To what extent or not rugby was used by the apartheid government to try and indoctrinate the broader Afrikaner community in order to strengthen the ideas of nationalism in South Africa between, 1948-1995.
Dear Johan,
A sound research question should be:
S- specific
M-measurable
A-achievable
R-reliable or result-oriented
T-time bound
1. The research question you have formulated is complex and would be better to handle if you break it into two simple questions. A good research question must be straightforward and easy to understand.
2. The expression 'To what extent' makes it difficult to measure. There must be a set parameter to measure the impact f Rugby in heightening nationalism in South Africa.
3. What period are you studying the impact and how long will it take you? Is it possible to set a time frame for studying the impact and will it be achievable?
I think you have to reframe the research topic again with the afore-mentioned factors taken into consideration.
My actual research question is as follows: Springbok Rugby and Nationalism in South Africa: Issues Surrounding Political Ideology and its Influence on Public Opinion, 1948-1995.
I agree with Dickson above. "To what extent" would be difficult if not impossible to operationalize, and moreover, is quantity of impact really the most important argument you want to bring forward with this research? I think you first need to establish that rugby - or any sport - can promote nationalism.
The next problematic aspect of the RQ is an attempt to impart motive and effect to one particular political body - the apartheid government. The RQ therefore takes the form of an independent variable - the gov - acting on a dependent variable - the "broader Afrikaner community." Are either of these two social entities even homogeneous in their views and socio-political actions? How would you study a representative sample of the dependent variable?
I think you need to reframe this as a qualitative study of "ways in which" rugby promoted nationalism. This changes the independent variable to rugby and the dependent variable to nationalism - both cultural phenomena rather than social groups. You could still incorporate government policy into the analysis of rugby in S.African society.
Not all research is or needs to be "measurable" , not all research is quantitative. Cory Willmott makes good point on this aspect for your research +.
Certainly, not all research needs to be measurable in quantitative terms; however, I think that even qualitative research needs to be ;measurable' in terms of providing a guide to ;what's going on' in the research scenario; so, contrary to your post above, Mary-Helen, I think that all research DOES need to be ;measurable' in some way, otherwise, it becomes impossible to accumulate useable knowledge in any field.
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