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Introduction to the Subject

This culminating activity


develops critical thinking
and problem solving skills
through qualitative and
quantitative researches.
INVEMMS
research. 1.a. the systematic
investigation into and study of
materials, sources, etc, in order to
establish facts and reach new
conclusions.
b. an endeavour to discover new or
collate old facts etc by the scientific
study of a subject or by a course of
critical investigation. [Oxford Concise
Dictionary]
• Research is what we do when we have a
question or a problem we want to resolve
• We may already think we know the answer
to our question already
• We may think the answer is obvious,
common sense even
• But until we have subjected our problem to
rigorous scientific scrutiny, our 'knowledge'
remains little more than guesswork or at
best, intuition.
• First priority is to formulate your question
• Then figure out how you are going to
answer it
• How have others answered it?
• How does your proposal fit in with what
others have done?
• How will you know when you have
answered it?
• Then you can present your answer
 Usually start with ‘ how,’ ‘what’ or ‘why’.

 Contain an independent and a dependent variable.

 Look at connections, relations or comparisons between variables.

 Types of quantitative research questions with examples:

 Descriptive questions are usually simple questions that ask about ‘how much’ or ‘how often’ or look for a list of
things/factors.
 Example: How often do people aged 30 to 40 visit their parents?

 These type of questions are useful for simple studies, but would not be robust enough for a dissertation.

 Causal questions try to determine a relationship between two variables or they compare two variables.

 Example: How does stress at work relate to quality of life in people working night shifts? (a relationship question)

 Example: How do lean participants compare to obese participants in their frequency and intensity of food cravings?
(a comparison question)
 Predictive questions try to forecast an outcome. Studies that result from these questions are often controversial as it
is hard to single out one variable and unquestionably link it to an outcome. You need to be confident that you can
indeed ensure a controlled environment, one in which you are able to control for other variables and observe only
the effect of your chosen variable.
 Example: Does a stressful work environment lead to higher turnover rates?
 Usually start with ‘what’ or ‘how’ (avoid beginning qualitative questions with
‘why’ as this implies cause and effect).
 Identify the central phenomenon you plan to explore (tell in your question
what you are going to describe, explore, generate, discover, understand).
 Avoid the use of quantitative words such as relate, influence, effect, cause.
 With qualitative research, you will usually have one central question and
possibly also some sub-questions to narrow the phenomenon under study
further. The sub-questions will generally be more specific.
 Examples of qualitative research questions:
 What is it like growing up in a single-parent family in a rural environment?
 What are the experiences of people working night shifts in health care?
 How would overweight people describe their meal times while dieting?

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