I've
decided to firstly reflect upon what
a good research question in fact is (theoretical approach). Secondly I will try
and fill out the scheme from the blog
"Mass Communication Theory - from Theory to Practical Application" (practical
approach). Lastly I will try to come up with one or two main research
questions, clarified by a few subquestions.
Sources:
The
Writing Center, George Mason University (http://writingcenter.gmu.edu/?p=307)
Mass
Communication Theory - from Theory to Practical Application
(http://masscommtheory.com/2011/05/05/writing-good-qualitative-research-questions/)
"What is a good research question?"
- First and
foremost it is important to choose an
interesting general topic. The topic needs to be something that intrigues
the researcher and makes her want to explore it in different ways and perhaps
even for a long time.
- Secondly
the researcher needs to do some 'first
round' research on the general topic. It is important to know what has
already been written within the specific topic, the researcher has chosen. This
can serve as both inspiration and limitation (in a good way). Also: "What
questions does this early research raise?"
- Thirdly the
researcher must consider her audience.
For papers at the University, the audience will most likely be academic, but it
is important to always ask the question: "Would that particular audience
be interested in this question?" This will help both the research and how
you choose to communicate your topic, questions and results later on.
- Fourthly
the researcher needs to start asking
questions to get started on the topic. Consider "how" and
"why" questions to get the topic going.
- Lastly it
is important to evaluate the questions in
order to decide whether the questions are clear enough or if they need
rephrasing.
"Fill
in your answers"-scheme
Complete these sentences:
- “The topic for this study will be…” Virtual Sociality
- “This study needs to be conducted because…” I have discovered some
addictive pulls about myself concerning my socially related behavior
online (mainly on Facebook and Twitter).
Fulfill the following criteria:
- Single sentence "This study will try to investigate what happens socially when I
interact and communicate online."
- Include
the purpose of the study "The purpose of this study is to try and understand why I bother
when no one is liking my comment or when no one is responding to my tweet."
- Include the central phenomenon "Virtual Sociality"/"Being social
online."
- Use qualitative words e.g. explore, understand, discover "I want to explore
my own Facebook and Twitter use in order to understand what is going on
virtually-socially."
- Note the participants (if any) "I am the
participant for this study."
- State the research site "Since the 'battlefield' is online, the research site will also
be online - on either Facebook or Twitter, or on both sites."
A good place to start:
The purpose of this social-phenomenological
(narrative, phenomenological, grounded theory,
ethnographic, case, etc.) study is (was? will be?) to explore and
understand (understand, describe,
develop, discover) the virtual sociality (central
phenomenon of the study) for my own social online use (the
participants) at Facebook and
Twitter. At this stage in the
research, the virtual-social
topic (central phenomenon) will be
generally defined as Virtual
Social Insanity: Being addicted to being social online? (a general definition of the
central concept).
Research questions
(Begin with words such as “how” or “what” - Tell the reader what you are
attempting to “discover,” “generate,” “explore,” “identify,” or “describe” - Ask
“what happened?” to help craft your description - Ask “what was the meaning to
people of what happened?” to understand your results - Ask “what happened over
time?” to explore the process - Avoid words such as: relate, influence, impact,
effect, cause.)
The most
general question you could ask (main question)
"What does
it mean to be virtually social?"
Sub-questions
(subdivides central question into more specific topical questions)
"What specific
online situations do I engage in as being virtually social?"
"How would I describe a virtually-social situation?"
"What characterizes a successful online social situation?"
"What
characterizes an unsuccessful online social situation?"
