A List Of Possible Dissertation Defense

Questions You Should Be Prepared For

Defending your dissertation is probably one of the most difficult things that you will have to do. You spent months working on
it, but now you have to prove that you really believe in your ideas, and you made enough research on the topic. Although it
might be scary at first, once you prepare yourself all the fear will disappear and you will handle every question without any
problem. These are some of the questions that you might receive.

 Why did you choose this topic? This is probably the first question that you will get, and you need to have a very good
reply. It’s not enough to say that this idea seemed interesting; you have to make them see what you saw the first time
you read about it. Don’t be afraid to express your opinions, even if they are controversial.
 What benefits you will bring to the society? As you already know, it’s not enough to write about something interesting;
you have to try to make a difference in the world. When you choose your topic you have to be ready to answer to this,
and to try to bring new answers to the problem.
 What sources did you use? You might think that your sources are not important, but your teacher will not agree with you.
As a matter of fact, everyone will ask from where you found out this information, and how can you be sure that the
information is trustworthy. That is why it’s a must to create a references page and to write the sources that you used.
 What is the strongest point in your project? The defense will only last a few minutes, so the teachers will not have time
to ask you about every small detail. That is why they will focus on the major ideas, and they will ask you what is the most
important thing from your point of view. Be ready to answer!
 If you could change something regarding this issue, what would it be? The answer to this question depends entirely on the
topic of your dissertation, so you can’t take the answer from anywhere. You will have to use your imagination and your
knowledge, and think about what would you do if you would have the power to do it.

Top 25 Likely Project Defense Questions and Answers

Below are likely questions you may face in a defense room. Take note of these questions and suggested answers,
do good by researching more and not limiting yourself to just these questions.

Question 1: In few sentences, can you tell us what your study is all about?
The question is simple right? Many professors will tell you that most students get choked on a question like this.
Anyways the question is simple, but a bit technical. To answer this question, you need to know every detail of your
research project from chapters one to the end. The question needs an answer in form of a summary of the entire
study, therefore, to ace this particular question you need to know every detail in your abstract. If you wrote a good
abstract, this question will be a cross over for you.

Question 2: What is your motivation for this study?

Now you must be careful here. This question can be very tricky and it goes a long way in convincing your panel
members that your study is worth their time. Another way this question could be twisted is WHAT IS THE
RESEARCH PROBLEM?

To answer this question, you may decide to elaborate on the problem investigated in the study. Your zeal to solve
this problem becomes your motivation. Do not state financial reasons or the need to graduate as a motivation as
you may easily go off point.

Question 3: How will this study contribute to the body of knowledge?

At some point the need for justification will arise and that is when you will be asked to mention how your study will
add to the body of knowledge if approved.
Here you will need to use your methods, case study or any unique model or conceptual framework used in the
study to defend it. For more information on how to tackle this particular question Click Here

Question 4: What is the significance of the study?

Just like stating how your study will contribute to the body of knowledge, you will need to state the importance of
your study. To answer this question, you will need to highlight how your study will aid the government in policy
development and implementation, how it will help other students who may wish to conduct research studies on the
subject matter and how organizations and the society will benefit from your study.

Question 5: Did you bridge any gap from your study?

Every research study must have a problem. Your ability to solve this problem and explore into areas not yet
researched on gives you the full marks allocated for answering this question. You must be able to convince the
committee members that your approach is unique and it has covered areas where much have not been done by
other researchers.

Question 6: What limitations did you encounter?

This is another simple but tricky question. Most times the question is not asked to sympathize with you, rather to
get loopholes to criticize your work. To answer this question, you must be careful with words as you may implicate
yourself. Be careful enough not to sell out yourself. Do not discourse limitations in your methods or data analysis
techniques as this may imply that your study may be biased or not well researched. Use simple limitations like
difficulties encountered in combining lectures and project instead of limiting your study.

Question 7: What are your findings?

At this point it is expected of you to present your results or findings from the study in a clear and concise manner.
Always link your findings to your research objectives/questions. This will make your panel members to easily be
carried along.

Question 8: What Methods or Sampling Technique did you employ?

To answer this question, you must be familiar with your research methodology. Your chapter three (in Most
Projects) must be at your fingertips. Your ability to justify your sample size and technique will be highly rewarded
here. For more tips Click Here

Question 9: Why choose this method?

As discoursed above, you should not only state a particular method for the study. You must also be ready and able
to justify why you chose the method in a convincing manner. At this point you are free to quote sources or similar
studies where such methods were adopted.

Question 10: Based on your findings what are your recommendations?

Recommendations are very vital in every research study and should not be joked with. In essence you should know
your recommendations off hand.

Question 11: Based on your findings what areas will you suggest for future research?
Questions like this are just there to test your reasoning and authority in your research area. Based on your findings
in a manageable scope, you should be able to suggest future research areas in line with your study. For example, if
I researched on the challenges of personal income tax collection in Nigeria, a good area for further study will be in
other forms of taxation such as VAT, Company tax etc.

