Tackling the Research Question USP Senior Sequence fall 2011

Your A.O.C. First Step—Find your area of concentration How many have decided on the AOC?

Let’s Start with the Pieces Effect or Outcome of Interest Main Focus of Study When and Where are you Looking? How are you using the Literature? Why Should People Care about this Topic? What’s Your Hunch? What are some other Theories? What information will you gather and how will you use it? Thinking of all of the above, what is your question??

Effect or Outcome of Interest Figure out your effect or outcome of interest If your AOC is Transportation, are you interested in: More efficient transportation? Encouraging the use of bikes? If your AOC is Public Health, Safety and Welfare, are you interested in Better access to organic food?

The Main Focus of Study So, what or who will you be looking at, in particular? Effect or OutcomeMain Focus More Efficient Transport Encouraging bike use Better access to organic food

The Main Focus of Study So, what or who will you be looking at, in particular? Effect or OutcomeMain Focus More Efficient TransportBus route Encouraging bike useBike racks Better access to organic food Organic farmers

Why Should We Care? Effect or OutcomeContribution More Efficient Transport Encouraging bike use Better access to organic food

Why Should We Care? Effect or OutcomeContribution More Efficient TransportImproving Public Transportation Encouraging bike useAlternatives to motored vehicle transportation Better access to organic foodAccess to healthy food options

Getting to Your Theory Effect or OutcomeMy Hunch is… More Efficient Transport Encouraging bike use Better access to organic food

Getting to Your Theory Effect or OutcomeMy Hunch is… More Efficient Transport SuperLoop—more reliable pick-up, drop-off times and locations for travelers in the UTC and UCSD area. Encouraging bike use The number of bike racks—provides a more welcoming environment for increasing numbers of bike riders. Better access to organic food Partnerships between major supermarkets and organic farms— provides more accessibility to organic food at lower prices.

Alternative Theories Effect or OutcomeOther Explanations More Efficient Transport Encouraging bike use Better access to organic food

Alternative Theories Effect or OutcomeOther Explanations More Efficient Transportshorter bus routes/increased number of buses in use; Encouraging bike usebike paths on roads/incentives to ride bikes (e.g. free parking passes); Better access to organic foodnumber of organic farms in county, high price of organic food

How I use the Literature… Effect or OutcomeLiterature Foundation More Efficient Transport Encouraging bike use Better access to organic food

How I use the Literature… Effect or OutcomeLiterature Foundation More Efficient TransportTheory A is wrong, and should have considered L Encouraging bike useTheory B is right, but they forgot to look at C Better access to organic foodTheories X, Y, and Z tell us quite a bit, but fail to consider M

When & Where? Effect or OutcomeCase More Efficient Transport Encouraging bike use Better access to organic food

When & Where? Effect or OutcomeCase More Efficient Transport2010 UTC Encouraging bike use2000 – 2010 UCSD campus Better access to organic foodSan Diego County

What Information Will I Use? Effect or OutcomeWhat information will I gather to answer my question? More Efficient Transport Encouraging bike use Better access to organic food

What Information Will I Use? Effect or OutcomeWhat information will I gather to answer my question? More Efficient TransportTracking of reliability of pick-up and drop-off times Encouraging bike useCounting number of bike racks in various areas of UCSD campus Better access to organic food Interviews with people and grocery-store owners in low- income neighborhoods about access to organic food.

So…What’s My Question? Effect or OutcomeQuestion More Efficient Transport Encouraging bike use Better access to organic food

So…What’s My Question? Effect or OutcomeQuestion More Efficient TransportDoes a shorter route affect on-time arrival of buses? Encouraging bike useDoes bike use increase with accessibility to racks? Better access to organic foodDo stores with contracts with local organic farmers have lower organic food prices & larger selection?

Do I Need a Question Mark? Best to begin with a true question…with a question mark… Why? Because then you will be more aware of the knowledge gap your project seeks to fill But…as your research progresses, you can formulate your question without a question mark, for example…

Examples of Other Kinds of Questions “This study examines how healthcare workers adapt their behavior to facilitate communication and make medical encounters less threatening to Hmong immigrants.” “This study seeks to determine how housing markets of ‘bedroom communities’ continue to grow with investors inflating housing prices which ultimately undermine the very principle of bedroom communities.”