Moving from topic to research question

3105 Plenary Session # 9

18 January 2013
Kees Biekart
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Overview of this session

RP process and planning From topic to question Asking questions, defining research problems Combining argument and evidence Adding to knowledge?

What did we do so far in 3105?

Information literacy workshops
Finding, evaluating, processing information Making correct references Using Refworks and Write-and-Cite

Choosing Research Techniques

Courses in Term 2 and 3 (2 x 4 EC; 1 x 8 EC)

Introducing the Research Paper

Student panel & Staff panel in December 2012
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Organization: 3105 logistics

Five plenaries (one a fortnight) and five small group workshops per Major (in the weeks following the plenaries) The plenaries will cover some of the key topics to prepare for the Research Paper The workshops will allow for further discussion in smaller groups and discussions with Major staff

You will write your RP as part of your Major

Moodle 3105 covers the plenaries; the Major Moodle covers the workshops
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The RP Process 2013 (1)

RP Preparation plenaries (5) and RP Preparation workshops (5)
With the Staff of your Major Every Major has different preferences

RP Proposal >> 15 April 2013

Describes initial RP idea: process of moving from topic to research question drawing on relevant literature Appointments of supervisor and second reader Some Majors want to assign supervisors already in February, others prefer to do so in April
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The RP Process 2013 (2)

RP Design Seminars >> 21-24 May 2013
Develop the RP Design with guidance and support from your supervisor in March-April Everyone will have his/her own 50 minutes seminar Formal feedback from colleague students and second reader on RP Draft Design

RP Design >> 7 June 2013

Submit refined RP Design Will be assessed on pass/re-submission basis for the 3105 course
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The RP Process 2013 (3)

RP Draft submission >> 16 September 2013 Summary of data collected and preliminary processing looking towards final conclusions Any revision of RP research question
RP Draft Seminars >> 23 Sept 2 Oct 2013 Formal (and written) feedback from peers and second reader Basis for writing final RP version (6 weeks)
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The RP Process 2013 (4)

Final RP submission >> 13 November 2013
Answering research questions (and reflecting on usefulness of literature and data limitations) Max 17,500 words; language edited; correctly referenced; nicely structured and presented

RP Grade and Comments >> 10 Dec 2013

Written feedback from supervisor and second reader, and a final grade (based on average) Potentially: nominated for RP Award

MA Graduation >> 13 December 2013

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Sources of Assistance for your RP

All your ISS courses and readings
ISS RP Design and RP Draft seminars

Your RP supervisor
Your second reader (at strategic points) Your colleagues Your Major convenor(s) Me
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What is research?
Gathering information to answer a question that solves a problem
But not all problem-solving leads to (reliable) research output Research is demanding: finding a good question, sound data, a solid argument, supporting clear answer (!) Be critical and skeptical to research reports: some of it is bad, and even faked
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Who is your audience?

Be aware of the role of writer and reader
Who do you wish your research to inform? Who do you want to convince you have made a contribution to knowledge?

What do your various readers expect? Are there conflicting demands needing more than one document?
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From a (personal) interest to a topic

Read recent articles, recent RPs
Look at conclusions: suggestions for further research Look for current points of controversy Search for review essays in recent development studies journals If you have ideas on broad topic, try to narrow it down by asking questions (to focus it)
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From a focused topic to a research question

Dont jump straight from topic to data
Posing questions is essential, as it will guide the research Ask how and why, rather than what, when and who

Ask analytical questions about the composition, history, categorization, and values of your topic
Combine questions
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From an interesting question to a significant question

Ask yourself: so what?
Phrase the question (I am studying)

Add a question what you want to know about your topic (what, how, where, when, whether)
Add a question why you choose this topic (motivation, significance) Go beyond I believe and we know to: I have found out..
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From an interesting question to a significant question

The challenge inherent in applied research is transforming a practitioners problem into a researchable problem (Ben White, 2009)

Question for discussion: Why is researching development especially challenging?

