EDUC 507: REVIEW Research Problem & Purpose N. Friesen

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)

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

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

January 7 Please put together some text (appx 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.

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)

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.

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

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).

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

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