Research Question Formulation

Research Questions in Quantitative Research

The aim of quantitative research is to find relationships among variables. As the name implies, quantitative data is numerical in nature. The goal of quantitative researchers is to be able to generalize results across like cases. Quantitative researchers make predictions about variables based on past research. If research exists on the topic a researcher can pose a hypothesis. A hypothesis is an educated guess about the relationship between variables of interest or a proposed explanation for a phenomenon. The hypothesis predicts what will happen to the dependent variable based upon changes in the independent variable. Hypotheses are generally statements such as, “If x occurs, y will happen,” or “As x decreases, so will y.” Hypotheses can be nondirectional, in which a researcher predicts that there is a relationship between variables, or directional, in which the researcher predicts a positive or negative relationship between variables.

Ultimately, a useful hypothesis reflects current research about the topic under investigation. For example, if a researcher was interested in understanding the relationship between teacher immediacy behaviors and student learning, he or she would first need to research the topic to find out what is already known about teacher immediacy and student learning. To extend the example, imagine that the researcher discovered that many teacher immediacy behaviors had been studied (e.g., smiling, eye contact, vocal variety, animated gestures) and found that there is a relationship between these immediacy strategies and learning, but little if any research investigated the use of humor as a teacher immediacy strategy. The researcher would use the available research to make a prediction about the relationship between the use of humor in the classroom and student learning. After conducting extensive research, the researcher ultimately discovered that there appears to be a positive relationship between teacher immediacy behaviors and student learning, leading the researcher to predict the following hypothesis:

H1: The use of humor in the classroom will have a positive impact on student learning.

Researchers can pose hypotheses when research exists to help the researcher predict relationships between variables. However, in the case of a new concept or phenomenon, the researcher may not have a body of research to draw upon to make these predictions, rendering it necessary to pose research questions in addition to or in lieu of hypotheses.

Research questions in quantitative research are more exploratory in nature than hypotheses but still need to be carefully articulated. If posing research questions rather than a hypothesis, the researcher needs to make an argument for why he or she is posing a research question instead of a hypothesis. Generally, if a researcher is using a research question in quantitative research it is because there is not enough evidence to make an educated guess about the relationship between two or more variables. Therefore the researcher needs to make an argument about the lack of research available to develop an informed hypothesis, making it necessary instead to develop research questions. Just like hypotheses, research questions in quantitative research can be nondirectional or directional. Nondirectional research questions explore if there is a difference in the relationship between two or more variables. Directional research questions focus on exploring differences or positive or negative relationships between variables. What follows is an example to illustrate the use of research questions in quantitative research.

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