Question 12: How can your research study be put into practice?
Easy for the computer scientist and engineering students, but a bit tough for management and social sciences
since most management/social science projects are more of abstract in nature. However, you should try your best
to be realistic here. Relate your study to current trends in your environment, office, economy, government, schools,
church etc. Use of relevant examples and illustrations will score you good point here.

Question 13: How would you summarize your study to a practitioner in a few sentence?
Your ability to convey technical information from the study will score you good points here.
Question 14: What would you change if you were to conduct the study again?
Hmmm. Be careful! Do not be too jovial. There is a loophole here! Just like your limitations, this question can be
asked to identify your week points.

Question 15: What is your measurement Instrument?

In simple terms, what data collection method did you employ for the study? Here you state if questionnaires were
distributed or data was gotten from secondary sources. For more information on measurement instruments Click
Here

Question 16: What are your research variables?

Here you will need to convince your panel members that you know what you are talking about. You need to explain
your independent and dependent variable(s) to convince them that you are on point. Your variables are present in
your project topic. You need to identify these variables and know their definitions as well to ace your defense.

Question 17: What are your research questions?

Very simple question. It should take about 0.015 seconds to answer this question if you are fully prepared.

Question 18: What do you plan to do with your research project after Graduation?
Here you are at liberty to say your mind. If you intend to publish it, this is the best opportunity to discourse and
interact with the committee members-maybe a professor there can help.

Question 19: What source of data was employed for the study?
At this point you have to state the source(s) you got data from. In general you have to state whether data was
gotten from primary or secondary source or both. You can further convince the committee members by discoursing
on literature reviewed for the study-both theoretical and empirical.

Question 20: What theories or theoretical framework is your study based on?
This is a very technical question but interesting. Before you step into the defense room, you should know at least
two relevant theories that relate to your study. For example, the “impact of motivation on employee productivity” will
be based on Maslow’s Theory and other theories of motivation. If you cannot find relevant theories to back up your
study, consult your supervisor for help.

Question 21: How would you relate your findings to existing theories on the study?
To ace this question, one will have to read extensively. You should know existing theories on the subject matter as
well as empirical studies too. Your ability to link your findings to previous research studies (Whether they agree or
not) will go a long way in validating your study. You will score good points here trust me.

Question 22: What recommendations do you have for future research?

Your problem solving skill is put to test here. You should be able to identify areas that will need more research.

Question 23: What is the scope of the study?

This one is a cheap or should I say bonus question? Here you quickly state the delimitation of the study in brief.

Question 24: What question(s) do you have for the committee?

Not a likely question in our Nigerian context, but I have defended a seminar project where this question was asked
and I was shocked to my marrows. This is an opportunity to interact with your committee members and ask some
constructive questions. Do not ask silly or too difficult questions as the goal should be to make the committee
members feel as the “boss”. It will also go a long way in showing that you are a brilliant individual.
Question 25: Do you have any closing comments?
This is praising time! Use this opportunity to thank your committee members for their time and questions. Tell them
how much you have learnt from them and how you intend to correct errors (if any) identified in your work. This can
go a long way in impressing your internal and external supervisors. All the best!

BONUS TIPS

o When confronted with a difficult question, adopt a strategy to make them rephrase or repeat the
question. This will give you more time to think.
o If your research project is Empirical in nature,or you used any statistical tool to test hypothesis, try
to know how you arrived at such conclusion. Also know how your data was analysed and the
various tools used for the analysis.
o Before your defense day. Practice with your supervisor or your friends. Make them to drill you with
likely questions.
o Talk calmly with confidence. Do not talk too fast as this may pave way for tension and stage freight.
o Read your project thoroughly. Know basic definitions and terms used in the study.
o Expand the likely questions to 50. Feel free to add yours in the comment box below. Thanks and
God bless you.
o If you need ideas on contemporary project topics sample Click Here

What Is A Thesis Defense?

The thesis defense is the oral presentation and examination after finishing the writing process of thesis. The student has to
answer to the questions asked by the thesis defense committee members.
Thesis Defense Questions
Types
In your thesis defense, the questions will consist of the following types:
Probing Questions
Thesis defense committee members would like you to broaden its most controversial aspects.
Curious
Thesis defense committee will like you give an overall view of the field under study and your contribution to it.
Hostile
Thesis defense committee will expose an area of insufficiency.
Thesis Defense Tips
 Answer every question after considering its question.
 Don’t think that thesis defense committee will ask you too difficult questions. It is all about your thesis which you
already have written. So be confident that you will have the answers to their questions.
 Don’t jump to answer the question if you know the answer too well. Let the committee members finish it. They might
elaborate enough that you find some hints to answer too.
 Appreciate their questions. It gives you a chance to think about the answer as well as flatters the asker. It also
suggests that you have got the question very well.
 If any of the thesis defense committee members is malevolent, be tolerant about him/her, and try to win the sympathy
of others. Let him do it at the fullest, it might win you favor of the rest.
 Don’t hesitate to ask the members to clarify the question if you don’t get it clearly.

