in the context of Pakistan an
unfamiliar market?
How do these dimensions of perceived
ecotourism value influence the
The research question was
ecotourism purchase intention? designed to generate dialogue to
advance the concept of perceived
value of ecotourism and role of
What is the impact of total perceived destination image in the
ecotourism value on the ecotourism unfamiliar market like Pakistan
purchase intention?

What is the mediating effect of

ecotourism image between the
relationship of perceived ecotourism
value and ecotourism purchase
intention?
 Writing research questions
❖ It is much easier to decide upon the topic than it
is to produce a set of well structured and
rational questions Researcher

❖ Topic and Ideas do not provide sufficient

direction for conducting research because
▪ Unlike questions these are not sufficiently specific to
inform you what data need to be collected or how
those should be analyzed

Clear
Conclusion
USEFUL STEPS
Research Area
Food marketing

Research Idea
Nutrition is one of the main areas of
inappropriate lifestyle.
A great part of illness related burden could be
prevented by changing the approach of
citizens and the habits of consumers.

Research Problem
Consumers' increasing sensitivity to risks
means a threat and an opportunity at the
same time for the players of the food industry,
as the perception of risks has an effect on the
behaviour of food consumers. It is an
important issue to be clarified how and in what
Research Objectives
direction businesses can influence the risk
To evaluation and rank risks perceived in relation to food among
perception of consumers and their behaviour
Hungarian consumers
to reduce risks by using various marketing
activities. Towards formulating research question
To assess effect of health awareness as well as consumers'
health status on risk behaviour
• What are the various factors that influence health
awareness?
To explore risk reduction strategies used by Hungarian consumers
• What is the role of risk in consumer behavior?
•
To assess credibility of various market players, identifying
Howtheir
risk perception influences consumers' preferences
possibilities to take part in risk management, with when
specialchoosing
regard products and stores
on trading
• What factors influence the risks consumers perceive and to
what extent they retain them dangerous?
z

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 The research question should be clear

Clear questions tend to be short, conceptually

straightforward, and jargon free

Parsimony or Limit variables

1. Is the rise in population growth in Pakistan

related more to illiteracy, religious belief,
unemployment, population planning, or
cultural values?
2. Is the rise of population growth in Pakistan the
result of government policies?
Writing Research Questions
One of the key criteria of your research success will be whether you have a
set of clear conclusion drawn from the data you have collected. The extent
to which you can do that will be determined largely by the clarity with
which you have posed your initial research questions

The more specific your research

question, the easier it will be to
design and plan your data collection
and analysis
Dr. Jamshed
Generating and justifying research
questions

Seven wooden dolls of decreasing sizes

The Matryoshka doll is a symbol of the Russian babushka,
a strong female grandmother and a central figure in the
Russian family

Dr. Jamshed
Goldilocks

Dr. Jamshed
 The Story of Goldilocks

❖ Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Goldilocks. She went for a walk in the
forest. Pretty soon, she came upon a house. She knocked and, when no one answered,
she walked right in.

At the table in the kitchen, there were three bowls of porridge. Goldilocks was
hungry. She tasted the porridge from the first bowl.
▪ "This porridge is too hot!" she exclaimed. So, she tasted the porridge from the second bowl.
▪ "This porridge is too cold," she said So, she tasted the last bowl of porridge.
▪ "Ahhh, this porridge is just right," she said happily and she ate it all up.

❖ After she'd eaten the three bears' breakfasts she decided she was feeling a little tired. So,
she walked into the living room where she saw three chairs.
▪ Goldilocks sat in the first chair to rest her feet. "This chair is too big!" she exclaimed.
▪ So she sat in the second chair. "This chair is too big, too!" she moaned.
▪ So she tried the last and smallest chair. "Ahhh, this chair is just right," she sighed. But just as she settled down into the
chair to rest, it broke into pieces!

❖ Goldilocks was very tired by this time, so she went upstairs to the bedroom.
▪ She lay down in the first bed, but it was too hard.
▪ Then she lay in the second bed, but it was too soft.
▪ Then she lay down in the third bed and it was just right. Goldilocks fell asleep.

