Formulating Research Questions

Be sure to review What are the characteristics of a good research question? before answering these questions.

What are the characteristics of a good research question

Sruthi-The characteristics should include the variables we want to look for, collect relevant data
Eden- The question can be answered with controlled experiments, and/or data. The question should be of importance to others.
Sarah- A question that can be answered with collected data, with some degree of control for chance variation.
Jake- A question that can be answered with the data at hand.
Evan: It is relevant, original, interesting, has a clear, testable hypothesis. It is possible to collect relevant data.
Gunner:

• The question is succinct
• The question is answerable through analysis of the data/info you possess
• Question is testable
• Question is testable vs. researchable
  Matthew- A question that can be answered by data previously collected or can be collected. The question has significance.
  Jay- Simplicity. One that is short enough to be understood quickly by both professionals in the field and nonprofessionals. Invites both exploration and discussion of topic.
  Kenji- A question that can be answered given certain data, one that furthers a topic.
  Abbey- Clear and focused, can be answered through research and analysis
  Sean- a question which can be answered using the data you have collected, but which you cannot immediately answer with a "yes" or "no".
  Ryan- A good research question is testable using measured variables.
  Miriam-a good research question should include your variables that should be testable
  Meghan: The question is testable and limits confounding variables.

What is the one essential document you need to review before you can formulate a research question?

Sruthi-The survey questionnaire, refere to previous research articles on that topic,
Kenji- Past research articles
Ryan- Has the question already been answered?
Jake - Research data - you have to examine the data that has been collected
Evan: The codebook?
Meghan: the cookbook… or was it codebook? :)
Abbey- If the question has been answered / journal articles.
Matthew- Past research done in the related field
Sarah: Relevant articles, data from other researchers who have looked at similar topics.
Sean - codebook
Gunner
Michaelson - CSV file and/or codebook.
Jay - Previous research and literature reviews
Miriam-previous studies and the data
Eden- Codebook

Write an example of a research question

Sruthi-Are students at CSU,Chico use CalFresh and getting benefited.
Kenji- is there a higher degree of chemical weathering in hydrous environments

Gunner - Does the outlook on religion in America differ between ethnicities?

jake - is there a difference in observed water use efficiency in orchards planted in "Whole Orchard Recycling" ground compared to conventionally prepared orchards?

Eden - What is the paleoecology of hydrocarbon seeps at Blue Ridge, Colusa County, California?
Matthew- Did meteoric water alter the superior mine in the Lights Creek to become economically viable?

Meghan:

• Are differentially methylated regions (DMRs) of DNA in colorectal cancer tissues correlated with gene promoters?
• Is there a relationship between DMRs location and gene promoters in colorectal cancer tumor DNA?
• Are colorectal cancer DMRs in promoter regions hypermethylated?
• Is hypermethylation in colorectal cancer associated with promoter regions?
• Are hypermethylated regions in colorectal cancer associated with intragenic regions?
• Are hypomethylated regions in colorectal cancer associated with intergenic regions?

Abbey- Is there an association between dynamic water storage and soil respiration rates

Sarah: Does spay/neuter status affect outdoor domesticated housecat range?
Evan: Is there a significant difference in C13 ratios between two carbonate fabrics in a rock sample?

Ryan- Is there a relationship between burn intensity and diversity of early successional species.
Sean - Are the Miocene ash bed deposits and lacustrine deposits throughout Surprise Valley related to the same caldera and subsequent fill?

Jay - Do different varieties of almond react to water stress in similar ways?

Miriam-Is rootability an inheritable trait in pistachio seedling rootstocks?

Sources of Information

Rusty on this? Google "what are primary sources" and skim around.

Give an example of a primary source of information.

Sruthi-Survey
Kenji- Journal
Eden- Field book
Matthew- Thesis
Abbey- original research / experiments
Jake - measurements or fieldbook data that was collected by the user
Evan: Field work
Meghan: Research article that conducted a study
Sean: Field Notes

Ryan - Field work

Give an example of a secondary source of information.

Sruthi-Research articles
Kenji- Biography
Eden- Literature review
Matthew- Journal
Evan: Online database
Abbey- Literature review
Sean - Previous article/thesis
Jake - Another persons publication
Meghan: a literature review of research in a specific field.
Ryan -

What are some problems with secondary source literature

Sruthi-Outdated
Kenji- A secondary source has been interpreted from a primary source. This allows for misinterpretation, mistakes, mistranslations, etc.
Eden- Misinterpretations.
Evan: You don't always have the raw data and important metadata
Matthew- Information could be misinterpreted from the primary source.
Abbey- Literature reviews on primary journal articles may be up to individual interpretation.

Sean - They may be out of date, and there are individual biases when interpreting the data.
Meghan: the observations were not directly collected by the author which can lead to misinterpretation of the data due to lack of context around the data collection.