Transcript Chapter 5: Specifying a Purpose, Research Questions Hypotheses

Specifying a Purpose and
Research Questions or
Hypotheses
Chapter 5
Dr. Kakali Bhattacharya
EDPR 7521
The Purpose Statement
o Overall direction and focus
o Topical sentence
o Quantitative – closed ended,
cause and effect, predictive
o Qualitative – open ended,
exploratory
o Examples
Family of Variables
o Independent (cause)
o Intervening
o Dependent (effect, outcome)
o Control variables
o Moderating variables (effect of
two variables)
o Confounding variables
o Example – banana peel
Theories in Quantitative
o Explains and predicts the
probable relationship between
independent and dependent
variables
o Bhattacharya’s banana theory
o If certain conditions are true then
the variables will be related
(structure of theoretical
discussion)
Tips for Quantitative Purposes
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One sentence
State what you want to study
Number of people
Context
Specify if testing theory
Seek to relate 2 or more variables
Compare independent variable to 2 or
more dependent variables
o Describe one variable
o State independent variable first and then
dependent variable
o Using sample scripts on page 128, write a
quantitative purpose statement
Designing Quantitative Questions
o Specify variable – characteristic,
attribute
o Need to know how you are
going to measure variable
o Variables measured as
categories (male, female)
o Continuous variables (low to high
scores)
Writing Quantitative Questions
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Do NOT write WHY questions
How and what are ok
Describe, compare, relate are ok
Questions about significant
differences
o No need to write number of
participants if already in purpose
o Operationalize all variables used in
purpose and in questions in a
paragraph following either research
purpose or questions
Types of Questions
o Descriptive
o Example (frequency) banana peel (p.
129)
o Relationship
o How does independent variable relate to
dependent variable for (context,
participants)
o Is there a relationship between
independent and dependent variable?
o Comparison
o Differences – is there a significant
difference? (better framed than text p.
130)
Quantitative Research Questions
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Are there significant differences in student
affective learning between traditional classroom
instruction and instruction through a
game/simulation? (experimental) asks questions
about differences (groups, treatments)
How do (insert specific variables) predict how (#)
African American parents and guardians of
school-aged children rate their children’s
elementary and secondary school teachers, and
the public system as a whole? (correlational) asks
questions about relationship (not causal, just
existence)
What is the degree to which (#) exemplar
teachers report using cooperative learning versus
the degree to which they would prefer to use this
method, and well as the relative use of each
element of cooperative learning? (survey) asks
questions that starts with “what is….?” appropriate
to gather quick opinions, perceptions.
Write Quantitative Questions
o Using the tips and scripts write at
least one quantitative question
aligned with your quantitative
purpose
o Refer to p. 129-130 and also the
previous slide
Null Hypothesis
o No difference between
independent variable group 1
and independent variable group
2 in terms of dependent variable
for participants at research site
o In other words, whatever scores
you get are purely coincidental
and has nothing to do with
dependent variable
o Banana peel example
Alternate Hypothesis
o Something is going on and it is not
coincidental but because of the treatment
o Directional and nondirectional
o Measurement of means between two
groups
o Either you know if one is greater than the
other (directional)
o Or you know they are unequal (nondirectional)
o Based on your research question, write a
null and an alternate hypothesis. If your
research question was descriptive, then
work with some difference or experimental
questions
Qualitative Purpose Statements
o No hypothesis
o No use of variables
o No testing or predicting of
theories
o Open-ended, multiple
possibilities
o Seek to understand, evaluate,
explore, describe, interrogate,
deconstruct
Central Phenomenon
o What would you like to know?
o What would be your indicators?
o How would you know that you
know? 
o Using the topics with which you
worked earlier, we will now write
qualitative research purpose and
questions
Qualitative Purpose Statements
o Referring to the example and the
script on p. 136 write a
qualitative purpose statement
about your topic
Qualitative Research Questions
o In what ways do foreign-born ESL teachers
draw on their experiences as foreign-born
residents living in the U.S. to open or close
new social networks for their students?
o How do students perceive the value of the
new math program?
o What are the experiences of survivors of
Katrina who were in the superdome?
o How do social structures within the K-12
system affect achievement levels of the
students?
o What is the role of the new math program in
students’ achievement?
Qualitative Research Questions
o Referring to the previous slide
and examples on pp. 136-137
and the script on p. 137 write a
qualitative research question for
your topic
o Ignore subquestions and other
categorizations