EDUC 507: REVIEW Research Problem & Purpose

1. EDUC 507: REVIEWResearch Problem & Purpose N. Friesen

2. Outline • Updates since our Nov. 21 class: • Forums, F2F, etc. • Overview of Chapter 5 in Creswell: Research Problem • Overview of Chapter 6 in Creswell: Research Purpose • Preview of Chapter 7: Research Question(s)

3. Nov. 24: Email on Groups, Activities, Schedule. • Dates: • January 9-17 Chapters 5 & 6 • February 1-7 Chapter 7 • February 20-27 Chapters 8-10 • Activities: • Face to Face Group • Writing as a collaborative activity

4. Groups  a. Whole Group (stuff relevant to the whole class) b. Adults c. Aboriginal d. Arts e. Culture f. Literacy g. Projects h. Mathematicsi. Methods/Other

5. January 7 Email • Please put together some text (appx. 300-500 words) describing your (likely) research problem. Once you’ve done that, please read and comment on two research problems posted by others, preferably providing suggestions or questions for the improvement of the problem description or statement.

6. Research Problem • a way of stating your research that would be appropriate in a discussion with a friend or relative, say, over coffee; OMITS: • methodology, • sampling, • limitations of the study, • Broad generalizations • a challenge that is relevant to you and others that you’ll try to address • It is a key part of opening your thesis/proposal introduction • it can provide evidence of the urgency of your research (from the literature) • often includes a “narrative hook” (as Creswell explains)

7. Research Problem • Evidence of urgency from the literature: • In popular areas of research, there will be “literature reviews” published; sometimes called meta-analyses. • No one has done something exactly like this before: • Geography; interior of BC, BC generally, Kamloops • Time; conditions are constantly changing; research needs to be updated • Other factors: Aboriginal population, rural or small city environment, resource-based economy.

8. Different info for different audiences • Adding to scholarly research: researchers • How to improve practice: teachers • How to change policy: administrators

9. Research Purpose The purpose of this ___ (strategy of inquiry, such as ethnography, case study, or other type) study is to ___ (understand? describe? develop? discover?) the ___(central phenomenon being studied) for ___(the participants, such as the individual, groups, organization) at ___(research site). At this stage in the research, the ___(central phenomenon being studied) will be generally defined as ___(provide a general definition).

10. Preview of Research Questions • Clearly differentiated by Qualitative and Quantitative methodologies. • Quantitative: relationships among variables; factors influencing or impacting • Hypothesis: Prediction instead of a question • Qualitative: How, (better) understand, Describe, Develop

11. Development • Problem, purpose, question  • Poster presentation (quotes, picts.) • Ethics application version  • Your Research Proposal  • Your Research Thesis  Results