Types of Research Questions

7/27/2019 Types of Research Questions

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Types of Research Questions

Prepared by:

Josephine Patiño- Latip



Quantitative research questions are based on one of

three basic approaches to examining the variables the

researcher is interested in:

3 basic approaches

• describing

• Comparing

• relating

Example:

The researcher is interested in examining Facebookusage amongst students in IIUM.



Facebook usage amongst students

in IIUM

• Describing factors relating to the make-up of these

Facebook users, quantifying how many (or what

proportion) of these university students were male or

female, or what their average age was.• Describing factors relating to their behaviour, such

as how frequently they used Facebook each week or

the reasons why they joined Facebook in the first

place (e.g. to connect with friends, to store all theirphotos in one place, etc.).



Potential descriptive quantitative

research questions would be:

• How often do students use Facebook?

• What are the reasons that encourage students

to join Facebook?



Compare some of the mentioned

factors

• For example, we could compare how frequently the

students used Facebook each week, looking for

differences between male and female students

Potential comparative quantitative research questions

would be:

1. Do Facebook usage patterns differ based ongender?

2. Do the reasons that encourage students to join

Facebook differ based on gender?

•



Relating one or more factors (e.g. age) to other factors

(e.g. how frequently students used Facebook each

week) to find out if there were any associations or

relationships between themFor example, we could relate age to how frequently the

students used Facebook each week.

This could help us discover if there was an association or

relationship between these variables (i.e. age andweekly Facebook usage), and if so, tell us something

about this association or relationship (e.g. its strength,

direction, and/or statistical significance

A potential relationship-based quantitative research

question would be:

Does age influence how frequently students use

Facebook?



Descriptive Questions

Question: How often do IIUM students use Facebook

each week?

Variable: Weekly Facebook usage

Group: IIUM students

Question:

How often do male and female IIUM

students upload photos and comment on

other users’ photos on Facebook each

week?

Variable:

1. Weekly photo uploads on Facebook

2. Weekly comments on other users’ photos

on Facebook

1. Male, IIUM students



Question:

How often do male and female IIUM students upload

photos and comment on other users’ photos on Facebook

each week?

Variable: 1. Weekly photo uploads on Facebook2. Weekly comments on other users’ photos on Facebook

Group: 1. Male, IIUM students

2. Female, IIUM students

Question: What are the most important factors that influence thecareer choices of IIUM students?

Variable: Factors influencing career choices

Group: IIUM students

Question: What proportion of Malaysian male and female IIUMstudents use the top 5 social networks?

Variable: Use of top 5 social networks (i.e. Facebook, MySpace, Twitter,

LinkedIn, and Classmates)

Group: 1. Male, Malaysian IIUM students2. Female, Malaysian IIUM students



Comparative research questions

• Comparative research questions aim to examine the

differences between two or more groups on one or

more dependent variables (although often just a single

dependent variable).• Such questions typically start by asking “What is the

difference in…” a particular dependent variable (e.g.

daily calorific intake) between two or more groups

(e.g. Malaysian men and Malaysian women).



Examples of comparative research

questions

Question: What is the difference in the daily calorific intake of Malaysian m

and women?

Dependent variable: Daily calorific intake

Groups: 1. Malaysian men

2. Malaysian women

Question: What is the difference in the weekly photo uploads on Facebook

between Malaysian male and female IIUM students?

Dependent variable: Weekly photo uploads on Facebook

Groups: 1. Male, Malaysian IIUM students

2. Female, Malaysian IIUM students

Question: What are the differences in usage behaviour on Facebook betwee

Malaysian male and female IIUM students?

Dependent variable: Usage behaviour on Facebook (e.g. logins, weekly photo uploads,

status changes, commenting on other users’ photos, app usage, etc

Group: 1. Male, Malaysian IIUM university students2. Female, Malaysian IIUM university students



Question: What are the differences in perceptionstowards Internet banking security

between adolescents and pensioners?

Dependent

variable:

Perceptions towards Internet banking

security

Groups: 1. Adolescents

2. Pensioners

Question: What are the differences in attitudestowards music piracy when pirated music

is freely distributed or purchased?

