Formulating the Research Question

Formulating Research Hypotheses

Establishing a Background
Background for research consists of everything a researcher knows about a topic:
o Informal-personal experiences, and everything you pick up in life
o Formal-education and training in your particular professional area

Choosing a Topic
Two factors influence the choice of a research topic: the researcher's interest in the topic and
the feasibility of carrying out research on the topic
Interest: Choice of a topic because the researcher is inherently interested in something.
Choosing a topic of personal interest to the researcher generally leads to better quality
research as the researcher is generally more invested in the topic than if it were a topic of less
interest.
Feasibility: Has to do with whether the researcher will actually be able to conduct the
research; resources and access to the population are of particular importance
Ask yourself: "Do I want to do research on this topic?" AND "Can I do the research on this
topic?"

Formulating the Question

There are three aspects of question formulation: refining a broad topic into a specific,
researchable question; the characteristics of a good research question; and sources of ideas
for research questions.
Refining a Topic into a Question: narrowing down a topic into a more specific research
question for which data can be collected

You've refined your topic into a researchable question when you can phrase the question in
terms of the relationship between two operationally defined variables (we'll discuss
operationalization further)
Characteristics of a Good Research Question: has the potential to expand our knowledge base
(3 characteristics affect a research question's potential for increasing knowledge)
1) How well grounded the question is in the current knowledge base (the problem must have
a basis in theory, research, or practice (we need to know what is already known so that we
can judge how much it can add to the knowledge base; gives us an anchor)
2) How researchable it is (how easy it is to formulate clear operational definitions of the
variables involved and clear hypotheses about the relationships between the variables)
3) Importance: the more information the answer to a research question provides, the more
important it is

Sources of Ideas: (see Figure 4-1; p. 96)

Theory-confirmation, refutation, comparison, merger
Practical Problems-problem definition, solution seeking, validating
Practitioners' assumptions
Prior Research-case studies, conflicting findings, overlooked variables, setting
and expanding boundaries, testing alternative explanations
Logical Analysis-analogy, looking at things backwards
Everyday Experience

Reviewing the Literature

Purposes of the Literature Review: (1) to provide a scientific context for the research and to
validate it against the three criteria for a good research question; (2) avoid duplication of
effort (if a question has been addressed in numerous ways and the answer is always similar
then it might not be worth pursuing further; or, you might want to try to examine the question
in a new way (new setting, new population, etc); (3) identify potential problems in

conducting the research (knowing in advance the potential problems that can arise in the
research can help you to avoid them)

Types of Information: (1) look for relevant theories (be sure you know all relevant theories
than can explain a phenomenon); (2) look for information on what has been previously done
on your research question (you want to know what has been done, what has not been done,
and what still needs to be done); (3) look form information concerning methodology (can
borrow from methods previously used and can make changes in your design based upon what
did not work well in the past); (4) look for information on data analysis (need to know how
you are going to analyze your data to be sure that you can actually answer your research
question-analytic techniques must match the data that you collect)

Primary vs. Secondary Sources: Primary sources are original research reports whereas a
secondary source summarizes primary sources. Do NOT do secondary citation! Go to
primary sources and see what the authors actually found (even if this has been summarized
somewhere else). Looking at reference lists on primary sources is extremely useful.

Where to Find Information/ Evaluating Information -read section on pages 99-104 about
finding information, using library research tools, and evaluating research. Be CRITICAL
when evaluating research (see, especially, Box 4-2).

Designing the Study

Need to answer the following five questions:
(1) How will the study be conducted?
a. Choose a research strategy and a specific design within the chosen strategy
(2) What will be studied?
a. Choice of operational definition for the hypothetical constructs you're studying
(3) Where will the study be conducted?
a. Lab or field setting? Location?
(4) Who will be studied?
a. What population and what sampling technique?

(5) When will the study be conducted?

a. Time factors? Cross-sectional or longitudinal?

Formulating Hypotheses
Each hypothesis should take two forms-a research hypothesis and a statistical hypothesis

Research Hypotheses: states an expectation about the relationship between two variables; this
expectation derives from and answers the research question, and so is grounded in prior
theory and research on the question

Statistical Hypotheses: transforms the research hypothesis into a statement about the expected
result of a statistical test (directional); must accurately represent the research hypothesis

The conclusions about a research hypothesis are correct if and only if the statistical
hypothesis is congruent with the research hypothesis. That is, the validity of all tests of theory
depends on the congruence between the research hypothesis and the statistical hypothesis.
The more specific the research hypothesis, the easier it is to formulate a congruent statistical
hypothesis.

Research Proposal
Should lay out the answers to each of these questions and includes an introduction and a
methods section. (See handout).

