This document provides guidance on developing key components of a research proposal, including the title, literature review, research questions, hypotheses, and research methods. It emphasizes that developing a good research question is the most important part of the research process. Research questions should be narrow, fit the research objectives, and structure the thesis by defining what will be answered. The document also distinguishes between different types of research questions and variables, and describes experimental and quasi-experimental research designs.

1. 1
Research Seminar for
Educational Sciences
Prof. Dr. Chang Zhu
Department of Educational Sciences
Major sections of a research
proposal
2
Title
Summary
Research problem
Literature review
Research questions
Research methods
Expects results &
significance
Planning

2. 2
Literature review
• Theoretical basis/ conceptual framework
• What research has been done in the
area?
• What has been found in previous
studies?
3
A good research idea
• Choose something you are interested in, think it
fascinating, relevant for your future work,…
– You’ll need that personal motivation to pursue the studies.
• Relevant, in need and ‘hot’:
– useful to someone, such as policy makers
– more motivating to work on
– help in a broader research project
– other sources

3. 3
Research questions: why
important?
• Developing a good research question is the
most important part of the research process.
• The question should be narrow and fits the
research objectives.
Research questions: why
important?
• The most difficult part, spend time on it!
• Risk if not well defined:
– collect data that will not be used;
– don’t collect data that would be useful.
• Good research questions limit the scope of the thesis
• A good research questions structure the thesis:
– define relevant literature,
– develop good hypotheses,
– define data needed, ….
• It helps the reader – you tell them what you are going
to answer. It simply makes it more interesting!

4. 4
Central research questions and
specific research questions
• Ask one or two central research questions
• Followed by a number of specific research
questions
Types of research
questions
• Description
• Relationship
• Descriptive-Comparative
• Causality/impact or affect
• Causality-Comparative
• ………

5. 5
Types of research
questions
• Research questions in qualitative research
• Research questions in quantitative research
Types of research questions
• Questions of Description
• What are the characteristics of…?
• What/Which factors influence…..?
?
Qualitative? Quantitative?

6. 6
Types of research questions
• Questions of Description
• What/Which factors influence
international student decision in
choosing VUB for their studies?
Types of research questions
• Questions of relationship
• Is there an association between … and ….?
• Is (variable A) related to (variable B)?

7. 7
Types of research questions
• Questions of relationship
• Does critical thinking ability relate to
student achievement?
• To what extent does critical thinking ability
relate to student achievement?
Types of research questions
• Descriptive-Comparative Questions
• What differences exist….?
• Is group A differ from Group B?
• Are there differences between…..?
• Are there differences between female and
male students with regard to….?

8. 8
Types of research questions
• Causality/impact Questions
• Does ….(variable A) affect….(variable B)?
• Does …..have an impact on…?
• To what extent does ….(variable A)
affect….(variable B)?
Types of research questions
• Causality-Comparative
• Does ….(variable A) have a higher
impact on (variable Y) compared to the
impact of….(variable B) on … (variable
Y)?

9. 9
good research questions
• Not purely descriptive
• Not just What/Which questions
• But also How/To what extent….questions
• Relationship questions
• Comparative questions
• Causality/impact questions
• …
good research questions
• Be clear about the research variables
• Reflect in your research questions

10. 10
Variables
• A variable: any entity that can take on
different values.
• A variable is a label or name that
represents a concept or characteristic that
varies
19
Variables
• E.g. age, gender, grade, school, study domain,
diploma, income, country…
use of ICT, exam score, performance,
academic achievement, attitude, emotion,
motivation, perception, satisfaction, well-
being, self-esteem, critical thinking, ….
20

11. 11
Independent variable
• The one you will vary to see how it may affect
the dependent variable
• Independent Variable – something that is
changed by the scientist/researcher
– What is tested
– What is manipulated
• In experimental research:
• Manipulated Variable
Independent variable
• In experimental research:
• Keep all variables constant, except for the
independent variable.
• A Experimental Group will be the group with the
Independent Variable:
• A Control Group will be the group without the
Independent Variable

12. 12
Dependent variable
• The One You Measure as a result of the
changing Independent variable
• A variable that might be affected by the
change in the independent variable
– What is observed
– What is measured
– The data collected during the investigation
Construct
• What is a construct?
A construct is a (theoretical) concept that is
inferred from commonalities among observed
phenomena and that is presumed to explain or
shed light on the meaning of those phenomena.
• A variable is a quantitative expression of a
construct.
24

