This weeks reading from Research Design offers detailed information for how to write the introduction, the purpose statement, and research questions and hypotheses for research papers, theses, and dissertations. For each type of research used, quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods, Creswell gives specific guidelines for writing each part of the paper.
The Introduction is the topic of chapter five, and is similar for all three types of research and Creswell suggests the "deficiencies model of an introduction" as a template for studies and professionals to follow, which includes "the research problem", "studies that have addressed the problem", "defeciences in the studies", "the significance of the study for particular audiences", and the all important "statement of purpose" to comprise an introduction of approximately two pages (100). He goes into great detail about each part, offering tips for each. The method for developing a research paper or project is pretty straightforward since the writing is more concerned with presenting ideas in a clear, concise manner as opposed to the creativity involved in some other types of nonfiction writing.
Chapter six is dedicated entirely to drafting a thorough purpose statement. Creswell explains the differences for purpose statements for each type of research, and offers helpful templates to ensure that all necessary information is included, as well as examples for each. The statement of purpose directs the reader on how to read the research paper. Creswell discusses ideas on proper wording of the purpose statement, offering advice on things I had never really thought about before, such as using the proper action verbs to tell the reader what exactly you wish to accomplish with the research project, and using proper verb tense to let the reader know whether the problem has been resolved in the paper or if further research is needed. The part that I found most interesting in this chapter is when Creswell discusses using "nondirectional language" so that the opinions of the writer are not implied. While the purpose statement is necessary to let the reader know what the paper is about, words like "successful", "useful", or "informing" offer too much opinion in what should be unbiased research (113).
Chapter seven offers guidelines for drafting Research Questions and Hypotheses in a research paper or project. Creswell again divides the topic into the three subtopics of qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods, and details the methodology for developing each type. He also gives useful examples for each type, as well as templates to use to make sure the wording is correct.
Although the subject matter of this book is not exactly exciting (let's face it, this book doesn't read like a Stephen King novel) the information he gives is useful and thorough. While I don't see myself reading this book again for fun, it will be useful and convenient when we begin drafting our projects for this course, and many others in the future I'm sure. I do wonder where a research based novel like Victor Villanueva's Bootstraps would fit into his categories, since it does not seem to follow the patterns laid out in this book, yet it is filled with mixed methods research.
I do agree with your comments. One of the more interesting qualities of the chapter was nondirectional language. It is especially intresting when you look back on it retroactively. Creswe's writng seems as if it is not biased and it sticks to the dry (non-Stephen King) language, but as you read on, Creswell perfers qualitative or even mixed methods over quantitative. However, This book is full of information, such as the nondirectional language, that I will bookmark to use asa reference book.
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