Developing Research Question and Coming Up With a Research Design

1 QUESTION 1
1 Based on one of the following two scenarios, develop a research question that could be used for an empirical research design, and explain your reasoning for creating this research question. Make sure the research question meets the criteria for a good research question we discussed in class, and explain how your research question meets each of these criteria.
I provide several related subtopics below, but as long as the research question deals with the topic in a broad sense, you can diverge from the suggested subtopics.
2 Argue the societal and scientific relevance of the research question in a short paragraph for each. For the scientific relevance, you do not need to have formal citations: focus on arguing based on the assumption that although some research on the topic has been done, nobody has ever tackled your specific topic in recent years.
Scenario 1: Recently, a corruption scandal rocked the European parliament. Media reported on the fact that several prominent members of parliament, including the vice-chair of the parliament Eva Kaili, had received Qatari bribes. Looking at the news and various events, you start thinking of various interesting research topics related to this observation:
* Are there systematic differences in the occurrence of corruption between countries and institutions? What determines whether some states are more prone to corruption than others? Does it have to do with having a democratic regime or not? Or does it matter more whether there is a stronger judicial and criminal system in place?
* How do citizens react to such corruption scandals? Does it increase citizen distrust, political cynicism, perhaps also populism?
* What is even considered corruption by politicians themselves? I.e. taking bribes is obviously corruption, but what about having dinners with lobbyists, or other behaviors that—while not illegal—are seen by some as ethically dubious?
Scenario 2: In Fall 2021, the COP26 climate summit caused everyone’s attention to shift towards the issue of climate change. Looking at the news and various events, you start thinking of various interesting research topics related to this observation:
* How do negotiations on such a climate summit work? What is the role of governmental leaders, social movements and NGO’s in all of this? To what extent are stakeholders involved?
* In the fight against climate change, governments have had a hard time meeting environmental targets. Has their thinking on how to meet these targets changed due to what they observed during the lockdowns? Or has that had little to no impact?
* Several leaders were criticized for taking (private) planes to the summit. This may hurt how much the public actually believes these leaders will be willing to act to prevent climate change – and be willing to change their own behaviour. How does the public perceive leaders’ competence and commitment on climate change? Does this affect their own willingness to engage in environmentally friendly behaviours such as recycling or eating less meat?
* After the summit, media seemed to shift their attention quite quickly to other issues. What is the role of these focusing events such as climate summits in creating a ‘buzz’ and increasing the salience of these issues amongst media and the public?
Points
… / 20
PUT YOUR ANSWER HERE.
MAKE SURE TO CHECK THE GRADING RUBRIC (INCLUDED AT THE END OF THE EXAM)
Suggested answer length: 0,5 to 1 page (maximum!)
Research question + explanation:
The research question is, “How does leaders’ actions and behaviours affect the perception of public towards climate change initiatives?”
The research question was created to establish how the actions and behaviours of the leaders can influence how the public perceives a given issue. In this case, the research question considered a scenario where some leaders took on private jets to attend the COP26 climate summit in 2021. Such an action implies that those leaders may not be keen on modelling behaviours that are environmentally friendly. Since leaders have a following, it is important to examine how their actions may impact the behaviours and actions of the public towards climate change.
The research question meets the required criteria because it is answerable. The question presents a phenomenon that can be investigated and answers given. Additionally, the research question has implications for understanding real world issues. In this case, the question delves into the issue of climate change, something that affects people in the real world. The research question addresses the behaviours and actions of leaders, to demonstrate how they can influence the perception of the public towards the issue. Lastly, the research question is neither too broad or too narrow. Instead, the question is manageable.
Social and Scientific Relevance of Research Question:
Although some research has been done on climate change and leadership, nobody has tackled the aspect of how leaders’ behaviour and actions can influence the perception of the public on the issue. The research question is critical in unearthing the link between behaviours and actions of the public and how the public interprets them. The research equation will be critical in demonstrating how leaders should behave and the actions they should take when advocating on issues with a wide societal impact like climate change.
2 Pick one of the following two research questions, and then use that research question as the basis for your answer.
* Research question: “To what extent did media coverage of the conflict in Ukraine in [pick another country of your choice] affect the importance the public in that country ascribed to this conflict?”
* Research question: To what extent did media coverage of the January 6th Capitol insurrection in the United States [pick another country of your choice] affect the public’s support for democratic governance in their own country?”
3 Choose a research method to study this research question and argue your choice of method by referring to the characteristics of the method we discussed in class. Pick one (or more) methods from the those we covered in class (quantitative / qualitative content analysis, survey, or interviewing / focus groups).
4 Given your choice of method, develop a research design to study this research question. Focus on making clear how your choices relate to the RQ – no need to go into too much detail, but make sure to explain the following for each method.
Content analysis: time period to be coded, sampling approach (what type(s) of content to be coded, how will this be selected, …), what aspects of content to code (quantitative: operationalization of concepts + examples, qualitative: sensitizing concept descriptions + examples).
Survey: sampling approach, example survey questions to measure key variables, structure of the survey.
Interview/Focus group: sampling approach, choice for type of interview (unstructured / (semi)structured) + why, topics covered in interviewer guideline and order in which they will be asked + why.

Points
… / 40

PUT YOUR ANSWER HERE
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