Thesis Defense Guidelines

In General

 Keep your advisor involved during your thesis because your advisor is an important part of your thesis defense
committee.
 Check out all audio/visual aids you will need while defending your thesis. Don’t underestimate their value.
 Be very clear about the aspects of your thesis that makes it different from the others in term of new findings. Rehearse
a speech about it because you will be asked to demonstrate it.
 You must represent your self elegantly and gracefully on thesis defense. The committee members may not give you
extra marks for good dressing but you will be the focal point for them. So it is very important to dress nicely on thesis
defense.
Female Students
Female students should wear conventional clothes suiting to an office environment on the day of thesis defense. No high heels
and jogging shoes.
Male students
Male students should also wear formal clothes suiting to an office environment on the day of thesis defense. Jogging shoes are
a no-no.
Questions
1. Based on your findings, what will your next research project be? How would you build on this
research? Where do you see this kind of research moving in the future? What are the openings?
How could you improve your work?

2. How can your research be used in practice?

3. What would you change if you were to do the study again? If you did it again what would you
do differently? What would you do differently if you were setting out to do it today? In hindsight,
is there any aspect of the research that you would do differently? Looking back, what might you
have done differently?

4. What are the main weaknesses with what you did and why are they there? What are the
strongest/weakest parts of your work?

5. What is the main contribution of your thesis? What have been the significant contributions of
your research? In what ways does this research make a significant contribution to your
particular field of study? What have you done that merits a PhD? Summarise your key findings.
What’s original about your work? Where is the novelty? What are the contributions (to
knowledge) of your thesis? What is the implication of your work in your area? What does it
change?

6. Why did you decide to undertake this specific project? What are the motivations for your
research? Why is the problem you have tackled worth tackling? What are the main aims,
questions, hypotheses? Where did your research-project come from? How did your research-
questions emerge? Why are your research questions interesting or important?

7. Comment on and justify your research methodology. Why have you done it this way? What are
the alternatives to your approach?

8. What are the principal findings of this research project? How do they compare the findings of
other projects within the field? Who are your closest competitors?

9. How has your thinking changed as a result of this research project? What have you learned
from the process of doing your PhD? Has your view of your research topic changed during the
course of the research?

10. In one sentence, what is your thesis?

11. What are you most proud of, and why?

12. Where do current technologies fail such that you (could) make a contribution?

13. Where did you go wrong?

14. How have you evaluated your work?

15. How do your contributions generalise?

 Comparison chart
Qualitative versus Quantitative comparison chart
Qualitative
Purpose The purpose is to explain and gain insight and
understanding of phenomena through
intensive collection of narrative data
Generate hypothesis to be test , inductive.
Approach to subjective, holistic, process- oriented
Inquiry
Hypotheses Tentative, evolving, based on particular study
Research Controlled setting not as important
Setting
Sampling Purposive: Intent to select “small, ” not
necessarily representative, sample in order to
get in-depth understanding
Measurement Non-standardized, narrative (written word),
ongoing
Design and Flexible, specified only in general terms in
Method advance of study Nonintervention, minimal
disturbance All Descriptive— History,
Biography, Ethnography, Phenomenology,
Grounded Theory, Case Study, (hybrids of
these) Consider many variable, small group
Data Document and artifact (something observed)
Collection that is collection (participant, non-
Strategies participant). Interviews/Focus Groups (un-
/structured, in-/formal). Administration of
questionnaires (open ended). Taking of
extensive, detailed field notes.
Data Analysis Raw data are in words. Essentially ongoing,
involves using the observations/comments to
come to a conclusion.
Data Conclusions are tentative (conclusions can
Interpretation change), reviewed on an ongoing basis,
conclusions are generalizations. The validity
of the inferences/generalizations are the
reader’s responsibility.
Contents: Qualitative vs Quantitative
 1 Type of data
 2 Applications of Quantitative and Qualitative Data
o 2.1 When to use qualitative vs. quantitative research?
 3 Analysis of data
Quantitative
The purpose is to explain, predict, and/or
control phenomena through focused
collection of numerical data. Test
hypotheses, deductive.
Objective, focused, outcome- oriented
Specific, testable, stated prior to
particular study
Controlled to the degree possible
Random: Intent to select “large, ”
representative sample in order to
generalize results to a population
Standardized, numerical (measurements,
numbers), at the end
Structured, inflexible, specified in detail
in advance of study Intervention,
manipulation, and control Descriptive
Correlation Causal-Comparative
Experimental Consider few variables,
large group
Observations (non-participant).
Interviews and Focus Groups (semi-
structured, formal). Administration of
tests and questionnaires (close ended).
Raw data are numbers Performed at end
of study, involves statistics (using
numbers to come to conclusions).
Conclusions and generalizations
formulated at end of study, stated with
predetermined degree of certainty.
Inferences/generalizations are the
researcher’s responsibility. Never 100%
certain of our findings.
 o 3.1 Data Explosion
 4 Effects of Feedback
 5 References

Type of data
Qualitative research gathers data that is free-form and non-numerical, such as diaries,
open-ended questionnaires, interviews and observations that are not coded using a
numerical system.
On the other hand, quantitative research gathers data that can be coded in a numerical
form. Examples of quantitative research include experiments or
interviews/questionnaires that used closed questions or rating scales to
collect information.

