What is the influence of A on B? Other words indicate specific kinds of causal relationships, such as: Affect. Determine. Impact. Predict. Lead to. When the question asks for "effects," it is asking for a cause-effect relationship between or among variables. The conceptual version of the causal or predictive questions is straightforward: What is the effect of A on B? Or you might ask, what is the influence of A on B? To what extent is B affected by A? Does A predict B? The operational version of the question needs to be carefully framed to detect precisely the kind of causal relationship you are interested in. Is there a statistically significant difference between mean reading scores of rural special education 3rd graders who spend more than 60 minutes a day on the school bus as compared with those who spend fewer than 30 minutes a day on the school bus? This operational question would be asked when a cause-effect relationship is suspected. If a statistically significant difference is found and if that difference is reasonably strong, the conclusion might be that time on the school bus affects, influences, impacts, predicts, perhaps even causes differences in the reading scores. Quantitative Research Questions Measure Variables Very simply, quantitative questions measure variables. We have found that a large number, perhaps a majority, of doctoral learners do not really understand variables, and this lack of understanding causes them significant time loss when writing their proposals. Remember, the research question is the "driver" of your methodology and design, and if you do not understand your variables, your question will be off-track and the design may be wrong. If you have any confusion about any of these terms please take a minute and study the handout on variables available in the courseroom or refer to the discussions of variables in your statistics and research methods texts. We have one more element to consider regarding quantitative research questions—namely, hypotheses. Hypotheses Again, you may be familiar with hypotheses, but if you are not, please review your research methods and statistical textbooks to refresh your understanding. Discussing why hypotheses are necessary in quantitative research is beyond the scope of this particular document. First, here are the characteristics of hypotheses. Hypotheses are declarative sentences, not questions.
What is the influence of A on B? Other words indicate specific kinds of causal relationships, such as: Affect. Determine. Impact. Predict. Lead to. When the question asks for "effects," it is asking for a cause-effect relationship between or among variables. The conceptual version of the causal or predictive questions is straightforward: What is the effect of A on B? Or you might ask, what is the influence of A on B? To what extent is B affected by A? Does A predict B? The operational version of the question needs to be carefully framed to detect precisely the kind of causal relationship you are interested in. Is there a statistically significant difference between mean reading scores of rural special education 3rd graders who spend more than 60 minutes a day on the school bus as compared with those who spend fewer than 30 minutes a day on the school bus? This operational question would be asked when a cause-effect relationship is suspected. If a statistically significant difference is found and if that difference is reasonably strong, the conclusion might be that time on the school bus affects, influences, impacts, predicts, perhaps even causes differences in the reading scores. Quantitative Research Questions Measure Variables Very simply, quantitative questions measure variables. We have found that a large number, perhaps a majority, of doctoral learners do not really understand variables, and this lack of understanding causes them significant time loss when writing their proposals. Remember, the research question is the "driver" of your methodology and design, and if you do not understand your variables, your question will be off-track and the design may be wrong. If you have any confusion about any of these terms please take a minute and study the handout on variables available in the courseroom or refer to the discussions of variables in your statistics and research methods texts. We have one more element to consider regarding quantitative research questions—namely, hypotheses. Hypotheses Again, you may be familiar with hypotheses, but if you are not, please review your research methods and statistical textbooks to refresh your understanding. Discussing why hypotheses are necessary in quantitative research is beyond the scope of this particular document. First, here are the characteristics of hypotheses. Hypotheses are declarative sentences, not questions.
cf_u04s1_craft_research_questions.docx