Developing Research Question and Hypothesis

Developing a Research Question At the beginning of every research, specific research questions should be clarified before a data collection process. By making a specific scientific inquiry, the research acquires its thematic focus. However, before a research question is refined, it is imperative to define what type of research is engaged, as well as what kind of variables are involved into the scientific exploration.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Developing Research Question and Hypothesis specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Hence, there are two types of research – descriptive and exploratory. In order to focus on a descriptive research, several aspects should be discussed (De Vaus, 2002). First, time frames of interest must be defined to narrow the focus of research. Second, geographic location of interest should be highlighted, as well as patterns and features of the chosen groups within this location (De Vaus, 2002). Finally, once location and time are defined, it is necessary to define the topic limits of the research. All these aspects build a starting point of the research and focus on a particular problem in a broader context. When exploratory research is concerned, the emphasis should be placed on the analysis of causes and effects (De Vaus, 2002). The second step will involve enumeration of the sequence of cause-and-effect lines that fit the topic. Third, it is strongly suggested to look through previous researches to find out what other scholars have introduced, as well as what implications they defined for further research (De Vaus, 2002). Using limitations and implications can allow to build a foundation for a new topic of research. Overall, descriptive research is less sophisticated than exploratory and, therefore, it influences the development of research questions. Thus, descriptive research questions focus on describing an event whereas exploratory research questions i nvolve a synthesis of factors that are interrelated and influence each other. Developing a Hypothesis A research question formulation is more typical of qualitative research where observations and surveys will give answers to a specific problem. In contrast, a hypothesis aims either to accept or to reject the thesis. At the early stage of research design, a tentative assumption is defined, which is called the null hypothesis and is traditionally denoted H0 (Anderson et al., 2011). While formulating the above-presented hypotheses, the importance of situational context is incredible because it affects further procedures of sample collection (Anderson et al., 2011). Apart from the actual procedures of hypotheses development, two important questions should be posed. Specifically, the researcher should clearly identify the purpose of the sample collection, as well as predict the desirable conclusion that can be reached while defining the hypothesis.Advertising Looking for essay on e ducation? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More While defining both types of hypotheses, it is not necessarily to follow the established succession. In certain situations, it is more reasonable to develop an alternative hypothesis and formulate the null hypothesis and vice versa. Because null hypothesis challenges the alternative one, which is the opposition to the former, the outcome should withdraw one assumption and accept another (Anderson et al., 2011). Therefore, both hypotheses are mutually exclusive. Narrowing Down the Focus of Research Questions and Hypotheses Refining the scope of a research question is a daunting task. Because data collection should be initiated, the research question should be flexible, but further exploration will require specificity (Kirby et al., 2006). This stage of focusing and narrowing should be connected with the strategies to define the topic that would captivate the audience and advance the research process. In this respect, the research question should relate to the research scope, but it should be too specific that makes it difficult to answer (Kirby et al., 2006). A question should invite the scholar to search information so as it is easy to define which keywords should be used to direct the research. Further, a question should be connected to the existing experiences of a researcher. Finally, the research question should correspond with the results, as well as resonate the community’s concerns (Kirby et al., 2006). The actuality and relevancy of the research question will help the researcher to find out the actual value of the scientific exploration. The research questions can both address qualitative and quantitative concerns. For instance, it is possible to ask what percentage of population has a certain experience in apposition to the one who lack such (Kirby et al., 2006). Alternatively, the research question can fin out the nature of experience and certain patt erns of behavior that are influenced under a new program or innovation. Focusing on the scope of a research hypothesis, specific topic should be highlighted. For instance, in case the topic is consumer behavior, it is purposeful to first define the percentage of women buying a specific product, as well as the number of males involved in buying a specific product (Panneerselvam, 2004). Further, income level should also be introduced to define how it influences the distribution of buying capacity. As soon as all these interaction have been detected, a null hypothesis can be defined. For example, the null hypothesis will be females buy cosmetics more frequent than males where the alternative hypothesis female do not buy cosmetics more frequent than males.