Formulation of

Research Questions
The Research Question
 The foundation of the research process
 It all begins with a question
Formulating a research
problem
 refers to identifying what it is that you
want to find out about.
 issue of investigation.
 answers researcher seeks to find.
Stages of the Scientific Method
Question Identified

Steps within
Hypothesis Formed the research
process

Research Plan

Data Collected

Results Analyzed

Conclusions
 RQ: Is
this
H1: Soft delicious?
things are
tasty

Hypothesis
rejected

Let me generalize
the findings
The Steps for Research process

6
“12 Steps of Research Process”

1. Identify the research problem

2. Initial review of literature
3. Distilling the problem to a researchable question
4. Continued review of literature
5. Formulation of hypothesis
6. Determining the basic research approach
7. Identifying the population and sample
8. Designing the data collection plan
9. Selecting or developing data collection instruments
10. Choosing the method of data analysis
11. Implementing the research plan
12. Interpreting the results
Finding a Research Question
 From where ???????
 Curiosity
 Research Gaps
 Controversy
 Replication
 Literature Review
 Other People
 ...???
 Steps in the formulation of a
research problem
1. Identify a broad field or subject area of interest
to you.
2. Dissect the broad area into subareas.
3. Select what is of most interest to you.
4. Raise research questions.
5. Formulate objectives
6. Assess your objectives
7. Double-check
 Step 1: Identify a broad field or
subject area of interest to you.
 Ex: If you are studying marketing you might
be interested in researching consumer
behavior (customer satisfaction).
 Step 2: Dissect the broad area
into subareas.
1- Profile of satisfied customers
2- Antecedents of customers satisfaction
3- The effect of customer satisfaction on
consumer related outcomes
4- Measurement of customer satisfaction
Step 3: Select what is of most
interest to you.
 It is neither advisable nor feasible to
study all subareas.
 Go through your list and delete all those
subareas in which you are not very
interested.
  select: Antecedents of customers
satisfaction
Step 4: Raise research questions

1- What is the effect of customer

expectation on customer satisfaction?
2- What is the effect of service quality on
customer satisfaction?
3- What is the effect of word of mouth
communication on customer satisfaction?
Examples of research ideas (topic) and their derived
focus research questions
 Step 5: Formulate objectives
 Your objectives grow out of your research
questions.
 The main difference between objectives and
research questions is the way in which they
are written.
 Research questions are obviously that—
questions.
 Step 5: Formulate objectives
 Objectives transform these questions into
behavioral aims by using action-oriented
words such as 'to assess', 'to determine', 'to
ascertain' and 'to examine‘, ‘to measure’, ‘to
explore’.
 Some examples…
 To describe the types of incentives provides by five star hotels in
Nepal to their employees.

 To examine the opinion of the employees about the

compensation and benefits provided by five star hotels in Nepal.

 To assess the impact of training on employee retention.

 To evaluate the effectiveness of different loyalty programmes on

repeat clientele.

 To ascertain if an increase in working hours will increase the

incidence of drug abuse.

 To demonstrate that the provision of company accommodation

to employees in hotels will reduce staff turnover.
 Paraphrasing research questions as
research objectives
Research Question Research Objective

Why have organizations To identify organization’s

introduced early retirement ? objectives for introducing
retirement schemes.

What are the consequences To describe the consequences of

of early retirement schemes ? early retirement for employees.
To explore the effects of early retirement for the organization.
 Step 5: Formulate objectives
Example:
1- To determine the effect of customer
expectation on customer satisfaction
2- To analyze the effect of service quality on
customer satisfaction
3- To identify how word of mouth
communication impact on customer
satisfaction
Step 6: Assess your objectives
 Examine your objectives to ascertain the
feasibility of achieving them in the light of
the time, resources (financial and human)
and technical expertise at your disposal.
Step 7: Double-check

1. that you are really interested in the study

2. that you agree with the objectives
3. that you have adequate resources
4. that you have the technical expertise to
undertake the study
The Funnel Approach
Considerations in selecting a
research problem
 interest,
 significance,
 measurement of concepts,
 level of expertise,
 relevance,
 availability of data,
 ethical issues.
Types of Research Questions
 Conceptualize that a research study can ask
three types of questions:
 Descriptive question
 Relationship question
 Difference question
 This general classification scheme helps not
only with the design of the study, but also in
choosing the type of data analysis procedure
Descriptive Question
 Seeks to describe phenomena or characteristics of a particular
group of subjects being studied
 Answers the question “what is”

 Asking questions of the research participants

 Testing or measuring their performance

 Survey research

 Example
 What are the attitudes of rural parents toward the inclusion of

vocational education in the school curriculum? (Welshimer &

Harris, 1994)
Relationship Question
 Investigates the degree to which two or more
variables are associated with each other
 Does not establish “cause-and-effect”

 Only identifies extent of relationship between

variables

 Example
 Is there an association between self-esteem and

eating behaviors among collegiate female

swimmers? (Fey, 1998)
 Difference Question
 Seeks to make comparisons between or within groups of
interest
 Often associated with experimental research

 Is there a difference between job engagement of

male and female employees ?