Dependent

variable: Attitudes towards music piracy



Relationship-based research

questions

Start a relationship-based quantitative research

question, “What is the relationship…”, usually followed

by the words, “between or amongst ”, then list the

independent variables (e.g. gender) and dependentvariables (e.g. attitudes towards music piracy),

“amongst or between” the group(s) you are focusing

on

E l f l ti hi b d h



Examples of relationship-based research

questions are:

Question: What is the relationship between gender and attitudes

towards music piracy amongst adolescents?Dependent variable: Attitudes towards music piracy

Independent variable: Gender

Group: Adolescents

Question: What is the relationship between study time and examscores amongst university students?

Dependent variable: Exam scores

Independent variable: Study time

Group: University students

Question:

What is the relationship amongst career prospects, salary

and benefits, and physical working conditions on job

satisfaction between managers and non-managers?

Dependent variable: Job satisfaction

Independent variable:

1. Career prospects

2. Salary and benefits



Dependent and Independent

Variable

• A variable is not only something that you measure, butalso something that you can manipulate and control

for.

An independent variable (sometimes called an

experimental or predictor variable) is a variable that is

being manipulated in an experiment in order to

observe the effect this has on a dependent variable

(sometimes called an outcome variable).

The dependent variable is simply that; a variable that is

dependent on an independent variable(s).



• For example: Imagine that a tutor asks 100 students to complete a

maths test. The tutor wants to know why some

students perform better than others. Whilst the tutor

does not know the answer to this, she thinks that it

might be because of two reasons:

• Some students spend more time revising for their test;and

• Some students are naturally more intelligent than

others.



The tutor decides to investigate the effect of revision

time and intelligence on the test performance of the

100 students. As such, the dependent and

independent variables for the study are:

• Dependent Variable:

Test Mark (measured from 0 to 100)• Independent Variables:

Revision time (measured in hours)

Intelligence (measured using IQ score)



The aim of the tutor's investigation is to examine

whether these independent variables (i.e. revision time

and IQ) result in a change in the dependent variable

(i.e. the students' test scores).However, it is also worth noting that whilst this is the

main aim of the experiment, the tutor may also be

interested to know if the independent variables (i.e.

revision time and IQ) are also connected in some way.



Steps required in structuring

descriptive research questions

1. Choose your starting phrase

You can start descriptive research questions with

any of the following phrases:

How many… How often…

How frequently…

How much…

What percentage… What proportion…

To what extent…

What is…

What are…

ome o t ese starting p rases are g g te n



ome o t ese starting p rases are g g te nblue text in the examples below:

• How many calories do Malaysian men and women

consume per day?

How often do Malaysian IIUM students use Facebook

each week?What are the most important factors that influence the

career choices of IIUM Malaysian students?

What proportion of IIUM male and female students

use the top 5 social networks?

What percentage of Malaysian men and women

exceed their daily calorific allowance?



2. Identify and name the dependent variable

All descriptive research questions have a dependent

variable.

You need to identify what this is.

However, how the dependent variable is written out in aresearch question and what you call it are often two

different things.

In the examples below, the name of the dependentvariable is illustrated and highlighted how it would be

written out in the blue text.



Name of the dependent

variable How the dependent variable is written out

Daily calorific intakeHow many calories do Malaysian men and women

consume per day?

Daily calorific intake What percentage of Malaysian men and womenexceed their daily calorific allowance?

Weekly Facebook usage How often do IIUM students use Facebook each week?

Factors influencing careerchoices

What are the most important factors that influence thecareer choices of IIUM Malaysian students?

Use of the top 5 social networks

What proportion of IIUM male and female university

students use the top 5 social networks?

Id tif th ( ) i t t d i



3. Identify the group(s) you are interested in

All descriptive research questions have at least one group, but can have

multiple groups. You need to identify this group(s).

In the examples below, we have identified the group(s) in the green text

1.How many calories do Malaysian men and women consume perday?

2. How often do IIUM students use Facebook each week?

3.What are the most important factors that influence the career

choices of IIUM students?

4. What proportion of IIUM male and female students use the top

5 social networks?

5. What percentage of Malaysian men and women exceed their

daily calorific allowance?

4 Decide whether the dependent variable or group(s) should be included



4. Decide whether the dependent variable or group(s) should be included

first, last or in two parts

Sometimes it makes more sense for the dependent

variable to appear before the group(s) you areinterested in, but sometimes it is the opposite way

around.