Operationalization and Levels of Measurement

What is operationalization? Operationalization occurs when we take a hypothesis, e.g.
violence causes further violence, and develop a procedure, or operation, for identifying
instances of the critical terms, here, violence. Our operation should give us answers to
questions like:

1. How can we recognize violence?

2. What is or isn't a case of violence?
3. How will we determine if violence has increased or decreased?
Consider the hypothesis, "Watching depictions of violence on TV makes kids more violent."
Trying to operationalize the critical terms here might bring us to ask:
1. What is watching TV? Need a child be paying close attention to it, or would just having it
on in the background count? How do we determine how much TV a child is watching?
2. What counts as violence? Football? Mighty Mouse? A depiction of an assault?
Documentary footage from a war?
3. How are we to determine if kids have become more or less violent? From their playacting? From their actual fighting? From their arguments or threats?
In its strongest sense, operationalization occurs when we define variables so as to make
them measurable.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Operationalization

Operationalization has both advantages and disadvantages. One advantage is specificity. After
operationalization, we should be able to determine whether there is evidence for or against a
given hypothesis.
A disadvantage is that operationalization necessary involves interpretation and a narrowing
down from broad, though less clear, concepts, to sharper and often less generally agreed to
specifications.
It is possible to arrive at competing operationalizations of the same term and thus provoke
disagreement about which is "best". The greater the specificity, the more likely a complaint
that the defined variable is "too narrowly interpreted." Such disagreements are not settled by
further operationalization, but by philosophical, moral, political or pragmatic argument.

Steps in Operationalization
a. Identify/specify the hypothesis
b. Identify/specify the variables
c. Specify the identity criteria for each variable (what components make up the particular
variable; need to be mutually exclusive and exhaustive)

d. Specify a measurement procedure for each variable (how will you measure or quantify this
particular variable)
e. Indicate what would count as evidence for or against the hypothesis (if your hypothesis
were to be confirmed (or disconfirmed) what would you expect to find in terms of each
variable)

Levels of Measurement: Important for Operationalization

and Formulation of Hypotheses
(1) Nominal (Naming)
These are the simplest form
Do not go beyond being mutually exclusive and exhaustive
Examples: Sex, ethnicity, religion, birthplace, college major
Simply the case that everyone in your sample can fit into only one category
These categories can be coded for analysis purposes (Male 1, Female 2); yet, these numbers
do not refer to any interval (2 is not more of something than 1)
Consequently, little can be done, statistically, with this information beyond frequencies

(2) Ordinal
These are variables with can be logically be rank ordered
Examples: social class, broad categorizations of level of education, levels of satisfaction,
opinions and attitudes
Note that many social science variables have this feature
While we know that one group has more of the variable than another, we can say nothing
about the amount more they have
Again, these can be coded, but a higher number does not correspond with the amount

(3) Interval
Distance between attributes has some meaning, but they lack an absolute zero
More useful in hard sciences (Temp.) differences between points on these variables are
equivalent but not in ratio format (i.e., 40-50 degrees is the same difference as 70-80 degrees
BUT 80 degrees is not twice as hot as 40 degrees)
Common social science example is IQ-scores are interval-based; that is, a difference of 110
ad 120 is that same as the difference between 70-80 BUT there is no absolute zero as cannot
have ZERO intelligence
We have few of these variables to work with
Those that we do have are those we construct (i.e., IQ)

(4) Ratio
These have all the characteristics of the above and have an absolute zero
Most of the variables that we use that meet interval requirements also meet ratio
Examples: Age, education, income, years of services, days of hospitalization, etc.
These are also coded and we can thus say that one 2 is not only more than 1 but is twice as
large

Implications of Levels of Measurement

Most of the implications occur in the data analysis phase
Thus, these needs should be anticipated in order to meet your demands later
The level of measurement you use will determine what you can say about you findings later
For example, you will be able to report a mean age for your population, but should not plan
on reporting a mean religious affiliation
Mean requires interval or ratio-level variable
Nominal variables allow you to report the mode
It is important to note that some variables may be treated as different levels of measurement
That is, ratio can be treated as any lesser type, but not the other way around

Be sure to note the hierarchy of these levels

For example: age can be treated in a variety of ways if you define certain cut off points
The level of measurement for a variable that you should seek will depend on the analysis that
you have planned for it
Keep in mind that some variables are inherently limited
If you are to use a variable in a variety of ways, you should seek the highest level possible or
necessary
You need not measure variables at their highest level if you are sure that you have no need for
the information later
But it is advisable to choose the highest because ratio can be reduced, but nominal or ordinal
can not be expanded after collection

