Research Questions
Darleen Opfer
Types of Qualitative Research
Questions
Grand Tour
 Sub Questions

Guidelines for writing qualitative questions
Ask one or two grand tour questions followed by no more
than five to seven sub-questions.

The question format is related to specific qualitative
methodologies.

Begin the question with the words what or how. Tell the
reader that the study will do one of the following:
– Discover (grounded theory)
– Explain or seek to understand (ethnography)
– Explore a process (case study)
– Describe the experiences (phenomenology)

Pose questions that use non-directional wording.

Expect the research questions to evolve and change during
the study.

Use open ended questions without reference to the
literature unless dictated by a specific qualitative design.

Use a single focus and specify the site in the research
questions.

Ethnography example:
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 Example
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: Qualitative Research
Questions
For the first abstract, write research
questions for the study described.
Types of quantitative research
questions
– They can be about comparisons between
groups
– They can be about the relationships
between two or more variables
– They can describe responses to variables
Guidelines for quantitative research
questions
They are developed 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.
 Choice of the forms of hypotheses used (Null or
Alternative/Directional) should be determined by the
audience.
 Hypotheses can also be stated in literary or operational.
 Typically use variables other than demographic variables
as independent variables.
 Use the same pattern of word order in the questions to
establish a formal rhetorical style.
 When writing research questions or hypotheses for
quantitative studies, write descriptive questions first
followed by multivariate (multiple variable) questions.


Forms for Hypotheses
Null Hypothesis
There is no significant difference in the accumulation of
resources and the productivity of faculty
Directional/Alternative Hypothesis
The more the accumulation of resources, the more
productive the researcher
Literary
Null
Alternative
There is no relationship
between support
services and academic
persistence of
nontraditional-aged
college women.
The more that
nontraditional-aged
college women use
support services, the
more they will persist
academically.
Operational 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 hours that
nontraditional-aged
college women use the
student union, the more
they will persist at the
college after their
freshman year.
Guidelines for quantitative research
questions
They are developed 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.
 Choice of the forms of hypotheses used (Null or
Alternative/Directional) should be determined by the
audience.
 Hypotheses can also be stated in literary or operational.
 Typically use variables other than demographic variables
as independent variables.
 Use the same pattern of word order in the questions to
establish a formal rhetorical style.
 When writing research questions or hypotheses for
quantitative studies, write descriptive questions first
followed by multivariate (multiple variable) questions.


Examples of repeated phrasing and variable
order in hypotheses
1. There is no relationship between the use of
ancillary support services and academic
persistence of nontraditional-aged college
women.
2. There is no relationship between family support
systems and academic persistence of
nontraditional-aged college women.
Guidelines for quantitative research
questions
They are developed 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.
 Choice of the forms of hypotheses used (Null or
Alternative/Directional) should be determined by the
audience.
 Hypotheses can also be stated in literary or operational.
 Typically use variables other than demographic variables
as independent variables.
 Use the same pattern of word order in the questions to
establish a formal rhetorical style.
 When writing research questions or hypotheses for
quantitative studies, write descriptive questions first
followed by multivariate (multiple variable) questions.


Example of research question ordering for a
quantitative study
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: Quantitative Research
Questions
For the second abstract provided, write
research questions for the study
described.
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: Mixed Method Questions
For the third abstract, write research
questions for the study described.
Activity 4: Your Own Research
Questions
Write research questions for your own
study.