Instructions

Your assignment is to draft two or more research questions. These questions can be either qualitative or quantitative or a mixture of both.

Qualitative: Research questions must be aligned with the purpose statement. Qualitative research questions should be open-ended and reflect the nature of the qualitative design (avoid yes/no and closed-ended questions).

Quantitative: Research questions must be aligned with the purpose statement and should include proposed hypothesis(es). Ensure the research questions and hypothesis(es) are aligned with the purpose statement. The research questions and hypotheses must be directly answerable, specific, and testable based on the data collected.

Hypotheses
(Quantitative/Mixed Studies Only)

Both null hypotheses and alternative hypotheses should be stated. Each must directly correspond with a research question. Hypotheses must be stated in testable, potentially negatable, form with each variable operationalized. Note: Each hypothesis represents one distinct testable prediction. Upon testing, each hypothesis must be entirely supported or entirely negated.

Length: 1 page, not including title page (reference page not required)

Your research questions should be directly aligned with the purpose statement. Your research questions should reflect scholarly writing and current APA standards where appropriate.

Purpose statementbelow :

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this qualitative study is to determine why racial minorities account for a disproportionately large number of high school dropouts. The main study method to be used will be an analysis of secondary data. The study design will be a systematic review of the literature on the topic. The choice of systematic review of literature is guided by the need to understand the opinions of scholars and experts in the field about high school dropout rates and why they are high among racial minorities. The target population for this study is high school students and especially racial minorities.

The research sample and setting are diverse and based on the studies accessed for the systematic review of the literature. Primarily, the setting of the study is the experts who handle matters of high school dropout rates and racial trends in education. The main sampling approach will be snowballing sampling where cross-referencing is useful in finding credible studies (Creswell & Creswell, 2017). Snowballing starts with a narrow number of studies their references can be used to find more credible studies, especially the ones that have been cross-referenced. The sample size, according to Creswell & Creswell (2017), should not be limited since a systematic review should include a majority of the most relevant studies. Therefore, the sample size is left open for the sampling process.

Data collection and analysis will be through access to studies through databases on education and analysis using a systematic review tool. Studies will be accessed from research databases such as Academic Research Ultimate, Education Full Text, EBSCO, and governmental databases. These studies will be fed into Covidence systematic review management program which is provided by Cochrane (Covidence, n.d.). Data analysis will be thematic and it will seek to outline the major causes of the disproportionately high dropout rates of racial minority high school students. The study results will inform policies in education that will enhance school retention and graduation rates for high school students.

References

Covidence: World-class systematic review management. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.covidence.org/home

Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2017). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. Sage publications.