Applications of Quantitative and Qualitative Data

Qualitative data and research is used to study individual cases and to find out how
people think or feel in detail. It is a major feature of case studies.
Quantitative data and research is used to study trends across large groups in a precise
way. Examples include clinical trials or censuses.

When to use qualitative vs. quantitative research?

Quantitative and qualitative research techniques are each suitable in specific scenarios.
For example, quantitative research has the advantage of scale. It allows for vast
amounts of data to be collected -- and analyzed -- from a large number of people or
sources. Qualitative research, on the other hand, usually does not scale as well. It is
hard, for example, to conduct in-depth interviews with thousands of people or to analyze
their responses to open-ended questions. But it is relatively easier to analyze survey
responses from thousands of people if the questions are closed-ended and responses
can be mathematically encoded in, say, rating scales or preference ranks.
Conversely, qualitative research shines when it is not possible to come up with closed-
ended questions. For example, marketers often use focus groups of potential customers
to try and gauge what influences brand perception, product purchase
decisions, feelings and emotions. In such cases, researchers are usually at very early
stages of forming their hypotheses and do not want to limit themselves to their initial
understanding. Qualitative research often opens up new options and ideas that
quantitative research cannot due to its closed-ended nature.

Analysis of data
Qualitative data can be difficult to analyze, especially at scale, as it cannot be reduced
to numbers or used in calculations. Responses may be sorted into themes, and require
an expert to analyze. Different researchers may draw different conclusions from the
same qualitative material.
Quantitative data can be ranked or put into graphs and tables to make it easier to
analyze.

Data Explosion
Data is being generated at an increasing rate because of the expansion in the number
of computing devices and the growth of the Internet. Most of this data is quantitative and
special tools and techniques are evolving to analyze this "big data".

Effects of Feedback
The following diagram illustrates the effects of positive and negative feedback on
Qualitative vs Quantitative research:
 References

 Qualitative Quantitative - Simply Psychology

 Qualitative and Quantitative Research - University of Oxford

Introduction
Theoretical Framework

There are several theoretical frameworks, depending on the researcher’s goals and purposes,
that guide qualitative research in order to analyze data in education. For instance, the
researcher might want to describe behavior, understand beliefs or explain phenomena. To
explore these themes, the researcher should observe students, interview with students or
engage with students in the field to be studied. Therefore, he or she should follow one or more
theoretical frameworks. In this paper, phenomenography, developed by Marton (1986) as a
qualitative research theoretical framework, is presented. According to Marton (1986),
“Phenomenography is an empirical research tradition that was designed to answer questions
about thinking and learning, especially for educational research.”

Phenomenography

What is phenomenography? Phenomenography is the empirical study of the different ways in

which people think of the world. In other words, its aim is to discover the qualitatively
different ways in which people experience, conceptualize, realize and understand various
aspects of phenomena in the world around them (Martin et al., 1992). In phenomenographic
research, the researcher chooses to study how people experience a given phenomenon, not to
study a given phenomenon. Marton (1986) and Booth (1997) described phenomenography as:

“Phenomenography is focused on the ways of experiencing different phenomena, ways of

seeing them, knowing about them and having skills related to them. The aim is, however, not
to find the singular essence, but the variation and the architecture of this variation by different
aspects that define the phenomena” (Walker, 1998).
Phenomenography is related to a field of knowledge, which is defined by having experience
as the subject of the study. It takes a non-dualistic ontological perspective; meaning that
object and subject are not separate and independent of each other. When a textbook and
someone who is reading it are considered, we cannot assume the text in itself and the reader’s
conceptions are separate things. There is not going to be a textbook in itself, it always has
meaning to someone and it is not going to be independent from the reader (Walker, 1998).
Here is another example to make the relationship between the subject and object clearer.
When children are asked how the number 7 can be obtained, one might sense it as 5+2, but
another one may say 6+1 or 4+3. Their conclusions may be the result of an experience of the
number 7, the result of reflection or some other possibilities. In all cases, 7 is seen as a sum of
two pairs, 5 and 2, 6 and 1, or 4 and 3. Therefore, we simply cannot deal with an object
without experiencing or conceptualizing it in some way. In this sense, the subject (children)
and object (numbers) are not independent.

There are various ways in which people experience or understand a given phenomenon,
because different people experience a phenomenon in different ways. Phenomenographers
seek to identify the multiple conceptions that people have for a particular phenomenon. The
conception of researchers about a given phenomenon is not the focus of the study, because the
focus of phenomenographical study is about the conceptions that people have on certain
phenomenon. For instance, as referred to above about the textbook and the reader, we cannot
say the textbook is the same for each reader since each reader reads it in his or her way from
his or her own perspective. The purpose is to look at the ideas of readers about the textbook
from their perspectives (Walker, 1998). The researcher tries to be neutral to the ideas of the
participants in the study. As phenomenography is empirical research, the researcher or
interviewer is not studying his or her own awareness and reflection, but awareness and
reflection of the subjects or participants (Orgill, 2002). This is labeled “bracketing”. In other
words, bracketing means that the researcher must approach both the interview and the data to
be analyzed open-mindedly without any input from his or her perspectives .

