Is this an appropriate research question?

[biggspc]

Hi, I'm a sociology undergrad student who is considering writing an honors thesis. If I'm going to write it, my professor wants to know my research question by tomorrow. Last spring I researched the commodification of a traditional medicine product in a small village in asia. Would: 'What is the effect the commodification of (harvested product omitted) on economic restructuring in (village name omitted)?' be an appropriate research question. Does it have to be more specific than that? I'm not very experienced with research.

[Dal PhDer]

Hi there,

I don't think that's a bad research question...but I do question the scope of it for an undergraduate thesis. I think it's actually too big for even a PhD project. I think this is a good question, and you can bring it to your advisor for some direction as it does show where your interests are, but I would consider narrowing it down into something that you could complete within a year. Is there data already collected, or would you have to collect your own data? This is a major thing to think about, as data collection takes a LONG time (not to mention your REB application needs to be approved)...that doesn't mean that UGs can't do it, it just means that you have to consider your timeline, especially if you're looking to travel somewhere to do it- which I have not heard being done for UG. **If you are going to travel, you also have to think about funding and expenses, and additional time**.

If you're really interested in pursuing this question and further research work, perhaps doing a literature review around this topic would be better. You could get a really great foundational document that could supplement a graduate project.

[biggspc]

Hi!

It's based on research I collected while completing a study abroad project, so the data is already there. I collected data on whether people harvested or not, their income from harvesting, there other economic activities, how they feel harvesting has changed their community, as well as a few other things. Do you have any suggestions on what would be a more appropriate topic based on the types of questions I was asking?

[biggspc]

How about:

'What is the effect the commodification of (harvested product omitted) on attitudes toward economic practices in (village name omitted)?'

That's probably still too big. I'm not sure I know how to narrow my question down properly.

Edited September 4, 2012 by biggspc

[biggspc]

dbl post

Edited September 4, 2012 by biggspc

[Eigen]

I've deleted the other post in Sociology, since this one had answers. Please don't double post your topics.

[Dal PhDer]

A good research question has clearly defined variables and population of interest. For an UG thesis, I would recommend having 1 clearly defined independent variable and 1 clearly defined dependent variable.

'What is the effect the commodification of (harvested product omitted) on economic restructuring in (village name omitted)'?

What effect does commodification of (product) have on the economic restructuring in (village)?

The biggest thing for me is what do you mean by "economic restructuring"? This seems like a big and broad concept with multiple measures...I would narrow down that concept first to 1 measurable variable..

Also, I am going on the assumption that the data you collected is quant in nature...is this the case? or did you do interviews?

[biggspc]

Thanks for your help! It was interviews.

[Dal PhDer]

Ok, so why was this data originally collected? Has the data already been partially analyzed? What type of interview format was it? structured or unstructured?

I would say that the best case is one where the data has already been partially combed through and emerging themes have been identified...then you can take one of the themes and go into more thematic analyses with it.

However, knowing that your data is qualitative, I think with a bit of adjusting your question is fine. I would reword it in a way that suggests your are using a qualitative perspective- right now I would say the way you're presenting your question it sounds like you are taking a quantitative approach.

Here is a pdf of a chapter from a great book by Creswell and it outlines how to propose questions for quant vs. qual research (http://www.sagepub.com/upm-data/22782_Chapter_7.pdf)

[lewin]

I would point out that you can't receive academic credit twice for the same work. So if you already worked on this for grades last summer you probably can't use it again. At the very least, be upfront about this with your advisor.

A general statement like that is probably fine for a first meeting. Usually the advisor and student shape the research question together.

[biggspc]

Ok, so why was this data originally collected? Has the data already been partially analyzed? What type of interview format was it? structured or unstructured?

I would say that the best case is one where the data has already been partially combed through and emerging themes have been identified...then you can take one of the themes and go into more thematic analyses with it.

However, knowing that your data is qualitative, I think with a bit of adjusting your question is fine. I would reword it in a way that suggests your are using a qualitative perspective- right now I would say the way you're presenting your question it sounds like you are taking a quantitative approach.

Here is a pdf of a chapter from a great book by Creswell and it outlines how to propose questions for quant vs. qual research (http://www.sagepub.c...2_Chapter_7.pdf)

That link in great! thanks! I sent my professor my question along with my statement of purpose and he essentially said I need to articulate a researchable question based on the information I've collected be a lot more specific about the questions I'll be addressing.

On friday I need to submit my proposal for department review. The 4 things I need to include are

1) your research problem

2) a brief survey of the relevant literature.

3) a description of the methodology, data collection, experimental methods etc.

4) the expected significance of the research

For the statement of my research problem, should Igive a general question like a revised version of the one I have and then write a paragraph that goes into more specific questions? If I'm understand your link correctly, thats what it advises to do for qualitative research.

[jamesweber]

I see that it needed to be submitted today. Just curious...did you have a control variable or just the dv and iv?