RCR Prompt for Week 2

RCR Prompt for Week 2Instructions

During this week of class, it has been your job to brainstorm, refine, and formalize a research question (and one back-up question) for the purposes of thinking about research methods this semester. Important: Even though you are choosing a research question to work on for this semester, it does not have to be the one that you later pursue for your Senior Research Paper in HDEV 499. Please be sure that you have completely read the Course Skills Notes, “Choosing a Research Question” before starting this worksheet.

CHOOSE SOMETHING YOU LIKE TO STUDY:

Make a list of three subjects you’ve taken classes on that you are most interested in:

Make a list of three experiences/observations regarding Human Development (or another aspect of life) that you’ve had/made that made you ask yourself, “I wonder why that happens?”.

Make a list of three topics about Human Development (or your own major) that you would study if you had an unlimited amount of time, money, and resources.

4. Which of these ideas above seem more like TOPICS to you? Place a “T” next to those. Which of these seem more like Research Questions? Place an “RQ” next to those.

NOW, NARROW THESE IDEAS DOWN TO SOMETHING THAT WILL MAKE A GOOD RESEARCH QUESTION:

A good research question is usually one where you can clearly state what variables/phenomena you are trying to learn something about; where you can list all of the variables/phenomena you are going to measure, collect, and analyze in the study (for example, Do single students have higher grade point averages at CSUEB than married students?; and when you can present a guess about what you think the relationship between the variables/phenomena will be (for example, “I think that single students are more likely to have higher GPAs than married students at CSUEB” or “I think that married students are more likely to have higher GPAs than single students at CSUEB”). On a different page, assess as many of your nine ideas above for these three criteria for a good research question as you like (if you can’t do it, it may be that you simply need to think creatively about your idea to form the research question or this may be a sign that you need to throw some of the ideas out).

Choose three top ideas and list them here:

NOW, FIGURE OUT WHICH OF THESE THREE GOOD RESEARCH QUESTIONS WILL ALSO MAKE FOR A MANAGEABLE RESEARCH PROJECT:

Finally, assess each of your above top three ideas for the following criteria:

Once again, can I actually answer the key question I am posing (Is it an actual research question?)?

Can I collect and analyze the necessary data?

Will I be able to master the relevant literature?

Can I do it all within the time available for a research methods class (and later, possibly, a Senior Seminar course) [15 weeks]?

Do I have the necessary skills to complete the project?

Which of your top three candidates appear to be the best research question to answer for a Final Research Proposal (please write each question in 75 words or less below)?

Which of your top three candidates appear to be the best back-up research question to answer for a Final Research Proposal (please write in each question in 75 words or less below)?