Qualitative Questions
One usually finds research questions or purpose statements in qualitative research and not
objectives or hypotheses.
The research questions take two forms:
Grand tour questions – a statement in the most general form, posed very generally so as not
to limit the inquiry.
Subquestions
Guidelines for writing qualitative questions:
1. Ask one or two grand tour questions followed by no more than five to seven
subquestions. – The subquestions become topics explored in the data collection.
2. The question format is related to specific qualitative methodologies.
a. For example, in ethnography there exists a taxonomy of questions about
experience, language, contrast, etc.
b. In critical ethnography the questions come from a body of existing literature
c. In grounded theory the questions may relate to the procedures for data
analysis – open coding “what are the categories that emerge”, axial coding
“How are these categories related to one another?”
3. Begin the question with the words what or how. Tell the reader that the study will do
one of the following:
a. Discover (grounded theory)
b. Explain or seek to understand (ethnography)
c. Explore a process (case study)
d. Describe the experiences (phenomenology)
4. Pose questions that use nondirectional wording – don’t use directional words such as
affect, influence, impact, determine, cause, and relate as these are associated with
quant research. Whay also suggest cause and effect.
5. Expect the research questions to evolve and change during the study – you study is
emergent
6. Use open ended questions without reference to the literature unless dictated by a
specific qualitative design.
7. Use a single focus and specify the site in the research questions
Examples of research questions:
Ethnography
How are conceptions of social studies played out – or not played out – in classroom
practice?
 How is the setting organized?
 What kind of interpersonal dynamics exist?
 What activities occur in each setting?
 What information, opinions, and beliefs are exchanged among participants?
Case Study
How do women in a psychology doctoral program describe their decision to return to
school? How do women in a psychology doctoral program describe their reentry
experiences? And, how does returning to graduate school change these women’s lives?
Activity 1: for the first abstract, write a qualitative research question
Quantitative Questions and Hypotheses
Research questions represent specific restatements of the purpose of the study.
 In survey research these restatements are research questions and objectives for the
study
 In experimental studies the restatements are hypothesis to be tested.
Quantitative research questions can be of three types:
1. They can be about comparisons between groups
2. They can be about the relationships between two or more variables
3. They can describe responses to variables
Guidelines for quantitative research questions:
 They are developed from theory – the questions are testable propositions deduced
from theory
 The dependent and independent variables should be kept separate and measured
separately
 Select one form – hypothesis, research question, or objective – and not a
combination
o A hypothesis is a declarative statement about the relationship between two or
more variables
o Research questions also pose relationships but phrase the relationship in the
form of a question
o An objective is the same relationship statement in a declarative form
 Choice of the forms of hypotheses used should be determined by the audience
o Traditionally scientists used the “null hypothesis” which state that there is no
relationship between or among variables
 Example – There is no significant difference in the accumulation of
resources and the productivity of faculty
o More recently researchers have been using the “directional” or “alternative”
hypothesis where the researcher posits a direction for the relationship. The
directional is only used if the available literature suggests a hypothesize
direction for the relationship
 Example – The more the accumulation of resources, the more
productive the researcher
 Hypotheses can also be stated in literary or operational. Literary means that the
variables are stated in abstract concepts. Operational means they are stated
specifically.
Null
Alternative
Literary
Operational



There is no relationship between
support services and academic
persistence of nontraditional-aged
college women.
There is no relationship between
the number of hours nontraditionalaged college women use the student
union and their persistence at the
college after their freshman year.
The more that nontraditional-aged
college women use support services,
the more they will persist
academically.
The more hours that nontraditionalaged college women use the student
union, the more they will persist at
the college after their freshman year.
Typically use variables other than demographic variables as independent
variables. Demographic variables (age, income, education, gender) are typically
mediating variables in theories instead of major, independent variables.
Use the same pattern of word order in the questions to establish a formal
rhetorical style – repeat key phrases and state the independent variables first and
the dependent variables last.
o For examples There is no relationship between the use of ancillary support
services and academic persistence of nontraditional-aged college
women.
 There is no relationship between family support systems and
academic persistence of nontraditional-aged college women.
When writing research questions or hypotheses for quantitative studies, write
descriptive questions first followed by multivariate (multiple variable) questions.
o Example – you want to conduct a study that examines the relationship
between critical thinking skills (an independent variable measured on an
instrument) and student achievement (a dependent variable measured by
grades) in science classes for 14 year old students in a large metropolitan
school district. You also want to control for things that may affect the
relationship (intervening variables) including prior grades in science
classes and parents’ educational attainment. Your questions may include:
1. How do students rate on critical thinking skills? (a descriptive
question focused on the independent variable)
2. What are the students’ grades in science classes? (a descriptive
question focused on the dependent variable)
3. What are the students’ prior grades in science? (a descriptive
question focused on the mediating variable, prior grades)
4. What is the educational attainment of the parents of the
students? (a descriptive question focused on the mediating
variable, educational attainment of parents)
5. Does critical thinking ability relate to student achievement? (a
multivariate question relating the independent and dependent
variables)
6. Does critical thinking ability relate to student achievement,
controlling for the effects of prior grades in science and the
educational attainment of the students’ parents? (a
multivariate question relating the independent and dependent
variables controlling for the mediating effects of the two
intervening variables)
Activity 2: Write quantitative research questions for the second abstract
Guidelines for Mixed Methods research questions and hypotheses
 These studies need both qualitative and quantitative research questions
 The questions need to incorporate the elements of good questions and hypotheses for
qualitative and quantitative approaches
 It may be difficult to specify research questions for the second phase of a two-phase
sequential study where the second phase is to elaborate on the first. The researcher can
state the questions in the final report of the study.
 The order of the questions should follow the order of the phases of the study or the
weight of the methods in the design.
 In sequential studies, the questions can be introduced at the beginning of each phase.
Activity 3: Write mixed methods questions for the third abstract
Activity 4: Write your own research questions and add them to your conceptual map