Dr. Jamshed
 Generating and justifying research questions

Two simple tools can be employed in

the generation of research questions:
1. the ‘Russian doll’ principle
1. Russian Dolls principle will
show you how to dig down
to find the central kernel of
information that you need.
2. the ‘Goldilocks test’
1. . The Goldilocks test will
show you how to do it "just
right" and the
 The Russian doll principle

Applying the Russian doll principle means breaking down

the research question from the original statement to
something which strips away the complication of layers
and obscurities until the very essence – the heart – of the
question can be expressed. This may well mean phrasing
and rephrasing the question so that each time its focus
becomes sharpened and more defined – just as a Russian
doll is taken apart to reveal finally a tiny doll at the
centre.
 The Goldilocks test
» Draft research questions can be subjected to the ‘Goldilocks test’
– a metaphor for thinking through the suitability of the research
questions for a particular researcher in a particular setting at a
particular time. So we can ask;
1. is this question ‘too big’, so that it cannot be tackled in this
particular study at this time – perhaps it is a study which
needs significant research funding or assistance which is
not usually available to students doing research for an
academic award?
2. We can ask Is this too small?- perhaps there is not enough
substance to the question to warrant investigation.
3. We can ask if the question is ‘too hot’. Perhaps an issue
which is so sensitive that the timing is not right for
investigation – or such that researching it at this point
would be not only difficult but damaging in the particular
social context.
Framework for refining research questions
 Examples of research ideas and their derived
focus research questions.

Research Idea General focus research questions

Advertising and share price How does the running of a TV advertising

campaign designed to boost the image of a
company affect its share price?

Job recruitment via the internet How effective is recruiting of new staff via the
internet in comparison with traditional methods?

The use of aromas as a marketing device In what ways does the use of specific aromas in
supermarkets affect buyer behavior.

The use of internet banking What effect has the growth of internet banking
had upon the uses customers make of branch
facilities?
Dr. Jamshed
 Phrasing research questions as research
objectives
Research Question Research Objective

Why have organizations introduced team To identify organizations’ objectives for team
briefing? briefing schemes.

How can the effectiveness of team briefing To establish suitable effectiveness criteria for
schemes be measured? team briefing schemes

Has team briefing been effective? To describe the extent to which the effectiveness
criteria for team briefing have been met?

How can the effectiveness of team briefing be a. To determine the factors associated with the
explained? effectiveness criteria for team briefing being met
b. To estimate whether some of those factors are
more influential than other factors

Can the explanation be generalized? To develop an explanatory theory that associates

certain factors with the effectiveness of team
briefing schemes.
Dr. Jamshed
The kinds of questions are as
many as the kind of things
which we know (Aristotle)

Typologies of Research
Questions
 Typology By de Vaus (2001)

❖ What is going on?

▪ Descriptive
▪ To describe the characteristics of relevant
groups, such as consumers, salespeople,
organizations, or market areas
Descriptive Explanatory
▪ To estimate the percentage of units in a
specified population exhibiting a certain What How
behavior
▪ To determine the perceptions of product Who Why
characteristics
When
▪ To determine the degree to which
marketing variables are associated Where
▪ To make specific predictions
W-Questions can be useful if you
have decided on a topic or area
❖ Why is it going on? of interest but have yet to
▪ Explanatory formulate any specific research
questions.

Dr. Jamshed
 Purpose Led Typologies

❖ Being clear about the purpose of your study is not substitute for research
questions
❖ Considering the purpose of a question can help
❖ Clarify the role it plays in the wider context
❖ Reduce the number of questions
❖ Consideration of data collection and analysis

Dr. Jamshed
 Denscombe (2002) typologies

❖ Forecasting an outcome or making predictions

▪ What do current trends suggest about future levels of membership in
political parties in Pakistan?
❖ Explaining causes or consequences
▪ What factors are associated with membership of political parties in
Pakistan?
❖ Criticizing or evaluating
▪ To what extent have recent initiatives impacted on the level of
membership in political parties in Pakistan?
❖ Description
▪ How did patterns of political party membership change in Pakistan
between 1990-2018?
❖ Developing good practice
▪ What administrative measures are most effective in reducing rates of
unplanned lapse in party membership?

Dr. Jamshed
 Missing Typology

❖ Comparison
▪ Dillon (1984) suggests that
comparison usually takes place
after descriptive questions have
been addressed but before
explanations have been sought Description

Comparison

❖ A simple comprehensive model of

research process may be as Explanation
follows:

Dr. Jamshed
 KEY Points

❖Typologies can help you think about exactly what type

of questions you are asking
❖Reformulating aims and objectives as W-Questions can
help you move from topics to questions
❖Remember that descriptive questions will need to be
answered before explanatory ones can be asked
❖Make sure you think about any appropriate comparison
that need to be made.

Dr. Jamshed
 Creating Hierarchies
White (2007)

Main Research Questions Subsidiary RQ

❖ How do young people make ❖ What factors do young
educational and career people consider when making
decisions at the end of their choices?
complusory schooling? ❖ What sources of information
do they use to help their
decision making?
❖ Which individuals are
influential in shaping their
choices?

