Loseke, D. (2013). Chapter 3: Research questions. Methodological thinking: Basic issues in social research design. Los Angeles: Sage.
“The Big Question” – they call it. What is the topic of your research? Research? What research? I’m trying to manage my assignments. I’m reading lots of research, but the vision of my own is still very murky. Enter Loseke with a step-by-step instruction on the selection of a research question. The format of this chapter is ideal for graduate students in preparation for dissertations. It begins with some assistance in locating research questions in reported studies, which sounds easier than it actually is. Of course, it doesn’t make sense that the purpose of a study would be hidden, but it may be buried or convoluted or imprecise. In short, the opening meets grad students where they are – lost in a swirling vortex of infinite topics. Like an expert fisherman, Loseke introduces a challenge, then feeds a little explanation, then provides some explicit information, followed by a clear instruction of what step is needed. The progression addresses each of the following links:
- Select an interesting topic (p. 37) – just narrow the field because it’s massive;
- Check the literature (p. 37) – essentially to see what has already been done to avoid conflicts;
- Draft your question (p. 37) – give it a try;
- Revisit the literature (p. 38) – Has it already been done? Is it feasible? Are there gaps in understanding that need to be refined?; and
- Continue repeating 3 and 4 until the selection is clear and can be supported through the available literature and researched by reasonable methods.
It’s also necessary to consider these very important aspects, which could create pitfalls on the journey:
- Is this research providing meaningful advancement to the field?
- What biases might you have and how would you control for them?
- What style of reasoning will you employ to arrive at an answer to the question?
With these in mind, researchers can begin to consider the experimental design, long before the experiment starts. Planning and forecasting and controlling for any possible variable which could interfere with data collection is not to be understated.
When planning the design, the first concern is for the participants in the study (p. 41). Who will they be? How will they be recruited? What controls are necessary to achieve a good sample which will not compromise the research? The next challenge is to get practical about the design. Having one thousand participants with 50% of each gender and a perfectly arrayed distribution of ages, races, and ethnicities, all available for free for the entire length of the study with no absenteeism or drops or conflicts is something that really isn’t likely to happen. So how do you make sampling decisions which work and will allow you to address the research question adequately? That research question may need some refinement with research subjects in mind. Ultimately, the process of creating a research question is akin to the yin-yang symbol with literature on one side and practicalities of deliverable research on the other side and the research question running along the wavy line in the middle – fine, crucial, and nuanced.
For my own research question, I remain uncertain. What I do know is that, of the may topics explored in the past several months and in prior experience, I was called and ‘convicted’ by the Butler & Nisan study in the prior post “Interrupting the Feedback Lapse” because the statistics were too persuasive not to grab my attention as a teacher. When the difference between a) giving immediate feedback and increasing performance; and b) giving no feedback and causing a drop in performance, is 127%, there was no alternative. Like many teachers, I have been caught in the cycle of overload with assignments to check and interference of all kinds which delays them, not to mention the fact that dozens upon dozens of assignments is daunting … nay, overwhelming at times. We procrastinate like our students do, then it snowballs into multiple piles. We want to give quality feedback and not rush, then it’s a week or two, even a month. Yet this single study demonstrated a decrease of over 50% in several matrices when students did not get immediate feedback. I began integrating feedback factors in every lesson, to which my students have responded, though I haven’t articulated any change to them. They are just more comfortable because they know how they are doing. The research has been done, but it was done so long ago that there is room to look at methods of feedback to ascertain optimal possibilities or even categories. So, the topic seems to be clear, pardon me while I start checking the literature (#2 above). Stay tuned for that design methodology (#3) coming soon.
Teacher Takeaways
Even for informal settings, answering the questions of how to improve the classroom routine is real. Canned, scheduled professional development is not enough. Be your own researcher, sensitive to the feedback from your own students to all them to shine.
EmpowerED 