What Makes A Good Research Question?

Research questions are integral to a research project, connecting and informing overlapping elements such as research goals, conceptual framework, methods, and validity (Maxwell, 1996, as cited in McCaig, 2010). According to the Royal Roads writing center, they need to be “clear and specific, state the focus of the investigation in the research, and not be answerable with a yes/no response” (Royal Roads, n.d.).  

I found that the excerpt included in the Writing Center from John Creswell’s book, Research Design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (2017), contains valuable information about formulating research questions and hypotheses. It even includes sample scripts for question formulation. The following are a few high-level details that were new to me:

• Qualitative and quantitative research questions are formulated differently.
• Qualitative research approaches generally ask one central research question and several sub-questions. They often start with words like how or what.
• Quantitative research questions are formulated around the relationship between variables, such as independent and dependent variables.

Much more theory, creativity, and strategy go into the formulation of research questions than I originally considered. There is so much more to learn.

Resources:

Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2017). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Sage publications.

McCaig, C. (2010). Research and evaluation design. SAGE Publications Ltd, https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446268346

Maxwell, J. (1996) Qualitative Research Design: An Interactive Approach. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Royal Roads University Writing Centre. (n.d.). Developing Your Essay. https://libguides.royalroads.ca/developing_essay/focus#s-lg-box-16319950