DESIGNING RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND DRAFTING THE INTRODUCTION

This course will demand much critical thinking and reading, as well as writing from you: you will generate many ideas on paper and need to do a significant amount of editing, rewriting and review. You cannot go this alone and may not get enough, or the right type, of feedback and critical review from me alone: hence the need for you to build a solid network of support in your learning team. You may also want to look outside the program, maybe even outside the school, to find additional reviewers for your written work.
Peer reviewers and external reviewers provide you with feedback that will sharpen your ability to articulate ideas clearly, build solid arguments, and produce a rationale for your research. It is a rare individual who can spot all of the mistakes in his or her own academic writing: we need others to help us with that. Hence the emphasis we put on the importance of peer review by the members of your research group: they will review and strengthen your work throughout the course. Peer review in the academic sense refers to the strict practice of scrutiny of the work of an individual by peers in the same field. If, later in your career you begin to publish your work, you will also need to rely on a comparable community of experts for feedback. As indicated above, you may also benefit from finding someone outside of your field of study, and possibly someone in the real-world in your field of study, to provide critical feedback on your research proposal.

Image from: http://www.nearingzero.net
As intimidating as feedback can be, you’ll get used to it. Imagine putting the creative and critical intelligences of multiple people into your work: they can only improve your efforts. The more valuable input you can gather, the better off you’ll be. The more you can improve your work, the better the chance your research project will approximate meaningful scholarly research. As you will be encouraged to conduct research in areas in which you may want to work eventually, your project will also reflect on your potential as a future employee!
Read Creswell, Chapters 2, 5 & 6
Identifying a Research Topic
Identifying a topic of interest to you is essential to begin moving toward developing your research question(s). While a number of possibilities may occur to you in relation to your proposed research area, you will need to narrow your choices down to one research topic (subject area). You should keep the following issues in mind as you do that: 1) is it doable?; 2) is there a need?; 3) will others be interested?; and 4) does it relate to your own personal goals?
1) You will need to ensure that you have the resources, participants, time and motivation to complete your research. A common mistake of the new researcher is to attempt to do too much. You can solve the world’s problems later: just take on a modest problem for now. It will grow in scope with your literature review anyway, so keep it in check now.
2) Does a need exist for the research you have in mind? If you can’t find a rationale for it, you should not do it. Will it contribute to an existing body of knowledge? Will it solve a real-world problem? Will it prove something needing validation or support? Your literature review and life experience should help you answer this question.
3) If no one else cares, you shouldnot pursue this research. Unfortunately, the worth of a study is determined by others. The larger the audience to which your research might appeal, the greater the impact and, therefore, the potential worth it will have.
4) Will this research sustain your interest, advance your position in your career, or advance your personal standing? Research takes significant time and energy. If you are not passionate about your research, it will become an arduous task rather than an enjoyable journey of discovery.
So what passionate interests do you have?
Remember that you will be working on this project until mid-March 2011: that’s a couple of months!!
An exceptionally wide range of opportunity exists for you right now as a new researcher. You have to think through what you want to do with an eye to your level of interest, current knowledge, and career aspirations.
The Purpose Statement
A purpose statement is a concise expression of the central idea of your study: what you hope to learn by doing the research. Creswell (2003) says that it is the most important statement in a research proposal or study. Given the weight placed upon it, it is an integral part of your research proposal and you should assign it great importance.
Your purpose statement will accompany the introduction of your proposal but needs to be clearly differentiated from the problem(s) leading to your research and the research question. Problems outlined in your introduction justify your study, research questions are those that you hope your research will answer, and the purpose statement is the clear message that conveys the overall intent of your proposed study.
Consider the following example.
Example Problem Formulation
Your research question(s) will be centered around some issue or problem that needs to be addressed.
Problem: E-commerce businesses do not understand their consumer’s spending habits. Advertising has provided mixed results and e-commerce as an industry has expressed a need to distinguish e-commerce consumer behavior research from retail and other conventional commercial enterprise research.
Purpose statement: The purpose of this case study is to determine what advertising techniques in e-commerce bring about increases in consumers’ spending.
Research question(s):
What drives consumer behaviour in e-commerce? (Qualitative question)
Advertising in electronic media has no greater effect on consumer behavior than other forms of advertising. (Quantitative hypothesis)
Follow the formats and advice Creswell sets out in Chapter 6: The Purpose Statement. The process of identifying your real purpose requires significant thought. While it may evolve, or may even take a new direction, it sets the research in motion in terms of the literature and methodology you will use.
The Introductory Chapter of your Research Paper
While you are not required to submit a finished introduction for evaluation until later in the course, it is wise to create a draft of your introductory chapter as a working document. Your introduction will be a short and concise chapter introducing the reader to your proposal. While your introduction will be short (1.5 €“ 2 pages), it will be an important piece of written work! The following five elements are described in full in Chapter 5 of Creswell as as integral parts of your introductory chapter and need to be clearly and concisely written.
1. Your area of interest and a research problem in it
2. Background material on studies that have addressed the problem
3. Deficiencies in the studies
4. The importance of the problem
5. Your purpose statement
You may be wondering why point 2 above looks like part of a literature review. Key differences include the obvious€“length€“and that you are only citing studies in passing to provide a background sketch of your area of interest as opposed to careful individual review of each study. You are providing more of a snapshot than the detail you will write in your Chapter 2: Review of Literature. While I suggest drafting an introductory chapter early on in the research planning process, you may find yourself putting it together later, after you’ve settled on your purpose statement and your research question(s): that’s fine at this point in its development.