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Developing Research Question and Hypothesis specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More References Anderson, D. R., Sweeney, D. J., and Willi ams, T. A. (2011). Statistics for Business and Economics. US: Cengage Learning. De Vaus, D. A. (2002). Surveys in Social Research. US: Routledge. Kirby, S. L., Greaves, L., and Reid, C. (2006). Experience Research Social Change: Methods beyond the Mainstream. Canada: University of Toronto. Panneerselvam, R. (2004). Research Methodology. US: PHI Learning. This essay on Developing Research Question and Hypothesis was written and submitted by user Lewis Kane to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

The Writer Unplugged - Freewrite Store

The Writer Unplugged - Freewrite Store This is a guest post by Selena Chambers, who writes in Florida. Selena  is co-author of the Hugo and World-Fantasy nominated THE STEAMPUNK BIBLE (Abrams Image), and is currently writing a travel guide to STEAMPUNK PARIS (Pelekenisis Press) with Arthur Morgan out later this year. You can follow her at:   www.selenachambers.wordpress.com or steampunkparis.com. Distraction is the greatest form of resistance a writer faces on a daily basis. I’ve been struggling with it for years, and have come close to throwing my laptop in the trash and running as far away from the publishing game as possible. What kept me from giving up? Slowly realizing that other writers (especially those who seem like they have their act together in the public eye) and creatives struggle with the same issues. Evading distraction and finding focus is, of course, a personal journey and you have to find what works for you and your environment, but in speaking with my friends and gazing into my own navel, I have realized that distraction comes in two forms:   that which takes you closer to writing, and that which takes you away from it. The former is Life and all its abstracts:   birth, death, health, sickness, economy, employment, politics, friendship, family, solitude, love, sex, hate, education, and travel. True, not much writing is happening while undergoing these experiences, but they all inform it by putting you physically in the world to observe, absorb, and feel. It shapes your perspective, gives you an impulse and ultimately grants you something to say. The other kind of distraction, that which takes you away from your writing, are the activities designed for amusement and instant gratification and while relaxing, do very little to inform the work, even though we may trick ourselves in to thinking so. For some, it may be playing video games, binging on Girls, fingernails that need clipping, or in my case, going online.   By no means is this some kind of Jonathan Franzen rant. I love the internet. It is ubiquitous with all the things, and while that is a modern-day marvel, its pervasiveness can be a modern-day time sink. When I sit down to write, I have no problem ignoring my eyebrows and the cat bunnies blowing by like tumbleweeds under the A/C vents, because I can resist the urge to get up from my desk to go handle them. Not so the online â€Å"to-do† list, which is much harder to disregard because all the tools are right here at my fingertips. More often than not, on days when the writing is like digging into dry Georgia clay, I find myself mulling over this list. With a few clicks, I am out of Scrivener’s composition mode, and am in Safari riding the instant gratification wave of multitasking immediacy. I’ll send out queries, answer e-mails, answer social media direct messages, respond to tags and mentions, make a blog post, share the blog post, console in friends and families tribulations, cheer on peers and colleagues triumphs, read this timely article and discuss that timely article, read this stupid drama and discuss even more, scan recent calls for submissions, research a story idea, seek source texts, and when all of that is done, pay bills. I can kill a whole day checking things like this off and feel pretty good about myself. The next day, however, when I am back with that blank page, I would realize how much was left undone and how much more was now left to do. On on that next day, I try to unplug. To do this, I have to get completely away from the computer. Sure, you can deactivate your Facebook, turn off wi-fi, unplug the router, or install some sort of time management or focus software, all of which can be turned back