Dr. Jamshed
 How many RQs

❖Main Questions
▪ One or Two (Strone 2002; Creswell 2003)
❖Rule of thumb
▪ For a very largest projects a max. four general
questions
❖Subsidiary Questions
▪ Two or Three (Punch 1998)
▪ Five to Seven (Creswell 2003)

Dr. Jamshed
 A QUESTION OF LANGUAGE

❖ BREVITY
▪ Keep your RQ as brief and concise as possible
▪ RQ should not usually be longer than one sentence.
▪ If they are longer, they are likely to contain more than one
Questions
▪ Make sure your questions include important details

Dr. Jamshed
 A QUESTION OF LANGUAGE

❖POPULATION OF INTEREST
▪ Always make sure that your RQs contain
information about your population of interest
▪ Population are often made up of individual people
but this is not always the case in social science
research
▪ Remember not to confuse your population of
interest with the sample from which you actually
collect your data

Dr. Jamshed
 A QUESTION OF LANGUAGE

❖GEOGRPAHICAL LOCATION OR COVERAGE

▪ Remember to include information in your RQs
about geographical coverage of your study

Dr. Jamshed
 A QUESTION OF LANGUAGE

❖HISTORICAL CONTEXT
▪ Include information about the time period
covered by your study in your RQ if this is
relevant
▪ Do not confuse the time your data relate to with
the time at which they were collected

Dr. Jamshed
Common Problems with the Form & Content of
Research Questions

❖Problems of Form
▪ The way question is structured
1. Questions and Other Statement
– We all use questions in our daily lives and can easily be
distinguish them from other statements
– Questions should always be open-ended i.e. a sentence
must be properly followed by a question mark.
– Question invite a direct response and so are open in a
way that other statement are not.

Dr. Jamshed
❖ Problems of Form
▪ The way question is structured
2. Many Questions’ and False Dichotomies’
– Framing a question in such a way that two or more questions are
asked at once, and a single answer is required.
» What were the aim of comprehensivisation and to what extent
were these aim achieved?
– Framing a question in such a way as to ask for another question
» At what age do boys stop underachieving at school?
– Framing a question which makes a false assumption
» Comprehensive education: force for quality or lowest common
denominator? (Stimulate debate, assumes that there is no
middle ground, assumes that two situations can not co-exist)
– Framing a complex question but demanding a simple answer
❖Many Questions’ and False Dichotomies’
❖Tautological Questions Dr. Jamshed
Common Problems with the Form & Content of
Research Questions

❖Problems of Form
▪ The way question is structured
• Tautological Questions
– These questions are problematic because they are both
» true by definition and
» Ask the same question twice
– Example
» Why are the working classes over represented in
some types of occupation?
– It is genuinely open question
– It does not make any false statement
– It does not have any dicot
– Then why this question is problematic?
Dr. Jamshed
 KEY Points

❖Avoid using compound questions at all times

❖Problems with compound questions can usually be
resolved by breaking them down into their constituent
parts
❖Check that your research questions do not have false
presumptions
❖Avoid using the term ‘or’ in your research questions
❖Do not ask questions that are redundant

Dr. Jamshed
Common Problems with the Form & Content of
Research Questions

❖Problems of Subject
▪ Your question must address topics suitable for
social scientific investigation
▪ Some questions can not be answered using
empirical evidence and so should be avoided
altogether. These include
• Metaphysical Questions
• Normative Questions

Dr. Jamshed
Common Problems with the Form & Content of
Research Questions

❖ Problems of Subject
▪ Metaphysical Questions
• Invite debate than a single answer
• Do numbers exist independently of human thought?
• Fisher (1970) argues that ‘Why’ questions tend to be
metaphysical because
• The term is difficult to define
• Lacks direction and
• Clarity
• Not consistent in terms of the type of answer that is required
• According to Fisher (1970) the other five W-Questions
• Who, What, When, Where, and How are much more practical
• It is suggested by Hamblin (1967) that all W-Questions can be
reformulated unproblematically as ‘What’

Dr. Jamshed
Common Problems with the Form & Content of
Research Questions

❖ Problems of Subject
▪ Normative Questions
• Relate to judgments concerning value or virtue
• Concerned with ethical or aesthetic judgements
• Concern with what ‘ought to be’ or ‘should be, what is
’desirable’ and ‘undesirable’, what is ‘ right’ and ‘wrong’ or
what is ‘good’ or ‘bad’.
• Normative statements are contrasted with ‘descriptive’
statements, which can in principle be tested through
observation
• Example
– Should corporal punishment be re-introduce in secondary schools?
– Main problem ‘should’
– Seeking opinion and does not recourse to empirical evidence
– No one correct answer

Dr. Jamshed
 KEY Points

❖Any RQ you formulate must be answerable using

empirical evidence
❖‘Why’ questions can lack direction and clarity and may
be better formulated using one of the other ‘W-Qs’
❖Questions relating to value judgments should always be
avoided
❖It is important not to confuse your RQ with your DCQ

Dr. Jamshed