Please post your question, quote, and fact here. Also, please respond to at least two of your peers' posts and answer my questions.
Questions:
1.) Define what a research problem is and its significance in a study.
2.) Discuss the criteria for evaluating whether or not you should study your research problem.
3.) Discuss how quantitative and qualitative research problems differ.
4.) What are the five elements of a "statement of the problem" section?
5.) How do you write a "statement of the problem" section?
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Question: Adolescent tobacco use has been reported by race/ethnicity, gender, and grade level; however, the relationship between sports intensity, race, and tobacco use has not been studied to the best of our knowledge. My question is why not?
ReplyDeleteQuote: "The opening paragraph needs to gently lead the reader into the study. My analogy for this is lowering a bucket into a well to get water. I hope to gently lower the bucket rather than drop it suddenly into the depths of the well."
Fact: Issues arise in the educational workplace that you can address in you research. For example, policy makers need to decide whether to mandate state standards of assessment, or principals and teachers must develop approaches to classroom discipline. Closely related are the personal experiences of our lives that provide sources for researchable problems. These personal experiences can come from intense personal school experiences or experiences drawn from our childhood or family situations.
Questions:
ReplyDelete1. Research problems are the educational issues, controversies, or concerns that guide the need for a study. You can find problems in the introduction to a study. You can locate this passage in the opening, introductory paragraphs of a report. Specifying a research problem in your study is important because it sets the stage for the entire study. Without knowing the problem, readers do not know why the study is important and why they should read the study.
2. You can research a problem if you have access to participants and research sites as well as time, resources, and skills needed to educational knowledge. It, also, adds to the effectiveness of practice. There are five ways to assess whether you should research a problem:
1. Study the problem if your study will fill a gap or void in the existing literature.
2. Study the problem if your study replicates a past study but examines different participants and different research sites.
3. Study the problem if your study extends past research or examines the topic more thoroughly.
4. Study the problem if your study gives voice to people silenced, not heard, or rejected in society.
5. Study the problem if your study informs practice.
3. Two factors, explanation and exploration, provide a standard you can use to determine whether your research problem is best suited for a quantitative or qualitative approach.
4. The statement of the problem section includes the actual research problem as well as five other elements:
1. Topic
2. Research problem
3. Justification of the importance of the problem as found in the past research and in practice
4. Deficiencies in our existing knowledge about the problem
5. Audiences that will benefit from a study of the problem
5. Several writing strategies can help you craft this section:
1. A template
2. Using frequent references to the literature throughout this introductory passage
3. Providing references from statistical trends to support the importance of studying the research problem
4. Using quotes from participants in a study or from notes obtained from observing participants to begin your statement of the problem introduction
Helen,
ReplyDeleteDefine "sports intensity" here? As researchers, you will have to define all the key terms in your study. I do not know why that has not been studied. Maybe someone has not thought about the correlation there, or maybe someone has in another area like medicine. Remember Fred Dyson is our reference librarian at MWSU, and he can help you do deeper searches for research topics. At times, he might find something when you could now, and at other times, you might be onto something totally new!
Keep up the good work!
Questions:
ReplyDelete1.) Define what a research problem is and its significance in a study.
A) A research problem is the educational issue, controversy, or concern that guide the need for conducting a study. The research problem “sets the stage for the entire study. Without knowing the research problem, readers do not know why the study is important and why they should read the study.” (page 69)
2.) Discuss the criteria for evaluating whether or not you should study your research problem.
A) The criteria for evaluating whether or not you should study your research problem are:
“1-Study the problem if your study will fill a gap or void in the existing literature.
2-Study the problem if your study replicates a past study but examines different participants and different research sites.
3-Study the problem if your study extends past research or examines the topic more thoroughly.
4-Study the problem if your study gives voice to people silenced, not heard, or rejected in society.
5-Study the problem if your study informs practice.” (pages 72-73)
3.) Discuss how quantitative and qualitative research problems differ.
ReplyDeleteA) Quantitative and Qualitative research problems differ because quantitative research problems require explanation; where as qualitative research problems are more an exploration. (page 73)
“If your problems requires you to: measure variables, assess the impact of those variables on an outcome, test theories or broad explanations, or apply results to a large number of people” you should use the quantitative research. “If you problem requires you to: learn about the views of individuals, assess a process over time, generate theories based on participant perspectives, or obtain detailed information about a few people or research sites” you should use qualitative research. (page 74)
4.) What are the five elements of a "statement of the problem" section?
A) The five elements of a “statement of the problem” section are: “The topic, the research problem, a justification of the importance of the problem as found in the past research and in practice, the deficiencies in our existing knowledge about the problem, and the audiences that will benefit from a study of the problem.” (page 74)
5.) How do you write a "statement of the problem" section?