For instance, investigating ways of experiencing of an introductory physics course by physics

students through a qualitatively designed study, is best viewed through the framework of
phenomenography, since this study is concerned with the ways of experiencing of an
introductory physics course by physics students. Likewise, it is concerned with the ways in
which physics students experience or understand selected concepts and principles of physics
(Martin et al., 1992). What is meant by “a way of experiencing? According to Morton (1986)
and Booth (1997), a way of experience is twofold. The first is the way in which the
phenomenon is distinguished from its context. This is sometimes called “external horizon”.
The latter is the way in which the phenomenon and its parts are related to one another. This is
sometimes called “internal horizon”. So, a way of experiencing depends on how the parts of
the phenomenon are distinguished and appear at the same time in the learner’s focal
awareness and the parts of it move into the background. While some aspects of the
phenomenon are brought into focal awareness (called the theme), other aspects of the
phenomenon remain in the theme (called the thematic field).

Here is an example from physics context to make the theme and thematic field clear:

A small insect flies directly into the windscreen of a bus traveling down a freeway and is
immediately killed as it is splattered onto the windscreen. Compare the relative size of the
impact force experienced by the insect and the bus, respectively, for the period of impact. The
thematic field may include the different aspects of the above situation as distinguished by
students or individuals such as the bus, the insect, the relative masses and velocities of the bus
and insect, general ideas about force and momentum, Newton’s Laws and intuitive ideas
about collisions. For example:
1. In one case, the focal awareness might be on the relative masses and velocities of the bus
and the insect. This focus on the small mass and velocities of the bus and the insect can lead
students to think that the insect must experience a bigger force (big enough to squash it)
compared with the force which the bus experiences (so small it is not noticeable).

2. In another case, the focal awareness may be on the bus and insect as two bodies interacting,
according to Newton’s Third Law. This focus can be on the identical, but opposite, forces that
each body exerts on the other; and in this case, the relative masses can be considered not with
different size forces, but instead, with different changes in velocity experienced by the bus
and the insect.

In above physics example, students’ experiences of physics phenomena depend on which

parts of the phenomena are brought into focal awareness. A scientific understanding or
experience of a physics phenomenon causes students have some critical aspects of the physics
phenomena in their focal awareness. These critical aspects of the phenomenon are necessary
for developing the scientific understanding in education. For example, in Newtonian
mechanics, one critical aspect may be the relationship between the body’s motion and the net
force action on it. Through a phenomenographic view, learning is about changing those
aspects of the phenomenon that are in the theme, and the role of teaching might focus on the
educationally critical aspects of a phenomenon. Therefore, the teachers can bring some
different variations into their local awareness for the students. For instance, if the teacher
extends the students’ experience of motion, this can expose the fact that the friction can be
brought into the students’ focal awareness (Linder & Marshall, 2003).

As was shown in the physics example above, students might experience a physics
phenomenon in different ways.

Another example related to this can be given from the educational psychology. Research was
done by Walker (1998) about investigating children’s learning. The children were asked to tell
their thoughts about how they understand learning.

Child A’s perspective: A seven-year-old girl. She enjoys school and thinks that she is a good
“learner” and wishes to be correct in her presentation and answers. When she is learning and
spelling, she strives to have learned all her weekly words correctly. She describes a “look,
cover, write, say” method which, having learnt at school, she applies and practices at home.
She likes to be in a quiet place when she is learning and insists that her mother test her
accuracy at breakfast most days. She describes the words as “sliding into her head and
sticking”. She understands that learning spelling helps her to do well in the weekly spelling
test and also enables story writing without constant reference to a dictionary which she feels
allows her down. She likes writing stories.

Child B’s perspective: B sees learning spellings as “boring” and does not try to learn spelling
at home. He is unclear about the “look, cover, write, say” method taught at school, and when
asked to display his approach, he looked at the word, covered his eyes and then tried to write
with his eyes on the word to be copied, not the word he was writing. All the while B was
repeating the word himself. B notices no reason for learning spelling other than to take the
weekly test.

In above examples, the children have formed some ideas on learning spelling. The experience
of learning spelling is different for each child. Child A is successful, and child B sees learning
spelling as meaningless and not worth the effort.
To apply phenomenography in educational research for data collection and analysis, the
interview, which is a semi-structured individual interview, is the preferred method. The aim of
the interview is:

To have the participant reflect on his/her experiences and then relate those experiences to the
interviewer in such a way that the two come to a mutual understanding about the meanings of
the experiences (or of the account of the experiences). (Orgill, 2002).

