Assignment : Formulating a Research Question

Research investigators often encounter the following saying: "A problem that goes unnoticed or ignored is a problem without a resolution."

Discuss a problem from the field of forensic psychology that you would like to have resolved through investigative research methods.

Use the following questions as guidelines for formulating the actual quantitative research question with respect to the problem that you identify:

• What is the specific problem?

• What is the evidence of the problem?

• What do you suspect is causing the problem?

• Is the research question clearly expressed without being too general or too narrow?

• Does the question relate to the identified problem?

• Is the research, based on the research question, feasible?

• Will the research, based on the research question, add to the body of knowledge in the forensic psychology field?

After you submit your research question, read the responses of your classmates and critique the research question of at least two of them.

To ensure each of your classmates receives feedback, please first respond to those who have not received any from your peers. Use these same questions as critique criteria in your response to other classmates:

• Is the question clearly expressed without being too general or too narrow?

• Does the question relate to the identified problem?

• Are there any barriers to the research?

• Will the research, based on the research question, add to the content body of knowledge?

• Were these questions fully addressed?

o What is the specific problem you are encountering?

o What evidence do you have that there is a problem?

o What do you suspect is causing the problem?

Post your response in a minimum of 300 words.

Research Question and Hypothesis

The driver of a primary research question is supposed to be the hypothesis as opposed to data. This means that research questions and hypothesis need to be derived before the study starts.

In research there is the use of a hypothesis to act as a guide when carrying out the research (Kumar, 2016). A hypothesis can be defined as a particular statement prediction which describes in concreate terms as opposed to theoretical terms what one expects to happen in the study.

There are two types of hypothesis namely a null and alternative hypothesis. A null hypothesis is a hypothesis that a researcher is trying to discredit or disapprove. On the other hand, an alternative hypothesis is one which states that there exists a statistically significant relationship between two variables.

1. Null hypothesis: Forensic psychologists working in the correctional settings form effective relationships and hence they do not face any challenges when working in this setting.

2. Alternative hypothesis: Forensic psychologists encounter numerous barriers when it comes to achieving an effective therapeutic relationship in a correctional setting which brings about the challenges that they face.

This means that there exists a positive correlation between barriers forensic psychologists face in the correctional setting and the challenges they face when it comes to working in this setting and hence their inability to achieve effective relationships.

A null hypothesis is required in research as it assists in showing that there are no variations existing between the variables that are under research. This means that a null hypothesis is used in testing statistical significance. A null hypothesis is used when drawing conclusion from the collected data and make inferences from it based on a random sample that has been taken from the population.

The hypothesis is related to the identified problem in that from the hypothesis we are able to understand the basis of the problem under research.

This hypothesis is feasible because it can be easily tested with data that has been collected from the ground and its feasibility established. This hypothesis is measurable and testable from the information gathered and effectively conducting statistical testing in order to measure its validity.

References

Kumar, R. (2016). Chapter-02 Research Problem, Research questions and Hypothesis. Nursing Research and Statistics, 27-44