Chapter 4 – Reviewing and revising your purpose statement. In this chapter students will be able to: Compare your purpose statement with several criteria, write a clear purpose statement and appropriate research questions, make a case for your purpose statement and research questions.
Planning an Applied Research Project Chapter 4 – Reviewing and Revising your Purpose Statement © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Learning Objectives » Compare your purpose statement with several criteria » Write a clear purpose statement and appropriate research questions » Make a case for your purpose statement and research questions © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Key Terms » » » » » » » » » » » Important Interesting Intriguing Investigable Impactful Literature review Partner test Public speaking test Purpose statement Research questions Thanksgiving test © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Reasons for Revising Purpose Statements » » » » » » » New information about what has been studies New insight about research methods used New ideas about the topic Shit in focus and interest Challenge of developing a coherent design Chance to test something important Lack of approval for current purpose © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Reasons for Revising Purpose Statements » Purpose Statement Format ˃ “My purpose is to … (what you want to learn – the questions) ˃ “The reasons it is important include (why it is significant? what is the context for it? why should people care? what gap does it fill?) ˃ Therefore, I will … (what you will do to answer your questions and accomplish your goal? what will be your research design?) © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Purpose Statement and Supporting Dimensions » Focus on the following four central elements: ˃ What is the goal? ˃ What parts are most important to this research? ˃ Why is it important? ˃ How will I pursue? © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Process of Reviewing and Revising » Test of Purpose Statements ˃ Spousal or partner or friend test ˃ Thanksgiving test ˃ Public speaking test ˃ Then reflect on what you have learned and what changes you might want to make © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Process of Reviewing and Revising (cont’d) » Research Questions ˃ Accompany purpose statements ˃ Clarify and specify purpose statements ˃ Trigger and expand your thinking ˃ Improve you thinking about research design options ˃ Promote others to help you ˃ Help you throughout the reading and planning ˃ Guide the research proposal © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Process of Reviewing and Revising (cont’d) » When Writing Research Questions ˃ Think generally ˃ Write them so they beg to be answered ˃ Focus them broadly in the beginning ˃ Make them real questions you want to answer or investigate ˃ Focus them at an intermediate level ˃ Develop more questions now – you can refine them and consolidate them later © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Criteria for a Good Purpose Statements I I I I I Important Interesting Intriguing Investigable Impactful © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Purpose Statement and Research Question Example 1 » Purpose – to examine the relationship between the amount of money spent by a school's athletic department on academic support and the graduation rates of college football athletes » Research Questions – ˃ How does an increase in money spent effect graduation rates? ˃ How exactly is the money being spent? Tutors? Computer labs? Incentive programs? ˃ How does the treatment differ for scholarship players and non scholarship players? What is the difference in their graduation rates? What is the correlation between winning/losing and graduation rates? ˃ How do outside factors influence the results? School's academic reputation? Priorities of players? Academic background of players? © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Purpose Statement and Research Question Example 2 » Purpose – to analyze the factors that influence traveler’s preference to independently plan their trips as an alternative to utilizing packaged group tours » Research Questions – ˃ What are the most influential reasons for independently planning trips (i.e. cost, convenience, lack of available options that meet customer needs)? ˃ What are the demographics and psychographics of travelers who prefer to plan their own trips? ˃ What are the demographics and psychographics of travelers who prefer packaged tours? ˃ What are the most common sources of information that travelers utilize in making their independent travel plans (i.e. internet, travel books, word of mouth, media)? © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Purpose Statement and Research Question Example 3 » Purpose – to examine the process by which cobranding occurs between hotels and restaurants and evaluate the overall value of brand alliances with respect to each operation as separate entities » Research Questions – ˃ To what extent is cobranding among hotels and restaurants a mutually beneficial relationship? ˃ What factors need to be considered when entering into a brand alliance? ˃ What factors affect customer’s choice of one hotel over another? How does restaurant brand influence that decision? ˃ When is it more profitable for hotels to outsource restaurant services rather than handle the details of these operations directly? ˃ How does that situation differ for other cobranded operations? © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Purpose Statement and Research Question Example 4 » Purpose – to analyze the effect that a mission statement has on employee’s performance in a hotel, in what ways does it change their behavior » Research Questions – ˃ To what extent do hotel employees consider the hotel’s mission statement an important or not so important part of their work life? ˃ What percentage of employees follow the ideas described in a mission statement? ˃ To what extent does employees’ work behavior change as a result of their agreement and acceptance of a hotel’s mission statement? © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved The Research Hourglass » » » » » » » » » » » » Topic Purpose statement Research questions Literature review Research design Research method Data analysis plan Findings Applications Limitations Opportunities Conclusions © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Review of the Class Session » Anything unclear? » One thing that I discovered in this class session is … © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved ... Process of Reviewing and Revising (cont’d) » Research Questions ˃ Accompany purpose statements ˃ Clarify and specify purpose statements ˃ Trigger and expand your thinking ˃ Improve you thinking about research design ... Help you throughout the reading and planning ˃ Guide the research proposal © 20 14 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Process of Reviewing and Revising (cont’d) » When Writing Research Questions ˃ Think generally... Purpose Statement and Research Question Example 3 » Purpose – to examine the process by which cobranding occurs between hotels and restaurants and evaluate the overall value of brand alliances with respect to each operation as separate entities