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Chapter 2 Selecting and Defining a Research Topic
Suggested Activities
1. Even after experience with Chapter 2, many students still struggle with topics and types of
hypotheses. I find providing general research examples and asking students to generate a research
topic, as well as accompanying null, nondirectional, and directional hypothesis facilitates their
understanding. For this activity, use handout 2.1 as noted below and in the Appendix. These work
well to do as guided practice or you can assign these for independent practice and follow up in class
with the answers. Please note that some students may have difficulty with generating hypothesis for
non-experimental studies. Handout 2.1 For each of the following general questions generate a
research topic, and write a null, nondirectional, and directional hypothesis.
a. How does increased standardized testing relate to student motivation?
Research Topic:
b. Are there gender differences in students’ perceptions of Inquiry-based instruction?
c. Does reading-disabled students’ comprehension benefit from guided notes?
d. Do puzzle experiences in the primary grades matter in students’ later science interest?
Research Topic:
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e. Are there differences in the number of discipline referrals per student in large versus small
schools?
Research Topic:
Student answers will vary, however, example answers for Exercise 2.1 follow.
Handout 2.1 For each of the following general questions generate a research topic, and write a null,
nondirectional, and directional hypothesis.
a. How does increased standardized testing relate to student motivation?
b. Are there gender differences in students’ perceptions of Inquiry-based instruction?
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c. Does reading-disabled students’ comprehension benefit from guided notes?
d. Do puzzle experiences in the primary grades matter in students’ later science interest?
e. Are there differences in the number of discipline referrals per student in large versus small
schools?
2. Develop a discussion board for the course as a place for learners to post their questions for
clarification or their fledgling ideas for feedback from their peers.
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Most institutions now have course management systems that allow instructors and students to
post to discussion boards for their classes. I have started to use this function more in my classes
3. Students can also greatly benefit from practice in identifying the structure of experimental
hypotheses. Use the following three examples as class practice. I would post all three and have
students work in pairs to complete them and then discuss them as a class or I would post them to
a class discussion board for student independent practice and follow-up discussion.
For each of the following experimental study research statements identify P, X, and Y. Where
P=the participants, X= the treatment or independent variable, and Y=the dependent variable.
a. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of silent reading time on students’
independent reading comprehension as measured by standardized achievement tests.
b. The purpose of this research study is to investigate if colored font facilitates intermediate
grade students’ learning from educational games.
c. The purpose of this investigation is to determine if there is an effect of students’
participation in an anti-drug training program on the number of students’ in school drug arrests
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Chapter 2 Test Items
1. According to your text the first step in applying the scientific method is
a. searching the existing literature.
b. generating and testing a hypothesis.
c. selecting and defining a research topic.
d. drawing conclusions from data.
2. One drawback of initial research topics is that they are often
a. not relevant.
b. too broad.
c. too narrow.
d. not ethical.
• 3. Chyna is conducting a study with college students reading science texts that
explores the role of interest apart from knowledge as articulated in Patriticia Alexander’s
Model of Domain Learning. Chyna’s topic is best described as a study that
a. tests theory.
b. is a replication.
c. is developed from a library search.
d. comes from personal experiences.
• 4. Jill is a history teacher interested in whether differences exist in motivation to
study history between students who are taught concepts sequentially through time and
those who are taught concepts by geographic region. Jill’s research topic is best described
as a study that
a. tests theory.
b. is a replication.
c. is developed thorough library search.
d. comes from personal experiences.
• 5. Jack just read an interesting study regarding middle school children’s use of
computer-animated simulations to learn introductory chemistry. Although he is a physics
professor he wants to see if the benefits of simulations are also found in college physics
learners. Jack’s research topic is best described as a study that
a. tests theory.
b. is a replication.
c. is developed thorough library search.
d. comes from personal experiences.
• 6. Paola is a ninth grade mathematics teacher. She is interested in the role of
accommodation in learning geometry. She designs a study that examines this Piagetian
concept in practice. The source of her study is best described as a study that
a. tests theory.
b. is a replication.
c. is developed thorough library search.
d. comes from personal experiences.
7. The first step in selecting a topic is
a. going to the library and searching.
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b. asking an authority for opinion.
c. selecting a topic related to your interest and expertise.
d. reading theories and determining which to examine further
8. An organized body of concepts, generalizations, and principles defines
a. a theory.
b. a hypothesis.
c. an experiment.
d. a model.
9. Based upon your textbook’s discussion, overview sources
such as handbooks in a particular area of research can best assist you in
a. selecting a topic you will consider for further study.
b. narrowing a topic you are considering for further research.
c. developing a theoretical basis for a study you have conducted.
d. determining the best methodology for a study you have designed.