13. 13
Construct
• Constructs, Factors, Scales, Sub-scales
• Measured through a number of observed items
• E.g. Teacher professional identity (including
Self-efficacy, job satisfaction, motivation and
commitment)
25
• Characterized by complete random assignment
of groups or subjects
• Groups are independent
• Usually employs strong control
Experimental design

14. 14
• Groups or subjects not randomly assigned
– e.g., sample of convenience
• May not have a comparison group
Quasi-Experimental design
• Single factor (one-way)
– Studies one independent variable
• Multi-factor
– Studies multiple independent variables
• May have several levels
– Examples:
• Two-way (e.g., 2 x 2)
• Three-way (e.g., 2 x 2 x 2)
• Time-series
Types of experimental design

15. 15
• Pretest-posttest (one-group)
• Pretest-posttest (control group)
• Posttest-only (control group)
Single factor design
• Quasi-experimental
• One set of measures taken before and after
treatment or intervention
• Compare pretest and posttest scores
• Analysis
– paired t test
• Weakness
– No comparison or
control group
Single factor design

16. 16
• Two-way factorial
– e.g., 2 x 3
• Three-way factorial
– e.g., 2 x 2 x 3
Experimental Designs
– Quasi-experimental
– True experimental
– Factorial

17. 17
Experimental Designs
• Notation
– R indicates random selection or random
assignment
– O indicates an observation
• Test
• Observation score
• Scale score
– X indicates a treatment
– A, B, C, ... indicates a group
Quasi-Experimental Designs
• Threats to internal validity
– Selection is the major concern
– Controls for statistical regression
– Likely to control for most other threats provided
the groups are not significantly different from one
another

18. 18
True Experimental Designs
• Important
– Random assignment
• Participants are placed into groups using a
random procedure
• This ensures equivalency of the groups
– Random selection of subjects
• Participants are chosen from a population using
random procedures
• This ensures generalizability to the population
from which the participants were selected (i.e.,
external validity)
True Experimental Designs
• Types
– Randomized posttest only experimental control
groups
• R A X O R B O
– Randomized posttest only multiple treatment
groups
• R A X1 O R B X2 O
– Randomized pretest-posttest experimental control
groups
• R A O X O R B O O

19. 19
Factorial Designs
• Research designs containing two or
more independent variables
– A study of the effects of two instructional
strategies on male and female students’
math achievement
– A study of two counseling approaches on
middle and secondary students’ self-
esteem
Hypotheses in quantitative
research
• Hypotheses about comparison
• Null hypothesis
• There is no significant difference between….
• Directional hypothesis
• Students in Group A will have higher achievement
than students in Group B…

20. 20
Hypotheses in quantitative
research
• Hypotheses about relationships
• There is no relationship between student
computer use skills and their performance in e-
learning
• Student achievement motivation is related to their
anxiety for failure. (nondirectional)
• Students from higher SES families have higher
media literacy than students from lower SES
families. (directional)
The hypotheses
• The hypothesis is based on known facts,
but takes it a step further, often by
combining facts and thereby creating
(possible) links.
• The hypothesis posits the expected
relationship between some variables.
• Two requirements:
– Must fit known facts
– Be testable

21. 21
Do all theses need to have
hypotheses?
• No, but most of them would be better if the
research is organized around them
• What’s the difference between research
question and hypotheses?
– Hypotheses often more specific, and each research
question can have several hypotheses.
Suggestion
A good approach and balance between the three
first components of the research:
– one grand research idea
– a few (3-5) research questions
– some hypotheses, at least one, maximum 3-5 linked
to each research question. But in total not more than
6-8 hypotheses for a master thesis.

22. 22
How to make a good research
question?
• Read – discuss – think!
• Get into your creative mood!
Some useful note
• Research should not be embarked upon with the
idea that the empirical evidence will prove a
general “truth”, but it can increase our
knowledge & understanding on a certain issue.
• Research can only demonstrate the utility of an
idea within a specific context.

23. 23
Some useful note
• Researchers must be prepared for unexpected results.
Unexpected results represent the possibility of
learning something new about the phenomenon under
study.
• Finding unexpected results also shows that there is a
good reason for conducting research.
Additional readings
• Creswell (2008). Research questions and hypotheses

24. 24
Assignment
• Read Theme 5
• Self-test/quiz: theme 1-5
Research topics
• Research group
• Or individual work
• Thesis Info session
• 3 Dec. 12-14h