Planning a

research
project and
formulating
research questions
A223 BPMN6073
ADURA AHMAD
Identifying and thinking
about research area
Review the possible research areas
· What’s on your mind
· Do some pre-reading – to get an idea of where your research might head, to get on
overview of what is happening in this area currently and to identify possible gaps in
the literature.
· X
Make a choice
· It’s time to decide on specific area of interest.
· Think about the type of research that you would like to conduct.
· Talk to those who did research in your area of interest.
· Think about the viable of research – qualitative/quantitative, data, ethics etc
Discuss with your (potential)supervisor
· If you do not have supervisor, search for potential supervisor in your area.
· Discuss possible project with supervisor.
· Kind of opportunity for you to liaise with a research supervisor to get a feel for the
type of research that is possible in the area, and that you would be interested in
pursuing.
Reviewing literature and
referencing
Formulating, developing
and selecting research
questions
Research question
· A good research question is essential to guide research paper, project or thesis.
It pinpoints exactly what to be find out and gives a research work a clear focus
and purpose. All research questions should be:
Focused on a single problem or issue
Researchable using primary and/or secondary sources
Feasible to answer within the timeframe and practical constraints
Specific enough to answer thoroughly
Complex enough to develop the answer over the space of a paper or thesis
Relevant to your field and/or society more broadly
Research question
· In a research paper, usually a single research question is
written to guide reading and thinking. The developed
answer is the thesis statement – the central assertion or
position that writing of research paper will argue for.
· In a thesis or dissertation, there might have multiple
research questions, but al should be clearly connected
and focused on a central research problem.
How to write a good research question?
· The process of developing research question follows several
steps:
Choose a broad topic
Do some preliminary reading to find out about topical
debates and issues
Narrow down a specific niche that you want to focus on
Identify a practical or theoretical research problem that you
will address
How to write a good research question?
· When you have a clearly-defined problem, you need to formulate one or more
questions. Think about exactly what you want to know and how it will contribute to
resolving the problem.
· The way you frame your question depends on what your research aims to achieve.
Examples of how to formulate research questions
for different purposes
How to write a good research
question?
· Depending on the scope of your
research, you may identify just one
question or several. You may also have
one primary research question and
several secondary questions or sub-
questions that relate to the same
problem.
Examples of how to formulate research questions
for different purposes
How to write a good research
question?
· Most research questions can be answered
with various types of research, but the
way you frame your question should
help drive your research design choices.
What makes a · Writing questions isn’t a
difficult task in itself, but
strong research it can be hard to work out
question? if you have a good research
question. Research
questions anchor your
whole project, so it’s
important to spend some
time refining them.
The criteria that can help to evaluate the strength
of your research question.
· Focused and researchable
· Feasible and specific
· Complex and arguable
· Relevant and original
Focused and researchable
Feasible and specific
Complex and arguable
Relevant and original
Choose the most researchable question

A. Does the US or the UK have a better healthcare system?

B. How do the US and the UK compare in health outcomes and

patient satisfaction among low-income people with chronic illnesses?

C. Should the US switch to single-payer healthcare?

Answer
 A. How can drunk driving be
Choose the research prevented?
question that is most
feasible in a limited B. What effect do different laws have
time frame on the number of people who drive
after drinking in European countries?

C. How effective is current UK

legislation aimed at preventing
alcohol-related car fatalities?
Answer
Choose the question What are the similarities and differences in the
that is complex experiences of recent Turkish, Polish and Syrian
enough for a immigrants in Berlin?
research project
Where do the majority of immigrants to Germany
come from?

Do Polish immigrants in western Europe face

discrimination?
Answer
Defining research
objectives
Research objectives
· Objectives can help you stay focused and steer your research in the required direction.
They help define and limit the scope of your research, which is important to efficiently
manage your resources and time. The objectives help to create and maintain the
overall structure and specify two main things—the variables and the methods of
quantifying the variables.
· A good research objective:
- defines the scope of the study
- gives direction to the research
- helps maintain focus and avoid diversions from the topic
- minimizes wastage of resources like time, money, and energy
·
 QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
It is the characterisation of the believes Exclusive attention is given in this type of
Concept
about the phenomena research to the theory.
Approach Naturalistic or Subjective Experimental or Objective
Type of research Exploratory research Certain or conclusive research

