The first design steps: What is the question? Framing the Research Question Is it a question for anyone else – who else needs to know? Who else wants to know? What is the answer worth? Decide on the Significance of the research Why hasn’t anyone looked at it already –I don’t know if they have looked already. Is there likely to be an answer? Is it personal? Is it local? Is it new? I need to do a Literature review How can I find an answer? – ask a friend, a colleague, an expert, other approaches. I can start looking at Online Databases What words do I need to be looking for? Key words

Activity Make notes to answer the following questions Who can I ask to answer my question? Research Population Who do I need to ask? Sample composition How many will I need to get the answers I need? Sample size What will I need to get from them? Data How am I going to get what I need? Research method How much does it matter - for me? for PNG? Internationally?

Whose permission to get what I need? Ethics approval How will I get them to agree to help me? Informed consent How will I make time to do this work?

How do I record what I have been told? - Data collection tools How do I work out what I have been told? Analytical methods Are there ways to reduce the analysis work required? Software What can I do with what I have discovered? Applications How can I build on what I have discovered? Implications

1. Why are my students taking my unit? Where are they coming from – place, SES, parent expectations, school expectations? What are their entry expectations, mid-unit experiences, exit reflections? How do I find out? How can I use this information? 2. Does society value the units and programs I am teaching? How can I change either the units or the social expectations and valuing of my work? [eg belief or value systems and acceptance of a medical procedure] 3. Do my students understand what I am teaching them? How do I know? Are there any different assessment methods that help me to find out what my students are having problems with –or why they are having problems? [eg entry belief systems, literacy levels, social expectations]

4. Do my students have the language and numeracy skills they need to understand what I am teaching them? How do I know? How can I find out? How quickly do I need to know? 5. What percentage of students leave before they complete? From which Faculties? What courses are they most likely to leave from? What tasks, lack of skills, teachers, internal events, external factors cause them to leave from different Faculties?

6. How successful are my students at getting jobs after they graduate? How long do my students last in the job they have qualified for? How well prepared are my students for the jobs they get after they graduate 7. Why do students leave before they graduate? What do students do if they leave before graduation? What strategies might be used to improve retention?

8. What are the most common international destinations for nationals from PNG? What are the main reasons for international travel? Who are the major fund providers for the travel? Who could benefit from this knowledge? 9. Who are the major adventure travel providers to Madang province? Where do the adventure tourists come from? What is average length of stay? What alternative local sites could be included in a Madang Adventure package to increase the length of stay? What facilities need to be added or upgraded to improve the tourist experience? Who could benefit from this information?

10. What factors affect the identification of investment opportunity in Madang province? How do political stability, safety and employee availability affect investment in Madang province? What facilities need to be added or upgraded to increase confidence in investment opportunity in Madang province?