 Comparison of one group to another on the basis of

existing characteristics

 Example
 Does participation in Special Olympics affect the self-

esteem of adults with mental retardation? (Major, 1998)

 Research Objectives

Objectives specify what the research project proposes to

accomplish (do, achieve, estimate, determine, measure,
evaluate, etc.)
The are usually best specified in general and specific parts.
Often the shortest part of the proposal, but it is the
centerpiece.
 General objective – states the main purpose of the
study. It should derive directly from the research
problem statement. One sentence is best!
 Specific objectives – a set or list of sub-objectives,
each of which contributes to achieving the general
objective 34
Choice of Action Verbs for
Objective
 Specific objectives are written starting with
action verbs. The choice of the action verb is
critical as it determines the intensity of the
research.
 The following provides some of action verbs
that are acceptable in research works.
 The action verbs are presented with
increasing level of intensities.
 Acceptable Action Verbs
 To explore  To measure association
 To identify  To measure relationship
 To examine  To estimate
 To evaluate  To forecast
 To analyze  To predict
 To compare
 Unacceptable Action Verbs
 To study  To recommend
 To find out  To review
 To explain  To make an overview
 To describe  To see
 To conclude  To look into
 To diagnose
Objective Verbs
 Research objectives
 Specify the outcome of your study, the end product
 Keep your objectives SMART
 Specific: Indicate precisely what you intend to achieve through
this objective
 Measurable: What you accept as proof of project success
 Attainable: Given the resources available
 Relevant: Related to the overall goal of the project
 Time bound: Can be achieved in the given time

40
Research Question Vs Hypothesis
 A hypothesis is a tentative prediction about
the nature of the relationship between two or
more variables.
 A hypothesis represents an educated guess

about what will happen in an experiment.

 It is expected relationship based on prior

empirical evidence.
 Hypotheses are always held tentatively

 A research question is simply a hypothesis

stated in question form.
 Should I use a hypothesis or a
research question?
 Hypotheses  Research Questions
 Useful if there is an  Useful if there is little
established line of research previous research on the
 Useful if a likely outcome topic
can be anticipated in  Allows a researcher to
advance conduct more open-
 Useful to test a specific ended inquiries.
theory or model  A wider range of
 Can inhibit flexibility or outcomes can be
blind a researcher to reported
unanticipated results  May encourage excessive
manipulation of findings
 All research may not have hypothesis.
 Some have only research questions (explorative studies; Qualitative approach)
 Hypothesis tested in quantitative research (deductive approach)
 Phrasing hypotheses and
research questions
 Avoid vague or imprecise wording
 the hypothesis or research question must be clear and concise.

 The hypothesis or research question must be testable.

 The hypothesis or research question must be falsifiable.

 Wrong: Do students with high GPAs feel better about

themselves than students with low GPAs?
 Right: Do graduates with GPAs greater than 3.0 have higher
self esteem than graduates with GPAs of lower than 2.0?
 Criteria for Selecting a Problem
 Interest
 Most important

 Significance
 Theoretical value

 Practical value

 Timeliness

 External review

 Manageability
 Expertise, time, resources

 Free from personal bias

Problem Distillation
 The process of refining the question or idea
into a problem and making it sufficiently
specific so that it is amenable to investigation
 This process should lead to the development
of a “statement of the problem” that is clear,
concise, and definitive
Statement of the Problem
 A very specific statement which clearly identifies the
problem being studied; will usually identify the key
variables as well as give some information about the
scope of the study
 May be in either question or declarative form
 May include inherent sub-problems, if appropriate
 Formulation of problem statement takes place after
an initial review of related literature and the
distillation process
Problem Statements
 “The problem of this study was to …”
 “This study was concerned with …”
 “This study is designed to …”
 “The purpose of this investigation is to …”
Example
Research Questions
Recognize Problem
 Managers may want to know:
 Why are we losing marketing share?
 What should we do about our competitor
lowering its prices by 10 percent?

 In this instances, marketing researchers

can help managers solve problems
Find Out Why the Information
Is Being Sought
 Managers may not have a clear idea of what
they want, therefore marketing researchers
often find the following helpful:
 Discuss what the info. will be used for and what
decisions might be made as a result of the research.
 Try to get the client/manager to prioritize their
questions.
 Create sample data and ask if such a data would help
answer the questions. Simulate the decision process.
Understand the Decision-
Making Environment
 The better the marketing researcher
understands the decision-making environment,
including the industry, the firm, its products or
services, and the target market, the more likely
it is that the problem will be defined correctly.
 This step may be referred to as conducting a
situation analysis. That is studying the
decision-making environment within which the
marketing research will take place.
Understand the Decision-
Making Environment
 Sometimes informed discussions with managers
and suppliers and on-site visits aren’t enough.
 Exploratory research which is a preliminary
research may be conducted to obtain greater
understanding of a concept, to clarify the exact
nature of the problem to be solved, or to identify
important variables to be studied. It can take
several forms: pilot studies, experience surveys,
secondary data analysis, and case analysis.
 Exploratory Research
 Pilot studies: surveys using a limited number of respondents
and often employing less rigorous sampling techniques than
are employed in large, quantitative studies.

 Experience surveys: discussions with knowledgeable

individuals, both inside and outside the organization, who
may provide insights into the problem. (not with the formal
questionnaire)

 Case analysis: reviewing info. from situations that are similar

to the current one.
Use of the Symptoms
to Clarify the Problem
 A symptom is a phenomenon that occurs
because of existence of something else.

 Example: problem of poor sales, declining

profits, increased customer complaints, or
defecting customers.  each of these is a
symptom of a deeper problem. That is ,
something is causing a company’s
customers to leave.
Use of the Symptoms
to Clarify the Problem
 Focusing on symptoms and not the true problem is
often referred to as the iceberg principle.

 Approx. 10% of iceberg rises out of the ocean; the

remaining 90% is below the surface.

 Preoccupied with the obstacle they can see, managers

may fail to comprehend and confront the deeper
problem, which remain submerged.
Iceberg Principle