Inductive – here the researcher omits the Deductive – here the research is based on
Research theory
theoretical background of the study justification of the proposed theory
Sampling Purposive Random
Data Verbal Measurable
Inquiry Process-oriented Result-oriented
Hypothesis Generated Tested
Elements of analysis Words, pictures and objects Numerical data
To explore and discover ideas used in the To examine cause and effect relationship
Objective
ongoing processes. between variables.
Non-structured techniques like In-depth Structured techniques such as surveys,
Methods
interviews, group discussions etc. questionnaires and observations.
Analysis type Case based Variable based
Result Develops initial understanding Recommends final course of action
Planning a research design
1. Establish priorities
· “how to create a research design”
· Here are some questions that you should think of:
Do you have enough time to gather data and complete the write-up?
Will you be able to collect the necessary data by interviewing a
specific person or visiting a specific location?
Do you have in-depth knowledge about the different statistical
analysis and data collection techniques to address the research
questions or test the hypothesis?
2. Type of data: Primary vs secondary data
Primary Data The researcher collects the primary data from first-hand
sources with the help of different data collection
methods such as interviews, experiments, surveys, etc.
Primary research data is considered far more authentic
and relevant, but it involves additional cost and time.
Secondary Data Research on academic references which themselves
incorporate primary data will be regarded as secondary
data. There is no need to do a survey or interview with
a person directly, and it is time effective. The researcher
should focus on the validity and reliability of the
source.
 2. Type of data: Qualitative vs Quantitative
Qualitative Data This type of data encircles the researcher’s descriptive experience and
shows the relationship between the observation and collected data. It
involves interpretation and conceptual understanding of the research.
There are many theories involved which can approve or disapprove the
mathematical and statistical calculation. For instance, you are searching
how to write a research design proposal. It means you require qualitative
data about the mentioned topic.
Quantitative Data If your research requires statistical and mathematical approaches for
measuring the variable and testing your hypothesis, your objective is to
compile quantitative data. Many businesses and researchers use this type
of data with pre-determined data collection methods and variables for
their research design.
3. Data collection techniques
· Decide where and how to collect the data.
3. Data collection techniques
Methods What to consider
Surveys The survey planning requires;
Selection of responses and how many responses are required for the research?
Survey distribution techniques (online, by post, in person, etc.)
Techniques to design the question
Interviews Criteria to select the interviewee.
Time and location of the interview.
Type of interviews; i.e., structured, semi-structured, or unstructured
Experiments Place of the experiment; laboratory or in the field.
Measuring of the variables
Design of the experiment
Secondary Criteria to select the references and source for the data.
Data The reliability of the references.
The technique used for compiling the data source.
 4. Procedure of data analysis
Qualitative Data Analysis
· Qualitative data analysis of figures, themes, and words allows for flexibility
and the researcher’s subjective opinions. This means that the researcher’s
primary focus will be interpreting patterns, tendencies, and accounts and
understanding the implications and social framework.
· You should be clear about your research objectives before starting to analyze
the data. For example, you should ask yourself whether you need to explain
respondents’ experiences and insights or do you also need to evaluate their
responses with reference to a certain social framework.
 4. Procedure of data analysis
Quantitative Data Analysis
· The quantitative data analysis technique involves analyzing the numerical
data with the help of different applications such as; SPSS, STATA, Excel,
origin lab, etc.
· This data analysis strategy tests different variables such as spectrum,
frequencies, averages, and more. The research question and the hypothesis
must be established to identify the variables for testing.
5. Write your research proposal
· The research design is an important component of a research
proposal because it plans the project’s execution. You can share it
with the supervisor, who would evaluate the feasibility and capacity
of the results and conclusion.
· The research proposal is written in the future tense because you are
writing your proposal before conducting research.
· The research methodology or research design, on the other hand, is
generally written in the past tense.
Fieldwork
Fieldwork
· Fieldwork involves going into a natural setting to understand people within that
context i.e. understanding people in their everyday natural setting.
· Fieldwork can be used to gain an understanding of people's experiences within a
context, how a culture works/influences health care practices and the multifaceted
relationships within the work environment. For example, if you want to research how
care is delivered and received in a secure mental health unit, the most reliable way to
do this is to observe the environment itself and the experiences of individuals within
it.
· Fieldwork in quantitative research - be at certain place to collect data by survey
Fieldwork

Ethnography

Direct observation Qualitative interview

Participant observation Case study

Analysing data
Analysing data
· Data analysis is an ongoing process that should
occur throughout your research project. Suitable data-analysis
methods must be selected when you write your research
proposal. The nature of your data (i.e. quantitative or
qualitative) will be influenced by your research design and
purpose. The data will also influence the analysis methods
selected.
Qualitative data analysis

· Miles and Huberman (1994) point out that there are

diverse approaches to qualitative research and
analysis. They suggest, however, that it is possible to
identify 'a fairly classic set of analytic moves arranged
in sequence'.
Quantitative data analysis

· Quantitative data analysis is the process of analyzing

and interpreting numerical data. It helps you make
sense of information by identifying patterns, trends,
and relationships between variables through
mathematical calculations and statistical tests.
Quantitative data analysis
· Quantitative data analysis is all about analysing number-based data (which includes
categorical and numerical data) using various statistical techniques.
· The two main branches of statistics are descriptive statistics and inferential statistics.
Descriptives describe your sample, whereas inferentials make predictions about what
you’ll find in the population.
· Common descriptive statistical methods include mean (average), median,
standard deviation and skewness.
· Common inferential statistical methods include t-
tests, ANOVA, correlation and regression analysis.
· To choose the right statistical methods and techniques, you need to consider the type
of data you’re working with, as well as your research questions and hypotheses.
Managing people, time
and resources