Formulating Research Questions
The questions that you ask in your research will determine the data that you want to have, answer, and specify in Chapter 4. Hence, it is a crucial stage to attain your research objective. Research questions help writers focus their research by providing a path through the research and writing process. You should ask a question about an issue that you are genuinely curious and/or passionate about. The question you ask should be developed for the discipline you are studying. A question directed towards Literature, for instance, is different from an appropriate one in Mathematics to Biology.
Let’s get into the details
A research question is an answerable inquiry into a specific concern or issue. It is the initial step in a research project. The research question is the first active step in ther esearch project. Let us use this metaphor – the research project is a house. Your data collection forms the walls, and your hypothesis that guides your data collection is the foundation. So, what is the research question? It is the ground beneath the foundation. It is what everything in a research project is built on. Without a question, you can't have a hypothesis. Without the hypothesis, you won't know how to study what you're interested in.
A research question forms the base of where you are going, so we have to write a good research question. If your foundation is built on something shifty, like a house built on sand, then everything following that will be about correcting that initial issue instead of on making an awesome home/research project.
Writing a Research Question
Writing a good research question means you have something you want to study. Let's say you're interested in the effects of television. We will examine the steps and then look at how you could write a research question.
· Decide what you want to know about the specific concern or issue
· Turn what you want to know and the specific concern into a question
· Ensure that the question is answerable
· Check to make sure the question is not too broad or too narrow
· This is the basic process in writing a research question. Writing a good
question
will result in a better research project.
A research question should be (from the Writing Center of George Mason
University):
· Clear. It provides enough specifics that one’s audience can easily understand
its
purpose without needing additional explanation.
· Focused. It is narrow enough that it can be answered thoroughly in the space
the
writing task allows.
· Concise. It is expressed in the fewest possible words.
· Complex. It is not answerable with a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’, but rather requires
synthesis
and analysis of ideas and sources prior to composition of an answer.
· Arguable. Its potential answers are open to debate rather than accepted facts.
Writing the Thesis Statement
Every paper you write should have a main point, a main idea, or central message. The argument(s) you make in your paper should reflect this main idea. The sentence that captures your position on this main idea is what we call a thesis statement.
A thesis statement focuses your ideas into one or two sentences. It should present the topic of your paper and also make a comment about your position in relation to the topic. Your thesis statement should tell your reader what the paper is about and also help guide your writing and keep your argument focused.
You should provide a thesis early in your essay -- in the introduction, or in longer essays in the second paragraph -- in order to establish your position and give your reader a sense of direction.
Tip: In order to write a successful
thesis statement:
A. Avoid burying a great thesis statement in the middle of a paragraph or late
in
the paper.
B. Be as clear and as specific as possible; avoid vague words.
C. Indicate the point of your paper but avoid sentence structures like, “The
point
of my paper is…”
Tips in Writing Clear Thesis:
Your thesis statement is no exception to your writing: it needs to be as
clear as possible. By being as clear as possible in your thesis statement,
you will make sure that your reader understands exactly what you mean.
Tip: In order to be as clear as
possible in your writing:
· Unless you're writing a technical report, avoid technical language. Always
avoid
jargon, unless you are confident your audience will be familiar
with it.
· Avoid vague words such as "interesting,” "negative, "exciting,” "unusual,"
and
"difficult."
· Avoid abstract words such as "society," “values,” or “culture.”
SCOPE AND DELIMITATION THE SCOPE OF YOUR STUDY
The scope of study in your research paper contains the explanation of what information or subject is being analyzed. It is followed by an explanation of the limitation of the research.
Research usually limited in scope by sample size, time and geographic area; while the delimitation of study is the description of the scope of study. It will explain why definite aspects of a subject were chosen and why other were excluded. It also mentions the research method used as well as the certain theories applied to the data.
YOUR STUDY AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE
Writing a research paper has its purpose-- may it be for you (as a researcher) or even for others. That is why, you need to identify the key reason/s why you are taking a step forward and make your query into a formal writing. In this stage, your ‘WHYs’ and ‘HOWs’ will be answered and explained. Before taking this step, read the following notes:
Tips in Writing the Significance of the Study (Regoniel, 2015)
A. Refer to the statement of the problem
Your problem statement can guide you in identifying the specific contribution of your study. You can do this by observing a one-to-one correspondence between the statement of the problem and the significance of the study.
For example, if you ask the question ‘Is there a significant relationship between the teacher’s teaching style and the students’ long quiz scores in Mathematics?’ then the contribution of your research would probably be a teaching style or styles that can help students perform better in Mathematics. Your research will demonstrate that teaching style really works. That could be a groundbreaking approach that will change the way teachers teach Mathematics which students are hesitant of.
B. Write from general to specific contribution
Write the significance of the study by looking into the general contribution of your study, such as its importance to society as a whole, then proceed downwards—towards its contribution to individuals and that may include yourself as a researcher. You start off broadly then taper off gradually to a specific group or person.
Sample Significance of the Study
The findings of this study will underscore to the benefit of society considering that mathematics play an important role in science and technologies today. The greater demand for graduates with Mathematics background justifies the need for more effective, life changing teaching approaches. Thus, schools that apply the recommended approach derived from the results of this study will be able to train students better. Administrators will be guided on what should be emphasized by teachers in the school curriculum to improve students’ performance in Mathematics. For the researcher, the study will help them uncover critical areas in the educational process that many researchers were not able to explore. Thus, a new theory on learning mathematics may be arrived at.