Paula Dawidowicz

Developing Problem, Purpose, Questions, and Framework Alignment in a Dissertatio Paula Dawidowicz

One of the hardest things for faculty to teach aspiring researchers is the basic concepts involved in research conceptualization and design. In this volume, Dawidowicz discusses the relationship between social problems and research problems and the nature of research problems. She covers in depth the relationship between research problems and research purposes, including how to handle research problems that appear too small or too large to be easily evaluated through research studies. She tackles in detail how research purposes relate to research questions and frameworks, as well as how to identify frameworks and the impact they have on deciding how frameworks will guide study choices. Then she describes how research studies conceptualized as quantitative or qualitative can be reconceptualized as using the opposite method. Her thorough descriptions and use of real time examples allow students to internalize both concepts and how those concepts look as they are actually applied. Through this process, instructors can help students understand more clearly each component and its interaction with each of the others. This can make the instructional process faster and more effective, saving instructors time and effort and making students' outcomes stronger in a shorter time and with less effort than instructors might normally need to invest.