Types of Research Questions

Prepared by: Josephine Patio- Latip

Quantitative research questions are based on one of three basic approaches to examining the variables the researcher is interested in: 3 basic approaches describing Comparing relating Example: The researcher is interested in examining Facebook usage amongst students in IIUM.

Facebook usage amongst students in IIUM

Describing factors relating to the make-up of these Facebook users, quantifying how many (or what proportion) of these university students were male or female, or what their average age was. Describing factors relating to their behaviour, such as how frequently they used Facebook each week or the reasons why they joined Facebook in the first place (e.g. to connect with friends, to store all their photos in one place, etc.).

Potential descriptive quantitative research questions would be:

How often do students use Facebook? What are the reasons that encourage students to join Facebook?

Compare some of the mentioned factors

For example, we could compare how frequently the students used Facebook each week, looking for differences between male and female students

Potential comparative quantitative research questions would be: 1. Do Facebook usage patterns differ based on gender? 2. Do the reasons that encourage students to join Facebook differ based on gender?

Relating one or more factors (e.g. age) to other factors (e.g. how frequently students used Facebook each week) to find out if there were any associations or relationships between them For example, we could relate age to how frequently the students used Facebook each week. This could help us discover if there was an association or relationship between these variables (i.e. age and weekly Facebook usage), and if so, tell us something about this association or relationship (e.g. its strength, direction, and/or statistical significance A potential relationship-based quantitative research question would be: Does age influence how frequently students use Facebook?

Descriptive Questions
Question:

Variable: Group: Question:

Variable:

How often do IIUM students use Facebook each week? Weekly Facebook usage IIUM students How often do male and female IIUM students upload photos and comment on other users photos on Facebook each week? 1. Weekly photo uploads on Facebook 2. Weekly comments on other users photos on Facebook 1. Male, IIUM students

How often do male and female IIUM students upload Question: photos and comment on other users photos on Facebook each week? 1. Weekly photo uploads on Facebook Variable: 2. Weekly comments on other users photos on Facebook 1. Male, IIUM students Group: 2. Female, IIUM students What are the most important factors that influence the Question: career choices of IIUM students? Variable: Factors influencing career choices Group: IIUM students What proportion of Malaysian male and female IIUM Question: students use the top 5 social networks? Use of top 5 social networks (i.e. Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Variable: LinkedIn, and Classmates) 1. Male, Malaysian IIUM students Group: 2. Female, Malaysian IIUM students

Comparative research questions

Comparative research questions aim to examine the differences between two or more groups on one or more dependent variables (although often just a single dependent variable). Such questions typically start by asking What is the difference in a particular dependent variable (e.g. daily calorific intake) between two or more groups (e.g. Malaysian men and Malaysian women).

Examples of comparative research questions

Question:

What is the difference in the daily calorific intake of Malaysian me and women? Dependent variable: Daily calorific intake 1. Malaysian men Groups: 2. Malaysian women What is the difference in the weekly photo uploads on Facebook Question: between Malaysian male and female IIUM students? Dependent variable: Weekly photo uploads on Facebook 1. Male, Malaysian IIUM students Groups: 2. Female, Malaysian IIUM students What are the differences in usage behaviour on Facebook between Question: Malaysian male and female IIUM students? Usage behaviour on Facebook (e.g. logins, weekly photo uploads, Dependent variable: status changes, commenting on other users photos, app usage, etc. 1. Male, Malaysian IIUM university students Group: 2. Female, Malaysian IIUM university students

Question:

Dependent variable:
Groups: Question: Dependent variable:

What are the differences in perceptions towards Internet banking security between adolescents and pensioners? Perceptions towards Internet banking security 1. Adolescents 2. Pensioners What are the differences in attitudes towards music piracy when pirated music is freely distributed or purchased? Attitudes towards music piracy

Relationship-based research questions

Start a relationship-based quantitative research question, What is the relationship, usually followed by the words, between or amongst, then list the independent variables (e.g. gender) and dependent variables (e.g. attitudes towards music piracy), amongst or between the group(s) you are focusing on

Examples of relationship-based research questions are:

Question: Dependent variable: Independent variable: Group: What is the relationship between gender and attitudes towards music piracy amongst adolescents? Attitudes towards music piracy Gender Adolescents What is the relationship between study time and exam scores amongst university students? Exam scores Study time University students What is the relationship amongst career prospects, salary and benefits, and physical working conditions on job satisfaction between managers and non-managers? Job satisfaction 1. Career prospects 2. Salary and benefits

Question:
Dependent variable: Independent variable: Group: Question: Dependent variable: Independent variable:

Dependent and Independent Variable

A variable is not only something that you measure, but also something that you can manipulate and control for. An independent variable (sometimes called an experimental or predictor variable) is a variable that is being manipulated in an experiment in order to observe the effect this has on a dependent variable (sometimes called an outcome variable). The dependent variable is simply that; a variable that is dependent on an independent variable(s).

 For example: Imagine that a tutor asks 100 students to complete a maths test. The tutor wants to know why some students perform better than others. Whilst the tutor does not know the answer to this, she thinks that it might be because of two reasons:
Some students spend more time revising for their test; and Some students are naturally more intelligent than others.

The tutor decides to investigate the effect of revision time and intelligence on the test performance of the 100 students. As such, the dependent and independent variables for the study are: Dependent Variable: Test Mark (measured from 0 to 100) Independent Variables: Revision time (measured in hours) Intelligence (measured using IQ score)

The aim of the tutor's investigation is to examine whether these independent variables (i.e. revision time and IQ) result in a change in the dependent variable (i.e. the students' test scores). However, it is also worth noting that whilst this is the main aim of the experiment, the tutor may also be interested to know if the independent variables (i.e. revision time and IQ) are also connected in some way.

