Qualitative Methods
Design Your Study
Step One: Define (and Refine) your Research Focus
1. Start by asking yourself --
- What is it that you want to know?
- What do you want to learn about?
For example,
- Do you want to know how new employees are socialized into workplace rituals?
- Do you want to know how people position themselves within crowded public spaces?
- Do you want to know how people explain themselves when they break the law?
- Do you want to know what it is like to care for a sick relative?
2. Now, get specific --
- What kind of new employees are you interested in? Specifically, what workplace rituals do you want to focus on?
For the beginning researcher, it is best to narrow and refine your topic as specifically as possible.
A well defined research statement of focus might look like this:
I am interested in understanding what it is like to be a mother of a child with sickle cell anemia as Shirley Hill might have stated for her book.
OR
I am interested in knowing what it is like to be the "other woman" in a relationship with a married man which was the thesis of Laurel Richardson's text.
3. Write your research statement down clearly and specifically.
Now you are ready to begin to identify your sample or setting for your research.
- "Best advice for undergraduates doing research," Jerome Crowder
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