ReplyDeleteA) To write a “statement of the problem: section you would first “begin with an introduction to atopic that the reader can easily understand and with a sentence that creates reader interest; a ‘narrative hook’.” (page 75) Then, you need to state the research problem in a sentence or two. “The readers simply need to know the issue or concern that leads to the need for your study.” (page 76) After stating the research problem “you will also need to provide several reasons for the importance of studying the issue or concern. This justification occurs in several paragraphs in an introduction in which you provide evidence to document the need to study the problem,” (page 76) Next, you will “need to summarize how our present state of knowledge … is deficient.” (page 79) Lastly, when writing a “statement of the problem” section you will need to identify the audience that your study will potentially benefit. (page 79)
MY QUESTION:
ReplyDeleteOn pages 72 and 73 when they are listing the reasons why you should research the problem it seemed like #3 is a little silly to me, “study the problem if your study extends past research or examines the topic more thoroughly. Why would you be doing a study on something that has already been done if you weren’t going to do it more thoroughly?
QUOTE:
“Start with a broad topic that readers can easily understand. In this way, you bring readers into a study slowly and encourage them to read beyond the first page.” I truly didn’t think of that before. I would have thought that the people reading the study really needed to know what was in it so no matter what they would keep reading. I didn’t think of drawing them in slowly and really wrapping them up on the study before you jump into the heavy stuff. (page 74)
INTERESTING FACT:
I like how on page 80 the author give you tips on how to make your research have a more scholarly tone to it. That makes me feel like the author is a real person, a teacher, trying to help us and no JUST make a buck with his book.
Helen,
ReplyDeleteI'm very intrigued by your question. That would be a piece of research that I would be VERY interested in reading. Think of how much that would benefit our society! GREAT QUESTION!
1. Research problems are the educational issues, controversies, or concerns that guide the need for conducting a study. A couple examples of why we study research problems might be; to help teachers solve practical problems or assist policy makers when they make decisions. Readers must know the research problem so they know why they should read the study.
ReplyDelete2. Five ways to access whether you should research a problem:
1. If your study will fill a gap in the existing literature.
2. If your study replicates a past study but examins diferent participants and different research sites.
3. If your study extends past research or examines the topic more thoroughly.
4. If your study gives voice to people silenced, not heard or rejected in society.
5. If your study informs practice.
3. Explaining or predicting relations among variables is important characteristic of quantitaive research. Exploring a problem is a characteristic of qualitative research. Explanation and exploration provide a standard that you can use when determining whether research is best suited for quantitative or qualitative. Additional factors to consider might be; If your research problem requires you to measure variables, assess impact of these variables on an outcome, test theories or broad explanations, or apply results to a large number of people, you should use quantitative research. If your research problem requires you to learn about the views of the individuals, assess a process over time, generate theories on participant perspectives, or obtain detailed information about a few people or research site, you should use qualitative research.
4. The statement of problem section should include the research problem(concern or issue) as well as the topic(subject area), a justification of the importance of the problem (evidence from literature), deficiencies in what we know (what is missing), and the audience.
5. One strategy for writing a "statement of the problem" section is to visualize the section as five paragraphs, with each paragraph addressing one of the five aspects of the section.
ReplyDeleteQuestion: How much time should you take collecting data?
Quote: "Think aloud about writing a statement of the problem" p.81
Fact: The goal of the researcher is to present a solid rationale for why the study is needed. p.82
Rebecca,
I agree, the author does a great job of using terms that are easy to understand.
1.) Define what a research problem is and its significance in a study.
ReplyDeleteA:
Research problems are the education issues, controversies, or concerns that guide the need for conducting a study (Creswell, 2008, p.69).
A research problem make us can assist policy makers when they make decisions, help teacher and schools solve their problems, and provide researchers with deeper understanding of educational issues. Thus, research problems significantly set the stage of the entire study. If there is no research problem, readers will not know what the important of the study, and why should they read it.
2.) Discuss the criteria for evaluating whether or not you should study your research problem.
A:
Creswell (2008) stated that researchers should study a problem if it potentially contributes to educational knowledge or adds to effectiveness of practice. In the other words, the research should benefit in educational practices. There are 5 ways to assess the research problem.
1. Study the problem if the research will fill a gap or void in the existing literature.
2. Study the problem if your study replicates a past study but examines different participants and different research sites.
3. Study the problem if your study extends past research or examines the topic more thoroughly.
4. Study the problem if your study give voice to people silenced, not heard, or rejected in society.
5. Study the problem if your study informs practice.
3.) Discuss how quantitative and qualitative research problems differ.
