ABSTRACT
This chapter covers three main parts of an inquiry project: the literature search and review, the problem statement, and the inquiry sample. These three topics are not usually included in the same chapter. I have chosen to place them together for two somewhat related reasons. First, a search and review of the literature leads naturally to the writing of the problem statement as well as to shaping the sample in several important ways. As your research question is an interpretative one, your search of the literature is likely to lead to large quasi-experimental studies, surveys, and small qualitative studies. The shaping of your topic may occur simultaneously with consideration of who should participate in your study, that is, your sample.
