Tackling the Research QuestionUSP Senior Sequence fall 2011

Your A.O.C.

• First Step—Find your area of concentration• How many have decided on the AOC?

Let’s Start with the Pieces• Effect or Outcome of Interest• Main Focus of Study• When and Where are you Looking?• How are you using the Literature?• Why Should People Care about this Topic?• What’s Your Hunch?• What are some other Theories?• What information will you gather and how will you use it?

• Thinking of all of the above, what is your question??

Effect or Outcome of Interest

• Figure out your effect or outcome of interest• If your AOC is Transportation, are you interested

in: • More efficient transportation? • Encouraging the use of bikes?

• If your AOC is Public Health, Safety and Welfare, are you interested in• Better access to organic food?

The Main Focus of Study• So, what or who will you be looking at, in particular?

Effect or Outcome Main Focus

More Efficient Transport

Encouraging bike use

Better access to organic food

The Main Focus of Study• So, what or who will you be looking at, in particular?

Effect or Outcome Main Focus

More Efficient Transport Bus route

Encouraging bike use Bike racks

Better access to organic food

Organic farmers

Why Should We Care?Effect or Outcome Contribution

More Efficient Transport

Encouraging bike use

Better access to organic food

Why Should We Care?Effect or Outcome Contribution

More Efficient Transport Improving Public Transportation

Encouraging bike use Alternatives to motored vehicle transportation

Better access to organic food Access to healthy food options

Getting to Your TheoryEffect or Outcome My Hunch is…

More Efficient Transport

Encouraging bike use

Better access to organic food

Getting to Your TheoryEffect or Outcome My Hunch is…

More Efficient Transport SuperLoop—more reliable pick-up, drop-off times and locations for travelers in the UTC and UCSD area.

Encouraging bike use The number of bike racks—provides a more welcoming environment for increasing numbers of bike riders.

Better access to organic food

Partnerships between major supermarkets and organic farms—provides more accessibility to organic food at lower prices.

Alternative TheoriesEffect or Outcome Other Explanations

More Efficient Transport

Encouraging bike use

Better access to organic food

Alternative TheoriesEffect or Outcome Other Explanations

More Efficient Transport shorter bus routes/increased number of buses in use;

Encouraging bike use bike paths on roads/incentives to ride bikes (e.g. free parking passes);

Better access to organic food number of organic farms in county, high price of organic food

How I use the Literature…

Effect or Outcome Literature Foundation

More Efficient Transport

Encouraging bike use

Better access to organic food

How I use the Literature…

Effect or Outcome Literature Foundation

More Efficient Transport Theory A is wrong, and should have considered L

Encouraging bike use Theory B is right, but they forgot to look at C

Better access to organic food Theories X, Y, and Z tell us quite a bit, but fail to consider M

When & Where?Effect or Outcome Case

More Efficient Transport

Encouraging bike use

Better access to organic food

When & Where?Effect or Outcome Case

More Efficient Transport 2010 UTC

Encouraging bike use 2000 – 2010 UCSD campus

Better access to organic food San Diego County

What Information Will I Use?Effect or Outcome What information will I gather

to answer my question?

More Efficient Transport

Encouraging bike use

Better access to organic food

What Information Will I Use?Effect or Outcome What information will I gather

to answer my question?

More Efficient Transport Tracking of reliability of pick-up and drop-off times

Encouraging bike use Counting number of bike racks in various areas of UCSD campus

Better access to organic food

Interviews with people and grocery-store owners in low-income neighborhoods about access to organic food.

So…What’s My Question?Effect or Outcome Question

More Efficient Transport

Encouraging bike use

Better access to organic food

So…What’s My Question?Effect or Outcome Question

More Efficient Transport Does a shorter route affect on-time arrival of buses?

Encouraging bike use Does bike use increase with accessibility to racks?

Better access to organic food Do stores with contracts with local organic farmers have lower organic food prices & larger selection?

Do I Need a Question Mark?• Best to begin with a true question…with a question mark…• Why? Because then you will be more aware of the knowledge

gap your project seeks to fill

• But…as your research progresses, you can formulate your question without a question mark, for example…

Examples of Other Kinds of Questions

• “This study examines how healthcare workers adapt their behavior to facilitate communication and make medical encounters less threatening to Hmong immigrants.”

• “This study seeks to determine how housing markets of ‘bedroom communities’ continue to grow with investors inflating housing prices which ultimately undermine the very principle of bedroom communities.”