Week 1 – assignment: draft a research problem, purpose, and | Public Administration | Northcentral University

Week 1 – Assignment: Draft a Research Problem, Purpose, and Quantitative Research Questions with Hypotheses

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Your dissertation topic will need to be aligned with your degree program and specialization. For the purposes of this assignment, consider how you could research your chosen dissertation topic through a quantitative lens, using quantitative methods and research questions that are aligned with quantitative research. The focus of this course is quantitative research methodology and design. Be sure that your assignment reflects a quantitative problem, purpose, and research question methodology (even if you plan to pursue qualitative methods for your dissertation).

If you do not have a research topic at this time; then contact your instructor or use a simple quantitative research study in your field that you are familiar with. Be sure to keep your quantitative research simple for this course. Recall that the focus of the course is learning quantitative research methodology and design.

Develop a problem statement, purpose statement, and research questions with corresponding set of hypotheses for your intended dissertation research (or a quantitative example) that will use a quantitative approach. You may want to use the Methods Map to provide an overview of a quantitative approach. When using the map, it is recommended that you begin with “Quantitative Data Collection,” which will provide a list of the method on the right. You can click on any of these for more information. Remember to look at the top box for definitions of terms/concepts.

This is to be based on: (1) the review of the literature in your topic area; (2) the identification of a problem based on your analysis of this literature; (3) evidence for a research-worthy problem; (4) well formulated research question(s) and hypotheses; and (5) your understanding of the alternative types of quantitative research studies. 

Use the following section headings to organize your assignment response:

1. Overview of the Research Focus.
   1. Provide a brief introduction to the research topic and focus.
2. Statement of the Problem
   1. Begin with a clear statement of the problem.
      1. It is recommended to use the phrase: “The problem addressed is …”
   2. Evidence that the problem is current and worthy of a research study using citation of source(s) from the literature and/or empirical evidence from a credible source. Be sure to include a minimum of 3 sources that support or source the problem.  Continue to search for additional sources during this course to build the Statement of the Problem section for the signature assignment.
3. Purpose of the Study
   1. Provide a clear statement of the research purpose that addresses the problem identified in the problem statement.
      1. It is recommended to use the phrase: “The purpose of this quantitative study is…”
   2. Do not exceed three sentences for this section.
4. Research Question(s)and Hypotheses
   1. For this section, use the following format for listing the research question(s) and associated set of hypotheses (null and alternative hypotheses). NOTE:  Descriptive research questions are excluded for this assignment. NOTE: Descriptive research questions are excluded for this assignment.
      1. RQ1:
      2.         Begin text here
      3. H10:
      4.         Begin null hypothesis text here.
      5. H11:
      6.         Begin alternative hypothesis text here.
   2. Repeat for each research question and set of hypotheses using RQ2, H20, H21, etc.  It is recommended to not exceed two research questions for the purposes of this assignment response.

Length:  Your paper should be between 3-5 pages, not including title and reference page. 

References: Include a minimum of eight (8) scholarly resources.

Your paper should demonstrate thoughtful consideration of the ideas and concepts that are presented in the course and provide new thoughts and insights relating directly to this topic. Your response should reflect graduate-level writing and APA standards. Be sure to adhere to Northcentral University’s Academic Integrity Policy.