{"id":254,"date":"2018-07-11T11:56:30","date_gmt":"2018-07-11T18:56:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0060\/?p=254"},"modified":"2018-10-05T09:30:49","modified_gmt":"2018-10-05T16:30:49","slug":"unit-1-activity-3-what-makes-a-good-research-question","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0060\/unit-1-activity-3-what-makes-a-good-research-question\/","title":{"rendered":"What Makes a Good Research Question?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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image: Outstyle via Adobe Stock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

LRNT522 Unit 1 Activity 3<\/em><\/p>\n

Before learning what makes a good research question<\/em>, let’s define<\/span> what is a research question<\/span><\/strong>. \u00a0A research question is a clear, focused, concise, complex, and arguable question on a singular issue, which helps you center your writing and provides you with an answer that will form the basis of your thesis (Johnson, & Christensen, 2014). It requires analysis and doesn’t have an obvious answer. The research question typically won’t appear in your actual paper, but will be identifiable. Having one will ensure that you remain focused while going through the writing process and really importantly, it gives your paper a point and purpose.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The what and the how that makes a good research question?<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Find a topic that you are genuinely interested<\/strong> about and explore<\/strong>. \u00a0Having something that gets you jazzed and excited will help with the continuous, time consuming, onerous and rigorous process in writing your research paper.<\/li>\n
  2. Now you’ll want to \u00a0narrow the topic<\/strong> you’re interested in. \u00a0Making sure it isn’t broad, but not so constricted in order to give you the opportunity for focus, yet adequate opportunities to explore.<\/li>\n
  3. Ask yourself some questions<\/strong> about the topic and get curious<\/strong>. \u00a0For example<\/em> why is this important, who else cares about<\/li>\n
  4. Pick a question and begin to refine and focus your question<\/strong>. \u00a0It should be able to address who, what, where and when\u00a0<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    <\/p>\n

    Some other components to consider in the process of research, as you dive in to creating your good research question<\/strong><\/span>, is to determine the kind of research <\/span><\/strong>you will be conducting as an educational researcher.<\/span> \u00a0<\/span>Below are some general kinds of research you may be involved in.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Basic research<\/strong><\/span> focuses on generating fundamental knowledge<\/span><\/li>\n
    2. Applied research<\/strong><\/span> focuses on real-world questions and applications<\/span><\/li>\n
    3. Evaluation research<\/strong><\/span> focuses on determining the worth, merit, or quality of intervention programs<\/span><\/li>\n
    4. Action research<\/strong><\/span> focuses on solving local problems that we face as a practioner<\/span><\/li>\n
    5. Orientational research<\/strong><\/span> focuses on reducing inequality and giving voice to the disadvantaged<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Further to figuring out the kind of research you will be conducting, you’ll explore several other decision points around your research. \u00a0For instance you will need to ask yourself if this research is<\/span> primary or secondary research<\/strong><\/span>. \u00a0Primary research<\/em> simply suggests you will need to gather new data that has not been collected before, whereby secondary research<\/em> involves gathering existing data that has already been produced (Leary, Childs & Zornes, 2017). \u00a0As well as, what research methods<\/span><\/strong> will you lean into to help you gather and explore the answers to your research question. Qualitative research<\/em> is primarily used to gain an understanding of underlying reasons, opinions, and motivations. \u00a0Quantitative research<\/em> is used to quantify the problem, typically through data, analytics, reports, and statistics. \u00a0Mixed research<\/em> combines the quantitative and qualitative research methods and approaches in order to exam, explore, and solve issues and problems (Johnson, & Christensen, 2014).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      References<\/p>\n

      Leary, T., Childs, E., & Zornes, D. (2017, May 24). Conducting a Systematic Literature Review. [YouTube]. Research Shorts.<\/p>\n

      Johnson, R.B. & Christensen, L. (2014). Chapter 2.\u00a0 Educational Research: Quantitative, Qualitative, and Mixed Approaches.(p. 33-35). Sage Publishing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      LRNT522 Unit 1 Activity 3 Before learning what makes a good research question, let’s define what is a research question. \u00a0A research question is a clear, focused, concise, complex, and arguable question on a singular issue, which helps you center your writing and provides you with an answer that will form the basis of your … <\/p>\n

      Continue reading “What Makes a Good Research Question?”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":102,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-254","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lrnt522"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0060\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0060\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0060\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0060\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/102"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0060\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=254"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0060\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":342,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0060\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254\/revisions\/342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0060\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0060\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0060\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}