Interviews can be developed according to both the interviewee’s conversation and his or her
response to the predetermined questions. If the interviewee wants to further explain his or her
understanding about the phenomena, the interviewer should let him or her do so. When
explanations are not clear, the interviewer should ask questions such as “could you explain
that further?” (Barnard et al., 1999). The interviewer has to make it clear that the interview is
open and interviewee can think aloud, be doubtful and also pause. It is important for the
researcher not to evaluate the answers as being right or wrong. However, the researcher
should show that he or she is really interested in getting the subjects to express themselves
clearly (Sjöström & Dahlgren, 2002). Interviews focus on the world of the interviewee and
seek to reveal their beliefs, values, reality, feelings and experience of a phenomenon (Barnard
et al., 1999). For example, the following questions were obtained from Ornek’s study (2006),
which guided the study about discovering students’ thoughts, experiences, beliefs and feelings
about the physics course that they took.

1. Before you started this course, I am curious about what you expected the course to be like.

o What did you think would happen in lecture?

o What did you think would happen in lab?

o What did you think would happen in small groups?

2. a) How do you feel about lectures?

b) How do you feel about working in small groups?

c) How do you feel about computer simulations?

Also, as referred to above, to discover the way physics students’ experience or understand
selected topics or principles of physics, such as Newton’s Laws, think-aloud protocol
interviewing can be used in phenomenographic research. The think-aloud protocol approach
reveals what is happening in a person’s head when he orshe is performing a task. This task
might be solving a problem such as a physics problem or painting. Take, for example, a
physics problem. While the student is solving a physics problem, the goal is for the
interviewer to ask questions and have the student talk about what her or she is thinking. In
other words, the basic strategy is to get students, who are solving problems, to verbalize their
thoughts and feelings as they solve problems (Patton, p385). There is an example, which is a
physics problem, of a student’s response to a problem, including his thinking stage while he
was solving the problem, from Ornek’s study (2006) in Table 1.
What is the right methodological framework for
a qualitative research?
The researchers have to recognize that what might appear to be a totally new idea to them in terms of an “innovative
breakthrough” in their research might simply be a reflection of their own ignorance of the literature (Thornberg, 2012; Lempert,
2007).

As with all research, the researcher begins with a burning desire to answer a question to a
problem. The researcher employs a map or theoretical framework to provide direction for the
research. The researcher determines if the study is focused on a single or multiple entities as
well as will the study be in the participants natural environment or contextual. Ethnography,
Grounded theory, Case studies, Phenomenological research, and Narrative are five qualitative
research approaches.
Ethnography commonly utilized in the field of social science is a prolonged qualitative research
design aimed at exploring cultural phenomenon reflecting knowledge and meaning of a cultural
group such as historical formations, compositions, resettlements, social welfare characteristics,
materiality, spirituality, and a people's heritage (Creswell, 2009). The researcher provides a brief
history as well as an analysis of the natural habitat. Ethnography inquiry should be reflexive
from the researcher as experienced by the subjects to form an understanding of the human
condition of the population being studied in order to impact the audience emotionally. In
providing reflexivity, the researcher must be aware of biases that may impact the study. The
researcher recruits participants that are knowledgeable of the culture as data collection by
conducting audio and video interviews, field notes, and surveys; then transcribing the data into
contextual data.
Grounded theory is a complex iterative process (Trochim, 2006) in qualitative research to
develop theory surrounding phenomenon grounded in observation. The research begins with
the raising of multiplicative questions which aids to guide the research, however, are not
intended to be either stagnant or sequestering. Core theoretical concept(s) are identified as the
researcher gathers data. Trochim (2006) notes tentative linkages are developed between the
theoretical core concepts and the data; while the research is open and can take months to form
verification and summary in the later phase to cumulate one core theme.
In a case study the researcher explores a particular entity or phenomenon identified as “the
case” restricted by time and activity (e.g., a program, event, institution, or social group) and
collects detailed information through a multitude of data collection procedures over a constant
period of time (Creswell, 1994, 2007). The case study provides a descriptive account of the
entities’ experiences and/or behaviors kept by the researcher through field notes, interviews
(formal and conversational), survey, or observation (Patton, 2002).
Phenomenological research identifies the essence of human experience about a phenomenon
as described by the participants (Creswell, 2009). The researcher is utilized as an instrument to
interact and collaborate with participants through observation in the participant’s natural
environment. This method is useful for gathering stories, narratives and anecdotes from
individuals and groups of people. The researcher can adopt one of four roles as a participant
observer. A "complete observer" does not participate at all in the group studied, while a
"complete participant" engages fully in group activities. In both these roles, the group is unaware
of the observer's status as a researcher. A "participant-as-observer" participates in the activities
of the group, as does an "observer-as-participant," though on a more minimal scale. For both of
these roles, group members are aware of the researcher's role.
Narrative inquiry is utilized to acquire a deeper understanding in which individuals organize and
derive meaning from events (Polkinghorne, 1995) by studying the impact of social structures on
an individual and how that relates to identity, intimate relationships, and family (Frost, 2011).
The researcher is the tool for extracting the meaning and telling the experience(s) of the event
as observed by the researcher in the subjects natural environment. The researcher employs
field notes, interviews, autobiographies, and photos of the human experience and provide
context to develop a deeper, richer understanding for the audience.
I hope this helps, Mark!
References
Creswell, J. W. (2009). Research Design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods
approaches (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
Creswell, J. W. (2007). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five
approaches (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
Creswell, J.W. (1994). Research Design: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches. Sage
Publications: Thousand Oaks, CA. Denzin, N.K. & Lincoln, Y.S. (1998). Collecting and
interpreting qualitative materials. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publication.
Frost, David M. (2011). "Stigma and Intimacy in Same Sex Relationships: A Narrative
Approach". Journal of Family Psychology 25 (1).
Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative research and evaluation methods (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks,
CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
Polkinghorne, Donald (1995). "Narrative Configuration in Qualitative Analysis". Qualitative
Studies in Education 8 (1).
Trochim, W. M. K. (2006). The research methods knowledge base. Retrieved from:
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH DESIGN

