(Continued)
present form, and needs to be revised. This process of falsification forces us to look at data in other ways to improve theories.
Induction: Contrary to deduction, induction moves from a set of observations to a theory, and is at the core of social scientific theory development. Induction allows a theory to be constructed from emerging patterns in the research data. It is associated with an analytic-inductive method, which is part of the research-then-theory strategy:
The person doing such research assumes that he does not know enough before beginning his study to identify relevant problems and hypotheses in the organisation chosen for study, nor to recognise valid indicators of the theoretical variables in which he is interested. He believes that a major part of his research must consist of finding out what problems he can best study in this organisation, what hypotheses will be fruitful and worth pursuing, what observations will best serve him as an indicator of the presence of such phenomena as, for example, cohesiveness or deviance. (Becker and Geer, cited in Burgess 1982, p.239)
Getting started in research: the research problem
However, in addition to being empirically grounded, research problems have to be clearly specified. For example, the research problem ‘What rehabilitation measures most effectively break the cycle of persistent juvenile delinquency?’ is rather too vague to research effectively. As a research question, its weakness is manifest in that:
• it is too ambiguous a statement to direct a research project;
• it is open to interpretation because of the lack of clarity in the meanings embedded within the research problem;
• it is unclear about the types of rehabilitation measures that may be considered;
• it does not indicate what is meant by persistent;
• it does not define juvenile delinquency, in terms of age, gender, residence, social class, ethnic group, education, coverage (only those who have been caught, or those convicted, or those actually sentenced?), and so on.
Deciding what you want to know through your research efforts, and then focusing this into a manageable and coherent research problem, is arguably the most difficult aspect of any research project.
Focus your problem
Once you have chosen a topic, or perhaps a number of possible alternative topics, you will almost certainly then need to refine it and focus it. Kane (1990, p.15) recounts an episode in which a student visits to discuss their research plans:
Student: I’ve come about my research problem. I know what I want to study.
Kane: What is it?
Student: Drugs
Kane: What is it about drugs you want to study?
Student: Oh, just drugs like. I’ve always been sort of interested in drugs, you know what I mean?
As Kane explains, there are many possible ways in which the issue of ‘drugs’ might be researched, involving focus on different issues, different target groups, and using different data and methods.
Having decided upon a general topic to investigate, the next step in any research study is to set out clearly your research problem, which should:
• be specific,
• have a narrow focus,
• have all terms carefully defined.
This might be:
Changes (1950/1990) in Selected Characteristics of Convicted Juvenile Delinquents aged 13–18 years in St Michael’s Correctional Institution.
Taken from Kane (1990, p.19), this is an example of a well-designed research problem. It is clear about all aspects of the intended study and of its parameters, in terms of:
• the time-frame;
• the category of juvenile delinquent examined;
• the age of those to be researched;
• that only certain selected characteristics of the target group will be investigated;
• the particular site chosen as the setting for the research.
Kane (1990, p.20) suggests some useful steps for developing a clearly specified research problem:
i. Choose your topic and decide what aspect of it you wish to study. Ask: Who?
What? Where? When? Why? How?
ii. State what you want to study in one sentence.
iii. Look at every word, and define each that you feel necessary.
iv. Rewrite your sentence, taking into account all the decisions you made in step (iii).
This involves a focusing process of moving from the general to the specific.
Focusing is not an instantaneous process, but takes place over time:
• It will occur through consulting existing theories, debates, and general issues emanating from the academic and/or professional literature. This will enable the researcher to generate issues for investigation, gain a sense of how to delimit the area into one that is specific and manageable, and develop an awareness of how others have sought to explain the issue(s).
• It may well take place in the course of actually collecting and analysing your data (perhaps as a result of carrying out and analysing your interviews and observations), especially where the research design is an emergent–
qualitative one.
Activity 3.1 The research problem
Think of an issue that you might be interested in examining through research — this may be something of general academic interest to you, or an issue related to your work, or a local issue. Define your research problem in no more than two sentences. Ask: Who? What?
Where? When? Why? How? Then revise your research problem so that it can be summarised in a single sentence.