Week # 4 Lecture 07-08

Specifying a Purpose and Research

Questions Theoretical framework and
hypothesis development

By Dr Noor Ullah Khan

Assistant Professor
Management & HR
NUST Business School
Learning Objectives

Distinguish among purpose statements, research

questions, hypotheses, and objectives

Describe why these statements and questions are

important

Write quantitative & qualitative purpose statements,

research questions, and hypotheses

Theoretical framework and hypothesis development

What Are
Purpose
Statements,
Research
Questions,
Hypotheses,
and
Objectives
Why Are These Statements and Questions
Important?

REPRESENT MAJOR HELP IDENTIFY HELP LINK INTENT WITH

SIGNPOSTS APPROPRIATE METHODS THE RESULTS
 The Purpose Statement
• Advances overall direction or focus of the
study
What Are • Example:
Purpose • The purpose of this study is to examine the
relationship between use of Internet
Statements communication between teachers and parents
in a Midwestern school district and student
achievement on tests in high school social
studies.
Writing Quantitative Purpose
Statements: Guidelines

A quantitative purpose statement identifies the

variables, their relationship, and the participants
and site for research
• Use a single sentence
• Use wording such as The purpose of this
study...
• If using a theory, state the theory you
plan to test
• Use quantitative words (e.g., “relate,”
“compare,” “describe”) to describe the
relationships between variables
Writing Quantitative Purpose Statements: Guidelines

• Independent variable (1st position in

sentence)
• Dependent variable (2nd position in
sentence)
• Control and/or mediating variable (3rd
position in sentence)
• Research site
• Participants
 Research Questions
• Narrow the purpose statement to specific
questions to answer
What Are
• Example
Research • Do parent–teacher Internet communications
Questions affect student performance in the classroom?
• What types of Internet experiences do parents
have with teachers about the performance of
the parents’ children?
Writing Quantitative Research Questions

• Describe results of your variables

• Compare two or more groups on the
independent variable in terms of the
• Dependent variable
• Relate two or more variables
Writing Quantitative Research Questions: Guidelines

• Pose a question
• Begin with “how,” “what,” or “why”
• Specify the independent, dependent, and mediating or
control variables
• Use the words describe, compare, or relate to indicate
the action or connection among the variables
• Indicate the participants and the research site for the
study
 • Identify response to a single
Writing variable or question
Quantitative • Script:
Research • How frequently do
(participants) (variable) at
Questions: (research site)?
Descriptive • How frequently do African
Questions Americans feel isolated on
college campuses?
 • Answer the degree and magnitude of the
Writing relationship between two or more variables.
• Script:
Quantitative • How does (independent variable)
Research relate to (dependent variable) for
Questions: (participants) at (research site)?
• How do feelings of isolation relate to
Relationship (or influence) the ethnic identity of
Questions African Americans in the United
States?
 • How two or more groups on an
independent variable differ in terms of one
Writing or more outcome variables
Quantitative • Script:
• How does (Group 1) differ from
Research (Group 2) in terms of (dependent
Questions: variable) for (participants) at (research
site)?
Comparison • How do African Americans and
Questions European Americans compare in their
perceptions of ethnic identity?
Differentiating b/w Quantitative & Qualitative
Purpose Statements and Research Questions

Qualitative—more open-ended
• Descriptive (“What happened?”)
• Interpretive (“What was the meaning to people
of what happened?”)
• Process-oriented (“What happened over time?”)

• Quantitative—more closed
• Probable cause/effect (“Why did it happen?”)
• Use of theories (“Why did it happen in view of
an explanation or theory?”)
• Assess differences and magnitude (“How much
happened?”) (“How many times did it
happen?”) (“What were the differences among
groups in what happened?”)
How Researchers Explain or Predict
Variables Versus Exploring or
Understanding a Central Phenomenon
What Are
Purpose
Research Objectives
Statements, • Statement of intent that specifies goals to
Research achieve in a study
Questions, • Example
• To describe the frequency of Internet
Hypotheses, communication between parents and teachers
and regarding the parents’ children in high school
social studies classes
Objectives
(4 of 4)
 Variables, Theory And Research Questions

WHAT IS A VARIABLE? WHAT IS A THEORY? WHAT ELEMENTS GO

INTO THESE
STATEMENTS AND
QUESTIONS?
Figure 4.2 A Variable Can Be Measured, and it Varies Among Individuals
How Do You Design Quantitative Purpose Statements,
Research Questions, and Hypotheses? (2 of 25)

