At this point, you may have an idea of your general social work topic, but what specific problem does that point to and how can that problem be conveyed as a question to be explored? In order to conduct a successful research study, the research question must be clearly defined, well justified, and offer something new to the social work knowledge base. The research study can only be as good as the research question that guides it.
2
FROM PROBLEM TO RESEARCH QUESTION
At this point, you may have an idea of your general social work topic, but what specific problem does that point to and how can that problem be conveyed as a question to be explored? In order to conduct a successful research study, the research question must be clearly defined, well justified, and offer something new to the social work knowledge base. The research study can only be as good as the research question that guides it.
For this Discussion, you articulate the problem you are focusing on and craft your research question to address that problem. You also consider the value of the identified problem by considering how it relates to social work practice.
RESOURCES
Be sure to review the Learning Resources before completing this activity. Click the weekly resources link to access the resources.
TO PREPARE
· Review the Learning Resources on identifying research problems and developing research questions.
· Consider the problem that you would like to study in your proposed research, the gap in knowledge that it addresses, and how it connects to social work practice.
BY DAY 3
Share the problem you are focusing on in your research. What would you like to know about this topic; that is, what is a gap in knowledge that your research on the topic could fill? Based on the identified problem, develop and share your research question here. How does this problem relate to practice?
BY DAY 6
Respond to two colleagues by providing constructive feedback on their research question. Use the Learning Resources on effective research questions to inform your feedback.
REFERENCES
· Yegidis, B. L., Weinbach, R. W., & Myers, L. L. (2018). Research methods for social workers (8th ed.). Pearson.
· Chapter 3: Developing Research Problems and Research Questions (pp. 52–70)
· SAGE Research Methods. (n.d.). Project planner: Developing a researchable question Links to an external site. . https://go.openathens.net/redirector/waldenu.edu?url=https://methods.sagepub.com/project-planner/developing-a-researchable-question
MEDIA
· Walden University, LLC. (2021). Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods approaches Links to an external site. [Interactive media]. https://class.waldenu.edu