RESEARCH QUESTIONS &

HYPOTHESES
THE PROCESS OF INTRODUCING A
PROBLEM
 Stimulate reader interest in the problem
 Demonstrate the importance of the problem

 Provide current status of the problem

 Introduce any relevant theory examined in the study

 Place the study within the context of literature

 Identify the population to study

INTRODUCTORY SECTION
ORGANIZATION
Global perspective
Diabetes is a devastating and
costly disease
•Morbidity
•Mortality
•Financial cost

More Specific
Successful and unsuccessful
attempts to intervene

Most Specific
The purpose of this study is to
examine new ways to educate
people with diabetes
PURPOSE STATEMENT

 How you frame and state the research problem is critical to

the entire research project…it is the foundation for the
remainder of your work.
 Clearly express the problem as a purpose statement and/or
research question(s) to be answered
 Clearly state a hypothesis (if appropriate)
FORM FOR THE
PROBLEM STATEMENT

 The problem statement can be written as either a question or

as a declarative statement
 Research questions are interrogative sentences

 They may be used following a general statement of purpose

to identify sub-problems that will be answered
 Research questions are generally used in lieu of hypotheses
and indicate the use of non-experimental study designs
RESEARCH QUESTIONS CAN BE USED ALONG WITH A
GENERAL STATEMENT OF PURPOSE TO IDENTIFY SUB-
PROBLEMS THAT WILL BE ANSWERED

 The purpose of this study was to determine the characteristics of

students who use the Health and Wellness Center five or more
times per week.
 What is the gender profile of students who use the HWC five or more
times per week?
 What is the racial/ethnic profile of students who use the HWC five or
more times per week?
 What is the BMI of students who use the HWC five or more times per
week?
 What is the attitude toward wellness of those students who use the
HWC five or more times per week?
VARIABLES

 Dependent Variable– the variable that is measured or

observed…outcome variable
 Ask “What is dependent upon what?”
 Independent Variable – variable being examined or tested
 Control Variable – variable whose potential to impact the
dependent variable has been removed or “controlled for” by the
study design or statistical manipulation
 WHAT IS A HYPOTHESIS?

 Expresses the relationship between two or more variables

 States the predicted outcome of a test

 A hypothesis can be tested (proved or disproved)

DIRECTIONAL AND NONDIRECTIONAL
HYPOTHESES

 Nondirectional hypotheses: predict a difference between

groups, but do not specify what the difference might be
 Null hypothesis (Ho ): statement of no difference
 The means or scores are not different
 Alternative hypothesis (Ha ): statement of difference
 The means or scores are different in a predicted direction
EXAMPLES

 Nondirectional: There will be a difference in contraceptive

knowledge level of students that participated in an abstinence-only
sexuality education program and the contraceptive knowledge level
of students who participated in an abstinence-based sexuality
education program.
 Null Hypothesis: There will be no difference in the contraceptive
knowledge level of students that participated in an abstinence-only
sexuality education program and the contraceptive knowledge level
of students who participated in an abstinence-based sexuality
education program.
 Alternative Hypothesis: The contraceptive knowledge levels of
students that participated in an abstinence-only sexuality education
program will be lower than the contraceptive knowledge level of
students who participated in an abstinence-based sexuality education
program.
HYPOTHESIS TESTING

 Is the difference in contraceptive knowledge levels between the

two groups of students large enough to convince us that it is the
result of the differences between the two types of education
programs and not simply chance or normal variation.
 Most often test the null hypothesis (there is no difference
between the contraceptive knowledge levels of the two groups)
 Use statistical tests to determine the probability that the null
hypothesis is true
HYPOTHESIS TESTING
 Type I Error
 Rejecting a true H0

 Type II Error
 Failure to reject a false H0
 Note: a H0 is never “accepted”

 p-values
 Standard is 5%
TIMELINES
Most research proposals include a fairly detailed
anticipated schedule for the planned research project.
1.Create a list of all the steps from planning the study
through the dissemination of results
2.Create a calendar that shows when each of these steps
is expected to begin and end
3.Set deadlines along the way that will help ensure that
the project stays on track toward timely completion
 PART I: ARTICLE ANALYSIS
 Problem or purpose?
 Hypotheses ?
 Nondirectional, null, or alternative
 Dependent variable
 Independent variable(s)

 Part II: Your research question & timeline