Who’s afraid of research questions?

1. Who’s afraid of research questions? The neglect of research questions in social science

2. Researchers and research questions • Researchers often find it difficult to tell you their research questions • The sometimes don’t realise the importance of research questions in terms of the rest of the research process • Many don’t realise how helpful it is to spend time formulating research questions

3. Why bother with research questions? • Research should be driven by curiosity • Research should be driven by questions not method • Research questions guide the construction of a research design • We need to know the research questions in order to evaluate a piece of research

4. Research questions… • Communicate to an audience what the researcher wanted to investigate. • Help the researcher clarify what their research is about • Direct the researcher towards an appropriate research design

5. Unresearchable questions Metaphysical Normative Should corporal punishment be re-introduced in secondary schools in the United Kingdom? Is it right that those involved in the August 2011 riots received harsher sentences than offenders convicted of similar crimes at the same time in 2010? Do numbers exist independently of human thought? Does the world exist or is it just a figment of my imagination? ‘Why’ questions?

6. Examples of problematic concepts What problems might we face when defining and operationalising the following concepts? • Social class • Non-economic ‘capitals’ • Gender

7. How do young people make educational and career choices at the end of compulsory schooling? Contributory sub-questions Ancillary sub-questions How similar are the factors considered at the end of compulsory schooling to those factors considered at earlier points of transition? Is the type of decision-making engaged in by students related to their academic attainment? • What factors do young people consider when making their choice? • What sources of information do they use to help their decision-making? • Which individuals are influential in shaping their choices?

8. Descriptive and Explanatory Questions

9. ‘Why’ questions Fischer (1970) argues that ‘why’ questions can seek: • Causes • Motives • Reasons • Descriptions • Processes • Purposes • Justifications

10. Problem Question #1 What were the aims of the comprehensivisation of secondary education and to what extent were these aims achieved?

11. Solution #1 • What were the aims of comprehensivisation? • To what extent were these aims achieved?

12. Problem Question #2 Comprehensive education: force for equality or lowest common denominator?

13. Solution #2 • To what extent has the comprehensivisation of secondary education in the UK led to increased equality? • Has the introduction of comprehensivisation led to lower educational attainment among pupils in the UK?

14. Problem Question #3 Why are the working classes over-represented in certain occupations?

15. Solution #3 • Is there a lack of intra-generational mobility among working class adults in the UK? • If so, what factors contribute to this lack of mobility?

16. Problem Questions #4 • Do the lecturing staff in your institution feel they are overworked? • Do the lecturing staff in your institution feel they are underpaid?

17. Solution #4 • Do your feel that you are overworked? • Do your feel that you are underpaid?

18. ‘Good’ research questions? • Among the adult population of the UK, what factors are associated with: • Current or recent participation in learning; • The intention to participate in learning in the near future. • What is the relative importance of these factors? • Has the importance of these factors changed between 2002 and 2010? • If so, how has their importance changed?