• 10. Which of the following is an example of a researchable topic?
a. Should children who are in the primary grades be allowed to walk to school?
b. Are children in the primary grades best taught to read by home-based experiences
c. Are there differences in the amount of time spent reading in classrooms of non-native
speakers?
d. Should teachers hold parent teacher conference?
• 11. Which of the following is an example of a researchable topic?
a. Should homeschoolers include their children in cooperative schools for high school
level courses?
b. Are homeschooled students happier than are students in traditional schools?
c. Should homeschooled students be included in our district’s prom planning
committee?
d. Are there differences in achievement test scores between those homeschooled for part
of the day or not at all in our district?
• 12. Amanda must complete a research proposal for educational research class and
does not yet have a research topic. She asks you for advice about how to ‘figure out’ her
topic. Which of the following strategies, based upon your text, would you suggest?
a. Ask other students in the class what they are doing their topics on and pick one of
those.
b. Go to the library and look through journals until you come up with a good one.
c. Consider what interests you related to educational practice and start there.
d. Search the internet with a keyword search ‘education’ until you get a topic.
13. A study conducted to extend the findings of previous research is termed a(n)
______________ study.
a. generalization
b. replication
c. application
d. extension
14. Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of a good research topic?
a. The topic has theoretical or practical significance.
b. The topic can be investigated through the collection and analysis of data.
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c. The topic can be investigated within a year.
d. The topic of research is ethical.
• 15. Tito is an instructional design student. He needs a thesis topic. He in interested
in the use of discussion boards for distance education. He approaches his advisor and the
advisor sends him away to think some more. Of the following what is the most likely
reason?
a. The topic is not ethical.
b. The topic is too narrow.
c. The topic is too broad.
d. The topic is not significant.
• 16. Dabir is an educational psychologist. He needs a thesis topic. He approaches his
advisor and tells her he wants to do a study on help-seeking in college students. His
advisor sends him away to think some more. Of the following what is the most likely
reason?
a. The topic is not ethical.
b. The topic is too narrow.
c. The topic is too broad.
d. The topic is not significant.
• 17. Haider is a master’s student deciding on his thesis topic. He approaches his
advisor and pitches the idea of exploring the use of teacher feedback on subsequent self–
confidence. He wants to erroneously tell students they performed poorly on a series of
assignments and then examine changes in self-confidence. His advisor is skeptical and
asks him to think about ways to tweak the topic. Of the following what is the most likely
reason?
a. The study is not ethical.
b. The study is too narrow.
c. The study is not significant.
d. The study is too broad.
18. According to your text the first step in identifying a topic is to
a. go to the library and hand-search the journals.
b. read as many empirical studies as you can.
c. select something of interest to you.
d. ask your advisor or colleagues for ideas.
• 19. Sarah is really excited about her research topic. There are many homeschoolers
in her state and she wants to research if homeschoolers should hire professional educators
to assist them with curriculum development. Of the following, which is the most
important problem with Sarah’s topic as currently developed?
a. It is not researchable.
b. It is not ethical.
c. It is not of interest to Sarah.
d. It is not relevant to educational theory or practice.
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• 20. Of the following, which is a quantitative research topic?
a. The purpose of this study is to explore the experiences of first year principals.
b. This study describes the decision making process of school board members during
redistricting.
c. The goals of this study are to report what nurse practitioner-teachers should do to
prepare today’s nurses.
d. This study tests the effects of a new alternative education program on students’ self–
esteem.
• 21. Of the following, which is a quantitative research topic?
a. The purpose of this study is to examine how teacher’s should help students during
office hours.
b. The purpose of the study is to explore the experiences of students who seek help from
faculty during office hours.
c. The purpose of this study is to compare the grades of students who go to office hours
and those who do not.
d. The purpose of this study is to suggest how many office hours faculty should hold
each week.
• 22. Of the following, which is a quantitative research topic?
a. The purpose of the study is to study the characteristics of female students in advanced
mathematics courses.
b. The purpose of this study is to examine relationships between future career goals and
enrollment in advanced mathematics courses.
c. This study examines what teachers should do to enroll more female students in
advanced mathematics courses.
d. The goals of this research were to describe two female students’ experiences in
advanced mathematics.
• 23. Stephanie has a research topic for her class paper. She wants to study the effects
of alphabetic seating compared to other forms of class structure. She can find no research
that addresses this topic. Her research advisor is likely to suggest which of the following
strategies for her study.
a. Pick a new topic. Seating arrangements in classrooms are not of educational relevance.
b. Narrow her topic. It is too broad.
c. Expand the topic to include different types of class structure.
d. Pick a new topic. Seating arrangements are unethical to study.
24. Of the following which is NOT part of a research topic?
a. The data collection procedures.
b. The background of the topic.
c. The significance of the study.
d. The limitations of the study.
