Clarifying Research

Week 5 Assignment: Clarifying Research

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Directions for Preparing the Scholarly Worksheet

1. Read each of the instructions.

2. Download and complete the  required Clarifying Research Worksheet under Templates below.

3. Two or more supporting scholarly sources are required. Textbooks  are not allowed and  should not be used as a scholarly source. Use the Chamberlain Library to locate relevant, scholarly sources.

4. No more than two direct quotes are allowed. You should be using mostly your own words to demonstrate your understanding of the topics/criteria for this assignment. Citations and references must be included.

5. Submit the completed assignment on the Week 5: Assignment.

Templates

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Scholarly Sources and Citations

· Two or more supporting scholarly sources are required.

· No more than two direct quotes are allowed.

· Use APA format in citations and references.

References

American Association of Colleges of Nurses (AACN). (2008).  Executive summary: The essentials of baccalaureate education for professional nursing practice. http://www.aacnnursing.org/Education-Resources/AACN-Essentials

QSEN Institute. (2020).  QSEN competencies. http://qsen.org/competencies/pre-licensure-ksas/

Clarifying Research

Introduction

The first step in any research project is to clarify what you want to research, why you want to do it, and who your audience is. This process will help ensure that your research is focused and relevant, as well as useful in informing other audiences and stakeholders.

Think about why you are doing the research.

One of the most important things to remember about research is that it’s not just for teachers, and it doesn’t need to be done in a classroom. Research can help you learn new things, answer questions, make decisions and improve your life in many ways.

First off: what do I need? If you’re doing this project with me or any other student at school (or even if it’s just something fun), then there are two basic requirements that must be met by all participants: 1) an interest in learning more about whatever topic we’re researching; 2) reliable access to technology (iPad/phone).

Now that these basics have been covered…

Clarify what is meant by your research question.

The first step in clarifying the research question is to ask yourself: What is it that I want to know?

• What do you mean by “the answer” or “the meaning of this”?
• Are there multiple answers that could be true? If so, how do they relate to each other and why would someone choose one over another?

Decide on how you want to answer that question.

Decide on the best way to answer your question. There are many ways to approach this, but here are some common approaches:

• You can use statistics or data analysis to determine whether there is a correlation between two variables. For example, if you wanted to see how many calories were consumed during a certain time period and what kinds of foods were served at that event (e.g., cookies versus cake), you would use a statistical analysis that compares these variables across multiple groups of people. If the results showed a correlation between both factors–meaning that people who ate more calories also consumed more sugar and fat–you might conclude that eating too much sugar leads directly to weight gain in humans (and possibly other animals).
• You could use qualitative research methods such as interviews with experts or focus groups made up solely of individuals who have experienced similar situations firsthand; however, these types of studies can be expensive due largely because they require professionals trained specifically for this purpose rather than just anyone willing take part in them!

Understand the purpose of your audience’s needs.

Understand the purpose of your audience’s needs.

• Understand the purpose of your research.
• Understand the purpose of their wants and desires.
• Understand what they’re interested in and how it relates to you as a business or product/service provider, or even just as a person who is going to use something like this product/service/personality trait combination at some point in time (for example, someone might be interested in learning more about themselves because they want to improve their relationships with other people).

Identify your audience’s current knowledge and beliefs.

• Identify the audience’s current knowledge and beliefs.
• It’s important to know what your audience knows about a topic before you can expect them to be able to learn anything new about it, so it is important that you identify their current knowledge and beliefs of the topic before beginning any kind of research. You can do this by asking questions such as: “What do people generally believe about [topic]?” or “How do they think things work?” This will help inform your research question so that you can understand where they are coming from when they answer those questions in their responses (and later on).

Write down how you will frame your results or claims.

• Write down how you will frame your results or claims.
• Define what you mean by your research question.
• Define how you will answer your research question.
• What is the purpose of your research? How does this impact the choice of methodology and/or findings?
• What is the audience’s current knowledge and beliefs regarding this topic? Are there any biases at play that need to be accounted for in data collection and analysis, or are they already accounted for in other ways (e.g., media coverage)?

How will you frame your results or claims?

You can use these resources to help clarify your research

• This article has a list of resources that you can use to help clarify your research.
• You can also visit the Kuder Research section on our site, which contains a variety of tools for helping you find exactly what you need.

Conclusion

We hope that this article has helped you to understand the importance of clarifying your research. By doing so, you can ensure that it is clear what your argument is and how you support it.