{"id":258,"date":"2018-07-07T12:33:57","date_gmt":"2018-07-07T19:33:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0054\/?p=258"},"modified":"2018-07-07T12:33:57","modified_gmt":"2018-07-07T19:33:57","slug":"what-makes-a-good-research-question","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0054\/what-makes-a-good-research-question\/","title":{"rendered":"What makes a good research question?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Image created by the author.<\/p><\/div>\n

Why do we need a research question in the first place?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

<\/p>\n

Having a proper research question before you begin a research project is imperative.\u00a0 As noted by Hung and Popp,<\/p>\n

Developing good research questions is an essential first step of every research project, because good research questions focus your work and provide direction for your next steps. (2009)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Not having a well-designed research question before starting a project would be akin to walking into a bookstore and asking for a book.\u00a0 What kind of book?\u00a0 What topic are you interested in?\u00a0 What is the focus of that topic?\u00a0 What is it about that focus that you want to know about?\u00a0 Before you go into that store you know what questions you want to be answered by the book you are looking for.\u00a0 How would that be any different from researching a project and writing your own paper?\u00a0 As Lee Cuba notes, a good research question can become the thesis statement for your whole project (Cuba, L, 1997).<\/p>\n

What makes a good research question?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

There are many things that can make a good research question.\u00a0 Here are a few things that could be considered important:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • As illustrated by the image at the start of this post, a good research question must not be too broad.\u00a0 It must be focused and clear.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

     <\/p>\n

      \n
    • It must not have a definitive yes or no answer.\u00a0 There must be room for deep investigation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

       <\/p>\n

        \n
      • A good research question is one that can be answered with information that is available.\u00a0 The Lumen learning website uses the example of the question “Does carbon-based\u00a0life exist outside of Earth’s Solar system” (2018).\u00a0 While this is a good question there is not enough data to support the claim.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

         <\/p>\n

          \n
        • It is a question that has not already been answered yet in the context that you are presenting it.\u00a0 Are you trying to find an answer for something that someone has already done the research on?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

          This list is by no means exhaustive.\u00a0 These are just some points that I find helpful as I start to develop my own research questions.<\/p>\n

          References<\/p>\n

          Cuba, L. (1997). A\u00a0Short Guide to Writing about Social Science (3rd ed.).\u00a0 (New York: Addison-Wesley Educational
          \nPublishers, Inc.<\/p>\n

          Hung, P, Popp, A. (2009). Learning to Do Historical Research: A Primer How to Fram a Researchable Question [Blog post]. \u00a0Retrieved from\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>http:\/\/www.williamcronon.net\/researching\/questions.htm<\/p>\n

          The Lumen learning center. (2018). The qualities of a Good Research Question [Blog post]. Retrieved from\u00a0https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/englishcomp2kscopexmaster\/chapter\/the-qualities-of-a-good-research-question\/<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

          Why do we need a research question in the first place?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":96,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,1],"tags":[51,52,53,54],"class_list":["post-258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lrnt522","category-uncategorized","tag-research","tag-research-question","tag-thesis","tag-thesis-statement"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0054\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0054\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0054\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0054\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/96"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0054\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=258"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0054\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":266,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0054\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258\/revisions\/266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0054\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0054\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0054\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}