From Curiosity to Clarity: Streamlining Research Questions and Approaches

From Curiosity to Clarity A practical workshop on Streamlining Research Questions and Approaches Nils Klughammer, PostDoc EMBL Heidelberg Distributed under Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike 4.0 International: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/deed.en doi: 10.5281/zenodo.17896839 Why do we need a research question? ●It specifies what the research will be about ●Defines the aim of the research ●It can help –streamlining your research –making your research more effective –guiding discussions with peers ●Is often required to acquire funding How does it make your research more effective ●Gives a guideline for studydesign –With my experiment, am I answering the right question? ●Specifies the boundaries and emphasis of the research. –When am I done? ●Clarifies the motivation for the research. –Why should I study this? More to be found on: https://atlasti.com/guides/qualitative-research-guide-part-1/research-question How to get to the research question? Problem Purpose Question Hypothesis & Approach ●Problem: Low vaccination rate risks herd immunity. ●Purpose: Increase the vaccination rate. ●Question: What are the reasons for people not to get vaccinated? ●Approach: Conduct interviews with people who don’t get vaccinated. From Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches, Creswell, John W. / Creswell, J. David, 2022, SAGE Publications, Inc How to get to the research question? ●Problem: Low vaccination rate risks herd immunity. ●Purpose: Increase the vaccination rate. ●Question: Which measures have shown to be effective in Germany to increase vaccination rate? ●Approach: Study the literature on the different measures. Problem Purpose Question Hypothesis & Approach From Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches, Creswell, John W. / Creswell, J. David, 2022, SAGE Publications, Inc RAINES ●Relevant –What will answering of the question change ? ●Achievable –Can the result be achieved in with the available resources ? ●Interesting –Does it capture interest from the field ? ●Novel –Has it been answered before? ●Ethical –Do ethical considerations hinder answering the question? ●Specific –Is the question clearly defined? Inspired by: Ratan SK, Anand T, Ratan J. Formulation of research question – Stepwise approach. J Indian Assoc Pediatr Surg 2019;24:15-20. DOI: 10.4103/jiaps.JIAPS_76_18 and SMART goals: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMART_criteria Counter examples ●Not Achievable –Fundamentally: How does it feel to travel faster than light? –Specifically: Do zebrafish develop as well on Mars as on earth? ●Not Interesting –How many leaves are on the magnolia tree outside EMBL? ●Not Relevant –How does the gravitational force of an object depend on its temperature? ●Not Novel –How is genetic information stored in DNA? ●Not Ethical –Are different societal groups superior to others? ●Not Specific –How does the F0/F1 ATPase work?