STEP BY STEP PROCEDURE TO BEGIN YOUR RESEARCH:
1) Identify 4-5 potential research topics that relate to a strong area of interest that you have and identify a rationale for their importance.
2) Identify key words in your database search that will direct you to the literature you believe to be critical for your review of the extant literature on your research topic.
3) Share with your research team the key words and results of your initial database search.
4) Locate articles that provide insight into research problems in your area of interest. Locate review articles that have drawn conclusions on some aspects of your research topic. Identify research problems that require further inquiry.
5) Identify a couple of research problems that interest you most. Narrow the list to the best one.
6) Write yourself a short note explaining what the problem is that your research project will address. Post it on your fridge or bathroom mirror (a bit weird but€¦) and revisit it often- you will probably rewrite it many times. This is normal (rewriting that is) and strongly encouraged to keep you focused.
7) What do you hope to learn about the problem you’ve identified? Draft a purpose statement that explains clearly what you hope to learn. Don’t worry about specific language right now: just get the ideas out and onto paper.
8) Draft a 2-3 page synopsis of your problem and a statement of purpose. These will be key elements for your introductory chapter.
9) Write 5-7 potential research questions that will address the problem you’ve identified. Identify what methodology might be used to address each question.
10) Practice the method of freewriting as described by Peter Elbow. Spend 30 minutes freewriting on the potential research questions you’ve identified. Then follow that exercise with 20 or 30 minutes of critical review of what you;ve written. Then edit the material you generated during the first 30 minues. Do not try to edit as you are doing your freewriting! That defeats the whole purpose of freewritng. Reflect on the process.
11) Begin seeking feedback on your potential research questions from your team mates, myself, and/or outside reviewers.
12) Begin identifying local businesses that may provide advice on your research project or may offer a place to conduct your study. Your ability to engage real world problems by invoving people who are actually dealing with them will enrich your learning experience and produce real world results!
Hang in there!

TO ORDER FOR THIS QUESTION OR A SIMILAR ONE, CLICK THE ORDER NOW BUTTON AND ON THE ORDER FORM, FILL ALL THE REQUIRED DETAILS THEN TRACE THE DISCOUNT CODE,
TYPE IT ON THE DISCOUNT BOX AND CLICK ON €˜USE CODE’ TO EFFECT YOUR DISCOUNT. THANK YOU