Formulating a Research Question

All research begins with a question derived from a general topic that piques your interest,
often through general reading, topical discussion, lectures, family experiences, etc. In
many cases the general topic is set by your Instructor.
Generally, the question should be:
1. Relevant.
The question should have some bearing on the topic and remain within the limits
that were set beforehand.
2. Interesting.
Choose a topic that interests and stimulates you otherwise searching could
become tedious.
3. Focused and specific.
The question should not be too broad or vague. You can however begin with a
broad question and then narrow it down to be more specific. You can narrow the
question down by:
- a particular aspect, e.g., economic, psychological
- a particular time period
- a particular event e.g., 9/11, rape, divorce
- a geographical area
- gender
- age group
The result should be a question for which there are two or more possible answers.
The following examples illustrate how to narrow broad topics to create focused
research questions.
Broad topic Narrowed topic Focused topic Research Question
Womens
health Women and
cancer
Women
smokers and
breast cancer

Is there an association
between cigarette
smoking and breast
cancer risk?
Computer
games Computer game
violence
Computer game
violence and
children

How does violence in

computer games affect
children?
Eating
disorders Teenagers and
eating disorders Teen peer
pressure and What role, if any, does

peer pressure play in the

bulimia development of bulimia
among teens?
4. Researchable.
You should get a feel for what materials will be available to you. Know what the
Library has to offer in the way of books and standard reference sources,
indexes/databases, and services to acquire resources that are not in-house.
Sometimes your question seems doable at first but when you begin your research,
it turns out not to be the case. Because most often you are doing a literature search
for the results of previous research (as opposed to original research), it is
recommended that you do a preliminary search to test if you can get enough
material, and then, if necessary, revise your question.

The Relationship Between the Research

Question, Hypotheses, Specific Aims, and
Long-Term Goals of the Project
Before you begin writing a grant proposal, take some time to map out your research strategy.
A good first step is to formulate a research question.
A Research Question is a statement that identifies the phenomenon to be studied. For
example, What resources are helpful to new and minority drug abuse researchers?
To develop a strong research question from your ideas, you should ask yourself these things:

Do I know the field and its literature well?

What are the important research questions in my field?

What areas need further exploration?

Could my study fill a gap? Lead to greater understanding?

Has a great deal of research already been conducted in this topic area?

Has this study been done before? If so, is there room for improvement?

Is the timing right for this question to be answered? Is it a hot topic, or is it becoming
obsolete?

Would funding sources be interested?

If you are proposing a service program, is the target community interested?

Most importantly, will my study have a significant impact on the field?

A strong research idea should pass the so what test. Think about the potential impact of the
research you are proposing. What is the benefit of answering your research question? Who
will it help (and how)? If you cannot make a definitive statement about the purpose of your
research, it is unlikely to be funded.
A research focus should be narrow, not broad-based. For example, What can be done to
prevent substance abuse? is too large a question to answer. It would be better to begin with a
more focused question such asWhat is the relationship between specific early childhood
experiences and subsequent substance-abusing behaviors?
Write your research question here...

A well-thought-out and focused research question leads directly into your hypotheses. What
predictions would you make about the phenomenon you are examining? This will be the
foundation of your application.
Hypotheses are more specific predictions about the nature and direction of the relationship
between two variables. For example, Those researchers who utilize an online grant writing
tutorial will have higher priority scores on their next grant application than those who do
not.
Strong hypotheses:

Give insight into a research question;

Are testable and measurable by the proposed experiments;

Spring logically from the experience of the staff;

Normally, no more than three primary hypotheses should be proposed for a research study. A
proposal that is hypothesis-driven is more likely to be funded than a fishing expedition or a
primarily descriptive study.
Make sure you:

Provide a rationale for your hypotheseswhere did they come from, and why are
they strong?

Provide alternative possibilities for the hypotheses that could be testedwhy did you
choose the ones you did over others?

If you have good hypotheses, they will lead into your Specific Aims. Specific aims are the
steps you are going to take to test your hypotheses and what you want to accomplish in the
course of the grant period. Make sure:

Your objectives are measurable and highly focused;

Each hypothesis is matched with a specific aim.

The aims are feasible, given the time and money you are requesting in the grant.

An example of a specific aim would be Conduct a rigorous empirical evaluation of the

online grant writing tutorial, comparing outcome and process measures from two groups
those with exposure to the tutorial and those without.

Long-Term Goals:

Why are you doing this research?

What are the long-term implications?

What will happen after the grant?

What other avenues are open to explore?

What is the ultimate application or use of the research?

These questions all relate to the long-term goal of your research, which should be an
important undercurrent of the proposal. Again, they should be a logical extension of the
research question, hypotheses, and specific aims.
It is also helpful to have a long-term plan for your own career development. Where would
you like to see your career go in the next 5 years? How does the research you are proposing
relate to that plan?
Now Write It Up...
Once you've thought through the key elements of your research questions, hypotheses,
specific aims, and research design, you have the ingredients for a concept paper. This is an
important tool to help you to organize your thoughts, as well as to promote, disseminate, or
get feedback on your ideas. A concept paper is a succinct description of your research plan (3
to 5 pages) and can be particularly useful when trying to recruit collaborators or solicit letters
of support. It is also useful to send a copy of the concept paper to a NIDA Program Official in
the branch or office that covers your topic area.