PRACTICAL RESEARCH REVIEWER MIDTERMS

• two parts of research problem


  • General statement
  • Specific research questions or sub-questions
• Parts of a general statement

  • Type of study
  • What
  • Who
  • When
  • Where
  • Purpose
• Research questions


  • Begin with "what" or "how" to convey an open and emerging design
  • Avoid "why" as it often implies explaining why something occurs
  • Focus on a single phenomenon or concept
  • Use exploratory verbs like discover, seek to understand, explore a process, describe the experiences, report the stories
  • Expect the research questions to evolve and change during the study
  • Use open-ended questions
  • Specify the participants and the research site
• Types of definition


  • Operational definition
  • Conceptual definition
• Operational definition


  • Terms should be clearly defined according to how they are used in the study to avoid ambiguous meaning
• Conceptual definition


  • Defining the terms based on actual concepts, that is, based in what has been accepted as the definition as used by experts in that area
• What to include when defining terms

  • Start from the title then general statement and the sub-questions, then, to the analysis and interpretation of data
  • Terms used by authors you cited but not actually used in your study may not be defined
  • Avoid the circular definitions (using the root word of the term to define it)
  • Alphabetical order
• Related literature


  The process of reading, collecting, and selecting books, journals, encyclopedias, magazines, and newspapers in other to be included among facts and principles that are related to your study
• Reviewing related literature


  • Start as early as the conceptualization of the research project
  • List the search terms or the key words or phrases coming from the title and hypothesis
  • Include the bibliographical data (author, title, name of publication, date and place of publication)
• Related studies


  The part wherein it is composed of studies inquiries, or investigations, usually taken from theses and dissertations
• Analysing related studies


  • Look at the variables included, the direction of the study, and determine if there is still a need to conduct the research
  • Show the relationships between the work of different researchers and your work by looking for similarities and differences
  • Examine the major concepts, conclusions, theories, arguments etc. that underlie the work, and look for similarities and differences with closely related studies and your study
  • Take note of the bibliographical data (author, title, name of publication, date and place of publication, and the pages of the article)
  • Ensure your references are the most recent for both literature and studies
• Sources of qualitative data

  • Focus groups
  • In-depth interviews
  • Dyads
  • Triads
  • Paired interviews
  • Observation
• Focus groups


  • A moderator led discussion among a group of individuals who share a need, attitude, habit, or life circumstance, typically 2 to 10 respondents
• In-depth interviews


  • One-on-one interviews with a single individual, typically lasting 30 to 90 minutes
• Dyads and Triads


  • Types of in-depth interviews
• Paired interviews


  • Consecutive or interlocking interviews, e.g. husband and wife, parent and child
• Observation


  • A group or single participants are manipulated by the researcher