Construction and Analysis of Research Questions

Introduction

What is good research? How do we go about formulating a research question? McMillan (2010, p1) states that good professional practice is informed in a number of ways, including, but not limited to, what we are calling "research." Research projects can be very long and involved processes. These processes usually begin with an initial idea or thought that is of interest to the researcher. This is then developed into a question that has evolved and developed from previous research. It is very important in these early stages of planning and research to take time to formulate a suitable research question. Bryman (2008, p.69) states that poorly formulated research questions will lead to poor research.

It is interesting to note that the trigger for this process is often one simple idea or thought that leads to the development of a question to research. When reflecting, after reading all the wiki entries, I was interested to note that whilst there were many different questions often the underlying themes were quite similar. In this paper I intend to evaluate and critically analyse two different research questions. The first will be my own draft research question 'How does the use of explicit feedback create change in teacher practice and enhance learning of students?' (Appendix A) the other will be the question developed by Brett Godwin (posted 10/03/2011) 'Has the implementation of Interactive Whiteboards (IWB's) in Primary Schools, increased student pedagogy and teacher development?' (Appendix B)

When discussing both of these draft research questions, I plan to identify and comment on the initial explanation of what actually started the process. What was the original trigger or idea that leads to the initial research or "jumping off point"? I will then discuss the suitability and strengths of the draft research questions and provide some suggestions on ways that this question could be or developed improved. Finally I will read and evaluate the literature that has been selected or recommended as evaluate how the research question arises from or is connected with this literature and could be of importance.

Analysis of my Research Question (Appendix A)

The first step in developing a research question is to choose a topic. Topics can come from many different sources, Marx (1997, cited in Bryman (2008, p.70) suggests a wide range of possible sources of research questions including intellectual puzzles, literature, replication, social problems or personal experience. Usually this comes from an area or field that is of interest to the author. The 'jumping off point' for my research is a media release for the Australian Council for Educational Research posted on Monday, 17th August 2009 titled Student literacy doubles in schools that use assessment data to improve teaching. This article was referring to the recent research by University of Auckland Professor of Education, Helen Timperley. This research looked at the effect of the Literacy Professional Development Project, run by the NZ Ministry of Education. The project aimed to improve student literacy by developing teacher content knowledge and teaching practice. It used assessment tools to identify the knowledge and skills students need to close the gap between what they already know and what they need to know to satisfy the requirements of the curriculum. ('Student literacy doubles in schools that use assessment data to improve teaching' 2009).

The topic I chose for my research question comes from my own personal interest/experience in the school where I am the Assistant Principal, and also from research literature. The topic for my research is the links between assessment and learning. As stated in my proposal, although the teachers had a variety of high quality assessment data about their children, there were some who did not know what to do with the information gained or how to use it to develop effective learning experiences for the children in their class. I would like to research how this can be improved.

Evaluating Draft Research Question

When critically evaluating a research question many of the authors that I have read state that there is specific criteria that needs to be addressed. Bryman (2008, p74) McMillan & Wergin, (2010 p2), Padak, N. and Padak, G. (1994, p1) and also in Developing a Research Question, (n.d.) all list a number of similar questions to investigate. These are:-

1. Is the question clear, intelligible and related to a topic of interest?

2. Is the question directly related to an issue or problem?

3. Can the question be investigated easily and is it fully researchable?

4. How is the question linked to current research?

5. What type of information will be needed to answer the question?

The question that I have developed is 'How does the use of explicit feedback create change in teacher practice and enhance learning of students?' Bryman (2008, p73) states that, when designing a research question we often start out with a general research area that can be narrowed down to develop a tighter focus that can then be used to formulate a research question. In this case, the general research area is that of assessment and learning. I have stated previously in this paper the problem or issue is that some teachers do not know what to do with the assessment information gained or how to use it effectively. This is a particular concern for early career teachers who are still developing their craft. Whilst they have the knowledge, they are still developing the wisdom, instinct and insights that comes from years of working with and observing children. I do believe that this is a clear and researchable question; however there may be some issues in actually measuring change in teacher practice.

On reflection, this question is possibly too broad for the purpose of this task which was to develop a small research task. The question has three quite significant parts or focus areas, explicit feedback, teacher practice and student learning or growth. In order to make this research more manageable perhaps the question could be broken down into smaller parts that focus on each of the key areas. Some other questions to be investigated could be:-

Explicit Feedback:

* How do teachers gather and use information and data about student learning?

* How do teachers analyse and provide explicit feedback to students about assessment tasks? What is explicit feedback - what does it look, sound and feel like?