STUDY RESEARCH QUESTIONS/
HYPOTHESIS / OBJECTIVES
BY AMUGUNE B.K
MENTAL HEALTH WORKSHOP
MAANZONI, 14TH OCTOBER 2014
Proposal anatomy
Metaphor: research question/ hypothesis is
the spine upon which everything in the
research depends on
• Brain- literature review , Discussion
• Spine- research question/ hypothesis
• Arms- Rationale
• Legs- methods, results
Without research question/ hypothesis
everything crumbles!
research questions/ hypothesis
• All research questions/ hypothesis
should be developed at the beginning
and planning stage of study.
• Directs inquiry in both directions: pastliterature review; future-research .
• Always separated from the main body
of text
Hypothesis
• The hypotheses (plural) are the
unproven statements (propositions)
that you will test.
• It is a tentative statement predicting
a particular relationship between two
or more variables.
• Addresses specific questions you
intend to answer, or problems you will
solve.
…….
• This hypothesis should not be
confused with the statistical null /
alternative hypothesis.
• Statistical null / alternative
hypothesis is used in hypothesis
testing to make an inference about
the population of interest on basis of
a random sample taken from the
population.
Hypothesis or research question?
• Not all studies will require
hypotheses.
• For example, exploratory or
phenomenological research, may
not have any hypotheses
……….
• If you want to know whether or not
the study requires a hypothesis, ask
yourself these questions:
–Are you undertaking a quantitative
study?
–Does your study take an
experimental approach to answer
questions?
–Are you making a prediction about
the phenomenon being studied?
…….
• If answer to these questions is
'YES', then a hypothesis is needed,
• but if it is ‘NO' then a research
question ( study question) will
be required.
• This is because a hypothesis is a
statement that is tested by
experiment(s) to confirm or deny
the phenomenon.
……
• The hypothesis statement needs to be stated
explicitly and must be written so that it does
not read as a conclusion –
• for example,
– 'The levels of pain experienced at site of
vaccination for children undergoing a
subcutaneous injection is reduced when the
mother is present.'
Hypothesis
• Hypothesis either one tailed or two
tailed
• One tailed-prediction of specific nature
of relationship e.g Male preteens are
more exposed to alcohol than female
preteens.
• Two tailed- prediction of relationship
without specifying nature of relationship
e.g ‘Male and female preteens are
differently exposed to alcohol’
Research Questions
• Gives what one is researching in the
question format.
• These questions will guide the
research.
• It is helpful to prioritize one or two
main questions, from which you can
then derive a number of secondary
research questions.
Good question
Important features of the question or
problem should be:
• about one issue;
• clear and concise;
• addresses an important, controversial
and/or an unresolved issue
• feasible to undertake within a
specified timeframe
• adequately resourced.
…….
• Type of variable important when
constructing questions / hypothesis
• e.g nominal independent variable vs
– ‘ Do male and female students differ in
their use of substances of abuse ? ‘
Ordered ( e.g measured using Likert
scale)independent variable
- ‘ Is there a relationship between
frequency of GBV and HAART adherence
among GBV survivors ?’
Hypothesis
• Many hypotheses initially start as a
question which is then 'turned on its
head' to become a statement
• - for example, the hypothesis above may
have originally been written as a
question,
– i.e. 'Are the levels of pain experienced
at site of vaccination for children
undergoing a subcutaneous injection
reduced when the mother is present?
COMPARISON
RESEARCH QUESTION
Used in exploratory research/
new areas of enquiry
may not be so specific due to
lack of research on topic of
interest
Less knowledge/ prior research
to draw on in making
predictions about possible
relationship between variables
HYPOTHESIS
Formal statement predicting an
outcome of the relationship
between 2 or more variables
Very specific as based on
previous empirical research
Examples- Research questions
• What is the effect of
_________on________?
• What is the effect of ______versus_ on
__?
• What is the relationship between ___ and
___?
• Does ___ have a significant effect on__?
• Is there a significant correlation between
___ and ____
Examples- Hypothesis
• ___ produces a significant increases in ____
• __correlates significantly/positively/negatively
with_____
• As ______ increases/ decreases ____
increases/ decreases
STUDY OBJECTIVES
Describes what you will do to determine
whether the study hypotheses are true
or
research
answered
questions
have
been
Broad Objective
• Sometimes, may be referred to as the
‘general objective’
• It is linked to the primary research
problem and gives the bigger picture,
aim or goal of the study.
• An active statement about how the study
is going to answer the specific research
question or prove hypothesis
example
This study will assess the water wholesomeness of bottled
water brands in selected outlets in Nairobi
Specific Objectives
• Should be presented as concise
statements linked to the secondary
research problems.
• describe what you will do to determine
whether your hypotheses are true/
accomplished or RQs will be answered by
your research activities.
• These are the achievable, outcome-based
specific aims of the research
• May also be accompanied by secondary
objectives
Specific objectives
-example
• To determine bacterial and fungal
loads in sampled water brands
• To assess the levels of heavy metal
contaminants in the selected water
brands.
NOTE - USE OF RIGHT ACTION VERBS
CRUCIAL
Secondary objectives
• To isolate and characterize bacterial and
fungal contaminants in sampled water
• To perform antibiotic susceptibility tests
on isolated pathogens
SMART objectives
SPECIFIC
MEASURABLE
ATTAINABLE
REALISTIC
TIMEBOUND
END
…………… THANK YOU