Samenvatting WO – Dani Panagoulopoulos
Lecture 8: Designing a research project
Starting a research project
- Select a subject
o Something that interests you
o Within the boundaries of the assignment
o Brainstorming is really helpful
- Determine the objective
o Objective is NOT the main research question, the objective is the reason for the
research
▪ Explains the relevance and specifies the qualitative or quantitative research.
Example:
▪ Objective: Inform trainers how they can achieve the best performance with
their athletes
▪ Main research question: What effect does positive and negative feedback
have on sports performance?
- Define the scope of your project
o The scope is supposed to help, not hurt
o What is feasible (executable)
o Sample vs population
o Time/budget restrictions
o Relevance
o Scope: detailed description with requirements and plans for the research (de
leidraad voor het hele traject)
- Working with a client
o Stay objective: Expressing or dealing with facts or conditions as perceived without
distortion by personal feelings prejudices or interpretations.
o Clients often do not know what it is they want or how to obtain it (inform them
about expectations!)
- Working in a team
o Agree on the method, task division and communication beforehand
o Make a SMART task division
▪ Specific, Measureable, Acceptable, Realistic and Time related (task division)
,Research background
- How to initiate a research project
- Preliminary research (problem analysis)
o Gathering background information about the subject
o Search for research that is similar to yours so you can compare results
- The 6W method (Six questions to ask about your research)
1. What is the problem?
2. Whose problem is it?
3. When did the problem arise?
4. Why is it a problem?
5. Where does the problem occur?
6. What is the cause of the problem?
- Searching for information (search rules)
o If you use search engines use trustworthy sources!
Formulating research questions
- Initiating research project
, - Formulating the main research question
o Requirements
▪ Should be an actual question
▪ Clear connection to the objective
▪ Should cover a specific domain
▪ Question should be independent and objective
▪ Relevant
o Pitfalls:
▪ Too broad or narrow
▪ Quantitative question that cannot be measured
▪ Subjectivity
▪ Incompleteness
o Voor voorbeelden wat goed en slecht is check de slides
- Subquestions
o When your main question becomes too long, difficult to read and unclear
o When you need to clarify different aspects of the main research questions
o How?
▪ The unravel and regroup method
▪ The 6W method
Lecture 9: Research proposal & quantitative data collection methods
Concept demarcation
- Concept demarcation: Clarifying the concepts used in you research -> concept -as- intended
o Concepts that are too generic and/or subjective require definition
o Example
▪ Do female students receive good grades more frequently than male
students?
• Define students and good
▪ How can absence among university students be reduced?
• Define absence (sick? Skipping?)
o Stipulative definition: definition of a concept that is especially for a specific research
Model Building
- Conceptual research model: Overview of the concepts (variables) used in your research
o Indicate possible relationships between these concepts
o Present your hypotheses
o An overview of your research
o
Lecture 8: Designing a research project
Starting a research project
- Select a subject
o Something that interests you
o Within the boundaries of the assignment
o Brainstorming is really helpful
- Determine the objective
o Objective is NOT the main research question, the objective is the reason for the
research
▪ Explains the relevance and specifies the qualitative or quantitative research.
Example:
▪ Objective: Inform trainers how they can achieve the best performance with
their athletes
▪ Main research question: What effect does positive and negative feedback
have on sports performance?
- Define the scope of your project
o The scope is supposed to help, not hurt
o What is feasible (executable)
o Sample vs population
o Time/budget restrictions
o Relevance
o Scope: detailed description with requirements and plans for the research (de
leidraad voor het hele traject)
- Working with a client
o Stay objective: Expressing or dealing with facts or conditions as perceived without
distortion by personal feelings prejudices or interpretations.
o Clients often do not know what it is they want or how to obtain it (inform them
about expectations!)
- Working in a team
o Agree on the method, task division and communication beforehand
o Make a SMART task division
▪ Specific, Measureable, Acceptable, Realistic and Time related (task division)
,Research background
- How to initiate a research project
- Preliminary research (problem analysis)
o Gathering background information about the subject
o Search for research that is similar to yours so you can compare results
- The 6W method (Six questions to ask about your research)
1. What is the problem?
2. Whose problem is it?
3. When did the problem arise?
4. Why is it a problem?
5. Where does the problem occur?
6. What is the cause of the problem?
- Searching for information (search rules)
o If you use search engines use trustworthy sources!
Formulating research questions
- Initiating research project
, - Formulating the main research question
o Requirements
▪ Should be an actual question
▪ Clear connection to the objective
▪ Should cover a specific domain
▪ Question should be independent and objective
▪ Relevant
o Pitfalls:
▪ Too broad or narrow
▪ Quantitative question that cannot be measured
▪ Subjectivity
▪ Incompleteness
o Voor voorbeelden wat goed en slecht is check de slides
- Subquestions
o When your main question becomes too long, difficult to read and unclear
o When you need to clarify different aspects of the main research questions
o How?
▪ The unravel and regroup method
▪ The 6W method
Lecture 9: Research proposal & quantitative data collection methods
Concept demarcation
- Concept demarcation: Clarifying the concepts used in you research -> concept -as- intended
o Concepts that are too generic and/or subjective require definition
o Example
▪ Do female students receive good grades more frequently than male
students?
• Define students and good
▪ How can absence among university students be reduced?
• Define absence (sick? Skipping?)
o Stipulative definition: definition of a concept that is especially for a specific research
Model Building
- Conceptual research model: Overview of the concepts (variables) used in your research
o Indicate possible relationships between these concepts
o Present your hypotheses
o An overview of your research
o
