Count the number of concepts or phenomena that your research problem statement proposes to investigate. Do not include any concepts or phenomena that define the population, only those to be directly measured, examined, or described.
Follow the steps in your chosen Part sequentially.
Start with your research problem (developed in Track I and no doubt revised in the interim as your lit review developed). Write down the concepts and the target population in the problem statement. Identify the IVs, the DVs, and any sample variables. Next, write down all the sample variables and sample characteristics your research problem contains. If your problem statement does not identify the target population in enough detail to identify the characteristics or variables of the sample, go back to the literature and determine what they should be.
Practice example: The research problem is the impact of emotional intelligence, learning style, and personality type on job satisfaction in health care managers is not known. Your list of concepts would be:
Immediately, you notice that "health care managers" is a very broad category and does not help you determine specific sample characteristics and variables. A quick review of your literature suggests that you should study female managers working in specialty clinics. So to your list you add to "health care managers":
Apply: Do Step 1 with your own research problem.
Next, write down exactly the form of measurement that your problem requires. The main forms include:
Practice example: In the example, what is not known is the impact of the three IVs on the DV. Therefore, the kind of relationship we are seeking will be a causal relationship, based on that word impact. The word effect can be substituted, making even clearer that the relationship we are after is a causal one.
Apply: Do Step 2 with your own research problem.
Now, craft a conceptual version of your question using these ingredients. After you have a draft, examine it carefully. Does your question:
If it misses on any point, correct it.
Practice example: A first draft of the conceptual version of the example might be:
What is the impact of personality type on the job satisfaction of female health care managers in specialty medical clinics?
If we are actually interested in whether this IV predicts the DV—prediction being a type of impact—another version might be:
Is personality type a predictor of job satisfaction in female health care managers in specialty medical clinics?
Apply: Do Step 3, the conceptual version, for your own research question.
Write an operational version of the research question.
Practice example: To determine effects (or impacts), one must do an experimental or a quasi-experimental design. This means that two or more groups are formed and the different effects of the IV are compared in those groups. To get to that, we look at the IV (or individual IVs if there is more than one). We ask ourselves what levels of the variable we are interested in. In reviewing the literature, we found that the so-called Big Five personality traits (Costa & McCrae, 1992) are widely used. This shows us five levels of personality type. But perhaps for some reason, we are most interested in the impact of extroversion and conscientiousness for the variable personality type.
Therefore, we might have an operational version of the research question that looks like this:
Are there statistically significant differences in levels of job satisfaction for female health care managers in specialty medical clinics who are highly extroverted compared with those who are highly conscientious?
Apply: D Step 4 for your own research question.
The next step is to examine your research question and write any necessary subquestions. Use your operational version for this step. The basic approach is to write a descriptive question for each of the variables being investigated, as well as for any sample variable that must be measured.
Practice example: Our question has three variables to be measured, and therefore we have three subquestions to write:
Practive example: Because we have only one main question, we will need two hypotheses, a null and an alternate.
Your search of the literature about your topic and research question will continue until you complete your dissertation. When you find new research that changes the nature or focus of your problem statement, your question will need to be revised accordingly. This is quite common. So plan to keep revisiting your research problem and question regularly, up to the point where they have been finally approved by your dissertation committee and the IRB and you are ready to start your participant recruitment. That question, and only that question, will be your final edition.
Start with your research problem (developed in Track I and no doubt revised in the interim, as your lit review developed). On a sheet of paper, write down the concept or the phenomenon to be investigated; write it as clearly as you can. Next, write down all the sample characteristics your research population requires. If your problem statement does not identify the target population in enough detail to identify the characteristics of the sample, go back to the literature and determine what they should be.
Practice example: The research problem is how graduate students in an online graduate program describe their experience of the process of assimilating complex research concepts. Your concept or phenomenon statement would be:
The experience of assimilating complex research concepts.
Your sample characteristics identified in the problem statement would be:
Immediately, you notice that while the phenomenon is stated reasonably clearly, the sample characteristics are quite broadly stated. "Graduate students" does not help you determine specific sample characteristics to screen for. A quick review of your literature and reflection on your personal interests suggests that you should study female doctoral students in online programs affiliated with on-ground universities. Even that is too broad. There are many specializations within graduate schools, and various graduate degrees. So to your list of sample characteristics, you decide to add:
Apply: Do Step 1 with your own research problem.
Next, write down exactly the form of inquiry that your problem requires. The main forms in qualitative research include:
Practice example: In the example, the research problem (what is not known) is how these graduate students describe their personal experiences in coming to terms with and mastering research concepts. Obviously, you could choose either a conversational inquiry or an analysis of texts. The latter might demonstrate mastery, but would it allow you to learn about the experience of developing mastery? It seems reasonable, then, since the problem is to learn how they describe their experiences of this process, to use a conversational inquiry.
Apply: Do Step 2 with your own research problem.
Now, craft a conceptual version of your question using these ingredients. After you have a draft question, examine it carefully. Does your question:
If it misses on any point, correct it.
Practice example: Taking into account all these ingredients, a first draft of the conceptual version of the example might be:
How do women studying human behavior and counseling related specializations in online PhD programs offered by a traditional on-ground graduate institution, describe their process of assimilating research concepts?
Apply: Do Step 3, the conceptual version, for your own research.
Your search of the literature about your topic and research question will continue until you complete your dissertation. When you find new research that changes the nature or focus of your problem statement, your question will need to be revised accordingly. This is quite common. So plan to keep revisiting your research problem and question regularly, up to the point where they have been finally approved by your dissertation committee and the IRB and you are ready to start your participant recruitment. That question and only that question will be your final edition.
Costa, P. T., & McCrae, R. R. (1992). Revised NEO personality inventory (NEO-PI-R) and NEO five-factor inventory (NEO-FFI) professional manual. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc.
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