25. Of the following which is NOT a characteristic of a good hypothesis statement?
a. It is testable within a reasonable time frame.
b. It is supported by everyday experiences and intuition.
c. It provides a reasonable explanation for the predicted outcome.
d. It clearly states the expected relationship between the defined variables.
26. To operationalize a variable means to ___________ the variable.
a. manipulate
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b. control
c. define
d. mediate
• 27. Identify the independent variable in the following hypothesis. Children who are
given a free breakfast at school perform better on achievement tests and are more
motivated for school than are those children who are not given breakfast.
a. achievement tests
b. free breakfast
c. children
d. motivation
• 28.-29. Given this hypothesis answer the following two questions. Middle school students in an
urban school who are trained in discussion techniques perform better on written tests of
persuasive essays than those students who are not trained in discussion techniques.
• 28. The independent variable in the above stated hypothesis is:
a. Urban school.
b. Training in discussion techniques.
c. Persuasive essay tests.
d. Middle school students.
• 29. The dependent variable in the above stated hypothesis is:
a. Urban school.
b. Training in discussion techniques.
c. Persuasive essay tests.
d. Middle school students.
• 30-31. Given this hypothesis answer the following two questions. Ninth grade students
enrolled in large classes who are taught algebra through the use of interleaved worked
examples for each lesson perform better on an end of course test than are those taught
with a single modeled example for each lesson.
• 30. The independent variable in the above stated hypothesis is:
a. Type of instruction.
b. Ninth grade students.
c. Algebra.
d. End of course test.
• 31. The dependent variable in the above stated hypothesis is:
a. Type of instruction.
b. Ninth grade students.
c. Algebra.
d. End of course test.
• 32. Pedro studies inclusion. He needs to generate a directional hypothesis for his
study. Which of the following is an appropriate research hypothesis for Pedro.
a. Children who are fully included do not learn in school.
b. There are no differences in student learning between children who are fully included
and those who are not.
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c. There are differences in learning between children who are fully included and those
who are not.
d. Children who are fully included learn more than children who are not fully included.
• 33. Which of the following is a non-directional hypothesis?
a. There are no differences in motivation between students who are given a free
breakfast at school and those students who are not given breakfast at school.
b. There are differences in motivation between students who are given a free breakfast at
school and those students who are not given breakfast at school.
c. Children given breakfast at school are more motivated than children who are not given
breakfast at school.
d. Children given breakfast at school are less motivated than children who are not given
breakfast at school.
34. Which type of hypothesis involves making generalizations from observations?
a. Inductive
b. Deductive
c. Null
d. Speculative
• 35. The hypothesis statement, Children in elementary school who exercise at least 5
hours a week are more popular in school than children who do not exercise at least 5
hours a week, illustrates which type of hypothesis statement?
a. Null hypothesis
b. Nondirectional
c. Directional
d. Correlational
• 36. The hypothesis statement, There are no differences in long term achievement
between those who are taught through a face-to-face only class and those who are taught
through blended instruction, illustrates which type of hypothesis statement?
a. Null hypothesis
b. Nondirectional
c. Directional
d. Correlational
• 37. Which of the following is a nondirectional hypothesis?
a. There are no differences in reading comprehension between those taught a
summarization strategy and those not taught the strategy.
b. Readers who are taught a summarizing strategy have higher reading comprehension
scores than those not taught the strategy.
c. Readers taught a summarizing strategy have lower reading comprehension scores than
those who were not taught the strategy.
d. There are differences in reading comprehension between readers who are taught a
summarizing strategy and those who are not taught the strategy.
• 38. Which of the following is a null hypothesis for the research topic Are there
differences in final class grades between students who are taught psychology in a lecture
format or self-paced?
a. There are differences in final class grade between students taught psychology in
lecture versus self-paced format.
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b. There are no differences in final class grade between students taught psychology in
lecture versus self-paced format.
c. Students taught psychology in lecture format receive higher class grades than those in
self-paced conditions.
d. Students in self-paced conditions have higher class grades in psychology than those in
lecture classes.
• 39. Which of the following is a nondirectional hypothesis for the research topic, Are
there differences in end of course biology test grades between those who use simulated
labs and those who use traditional labs?
a. There are differences in end of course biology test grades between those taught
through the use of simulated versus traditional labs.
b. There are no differences in end of course biology test grades between those taught
through the use of simulated versus traditional labs.
c. Those taught in simulated labs perform better on end of course biology tests than those
taught in traditional labs.
d. Those taught in traditional labs perform better on end of course biology tests than
those in simulated labs.
