How to formulate a research question?

A research question is usually the first step in any research project. Here’s how to come up with a strong research question for a research paper, thesis or dissertation. Also understand how it differs from a hypothesis.

A research question is a question (or questions) that your research intends to address. Your research does not necessarily need to answer the question explicitly, but it should explore the question, providing detailed and analytical justifications of how and why it is or isn’t answered.

A research question is one that:

• Has significance for a topic or issue relating to subject matter
• Is researchable (it can be answered through conducting research)
• Has not yet been answered definitively or has not been addressed
• Answers offered but not succeeded in resolving debates
• There is still more that can be done to improve answers
• Considering the question in a light of different cases or perspectives might provide further illumination

How to come up with Research Question

Once you decide on the research topic, the research question does a specific inquiry within that topic. The research question helps to define the purpose and objectives of the study and provides a framework for conducting research and collecting data.

Good research questions must be:

• Clear, easy to understand, and must be specific with a definite focus,
• It must be answerable and one must be possible to collect the necessary data, and it should be relevant to your area of study.
• It should be consistent with expected standards, should be able to produce clear conclusions, should be at the right level (not too difficult) and not too descriptive

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Examples of research ideas and their derived focus questions.

Research Idea: Advertising and Share Prices
General focus research questions: How does the running of a TV advertising campaign designed to boost the image of a company affect its share price?

Research Idea: Job Recruitment via the Internet
General focus research questions: How effective is recruiting for new staff via the Internet in comparison with traditional methods?

Using Theory and its Importance

Asking for opinions and gathering facts – ‘what’ questions (descriptive research)

Using questions that go beyond description and require analysis – ‘why’ questions

This will help with: Explain phenomena, Analyse relationships, Predict outcomes, Compare and generalise

Related: Read more on research objectives. Also learn about the complete research process here.

Feasibility of the Research Question

There are several practical considerations that almost always need to be considered when deciding on the feasibility of a research project.

• Is the research question too ambitious? You have to think about how long the research will take to accomplish. It needs to be feasible in the time available.
• Is it too trivial? There needs to be enough substance to the proposal that you can actually carry out some useful research.
• Can you achieve the needed cooperation to take the project to its successful conclusion? You may require access or resources (financial, material, etc.) to answer the question, which may be challenging for some questions.
• Is it ethical or can the topic involve potentially unacceptable risks of harm to participants or researchers. You have to question whether there are important ethical constraints that need consideration.
• You must also consider how significant are the costs of conducting the research.

Failure to consider any of these factors can lead to major challenges later.

So, If you do not get satisfactory answers to these points, it is better modify your research topic to make it feasible. If not, you may have to choose a different topic.

More Things to Consider

Narrowing and Clarifying:

• Narrowing, clarifying, and even redefining your questions is essential to the research process.
• Forming the right ‘questions’ should be seen as an iterative process that is informed by reading and doing at all stages.

Where are you now?

• Is your question conceptual, but lacks context?
• Do you have a ‘researchable question’ that will enable you to investigate the question
• Is your question significant and researchable? What is the ‘conceptual’ foundation?

Related: Research Aims & Objectives Explained.

Related: The entire research process explained.