Doctoral students and researchers know there must be a purpose, aim, and research questions, but the specifics often escape novices and experienced students alike. Dissertation chairs and committees often are of little help. Recently, conducting peer review, there was a problem with the research questions (RQ) which harmed the study. The authors worked with me and got the study published. Here are some Do's and Don'ts to form your research questions.
Don't go it alone. There is a literature on how to write dissertations. For example, as a peer reviewer and presenter for the International Journal of Doctoral Studies, researchers have examined best practices. Check databases for research. Some articles that could prove helpful are "Formulating Research Questions in Experimental Doctoral Dissertations on Applied Linguistics" and "An Integrative Qualitative Framework: Improving Research Through Strategic Mapping." Many books are published, and one can go to university websites such as Eastern Michigan University. Companies such as Scribbr offer help as well.
Do examine recent dissertations at your university and others that have research questions in your field and methodology. Methodologies must connect with the research questions (for example, quantitative will be very different than qualitative). All questions examine a research problem.
Don't ask yes or no questions. A yes or no question requires a simple answer. A research project requires analysis.
Do connect with the literature and your theory or conceptual framework.
Don't ask too many questions. You want to limit your questions, generally to 3-5. You can ask less or more, but your study must be manageable and of sufficient depth and breadth.
Do continually reflect and revise your questions as you gain competence in the literature, theories, and research design. For example, if you initially planned on conducting a structural equation model but found your sample size cannot support such a design, you probably have to ask different questions. Maybe you found out your problem has been well researched, so you make some adjustments.
Don't ask why questions. That might sound counterintuitive, but most questions are what or how. Showing the what or how can lead to hypothesizing the why.
Do focus all questions on the two axes of exploratory or explanatory. Great dissertation advice is all questions want to show relationships, causes, or differences. For example, qualitative could describe the relationships in a phenomenon. A quantitative study might use correlation to describe the same relationships.
Don't neglect your research questions when writing up Chapter 5 or your conclusions. Reviewers and dissertation committees will ask one question: Did the research answer the question(s)? You might be shocked, but often researchers stray from their research questions and are no longer aligned. It is also ok to find you did not find what you wanted, the null hypothesis could not be rejected, and because of limitations, there are more questions than answers.
Are you stuck and need dissertation help? Still unsure? There are many companies, such as Intellectual Zones, Precision Consulting, and Dissertation Success to help you. I offer a free consultation and comprehensive support in editing, APA formatting, chapter development, and research. Let me know if Dissertation Pro can help you finish your dissertation. Unlike large, anonymous companies with exorbitant prices, I am cheap but high-quality dissertation assistance online and a known commodity. Let me know if you need my dissertation writing services today.
Comments