ReplyDeleteA:
Quantitative research problems require researchers to measure variables, assess the impact of these variables on an outcome, test theories or broad explanations, and apply results to large number of people.
Qualitative research problems require researchers to learn about the views of individuals, assess a process over time, generate theories based on participant perspectives, and obtain detailed information about a few people or research sites.
4.) What are the five elements of a "statement of the problem" section?
A:
1. The topic
2. The research problem
3. A justification of the importance of the problem as found in the past research and in practice.
4. The deficiencies in our existing knowledge about the problem.
5. The audiences that will benefit from a study of the problem.
5.) How do you write a "statement of the problem" section?
A:
A strategy that I will use to write a statement of the problem is following the five elements; topic, research problem, justification for research problem, deficiencies in the evidence, and relating the discussion to the audiences. Additionally, I will use a simple language that makes the audiences easy to understand and provide the literatures to support the importance of studying the research problem.
A quote that I like in the book is, "The statement of the problem section or the introduction to a study includes five elements: the educational topic, the research problem, a justification for the problem based on past research and practice, deficiencies or shortcomings of past research or practice, and the importance of audience of addressing the problem for diverse audiences." I bring the whole sentence, but I just want to point out only the last part of it, "the importance of audience of addressing the problem for diverse audiences." This part strucks in my mind because I am a foriegner in this country. I am absolutely understand why the author mention this. From my experiences reading many researchese and text books, some literlatures are very diffeicult to read not because they are in English, it is because they are very difficult to follow the thought of the author.
ReplyDeleteThe fact about writing statement of problem is that we can use extensive references, cite statistics for quantitative research, and quotes from participants for qualitative research.
ReplyDeleteThe question is how we choose the right quote for our studies because there are many quotes in a research? If we can pick one quote, what will will do with the others. Will one or two quotes make our claim relevance?
To Matt,
ReplyDeleteFrom my undergraduate research experiences, I spent about a month to collect my survey. However, I spent about 4 months to prepare my research: writing thesis, reviewing past researches, getting approval, and sending permition letters to the research cites.
To Grill,
You are right. However, researches want to prove the previous researches, theories, or compare the result in the past to the present time. That is why they do the same research. Moreover, reading the previous researches can help researchers to develop their research methods. I use to get an idea from the previous research and applied it to my research.
Rebecca,
ReplyDeleteAwesome answers all around! I know it's always important to draw the reader in. I think it's important to make your writing an "easy read" while they're reading your research.
Matt,
ReplyDeleteI like you question, quote, and fact. I taught 4th grade for 5 years and you really don't have a lot of time to do much else. How do we know when we have enough data for our research?
Prueksa,
ReplyDeleteI really like you quote, the main part that you pointed out. That isn't really anything that I had thought of before. I was just thinking of the audience that my study would be written for or directed to. Thank you for bringing a valid point to mind.
Questions:
ReplyDelete1.) Define what a research problem is and its significance in a study.
Research problems are the educational issues, controversies or concerns that lead the researcher to conduct the study. The research problem is significant in a study, because it sets the stage for the rest of the study. It shows the need for the study and why the study is important.
2.) Discuss the criteria for evaluating whether or not you should study your research problem.
Researchers have to look at if it will add to our educational knowledge and if it informs our educational issues. The five ways to assess whether or not you should study your research problem are:
A.) Study the problem if it will fill a gap by covering topics not addressed in existing published literature.
B.) Study the problem if your research replicates a past study, but with different participants and sites to increase the value of previous research.
C.) Study the problem if your study examines a past study more thouroughly or deeper level to better understand the topic.
D.) Study the problem if the study gives a voice to people who have not been heard in society before or have rejected by society.
E.) Study the problem if your research informs practice. This could involve new techniques, recognition of value of current practices, or the necessity in changing a current practice.
3.) Discuss how quantitative and qualitative research problems differ.
ReplyDeleteQuantitative research seeks to explain a problem, while qualitative researchers seek to explore a problem. In quantitative research explaining or predicting variables is an important characteristic. You use quantitative research if your problem measures variables, assesses the impact of these variables on the outcome, test theories or applies results to a large number of people. Exploring a research problem is the main characteristic of qualitative research. However, if the problem requires you to learn about an individual’s views, assess a process over time, generate theories bases on participant perspectives, or obtain information about a small number of participants, then qualitative research is appropriate.
4.) What are the five elements of a "statement of the problem" section?
ReplyDeleteI) The Topic- The first sentence of a “statement of the problem” section creates reader interests and encourages them to keep reading. It should be a broad topic that a reader can easily understand and brings the reader slowly into the study. The goal of the first sentence is to spark interest and cause the reader to read on past the first page.
