EDEA 604 Blog 3: Developing Your Research Questions

First and foremost, I it is challenging in developing research questions.  After my first year and after several months of taking EDEA 604 Qualitative Methods, I am proud to say that I now know the difference between research questions and the questions you would ask someone in an interview.  That is a huge difference!  It would be weird to possibly ask them that and may also sound complex.  I've been developing my research questions for the past year for my classes and I thought, it would be great to see how my research questions have developed over time.  So far, the method of this research is conducting an historical research about Hawaiian identity in higher education, particularly at UHM.

Draft Questions 1 - EDEA 602 Introduction to Research (December 2011)

• How have the Hawaiian Studies and Hawaiian Language programs contributed to the university?
• How do these Hawaiian programs compare to other Native and Indigenous studies around the world?
• How do they impact western institutions of higher education?

Draft Questions 2 - Sent to Advisor (February 2012)

• How did Hawaiian courses began at the university?
• What led to the establishment of the Hawaiian Studies and Hawaiian Language programs?
• How have the Hawaiian Studies and Hawaiian Language programs affected: (a) the university; (b) the faculty and staff; (c) the students; and (d) the community?

Draft Questions 3 - EDEA 720K Access, Diversity and Equity (May 2012)

• How have the Hawaiian programs created a pathway for Native Hawaiians?
• How did it diversify the academy?
• How did the university provide equal opportunities for Native Hawaiians?

Draft Questions 4 - EDEA 720K Critical Prospectives in Higher Education (July 2012)

• How, if at all, have these programs [Hawaiian Studies & Hawaiian Language] impacted Native Hawaiian in higher education?
• What was the shared vision for these programs?
• How was ʻohana or family emphasized?
• How did it mediate socio-economic difficulties for Native Hawaiians?
• How was cultural preferred pedagogy incorporated?
• How did these programs validate and legitimize Hawaiian aspirations and identity in higher education?
• How have these programs reflected Hawaiian preferences (cultural, political, economic and social)?

Within the year, I can greatly see the development of my research questions from when I first started with my introduction to research course.  Over the months, it seems that I have reworded my questions and narrowed them to more specific questions which makes the overall research topic clearer.

In the EDEA 720K Access, Diversity and Equity course,  I reworded my questions to fit in those aspects into my research questions.  After looking at these questions, it is definitely interesting to see my same topic of Hawaiian identity with a different perspective that shapes my questions.  In the EDEA 780K Critical Perspectives course, I applied a theoretical framework called Kaupapa Māori by Graham Hingangaroa Smith.  The questions I developed catered towards each component of Kaupapa Māori.  It definitely is another interesting perspectives, as it helped me to better understand Hawaiian identity by asking holistic questions.