(Based on Qualitative Research Design. An Interactive Approach, 2nd edition, by Joseph A.

Maxwell, Sage Publications, 2005).

Qualitative research

 Inductive approach

 Focus on specific situations or people

 Emphasis on words rather than numbers

Research design. the arrangement of elements governing the functioning of a study.

Interactive model of research design:

The underlying structure and interconnection of the components of the study and the
implications of each component for the others.

5 components: (i) purpose; (ii) conceptual context; (iii) research questions; (iv) methods;
and (v) validity.

PURPOSES

What are the ultimate goals of this study? What issues is it intended to illuminate, and
what practices will it influence? Why do you want to conduct it, and why should we care
about the results? Why is the study worth doing?

Find an unanswered, empirically answerable question to which the answer is worth

knowing.

Two functions:

 They help you guide your other design decisions to ensure that your study is worth
doing.

 They are crucial to justifying your study.

Three kinds of purposes:

 Personal purposes

 Practical purposes: accomplishing something.

  Research purposes: understanding something, gaining some insight into what is going
on and why this is happening.

o They need to be empirically answerable by your study. You need to frame your
research questions in ways that help your study to advance your purposes rather
than smuggling these purposes into the research questions themselves.

5 types of research purposes for which qualitative research studies are specifically suited:

 Understanding the meaning of events, situations, actions, and accounts of lives and
experiences.

 Understanding the context with which participants act, and the influence that this
context has on their actions.

 Identifying unanticipated phenomena and influences and generating new grounded

theories.

 Understanding the process by which events and actions take place.

 Developing causal explanations.

CONCEPTUAL CONTEXT (THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK)

What do you think is going on with the phenomena you plan to study? What theories,
findings, and conceptual frameworks relating to these phenomena will guide or inform your
study, and what literature, preliminary research, and personal experience will you draw on?

The system of concepts, assumptions, beliefs, and theories that supports and informs your
research. It explains the main things to be studies and the presumed relationships among
them.
It is a formulation of what you think is going on with the phenomena you are studying –a
tentative theory of what is happening and why.

It helps you develop and select realistic and relevant research questions and methods, and
identify potential validity threats to your conclusions.

This component of the design contains the theory that you already have or are developing
about the setting or issues that you are studying.

There are four main sources to construct the theoretical framework (conceptual context):

(i) your own experience: experiential data, researchers’ technical knowledge,

research background and personal experiences.
(ii) existing theory and research
(iii) the results of any pilot studies or preliminary research that you have done to test
your ideas or methods and explore their implications or to inductively develop
grounded theory.
(iv) thought experiments: speculation, what if questions.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

What, specifically, do you want to understand by doing this study? What do you not know
about the phenomena you are studying that you want to learn? What questions will your
research attempt to answer, and how are these questions related to one another?

You need to do a significant part of the research before it is clear what specific questions
you should try to answer. Specific questions are generally the result of an interactive design
process, rather than being the starting point for that process.

Functions of research questions

In a research proposal: to explain specifically what your study will attempt to learn or
understand.

In research design, two other functions: (i) to help you focus the study (relationship to
purposes and conceptual context); and (ii) to give you guidance on how to conduct it
(relationship to methods and validity).

Hypothesis are generally formulated after the researcher has begun the study, they are
grounded in the data and are developed and tested in interaction with it, rather than being
prior ideas that are simply tested against data as in quantitative research.

Proposition. You may state your ideas about what is going on as part of the process of
theorizing and data analysis.

You need to treat hypothesis critically, continually asking yourself what alternative ways
there are of making sense of your data.

Generalizing question: stated in broad, generalizing terms.

Particularizing questions: stated in narrow, particularizing terms.

Instrumentalist: formulate questions in terms of observable or measurable data, worrying

about potential validity threats.
Realist: They treat data as fallible evidence about the phenomena, to be used critically to
develop or test ideas about the existence and nature of the phenomena.

Variance questions: they focus on difference and correlation, e.g., does, how much, to what
extent, is there.

Process questions: they focus on how things happen, rather than whether there is a particular
relationship or how much it is explained by other variables.

Types of understanding in qualitative research

 Description: what happened in terms of observable behaviour or events.

  Interpretation: about the meaning of these things for people involved: their thoughts,
feelings, and interpretation.
 Theory: about how these things happen and how they can be explained.