Steps required in structuring descriptive research questions

1. Choose your starting phrase

You can start descriptive research questions with any of the following phrases: How many How often How frequently How much What percentage What proportion To what extent What is What are

Some of these starting phrases are highlighted in blue text in the examples below:
How many calories do Malaysian men and women consume per day? How often do Malaysian IIUM students use Facebook each week? What are the most important factors that influence the career choices of IIUM Malaysian students? What proportion of IIUM male and female students use the top 5 social networks? What percentage of Malaysian men and women exceed their daily calorific allowance?

2. Identify and name the dependent variable

All descriptive research questions have a dependent variable. You need to identify what this is. However, how the dependent variable is written out in a research question and what you call it are often two different things. In the examples below, the name of the dependent variable is illustrated and highlighted how it would be written out in the blue text.

Name of the dependent variable Daily calorific intake Daily calorific intake Weekly Facebook usage Factors influencing career choices Use of the top 5 social networks

How the dependent variable is written out How many calories do Malaysian men and women consume per day? What percentage of Malaysian men and women exceed their daily calorific allowance? How often do IIUM students use Facebook each week? What are the most important factors that influence the career choices of IIUM Malaysian students?

What proportion of IIUM male and female university students use the top 5 social networks?

3. Identify the group(s) you are interested in

All descriptive research questions have at least one group, but can have multiple groups. You need to identify this group(s). In the examples below, we have identified the group(s) in the green text

1.How many calories do Malaysian men and women consume per day? 2. How often do IIUM students use Facebook each week? 3.What are the most important factors that influence the career choices of IIUM students? 4. What proportion of IIUM male and female students use the top 5 social networks? 5. What percentage of Malaysian men and women exceed their daily calorific allowance?

4. Decide whether the dependent variable or group(s) should be included first, last or in two parts

Sometimes it makes more sense for the dependent variable to appear before the group(s) you are interested in, but sometimes it is the opposite way around. The following examples illustrate this, with the group(s) in green text and the dependent variable in blue text:
Group 1st; dependent variable 2nd:

How often do IIUM students use Facebook each week?

Dependent variable 1st; group 2nd:

What are the most important factors that influence the career choices of Malaysian IIUM students?

5. Include any words that provide greater context to your question

Sometimes the name of the dependent variable provides all the explanation we need to know what we are trying to measure. Take the following examples: How many calories do Malaysian men and women consume per day? How often do IIUM students use Facebook each week?

In the first example, the dependent variable is daily calorific intake (i.e. calories consumed per day). Clearly, this descriptive research question is asking us to measure the number of calories American men and women consume per day. In the second example, the dependent variable is Facebook usage per week. Again, the name of this dependent variable makes it easy for us to understand that we are trying to measure the often (i.e. how frequently; e.g. 16 times per week) British university students use Facebook.

 However, sometimes a descriptive research question is not simply interested in measuring the dependent variable in its entirety, but a particular component of the dependent variable. Take the following examples in red text: What percentage of American men and women exceed their daily calorific allowance? What are the most important factors that influence the career choices of Australian university students?

Write out the descriptive research question

Once you have these details (1) the starting phrase, (2) the name of the dependent variable, (3) the name of the group(s) you are interested in, and (4) any potential joining words you can write out the descriptive research question in full. :

Steps in Writing Comparative Research Questions

1. Starting phrases Comparative research questions typically start with one of two phrases: Number of dependent variables Two Three or more Starting phrase What is the difference in What are the differences in

Some of these starting phrases are highlighted in blue text in the examples below: What is the difference in the daily calorific intake of Malaysian men and women? What is the difference in the weekly photo uploads on Facebook between IIUM male and female university students?

2. Identify and name the dependent variable

All comparative research questions have a dependent variable. You need to identify what this is. However, how the dependent variable is written out in a research question and what you call it are often two different thing In the examples below, we have illustrated the name of the dependent variable and highlighted how it would be written out in the blue text.

How the dependent variable is written Name of the dependent variable out What is the difference in the daily Daily calorific intake calorific intake of Malaysian men and women? What are the differences in perceptions Perceptions towards Internet towards Internet banking security banking security between adolescents and pensioners? What are the differences in attitudes towards music piracy when pirated Attitudes towards music piracy music is freely distributed or purchased? What is the difference in the weekly

Structure of relationship-based research questions

Steps required to construct a relationship-based research question
Name of the independent Starting phrase variable Two What is the relationship between

Three or more

What are the relationships of

What is the relationship between gender and attitudes towards music piracy amongst adolescents? What is the relationship between study time and exam scores amongst university students? What is the relationship of career prospects, salary and benefits, and physical working conditions on job satisfaction between managers and non-managers

Identify and name the independent and dependent variable

What is the relationship between gender and attitudes towards music piracy amongst IV adolescents?
DV

What is the relationship between study time and exam scores amongst university students?
What is the relationship of career prospects, salary and benefits, and physical working on job satisfaction between managers and nonmanagers

Identify the appropriate adjoining text

Number of groups One Two or more Adjoining text amongst [e.g. group 1] between of [e.g. group 1 and group 2]

What is the relationship between gender and attitudes towards music piracy amongst adolescents?
What is the relationship between study time and exam scores amongst university students? What is the relationship of career prospects, salary and benefits, and physical working conditions on job satisfaction between managers and non-managers

Write out the relationship-based research question

Once you have these details (1) the starting phrase, (2) the name of the dependent variable, (3) the name of the independent variable, (4) the name of the group(s) you are interested in, and (5) any potential adjoining words you can write out the relationship-based research question