For most researchers, developing and refining research questions is a process that goes on alongside reviewing the literature (B2), thinking about research design (B3) and choosing methods (B4). As we indicated above, the process is likely to start with a general (giraffe- level) question which needs unpacking to enable you to begin defining concepts in ways that are going to be operational. As the operational definitions are developed it is likely that your research question(s) will become more focused and precise and that you begin to generate
subsidiary research questions. These are questions that help you to specify more precisely the areas of the research topic that you will focus on. As you will see from Example A4.4, the subsidiary research questions spell out more clearly the data you will want to gather and how you will identify and measure, in this example, people’s mental health.
Earlier we specified four different types of research question and suggested that many re- search projects include more than one research question. If you approach your research topic in two or more different ways – for example, both describing the nature and extent of a problem or situation and looking for explanations of certain aspects of the topic – you may have two, or more, main research questions, each with their own subsidiary questions.
Giraffes can’t answer questions like that – they’re ideas people. So we move on to the second phase:
2 The tortoise
Suddenly, we’re right down at ground level. We move slowly. We can’t see very far, but what we can see, we see in a lot of detail, because it’s right under our noses and we spend a long time looking at it.
Now we can get on with constructing the detail of our operational definition. We can decide if we’re looking at quantities or feel- ings: official definitions or self-definitions. There are lots of possibilities, a lot of detail,
but in practice, you’re after something that you can use and decisions have to be made. The end result that we want is to have made the intangible measurable.
(NB The giraffe/tortoise analogy may seem a bit childish. You may prefer to look at the front cover of this textbook. If you look at a forest from a distance, then all you see is a mass of barely distinguishable trees. If you look more closely at a tree, what do you see – branches, maybe? And if you look at a branch? Operational definitions are complex, often multi-layered and essential to the conduct of research. Don’t just be a giraffe!)
Example A4.4
Developing research questions using operational definitions Initial research question
This chapter has taken you through a process that goes alongside the other preparations for your research. At each stage of this process the focus of your research will become clearer – you will be getting nearer to the data gathering itself. The process is one of focusing, defin- ing and refining and is primarily concerned with the validity of your research – that is, that you are able to demonstrate that you are researching what you think you are researching and gathering data that will help you to address your research questions.
Your research
Research quality check – validity
Have you operationalised the concepts in your research questions or hypotheses?
Do your operational definitions enable you to get data that will answer your questions?
Do your operational definitions help you to describe the concept in terms you can identify and measure?
Operational definitions Unemployed:
An adult aged between 16 and 65 years who has been in paid work within the last two years but has not been in any paid work for more than one year
Mental health:
How you feel about yourself and your life
Ways of asking questions about this definition of mental health could include:
How would you describe yourself?
Have you sought help because of the way you feel about yourself and your life from a doctor, counsellor or adviser?
What would improve your life?
Refinement of the research question
What are the impacts on how people who have had paid work feel about themselves and their lives when they have been without any paid work for more than a year? Subsidiary questions
Using the operational definition and suggested ways of asking questions, some subsidiary questions can be developed:
How do people in this situation describe themselves?
Have they sought help because of the way they feel about themselves during the period of unemployment?
What type(s) of help have they sought and for what reasons?
What changes would people in this situation like to see in relation to themselves and their lives?
Your research
Will you be collecting data from or about the cases, people, situations you say you are?
Are your operational definitions specific to the context and culture setting of your research?
Are your operational definitions meaningful to your research participants?
Are you sure you are getting the data you think you are getting?
My initial research question is . . .
Operationalising the concepts Concept _______________ Operational definitions:
Concept ________________ Operational definitions:
Refinement of the research question:
Subsidiary research questions: •
• • •
References and further reading
Campbell, J. P., Daft, R. L. and Hulin, C. L. (1982) What to Study: Generating and Developing
Research Questions, London: Sage.
Jamarda Resources (2007) Sikhs. Available at http://jamardaresources.com/Training%20Sikhs.php (accessed 1 August 2009).
Jupp, V., Davies, P. and Francis, P. (eds) (2000) Doing Criminological Research, London: Sage. Kimchi, J., Polivka, B. and Stevenson, J. (1991) Triangulation: operational definitions, Nursing
Research, 40(6): 364–6.
King, G., Keohane, O. and Verba, S. (1994) Designing Social Inquiry: Scientific Inference in
Qualitative Research, Princeton University Press.
Miles, M. and Huberman, A. (1984) Qualitative Data Analysis, London: Sage.
Punch, K. F. (1998) Introduction to Social Research: Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches, London: Sage.