II) The Research Problem- This section is a sentence or two that informs the reader of the concerns that led to the study. It involves the writing the educational research problem, the concern, issue, or controversy that led the researcher to investigate. It can either be a practical research problem, concerns found in schools or other educational settings, or a research-based research problem, that fills in the gaps of previous research. Some research problems may be both practical and research-based .
III) Justification for Importance of the Problem- This is where reasons for the importance of studying the research concerns are presented in several paragraphs in the introduction. The research sites evidence from either, other researcher’s literature, experiences others have had in the work place, or from personal experiences. The evidence from other researcher’s or expert’s literature involves studying the conclusions of their literature such as journal articles.
IV) Deficiencies in What We Know- In this section the researchers summarizes how past research or practical experiences do not fully address or explain the research problem. The researcher presents two or three key reasons why the current state of knowledge is deficient towards the end of the introduction to the study.
V) The Audience- This part explains the importance of addressing the study for each audience and usually concludes the “statement of the problem” section.
5.) How do you write a "statement of the problem" section?
ReplyDeleteOne strategy is to use a template where the researcher visualizes the “statement of the problem” as five paragraphs with each paragraph representing one of the five aspects of the sections. The sections would go in order of, topic, research problem, justification of importance of the problem, deficiencies in existing research, and then the audience. Another writing strategy is to use frequent references to literature throughout the statement. This gives the statement more of an evidence based approach. Finally, a strategy that is often used in qualitative research, is to use quotes obtained from the participants in the study to start the “statement of the problem.”
Question: When writing and formatting a research report is the "statement of the purpose" section the entire introduction or is there more that needs to be written in the intro?
ReplyDeleteQuote- “Should the Problem be Researched? A positive answer to this question lies in whether or not your study will contribute to knowledge and practice.” I chose this statement because it summarizes the whole point of research is create meaningful change in knowledge.
Fact- The “statement of purpose” should end with a section about importance to the audience, so it can remind them of the usefulness of the research. I like how this puts the article into action for those in the field reading it.
1. A research problem is the educational issues, controversies, or concerns that guide the need for conducting a study. It is important because it tells us why the study is important helps people to understand the reasoning behind doing the study.
ReplyDelete2. There are 5 ways to assess whether you should research a problem. 1. Does it fill a gap or void in existing research. 2. Does it replicate a past study but examine different participants and different research sites. 3. Does it extend past research or examine the topic more thoroughly. 4. Does it give voice to people silenced, not heard, or rejected in society? 5. Does it inform practice.
3. Quantitative research problems set out to explain relationships among the variables. Qualitative research problems explore rather than explain relationships.
4. The topic, the research problem, justification of the importance of the Problem, justification in the literature based on other researchers and experts and justification based on workplace or personal experience.
5. You should start with a broad topic that will interest readers to read on. Then you can narrow it to a specific issue. Then you need to explain why the issue is important. Then you need to find scholarly articles that agree that the problem needs to be studied. Then you need to use personal work experience to justify studying the problem.
Quote:
“Good narrative hooks have these characteristics: cause the reader to pay attention, cause the reader to pay attention, elicit emotional or attitudinal responses, spark interest, and encourage reader to continue reading.”
Question:
Would you suggest doing a questionnaire among the staff in a building to justify whether your topic is important??
Fact:
Research Problems have to be educational issues, controversies, or concerns.
Class,
ReplyDeleteGood job here! You can do a pilot study first before your real study, and that helps you tweak your research if you need to do so before the real study. Also, you can use a survey to gauge interest before you delve into a study, but if you plan to use the survey results in your data or publications/presentations, you should get IRB approval for it. Districts are shying away from surveys because they are getting "survey fatigue" now.
Keep up the good work!
To continue with Matt's question on data collection. I agree that it is hard to find time to collect data with everything else going on. I have IEP meetings, confernce, and oh yea we have to find time to actually teach somewhere in there. I am setting up an afterschool program to collect my data because otherwise there would be no way to fit it into my schedule.
ReplyDeleteHelen,
ReplyDeleteAre you aking about sports invovlement or intensity. I think of intensity as how hard they push themselves. I would think the more involved a student is in sports the less likely they would be to smoke.
Matt & Jessica, I agree in education it seems like it would be hard to find time to collect much data. Maybe finding methods that don't take up as much time, like using a golf score ticker (don't know the exact name for it) to click when a behavior happens. Video tape can be helpful for recording behaviors during teaching time, but then you would have to take the time to review the tape after hours.
ReplyDelete