This document discusses the purpose statement, research questions, and hypotheses in research studies. It explains that the purpose statement establishes the overall intent of the study and should be clear, specific, and informative. Qualitative purpose statements explore a phenomenon or participants, while quantitative purpose statements state the theory, variables, and relationships being tested. Research questions for qualitative studies are open-ended and aim to understand meanings, while hypotheses for quantitative studies make predictions about variable relationships that can be statistically tested. The document provides guidelines for writing effective qualitative research questions and quantitative research questions and hypotheses.

1. THE PURPOSE STATEMENT,
RESEARCH QUESTIONS,
AND HYPOTHESIS
MODULE 2

2. MODULE LEARNING OUTCOMES
After completion of Module 2, you should:
1. Understand the significance of a purpose statement.
2. Know how to develop a qualitative purpose statement and quantitative purpose
statement.
3. Be able to develop a research question and/or a hypothesis that narrows down the
purpose statement and tells the reader what will be learned or questions to be
answered in the study.
4. Know the differences between writing a research question for qualitative studies and
writing a research question/hypothesis for a quantitative study.

3. PURPOSE STATEMENT

4. The purpose statement establishes the intent of the entire research study. It is the most
important statement in the entire study, and it needs to be clear, specific, and informative. It
indicates what you want to study and what you need to accomplish.
Creswell, Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches, 2014

5. QUALITATIVE PURPOSE STATEMENT
Good qualitative purpose statements
have information about the central
phenomenon explored in the study, the
participants in the study, and the
research site. It also uses research words
drawn from the language of qualitative
inquiry such as discover, develop, or
understand.
Review your textbook for examples on purpose statements.
Creswell, Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches, 2014
QUANTITATIVE PURPOSE STATEMENT
In a quantitative purpose statement, the
researcher states the theory being
tested as well as the variables and their
description, relationship, or comparison.
It is important to position the
independent variable first and the
dependent variable second. Important
to include are the strategy of inquiry,
participants, and the research site for
the investigation.
Review your textbook for examples on purpose statements.

6. RESEARCH QUESTIONS & HYPOTHESIS

7. Research approaches are plans and the procedures for research that span the steps from
broad assumptions to detailed methods of data collection, analysis, and interpretation.
Creswell, Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches, 2014

8. RESEARCH QUESTIONS
Qualitative research is an approach of exploring and understanding the meaning
individuals or groups ascribe to a social or human problem.
This process of research involves:
● Emerging questions and procedures
● Data typically collected in the participant’s setting
● Data analysis inductively building from particulars to general themes
● The researcher making interpretations of the meaning of the data
Those who engage in this form of inquiry support a way of looking at research that honors
an inductive style, a focus on individual meaning, and the importance of rendering the
complexity of a situation.
The final written report has a flexible structure.
Creswell, Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches, 2014

9. HYPOTHESIS
Quantitative research is an approach for testing objective theories by examining the
relationship among variables. These variables, in turn, can be measured, typically on
instruments, so that numbered data can be analyzed using statistical procedures.
The final written report has a set of structure consisting of:
1. Introduction
2. Literature and theory
3. Methods
4. Results
5. Discussion
Those who engage in this form of inquiry have assumptions about testing theories
deductively, building in protections against bias, controlling for alternative explanations,
and being able to generalize and replicate the findings.
Creswell, Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches, 2014

10. QUALITATIVE VS. QUANTITATIVE
RESEARCH QUESTIONS & HYPOTHESIS

11. Research question or hypotheses narrow the purpose statement to predictions about what
will be learned or questions to be answered in the study.
Creswell, Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches, 2014

12. QUALITATIVE RESEARCH QUESTIONS
In a qualitative study, researchers state research questions, not objectives or hypotheses. These research
questions assume two forms: 1) central question, and 2) associated subquestions. Follow these guidelines
in developing your research questions for qualitative studies:
1. As one or two central research questions
2. Ask no more than five to seven subquestions in addition to your central questions
3. Relate the central question to the specific qualitative strategy of inquiry
4. Begin the research questions with the words “what” or “how” to convey an open and emerging
design
5. Focus on a single phenomenon or concept
6. Use exploratory verbs as nondirectional rather than directional words that suggest quantitative
research like “affect”, “influence”, “impact”, “determine”, “cause”, “relate”
7. Expect the research question to evolve and change during the study
8. Use open-ended questions without reference to the literature or theory unless otherwise indicated
by a qualitative strategy of inquiry
9. Specify the participants and the research site for the study if the information has not yet been given
Creswell, Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches, 2014

13. QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH QUESTIONS
Quantitative research questions inquire about
the relationships among variables that the
investigator seeks to know. They are frequently
used in social sciences research and especially
in survey studies.
Creswell, Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches, 2014
QUANTITATIVE HYPOTHESES
Quantitative hypotheses are predictions the
researcher makes about the expected
outcomes of relationships among variables.
Testing the hypotheses employs statistical
procedures in which the investigator draws
inferences about the population from a study
sample.
There are two forms of hypotheses: 1) null
hypothesis, and 2) directional hypothesis.