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Interestingness of a Research Question
The interestingness of a research question is determined by its appeal and significance to people in general and specifically to the scientific community. A question is considered scientifically interesting if its answer is currently in doubt, if answering it fills a gap in the existing research literature, and if the findings have important practical implications.
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Research Methods in Psychology - 4th American Edition @ KPU
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Feasibility of a Research Question
Interestingness of a Research Question
What are the two primary criteria researchers use to evaluate the quality of a potential research question?
When researchers systematically evaluate potential research questions, a question that is deeply interesting to the scientific community should be pursued even if it is not currently feasible to answer.
Researchers must systematically evaluate potential research questions to decide which ones to pursue. Match each research scenario with the primary reason it would be considered a poor or unsuitable research question based on the criteria of interestingness and feasibility.
A researcher has generated several ideas for a study on how social media affects teen self-esteem. Arrange the following steps of the researcher's systematic evaluation and selection process in the correct logical order, from the most fundamental requirement to the final decision.
A researcher is developing a study on the relationship between social media use and sleep quality. The scientific community is currently seeking research that distinguishes between 'active' engagement (such as posting and commenting) and 'passive' engagement (such as scrolling). The researcher has a budget of $0 and two weeks to collect data from a local group of volunteers. Which of the following research questions should the researcher create to best optimize both scientific interestingness and feasibility?
A researcher determines that a highly original and 'interesting' question is a 'poor' choice for their current study because it would take ten years to collect the necessary data, which is far beyond their available time and funding. This judgment reflects a critical evaluation that a research question's quality is fundamentally constrained by its _____.
When evaluating the quality of a potential research question, the two primary criteria that researchers must consider are its interestingness to the broader scientific community and its _____.
A psychology student proposes studying whether people blink more often when they are nervous. The study can be completed in a single lab session with 15 volunteers using only a webcam, but the answer to this question is already well-established across hundreds of published studies. Applying the two primary criteria for evaluating research questions, this question is suitable to pursue because it scores high on feasibility.
Researchers evaluate potential research questions using two primary criteria: interestingness to the broader scientific community and feasibility of successfully answering the question. Analyze each scenario below and match it to the criterion it most directly addresses.
A researcher has generated several candidate research questions and must apply the two primary evaluation criteria systematically to decide which one to pursue. Arrange the following steps in the most logically justified order for this evaluation and selection process.
Explain why researchers need a systematic way to evaluate the research questions they generate, and state the two primary criteria used to evaluate the quality of these questions.
Based on the standard criteria for evaluating research questions, diagnose the problems with Dr. Lin's selection method and explain how she should modify her evaluation to align with proper scientific research practices.
Imagine you are planning a research project for your undergraduate psychology class, and you have brainstormed three different research questions. Explain how you would apply the two primary criteria of evaluating research questions to choose the single best question for your class project.
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Sources for Research Interestingness
According to the criteria for evaluating research, which of the following combinations makes a research question scientifically interesting?
If a research question has already been definitively answered by multiple previous studies, it would generally not be considered scientifically interesting, even if the topic appeals to people in general.
Match each research scenario with the specific criterion that primarily makes the research question 'scientifically interesting.'
Based on the criteria that a research question is 'interesting' only if its answer is in doubt, it fills a gap in the literature, and it has practical implications, rank these research proposals from least interesting (1) to most interesting (3).
According to the criteria for evaluating research, the 'interestingness' of a research question is determined by its appeal and significance to which two groups?
Match each criterion of a 'scientifically interesting' research question with the statement that best describes its meaning and significance within the scientific community.
A researcher evaluates a potential study and determines it is not scientifically interesting because, although the answer is currently unknown and the study would fill a gap in the research literature, the findings would not be useful for solving real-world problems or informing policy. This researcher has judged that the question fails to satisfy the criterion of _____.
A clinical psychologist proposes a study to determine if getting zero hours of sleep per night causes fatigue. Because this study has clear practical implications for health, it is considered scientifically interesting even though the answer is not in doubt.
An investigator wants to study a new online learning tool. Although they realize there is no literature on it (filling a gap) and it will help students (practical implications), they are already certain of the outcome. In analyzing the scientific interestingness of this question, the investigator has failed to satisfy the criterion that the answer is currently in _____.
Based on the three criteria for determining if a research question is scientifically interesting, evaluate and order the following research proposals from most scientifically interesting (order 1) to least scientifically interesting (order 3).
Explain the concept of the 'interestingness' of a research question in psychological research. Specifically, identify the two groups of people to whom a question must appeal, and list the three criteria that make a research question scientifically interesting.
Based on the case context, explain which of the three criteria for scientific interestingness are met by this proposed research question, and which are not met. Justify your evaluation for each criterion.
A researcher wants to study if adults prefer watching television on a large screen versus a smartphone. This preference is already well-known, heavily researched in existing literature, and holds no practical implications. How could the researcher apply the three criteria of scientific interestingness to modify this research idea into a scientifically interesting question?