Writing IT Scared
Hello Curious Learner,
Preamble: I wrote this blog post before measures were taken to stop the spread of COVID-19. So many things have changed since then. I do want to highlight that for those of you will be doing online research during the pandemic or in-person research later this year, COVID-19 will be discussed by your participants. After all, we are all humans experiencing the effects of a global public health crisis. One thing I want you all to keep in mind is, how can you pivot or reshape your research questions to capture your participants’ experiences? Ignoring what people are going through in 2020 is not a viable option; thus, be ready to adjust and adapt.
What was (or has been) the most challenging part of your qualitative research? For many, data collection and data analysis quickly come to mind but I would say there is a previous step that might be equally or even more challenging. And that is writing a qualitative research question.
Even though you know the literature, the phenomenon you want to examine, the method of inquiry, it can still be hard to put a research question on paper (or computer screen). You are not alone. A couple of years ago I was writing a mixed methods research proposal and really struggling with the research question for the quantitative phase. I have been doing qualitative research for more than a decade, and was having a hard time writing a question that was specific enough for the quantitative phase. I know for most people the opposite happens when they first enter world of qualitative research.
You are more used to reading quantitative research or trained to interpret quantitative data. Moreover, proposal outlines usually include a section for research question(s) and hypothesis, yet qualitative research does not have a hypothesis. On top of that, you might even get more confused by reading or hearing that your qualitative research question might change along the research. What…Is that even valid? The answer is, “Yes, it is.” Here are few points to help you write your research question with more confidence and ease.
In qualitative research:
- Research questions may be general and broad. This allows for the unexpected surrounding the phenomenon of interest being examined
- Research questions are usually open-ended questions that start with “what” and “how”
- Research questions may include terms that align with the research methodology, e.g., cultural meaning of something being explored in ethnographic research, process of coping with a diagnose being developed in grounded theory, etc. [However, just because you use certain words, it does not mean you are using a certain methodology. I cringe when I see students jumping to phenomenology simply because they want to examine the meaning of an experience. Using a certain methodology includes using methods of data collection and analysis that consistent throughout.]
- Research question should use neutral words that do label experiences, meanings and perceptions as positive or negative, helpful or harmful. Let participants go there on their own. By doing that, you keep your research open to more opportunities for advancing what is known about the phenomenon of interest.
- Because researchers may begin their projects with broad questions, they realize once data collection starts that the question needs to be fine-tuned to better capture what they are studying. This is totally fine and somewhat expected in certain contexts and methods of inquiry.
Writing qualitative research questions is a skill we can develop and improve over time. I hope the points I listed here help you to craft some exciting ones!
Talk soon,
Maira