 Generalization: focus on the generality or wider prevalence of the phenomena studied

(not appropriate for qualitative research).
 Evaluation: how such phenomena should be evaluated (not appropriate for qualitative
research).

METHODS

What will you actually do in conducting this study? What approaches and techniques will
you use to collect and analyze your data, and how do these constitute an integrated strategy?

It includes:

 Your research relationship with the people you study.

 Your site selection and sampling decisions: you can’t study everyone everywhere
doing everything, even in single cases. Purposeful sampling: strategy in which
particular settings, persons, or events are selected deliberately in order to provide
important information that cannot be obtained as well from other choices.

 Your data collection methods:

o The relationship between research questions and data collection methods. There
is no way to logically or mechanically convert research questions into methods.
The methods are the means to answering the research questions. Your research
questions formulate what you want to understand; your interview questions are
what you ask people in order to gain that understanding.
o Triangulation of data collection methods. Collecting data using a variety of
sources and methods.
  The data analysis techniques. Data analysis is part of the design. The initial step is
reading the interview transcripts, observational notes, and documents : (i) memos; (ii)
categorizing strategies, such as coding and thematic analysis; (iii) connecting
strategies, such as narrative analysis. Coding –the most important strategy, is to
fracture the data and to rearrange them into categories that facilitate comparison
between things in the same category and that aid in the development of theoretical
concepts or to categorize the data into broader themes and issues.

VALIDITY

How might you be wrong? What are the plausible alternative explanations and validity
threats to the potential conclusions of your study, and how will you deal with these? How
do the data that you have, or that you could collect, support or challenge your ideas about
what is going on? Why should we believe your results?

It depends on the relationship of the conclusions to reality. No method can guarantee

validity. What is needed is the possibility of testing the conclusions, giving the phenomenon
that we are studying the possibility to be wrong.

Validity is a component of the research design and consists of the strategies you use to
identify and try to rule out alternative explanations, i.e., validity threats. So, you need to
think of specific validity threats and try to think of what strategies are best to deal with these.

Validity checklist

 Intensive, long-term involvement.

 Rich data: data that are detailed and vaired
 Respondent validation: participant’s feedback
 Intervention: informal manipulations
 Search for discrepant evidence and negative cases
 Triangulation: collecting information from a diverse range of individuals and settings,
and using a variety of methods.
  Quasi-statistics
 Comparison

RESEARCH PROPOSALS

The purpose of a proposal is to explain and justify your proposed study to an audience
of nonexperts on your topic.

A proposal is an argument for your study. It needs to explain the logic behind the proposed
research, rather than simply describe or summarize the study, and to do so in a way
that nonspecialists will understand.

A model for proposal structure

 Abstract: an overview and roadmap of the study itself and the argument of your
proposal.
 Introduction: explain what you want to do and why. It should clearly present the
goals of your study and the problems it addresses, and give an overview of your main
research questions and of the kind of study you are proposing. It should also explain
the structure of the proposal itself.
 Conceptual framework: (literature review) (i) how your proposed research fits into
what is already known –its relationship to existing theory and research-; (ii) explain
the theoretical framework that informs your study. Don’t summarize prior theory and
research. Ground your proposed study in the relevant previous work, and give the
reader a clear sense of your theoretical approach to the phenomena that you propose
to study. Pilot studies that you have done must be discussed in the proposal,
explaining their implications for your research. It can be done either at the end of the
conceptual framework, in a separate section after the conceptual framework, or after
the presentation of your research questions.
 Research questions: (i) state your questions, (ii) clarify how your questions relate to
prior research and theory, to your own experience and exploratory research, and to
your goals; and (iii) how these questions form a coherent whole, rather than being a
random collection of queries about your topic.
 Research methods: Include a description of the setting or social context of your
study. (i) research design in the typological sense; (ii) the research relationship you
establish with those you are studying; (iii) site and participant selection; (iv) data
collection, i.e., how you will get the information you need to answer your research
questions; and (v) data analysis. Also ethics need to be discussed here or in a separate
section.
 Validity: how you will use different methods to address a single validity thereat or
how a particular validity issue will be dealt with through selection, data collection,
and analysis decisions. You must allow for the examination of competing
explanations and discrepant data, i.e., that your research is not a self-fulfilling
prophecy.
 Preliminary results: discuss what you have learned so far about the practicality of
your methods or tentative answers to your research questions. This discussion is
valuable in justifying the feasibility of your study and clarifying your methods.
 Conclusion: You need to pull together what you have said in the previous sections,
remind your readers of the goals of your study and what it will contribute, and discuss
its potential relevance and implications for the broader field/s that it is situated in.
This section should answer any so what question.
 References: only the references actually cited.
 Appendixes: (i) a timetable for the research; (ii) letters of introduction or permission;
(iii) questionnaires, interview guides, or other instruments; (iv) a list of possible
interviewees; (v) a schedule of observations; (vi) descriptions of analysis techniques
or software; (vii) a table of relationships among questions, methods, data, and analysis
strategies; and (viii) examples of observation notes or interview transcripts from pilot
studies or completed parts of the study.