Specify Variables

Variables Difficult, but possibly Almost impossible to

• Leadership style measurable, variables measure variables
• Organizational • Socialization • Subconscious
control • Imagination thoughts
• Autism • Intuition • World poverty
• Discrimination • Stereotypes
Specify Measured as Categories and as
Continuous Scores
Variables: • A categorical measure is a value of a
Distinguish variable assigned by the researcher into a
small number of categories (e.g., gender).
between • A continuous measure is the value of a
variable assigned by the researcher to a
Variables point along a continuum of scores, from
low to high (e.g., age).
Specify Variables: Distinguish Variables from
Constructs

A variable is an A construct is an
attribute or attribute or
characteristic stated in characteristic
a specific or applied expressed in an
way. abstract, general way.
The Need For A Theoretical Framework

• A theoretical framework represents your beliefs on how

certain phenomena (or variables or concepts) are related
to each other (a model) and an explanation of why you
believe that these variables are associated with each
other (a theory). Both the model and the theory flow
logically from the documentation of previous research in
the problem area.

• The process of building a theoretical framework includes:

• 1. Introducing definitions of the concepts or variables in
your model.
• 2. Developing a conceptual model that provides a
descriptive representation of your theory.
• 3. Coming up with a theory that provides an explanation
for relationships between the variables in your model.
Figure 4.3 The Family of Variables in
Quantitative Studies
 • Dependent variables: An attribute or
characteristic influenced by the independent
variable.
Family of Variables: • The outcome
Dependent Variables
• The effect
• The criterion
• The consequence
 • Independent variable: An attribute or
characteristic that influences or affects an
outcome or dependent variable
Family of Variables:
• Treatment variable
Independent Variables
• Measured variable
• Control variable
• Moderating variable
 • Control variable: measured, important to
consider and “neutralize”
Family of Variables: • Treatment variable: manipulated by
Additional Forms of researcher
Independent
Variables • Moderating variable: interacts with
another independent variable to influence
dependent variable
 Family of Variables: Mediating
• Mediating variables: An attribute or
characteristic that “stands between” the
dependent and independent variables.
Explain the relationship between IV and
DV.
Family of Mediating and
Moderating Variables • Moderating variable: interacts with
another independent variable to influence
dependent variable. Will increase or
decrease the strength of relationship
between IV and DV.
Mediating Variables
Examples
 Family of Variables: Confounding
variables

• Cannot directly measure

Effects cannot be easily
separated from the other
variables
• May influence the relationship
between the independent and
the dependent variable
 Theories and Testing of Variables

• First step is describing

variables
• May test the relationship
between variables
• Probable cause establishes
likely cause-and-effect
• Theories predict relationships
to test
Hypotheses
• Prediction or proposition about the outcome of a
relationship among attributes or characteristics
• Example
• Students in high schools in which parents and
teachers communicate through the Internet
will have higher grades than students whose
parents and teachers do not communicate
through the Internet.
 Writing Quantitative Hypotheses

Narrows the purpose Advances a prediction Example

statement
The more students
feel alienated, the
more likely they are
to carry weapons to
school.
 • State the variables in this order: independent
(first position), dependent (second position),
and control (third position).
Writing • When comparing, explicitly state the groups;
Quantitative if variables are related, specify the relationship
between the variables.
Hypotheses: • Make a prediction about changes you expect
Guidelines in your groups.
• State information about the participants and
the site unless it repeats information stated in
your purpose statement.
 Table 4.2 The Null and Alternative Hypotheses
Type of Hypothesis Null Hypothesis Alternative Hypothesis

Purpose To test in the general population The hypothesis that may be true if
that there is no change, no the null is rejected; it suggests a
relationship, or no difference change, a relationship, or a
difference

Specific language found in There is no difference (or Magnitude statements, such as

the hypothesis relationship) between... higher, lower, more positive, or
more favorable

How researchers test the A test of the hypothesis A test of the hypothesis
hypothesis
Writing Quantitative
Hypotheses: Null
Hypotheses

• Null hypothesis
• No change in the dependent
variable.
• Example: There will be no
significant difference in test scores
between fifth-grade boys and girls
on the X Y Z achievement test.
Writing Quantitative Hypotheses: Alternative
Hypotheses

• Alternative hypothesis
• Directional alternative hypothesis
• Specifies the direction of the
change in the dependent variable
the researcher predicts will take
place.
• Example: Fifth-grade girls will
have higher scores on the X Y Z
achievement test than fifth-grade
boys
Writing Quantitative Hypotheses: Alternative
Hypotheses

• Alternative hypothesis
• Nondirectional alternative hypothesis
• Does not specify the direction of the
change in the dependent variable.
• Example: There will be a difference in
test scores on the X Y Z achievement
test for fifth-grade boys and girls.