Framing the Research Question

Research Questions  Detail the problem statement  Further describe and refine the issue under study  Add focus to the problem statement  Guide data collection and analysis  Sets context

Research Questions  Should be… Timely Relevant Clear Researchable Fit to the problem

Research Questions  General Questions: Begin with “information gaps”  What do you already know about the problem?  What do you still need to know? Implied Questions  Each general question should lead to more specific questions  Narrow scope and focus Brainstorm/ Concept map

Sample Questions- Breakdown

Problem Statement  No study has examined the extent to which discussion of the accreditation organizations, their guidelines, and related documents appear in the scholarly communications of LIS. The purpose of this study is to fill that void by determining the extent to which particular accreditation documents are explicitly addressed, and by identifying any patterns as to the particular documents, or themes within those documents, which comprise the focus of these writings.

Related Research Questions  This study specifically covers two questions:  Which regional accreditation organizations are cited in United States LIS writings on information literacy, and how extensively are they mentioned? Are only the accreditation organizations mentioned, or are specific documents and publications identified?  Are the aspects and themes from Developing Research and Communication Skills and or Figure 1 prevalent in the LIS writings? Do they relate to: Responsibilities and Collaboration: dispersal of lead responsibilities and partnerships between librarians and teaching faculty in some aspect of information literacy instruction, from designing assignments, having librarians guest lecture, or team teaching. Assessment of student learning outcomes: defined in terms of demonstrated gains in student learning throughout a program of study.[i][i] Critical thinking: bringing students beyond the mere access of information to being able to evaluate information and apply it to a specific purpose information effectively, ethically, and legally.

Group Activity  Return to previous groups  Devise 3-5 Research questions related to your original problem statement