Research papers cannot come together and head in the right direction without a good question and that’s why it is important to have a good and solid research question. Based on my readings and research, I believe the followings are key points of having a good research question:
- Background research – it is important to understand the topic of the research first to be able to create a good research question.
- Relevant– a research question should be appropriate and relevant to you and other people involved with the research.
- Simple and clear –a research question should be clear and simple to understand and also specific to the topic.
- Not too narrow or too broad – in order to have a good research question, you should make sure that the question is not too narrow, meaning that it can be answered in a couple of sentences. It also should not be too broad, meaning that to answer the question you’d have to write a book.
References
Steely Library NKU. (2014). Developing a Research Question. Retrieved from Youtube : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWLYCYeCFak
Thesis statements/Research questions. (2017). Retrieved from Royal Roads University : http://library.royalroads.ca/writing-centre/writing/structure/thesis-statements
July 9, 2017 at 10:58 am
Hi May,
Very good first point regarding fully understanding the research topic before diving into your research. I think it would be easy to get ahead of yourself only to have to redo some portions of your work.
July 10, 2017 at 8:37 pm
Hi Steve, Thank you for your comment and you are absolutely correct about having to redo some portions if we don’t understand the topic first.