on, plugged in, or disabled. If I really want to avoid distraction, I scrawl in longhand or peck on a typewriter. Even with these two methods, I inevitably come back to computer when I have to transcribe into Word, which sometimes feels redundant and archaic. Even so, at the end of the day I feel more accomplished and nearer to my true writing goals than all the networking, posting, and chasing I do online. Social media and the writer’s platform is one of the puzzle pieces to gaining and maintaining a successful writing career, but what has become even more bewildering is that unplugging and working with focus and without noise is even harder for the twenty-first century writer to navigate. The Writer Unplugged - Freewrite Store This is a guest post by Selena Chambers, who writes in Florida. Selena  is co-author of the Hugo and World-Fantasy nominated THE STEAMPUNK BIBLE (Abrams Image), and is currently writing a travel guide to STEAMPUNK PARIS (Pelekenisis Press) with Arthur Morgan out later this year. You can follow her at:   www.selenachambers.wordpress.com or steampunkparis.com. Distraction is the greatest form of resistance a writer faces on a daily basis. I’ve been struggling with it for years, and have come close to throwing my laptop in the trash and running as far away from the publishing game as possible. What kept me from giving up? Slowly realizing that other writers (especially those who seem like they have their act together in the public eye) and creatives struggle with the same issues. Evading distraction and finding focus is, of course, a personal journey and you have to find what works for you and your environment, but in speaking with my friends and gazing into my own navel, I have realized that distraction comes in two forms:   that which takes you closer to writing, and that which takes you away from it. The former is Life and all its abstracts:   birth, death, health, sickness, economy, employment, politics, friendship, family, solitude, love, sex, hate, education, and travel. True, not much writing is happening while undergoing these experiences, but they all inform it by putting you physically in the world to observe, absorb, and feel. It shapes your perspective, gives you an impulse and ultimately grants you something to say. The other kind of distraction, that which takes you away from your writing, are the activities designed for amusement and instant gratification and while relaxing, do very little to inform the work, even though we may trick ourselves in to thinking so. For some, it may be playing video games, binging on Girls, fingernails that need clipping, or in my case, going online.   By no means is this some kind of Jonathan Franzen rant. I love the internet. It is ubiquitous with all the things, and while that is a modern-day marvel, its pervasiveness can be a modern-day time sink. When I sit down to write, I have no problem ignoring my eyebrows and the cat bunnies blowing by like tumbleweeds under the A/C vents, because I can resist the urge to get up from my desk to go handle them. Not so the online â€Å"to-do† list, which is much harder to disregard because all the tools are right here at my fingertips. More often than not, on days when the writing is like digging into dry Georgia clay, I find myself mulling over this list. With a few clicks, I am out of Scrivener’s composition mode, and am in Safari riding the instant gratification wave of multitasking immediacy. I’ll send out queries, answer e-mails, answer social media direct messages, respond to tags and mentions, make a blog post, share the blog post, console in friends and families tribulations, cheer on peers and colleagues triumphs, read this timely article and discuss that timely article, read this stupid drama and discuss even more, scan recent calls for submissions, research a story idea, seek source texts, and when all of that is done, pay bills. I can kill a whole day checking things like this off and feel pretty good about myself. The next day, however, when I am back with that blank page, I would realize how much was left undone and how much more was now left to do. On on that next day, I try to unplug. To do this, I have to get completely away from the computer. Sure, you can deactivate your Facebook, turn off wi-fi, unplug the router, or install some sort of time management or focus software, all of which can be turned back on, plugged in, or disabled. If I really want to avoid distraction, I scrawl in longhand or peck on a typewriter. Even with these two methods, I inevitably come back to computer when I have to transcribe into Word, which sometimes feels redundant and archaic. Even so, at the end of the day I feel more accomplished and nearer to my true writing goals than all the networking, posting, and chasing I do online. Social media and the writer’s platform is one of the puzzle pieces to gaining and maintaining a successful writing career, but what has become even more bewildering is that unplugging and working with focus and without noise is even harder for the twenty-first century writer to navigate.