Brainstorming Research Questions

From ERIAL Toolkit:

"The development of the research question begins with clarifying what you know and what you do not know. We suggest, as a first step, brainstorming research questions with your research team.

Activity: Brainstorming Research Questions
On a section of blackboard or piece of large tablet paper, draw a vertical line down the middle. On the left side, brainstorm research questions. What do you want to know about students? About faculty? About library facilities? Try not to censor ideas of what is interesting. On the right side, come up with provisional answers to those questions. These are your working hypotheses of what is happening. It is fine at this point to recognize that you do not necessarily know the answers, but it is helpful to begin to clarify what you think you know, and to write it down."

Activity: Deciding Which Ones to Tackle First

"After brainstorming your questions, you will decide which are the ones you want to answer. You might rank order questions by how pressing they are to your library, or by whether the answer to them will likely lead to service changes that you can actually implement. Developing research
questions is an iterative process, so allow yourself enough sessions for earlier discussions to inform the brainstorming process. An excellent guide for developing research questions is located at LibraryAssessment.Info, a blog of the Association of Research Libraries: http://libraryassessment.info/?p=438.

As you are considering your research questions, you might consider their wider social context. Libraries can be understood as a collection of groups, behaviors and ideas that interact with each other. You can study them at any of these levels, as well as across levels. Whenever possible, it is good practice to triangulate your research questions by approaching them from different directions within this web of interactions.

Try to match your data collection efforts to the groups or practices you are most interested in studying. Whenever possible, link your research questions to specific, tangible, activities that can be directly observed. Avoid too many abstract questions, or questions that require speculation. Ethnographic methods usually work best when they are linked to actual events, experiences and examples."

As we study users to understand how they collaborate on research/study and what needs they have:

What Do We Want To Know?	What Might The Answers Be?	Unknowns
What collaborative tools and processes are they already using (generally and in the Bissett Space in particular)?	CIT collaborative tools survey-see if they published a report or if we can see the aggregated data. Anecdotally we see them using laptops (ours and their own), sometimes (less often?) whiteboards and LCD screens. We also know they have Google Docs suite but don't know how much they are using it.	What are students doing to collaborate currently? How can the library support students' use of existing tools and process? How much are students using tools like the Google suite, Confluence wiki, etc?
What do they need that they don't have or what problems do they encounter (generally and in the Bissett Space in particular)? What do you want to do in this space that you can't do (legally and academically)? What kinds of spaces do they feel are missing?	Any circ or Count it data?
Who are the people using the library spaces (particularly the Bissett Space) and what are their demographics? What kind of work are they doing in the space? Are you working individually? On the same project? What kinds of group projects are they doing and for which classes? How large is your typical group? When are they working/studying together and why? In what configurations (mostly group? individual? how many?)?	Any circ data? Look at old DEA class survey and observational studies (though may have changed).
How do they like to collaborate or how would they like to collaborate in an ideal world?
What kind of space or environment do they prefer (furniture, tools, noise level, light, color, etc)? What kinds of spaces do they gravitate toward and why? Would you prefer darker or lighter? Comfort level? Do you like noise level (talking or quiet)? Do you think it's too loud or too quiet? Is noise an issue? Eating and food policies? Sleeping and comfort? Do you like working at a desk?	DEA class study indicates preference for natural light/brighter spaces, more color, nature. Noise level and sound reflection can be problematic. Earlier issue on how to indicate talking aloud--still a problem?
Where would you go for help? What do you need help with? What services would help them? Are the instructions clear for technology? Is the signage clear?
Are they using mobile devices for their research? If so, which ones and how and why? Do you want mobile technologies (use of your own or library's)?
Would you use a public computer in this space? Use your own laptop or other devices? What technology would you like to see in here? Do you want a printer in the space?	Check laptop check out data (though no way to tell where in library laptop was used)
Asking students who are studying together individually (or together) why are you studying here?
Do you meet friends here? I'm going to be here in this space come meet me. How do you coordinate?
What do you think this space is for? What would you like it to be for? What would best way to define space--understand boundaries of room and what it does? Do you move the furniture? Would you like to move it other places? What signals whether or not you can reconfigure? Did you know about. . . . mobile furniture, etc.?	Anecdotally, furniture was moved more last semester
How did you hear about this space? How would be best to reach you?
Would you like to see other people's projects? (exhibit of student projects)
Does supervision make a difference?

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Brainstorming Research Questions

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Brainstorming and Deciding On Questions

Brainstorming Research Questions