The following examples illustrate this, with the group(s)

in green text and the dependent variable in blue text:

Group 1st; dependent variable 2nd:

How often do IIUM students use Facebook each

week?Dependent variable 1st; group 2nd:

What are the most important factors that influence the

career choices of Malaysian IIUM students?

5 I l d d th t id t



5. Include any words that provide greater

context to your question

• Sometimes the name of the dependent variable

provides all the explanation we need to know what we

are trying to measure.

Take the following examples:

How many calories do Malaysian men and women

consume per day?

How often do IIUM students use Facebook each

week?



In the first example, the dependent variable is daily

calorific intake (i.e. calories consumed per day).

Clearly, this descriptive research question is asking us

to measure the number of calories American men andwomen consume per day.

In the second example, the dependent variable is

Facebook usage per week .

Again, the name of this dependent variable makes it

easy for us to understand that we are trying to

measure the often (i.e. how frequently; e.g. 16 times

per week) British university students use Facebook.



• However, sometimes a descriptive research question

is not simply interested in measuring the dependent

variable in its entirety, but a particular component of

the dependent variable. Take the following examplesin red text:

• What percentage of American men and women

exceed their daily calorific allowance?

What are the most important factors that influence the

career choices of Australian university students?

Write out the descriptive research



Write out the descriptive research

question

Once you have these details –

(1) the starting phrase,

(2) the name of the dependent variable,

(3) the name of the group(s) you are interested in,

and

(4) any potential joining words – you can write out

the descriptive research question in full. :



Steps in Writing Comparative Research

Questions

Number of dependent

variablesStarting phrase

Two What is the difference in…

Three or more What are the differences in

1. Starting phrases

Comparative research questions typically start with one of two phrases:

Some of these starting phrases are highlighted in blue text in the

examples below:What is the difference in the daily calorific intake of Malaysian men and

women?

What is the difference in the weekly photo uploads on Facebook

between IIUM male and female university students?



2. Identify and name the dependent variable

All comparative research questions have a dependentvariable. You need to identify what this is.

However, how the dependent variable is written out in a

research question and what you call it are often two

different thing

In the examples below, we have illustrated the name of

the dependent variable and highlighted how it would

be written out in the blue text.



ame of the dependent variable How the dependent variable is writtenout

Daily calorific intake

What is the difference in the daily

calorific intake of Malaysian men and

women?

Perceptions towards Internet

anking security

What are the differences in perceptions

towards Internet banking security

between adolescents and pensioners?

ttitudes towards music piracy

What are the differences in attitudes

towards music piracy when pirated

music is freely distributed or

purchased?

What is the difference in the weekly



Structure of relationship-based

research questions

Name of the independent

variableStarting phrase

Two What is the relationship between…

Three or more What are the relationships of…

Steps required to construct a relationship-based researchquestion

What is the relationship between gender and attitudes towards music

piracy amongst adolescents?What is the relationship between study time and exam scores amongst

university students?

What is the relationship of career prospects, salary and benefits, and

physical working conditions on job satisfaction between managers and

non-managers

Identify and name the independent and



Identify and name the independent anddependent variable

• What is the relationship between gender and

attitudes towards music piracy amongst

adolescents?

What is the relationship between study time and

exam scores amongst university students?

What is the relationship of career prospects,salary and benefits, and physical working on job

satisfaction between managers and non-

managers

IV

DV

Identify the appropriate adjoining



Identify the appropriate adjoining

text

Number of groups Adjoining text

Oneamongst…

[e.g. group 1]

Two or more

between…

of…

[e.g. group 1 and group 2]

What is the relationship between gender and attitudes towards music

piracy amongst adolescents?

What is the relationship between study time and exam scores amongst university students?

What is the relationship of career prospects, salary and benefits, and

physical working conditions on job satisfaction between managers andnon-mana ers



Write out the relationship-based

research question

Once you have these details

(1) the starting phrase,

(2) the name of the dependent variable,

(3) the name of the independent variable,

(4) the name of the group(s) you are interested in,

and

(5) any potential adjoining words – you can writeout the relationship-based research question

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Types of Research Questions