• 40. Lindsay studies community and school relationships. She is currently working
on a qualitative study in a rural school district. Which of the following is likely true of
her study?
a. Her hypothesis were stated prior to the start of data collection.
b. Her hypothesis determined her data collection procedures.
c. Her hypothesis were generated while she collected data.
d. Her hypothesis may be rejected after data collection.
• 41. Kyle is a quantitative researcher doing research in a relatively new area of study.
He is testing his hypothesis with a study. Which type of hypothesis is he most likely
testing?
a. Null
b. Directional
c. Nondirectional
d. Post-hoc
• 42. Of the following, which is most likely addressed as a quantitative research topic?
a. The purpose of the study is to examine the relationship between IQ score and Post-
graduate GPA.
b. The purpose of the study is to describe the typical day of a high school history teacher.
c. The current study shares a summary of the coping strategies used by a n ADHD
student in an inclusion classroom.
d. This work shares the history of the events that led to consolidation of two local rural
high schools.
• 43. Dei read this really interesting study that examined the benefits of a structured
program that taught problem-solving to disadvantaged children. Although the population
that he works with is not considered disadvantaged, Dei would like to conduct a similar
study at his school. Of the following types of studies, which best describes Dei’s idea?
a. Replication
b. Generalization
c. Application
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d. Extension
• 44. Servio is particularly interested in how families react to an initial learning
disability diagnosis. Unfortunately he needs more participants than there are actual new
diagnoses in his school. Therefore, in the design of his study he proposes to tell parents
that their children have been tested and diagnosed as learning disabled and will conduct
an interview with the parents to get their initial reactions. However, the children will not
have been diagnosed. His advisor tells him that he cannot conduct the study. Of the
following what is the likely reason why.
a. The study is too broad.
b. The study is not ethical.
c. The study is not relevant.
d. The study is too narrow.
• 45. Which of the following is an example of a researchable topic?
a. Should we teach children formal reading skills before they enter school?
b. Is there a relationship between SES and children’s amount of reading in the home?
c. Are high school students best served by taking numerous electives or a core
curriculum?
d. Should all children be exposed to exercise at school daily?
• 46.-47. Dom investigates how students with processing disorders read web pages. In a
previous study, he found that elementary learning disabled students with processing
disorders read web pages from top to bottom. In this current study he is testing how high
school students read web pages.
• 46. Dom’s study can best be classified as a ________ study.
a. replication
b. duplication
c. generalization
d. extension
• 47. Which of the following is the dependent variable in Dom’s study?
a. Elementary grades
b. Processing disorders
c. Web page reading
d. High school grades
• 48. Candace is conducting a research study and is having trouble with her variable
‘self-concept’ she decides to define self-concept as one’s beliefs about one’s capabilities
in a given domain. She will measure it using a common Likert-type scale. Candace is
engaging in which of the following research tasks?
a. Generating hypothesis
b. Operationalizing variables
c. Defining a sample
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d. Interpreting findings
49. According to your text which of the following is a characteristic of a good research topic?
a. Your topic is interesting to you.
b. Your topic relates to your advisor’s research.
c. Your topic is something you know little about.
d. Your topic is broad.
• 50. Of the following, which is the best example of a qualitative research topic?
a. The purpose of the study is to assess learning gains in students enrolled in a summer
reading program.
b. This work addresses gender differences in spatial reasoning.
c. This study extends previous research on relations between student’s decision-making
and creativity.
d. The goal of this study is to describe experiences of transgendered adolescents.
• 51. Which of the following is an example of a researchable topic?
a. Should all high school math and science teachers be required to take a national
licensure exam?
b. Are children in America getting enough sleep?
c. Are there differences in time to graduate between those who declare a major on their
application and those who do not?
d. Do children who speak a language other than English in the home benefit socially?
• 52.-54. Given the hypothesis statement: Male principals with at least six years of
teaching experience display less stress as measured by a general health survey than those
who have less than six years of teaching experience.
• 52. This study is best described as a ___________ study.
a. narrative
b. correlational
c. causal comparative
d. experimental
• 53. The dependent variable in this study is:
a. Teaching experience.
b. Principals
c. Health survey causal-comparative
d. ethnographic
• 54. This hypothesis statement can best be classified as which type of hypothesis
statement?
a. Null
b. Directional
c. Correlational
d. Nondirectional
• 55.-56. Given the hypothesis statement: Those students enrolled in instrumental music
programs experience less transition anxiety as they enter middle school in a large urban
district than do those students not enrolled in instrumental music programs.
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• 55. The dependent variable in this study is:
a. Middle school students
b. Urban district
c. Transition anxiety
d. Instrumental music programs
• 56. This hypothesis statement can best be classified as which type of hypothesis statement?
a. Null
b. Directional
c. Correlational
d. Nondirectional
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Chapter 2 Answers
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