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From research question to problem

Three steps in designing the question: topic, question (significance, relevance)
From practical problem to research problem (the research question) From to research problem to research answer (finding out) From research answer to practical problem (solving)

Practical / social problem / issue

Helps to solve

Motivates

Research answer Research

answer
Finds Defines

Research question Research

question

Research problem
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Source: Booth et al. (2003: 58)

Forms of questions
What? Empirical description of experiences being researched Who? People having those experiences Where? Spatial extent of applicability of research When? Time horizon of the research; duration of experiences How? More immediate causal linkages determining the experiences Why? Underlying structural/meta-narrative reasons for the experiences
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From a topic to possible theoretical explanations?

Converting a belief into non-evaluative, conditional, causal questions explaining the experiences that concern you Useful concepts and potential causal relationships can be obtained from: the experiences of yourself and others (colleagues, faculty) the academic literature mass media, the internet, popular opinion your imagination Tip: scope as long a list as you can, including reasons you do not like. Stop reading the 21 literature when the list stops growing

Bringing empirical and theoretical factors into research questions

Challenge: keep the main research question manageable Keep sub-questions conceptually and empirically close to your main question. While keeping all the possible causal relationships alive, it is worth focusing on one or two key relationships in your main research question other relationships can go into sub-questions. When reviewing your potential data sources, you may add sub-questions on the conceptual appropriateness and likely accuracy of the data.
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Examples of research questions and sub questions

Which successful measures have been implemented by local human rights organizations in country A to encourage teenagers to step out of criminal gangs?
What has been the role of international development NGOs? How far did parental concerns about harassment in school or on journeys to and from school influence girls enrolment and attendance in village B in the last year?

What are the implications for the Education for All global agenda?
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From research questions to hypotheses

Not a necessary journey, but may be useful: Origins in the physical sciences

A hypothesis is your best guess empirical answer to the research question theoretical relationship and is usually compared with the absence of a relationship (null hypothesis)
Dichotomous testing confirmation/ falsification But often expressed as a stochastic/probabilistic prediction of a relationship to take account of sampling error (represented population much larger than cases investigated)
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Examples of hypotheses
Erasing visible tattoos by members of criminal gangs is a key condition for them to step out of the group. Null hypothesis: no statistically significant relationship when other possible causal variables are included in the test. Parental concerns with harassment in school significantly determine their daughters school enrolments. Null hypothesis: little evidence of such concerns expressed by parents in focus groups when compared with other concerns.
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Workshop suggestion
Look at a ISS Research Papers from previous years:
How is the topic introduced (significance, relevance)? How do you assess the research question and any sub-questions? Do you think the research problem was correctly explained?

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Combining argument and evidence to producing quality research(1)

Eight Steps
(1) Developing research question in the light of existing theories (2a) Identifying key variables and their logically causal relationships >> linking variables to indicators, OR (2b) Identifying population for generalisation >> selecting case study/sample data sets for investigation
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Combining argument and evidence to producing quality research(2)

(3) Assessing quality of observation tools and representativeness of data
(4) Ethics and risk assessment (5) Data collection / quality assurance (6) Data processing (7) Analysis and answering research question (8) Presenting and reflecting on evidence

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From theory to empirical observation

KEY RELATIONSHIP INDICATOR(S) AND DATA COLLECTION TOOLS AVAILABLE DATA AND FIELDWORK DATA Recent unanalysed survey data available from an NGO in the area; will need to talk to people who conducted the survey about challenges they faced

Internal gang Gang members responses to discipline offers questionnaire on reasons for not more personal stepping out of criminal gangs security, even in prisons, than outside the prison Parental views on harassment in schools as a reason for not sending girls to school

Parental responses to sensitive, Local education authority visual prompts depicting girls in the statistics. Fieldwork data school environment feasible through village level focus groups with parents

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Adding to knowledge ?
Development studies research often makes epistemological claims to adding to knowledge by providing a high quality mix of four elements: New concepts/theory New observations and/or new ways of combining existing observations New evaluative criteria New predictions/prescriptions
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Bottom line
Your research is a journey into a terrain where the previous maps are not totally accurate
Your RP job is to improve some details and relate your map to pre-existing maps Your role is NOT to map the whole world or only to explore your own backyard
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