Introduction
The primary focus of this paper is on the formulation as well as the testing of research hypotheses. As such, there are three research questions adopted in this case, and are listed below:
- RQ1: Does Dr. W’s “Math Wiz Program” increase high school students’ mathematics scores on the state graduation exam?
- RQ2: Is there a relationship between gender and academic achievement in college-level mathematics?
- RQ3: What percentage of military flight students are female?
Types of Research Questions
Research questions act as study guides (Creswell, 2009; Denzin & Lincoln, 2008). There are various types of research questions depending on the purpose of any study and, they include descriptive, correlational, and causal research questions (Neumann, 2007). In the case of the above research questions, RQ1 is a causal type of research question, while RQ2 is relational, and RQ3 is a descriptive research question.
Causal research questions are used in a study whereby the interest of the researcher is on the determination of the effect that one research variable has on the others. As evident in the case of RQ1, the study would seek to establish whether or not Dr. W’s “Math Wiz Program” has a significant impact on high school students’ mathematics scores on the state graduation exam.
Relational research questions bring out the link between various variables in a study. RQ2 is considered to be a relational research question in that the focus is on the examination of whether or not gender and academic achievement in college-level mathematics are significantly related.
On the other hand, descriptive research questions are applicable in studies that are focused on describing what exists, or even what is going on concerning a given research phenomenon (Mitchell & Jolly, 2010). Considering the third research question, the interest is on the description of the percentage composition of female students in a military flight school, and hence, it is considered to be a descriptive research question.
Research Variables
Research variables are defined as things that possess varying quality or quantity in a study (Kothari, 2005). The research questions above have several research variables as highlighted below:
- RQ1: Does Dr. W’s “Math Wiz Program” increase high school students’ mathematics scores on the state graduation exam?
There are two variables in this research question; Dr. W’s “Math Wiz Program” and the scores of high school students in the mathematics graduation exam. The scores of high school students in the mathematics graduation exam are the dependent variable while the independent variable is Dr. W’s “Math Wiz Program”. - RQ2: Is there a relationship between gender and academic achievement in college-level mathematics?
The research variables, in this case, are gender and academic achievement in college-level mathematics. The dependent variable, in this case, is the academic achievement in college-level mathematics while the independent variable is gender. - RQ3: What percentage of military flight students are female?
The research variables in this research question include a percentage of female students and military flight students. The independent variable is military flight students, while the dependent variable is the percentage of females.
Discrete and Continuous Variables
In RQ1, the scores of high school students in the mathematics graduation exam is a continuous dependent variable while Dr. W’s “Math Wiz Program” is a discrete variable. In RQ2, academic achievement in college-level mathematics is the continuous variable while is gender is a discrete variable. On the other hand, the discrete and continuous variables in RQ3 are the military flight students and the percentage of females in the school respectively. Nominal scales are used to measure the gender variable.
Level of Measure: Nominal, Ordinal, Interval, or Ratio
In RQ1, the scores of high school students in the mathematics graduation exam are measurable through ratio scales, while Dr. W’s “Math Wiz Program” can be measured in terms of nominal scales.
In RQ2, academic achievement in college-level mathematics is expressed in terms of ordinal scales, while the gender variable can be measured through the use of nominal scales.
Lastly, the military flight students in the third research question can be expressed in terms of nominal scales, while the percentages of females in the school are measured through the ratio scales.
Null and Alternate Hypotheses
The null hypothesis states that observations in a study happen from chance (Trochim, 2006; Lane, 2007b). On the other hand, the alternate hypotheses state that sample observations cannot result from chance but occur concerning random cause (Lane, 2007a; Stockburger, 2007).
RQ1: Does Dr. W’s “Math Wiz Program” increase high school students’ mathematics scores on the state graduation exam?
- H1: Dr. W’s “Math Wiz Program” is likely not to increase high school students’ mathematics scores on the state graduation exam.
- H2: Dr. W’s “Math Wiz Program” increases high school students’ mathematics scores on the state graduation exam.
RQ2: Is there a relationship between gender and academic achievement in college-level mathematics?
- H1: There is no significant relationship between gender and academic achievement in college-level mathematics.
- H2: There is a significant relationship between gender and academic achievement in college-level mathematics.
RQ3: What percentage of military flight students are female?
- H1: A large percentage of military flights students are not female.
- H2: A large percentage of military flights students are female.
References
Creswell, J. (2009). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative and Mixed methods approaches. Thousand oaks, CA: Sage.
Denzin, N., & Lincoln, Y.S. (2008). Colllecting and interpreting qualitative materials. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
Kothari, C.R. (2005), Research Methodology- Methods and Techniques. New Delhi: Wiley Eastern Limited.
Lane, D. (2007a). The logic of hypothesis testing. Web.
Lane, D. (2007b). Why the null hypothesis is not accepted. Web.
Mitchell, M., & Jolly, J. (2010). Research design explained. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Neumann, W. L. (2007). Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches. London: Allyn & Bacon.
Stockburger, D.L. (2007). Introductory statistics: Concepts, models, and applications. Hypothesis testing. Web.
Trochim, W. (2006). Research methods knowledge base. Hypotheses. Web.