Research is the continue pursue of knowledge. Whether you’re a student, an academic, or a professional, it is always difficult to articulate a good research question. It’s not just about selecting a topic, it’s more about identifying a question that is meaningful, feasible, and worth exploring in ongoing academic discussion. So, how do you find that good research question? Let’s break it down.
Why Are Good Research Questions Important?
Before we discuss about ‘how to find’, it is relevant to discuss ‘why we need important research question?’. A good research question makes our research life easier. It guides our methodology, boundary of analysis, and potential outcomes. A poorly designed question can lead to wasted of time, collection of irrelevant data, or findings that are already available in literature. Imagine ‘you lately realized (let’s say after collecting data) that your research question is poor and it is not good enough to defense for graduation, then the situation is definitely worse.
What makes a good Research Question?
A good research question has a few key characteristics:
1. Clear and Specific: It should be easy to understand and narrowly focused. Vague questions lead to vague answers. Compare following two and evaluate which is clear and specific:
- “What is the impact of knowledge on the economic prosperity?
- “What is the impact of education on income?”
2. Original and Interesting: It should address a gap in existing knowledge or offer a fresh perspective on a topic. Compare following two and evaluate:
- “Does education increase income levels?”
- “How does access to online education during economic downturns affect income mobility among low-income workers?”
3. Feasible: It should be something you can realistically answer with the resources and time you have. Compare following tow questions and evaluate:
- “What is the global impact of free trade agreements on economic growth over the past 50 years?”
- “How did the trade agreement between country A and country B in year ‘#’ affect their manufacturing exports over the following five years?”
4. Relevant: It should matter to you, to your supervisor (in case of masters or PhD degree), to your field, or to society at large. Compare following tow questions and evaluate:
- “Why do people in rural areas use cash instead of credit cards?”
- “What are the barriers to digital financial inclusion among rural households in Nepal, and how do they affect access to microcredit?”
5. Answerable: It should be framed in a way that allows for systematic investigation and analysis. Compare following tow questions and evaluate:
- “Is inflation bad for the economy?”
- “What is the impact of a 1% increase in inflation on household consumption in Japan between 2015 and 2022?”
7 Steps to Find a Good Research Question
Now you knew that what makes a good research question and which is just knowing personality characteristics of your dream partner. It is still difficult to find better research question. My recommendation to you is to follow following steps:
Step 1: Start with Your Interests
Source of best research questions is curiosity. You can ask yourself ‘what topics excite you?’ Research is a long process, and if you’re not passionate about your question, you will start feeling boredom to complete it.
Therefore, it is always good to take some time to brainstorm. Write down everything that interests you, no matter how broad or niche. For example, if you’re interested in psychology, you might just note down things like ‘mental health in teenagers,’ ‘the impact of social media on self-esteem,’ or ‘what motivates people to join public service’.
Then analyze your interest, academic requirement, supervisor’s area of interest (if applicable). For example, if you are studying ‘Masters in Public Policy’ and you found your interest in ‘Employee Motivation in Private Banks’, which is completely wrong idea. This is a very simple example, but you should balance these things as well. Then this is a good starting point for finding a research question.
Step 2: Do a Literature Review
In step 1, you identified a general area of interest, then it’s time to start reading books, journal articles, and related materials. This process is called literature review which helps you understand what has already been done in your field and what still have to be answered and investigate. This is crucial because you don’t want to spend months researching something that’s already been explored.
While doing literature review, focus on following things:
- What are their research questions?
- Their findings, does it appeal to your context?
- Are there contradictions or inconsistencies in the existing research?
Pay attention to the “limitations” and “future research” sections of academic papers. It is often in last section (either conclusion or discussion). That might meet your desire to explore.
University of Texas Libraries has a content for you about how to do literature review, please see it later.
Step 3: Narrow It Down
At this point, you might have a broad topic. However, a good research question needs to be specific. Let’s say you are interested in climate change. That is a huge topic, what will you study about climate change? ‘Impact of climate change on agriculture’ sounds better but it is still too broad.
To narrow down, please ask yourself:
- Who? (Which population or group are you studying?)
- What? (What specific phenomenon are you investigating?)
- Where? (What geographic area are you focusing on?)
- When? (What time period are you looking at?)
- Why? (Why is this important?)
For example: “What is the impact of climate change in major agriculture production in villages near Himalayan from 2000 to 2020?”
Step 4: Write Research Proposal
You should write a proposal after deciding research question, even though you do not have requirement for this. It is because a research proposal consists of research question, methodology to answer it, data sources, significance of study, and potential outcomes. This will help you to make it researchable. For example, what if you found that you can not find data for agriculture production in the villages near Himalayan, then you will cross out this idea. Therefore, writing a research proposal is equally important to make your research feasible.
Step 5: Test Your Question
Once you have drafted a research question, it is time to send it to the test. Generally, professiional research present their research proposal in seminars and refine it if necessary. Therefore, you should share it with mentors, professors, supervisors and ask for feedback. They will evaluate your research question whether it is clear, specific, and worth exploring.
Step 6: Be Open to Modify
You should not be rigid with your research question. As you dive deeper into your research, you might discover new angles or face difficulties to answer the question as a whole. This situation is likely to every researcher. Actually, research is an iterative process, and it’s normal for your question to modify or evolve as you learn more.
Examples of Good Research Questions
To give you a better sense of what a good research question looks like, here are a few examples across different fields:
- Education: “How does the use of technology in the classroom affect reading comprehension in elementary school students?”
- Health Sciences: “What are the long-term effects of intermittent fasting on metabolic health in adults over 50?”
- Social Sciences: “How does education level influence public service motivation?”
- Environmental Science: “What is the impact of urban green spaces on air quality in major cities?”
- Business: “How do remote work policies affect employee productivity in the tech industry?”
Notice how each of these questions is clear, specific, and researchable.
Common Pitfalls to Avoid
While crafting your research question, watch out for these common mistakes:
- Being Too Broad: Questions like “What is the meaning of life?” might be fascinating, but never researchable.
- Being Too Narrow: Questions that are too specific might not have enough data or relevance to be worth exploring. Such as “What is the impact of public service motivation on performance of school teachers in ABC school?” This is specific but too narrow, it may not have sufficient observation to conduct analysis.
- Assuming the Answer: Avoid questions that already have an obvious answer or are based on assumptions. Such as, “How does motivation improve performance?” This question assumes that motivation always improves performance. Avoid such assumption.
- Ignoring Feasibility: Make sure your question is something you can realistically answer with the resources you have. Such as, if you do not have resources and time, avoid planning to administrate survey in random sample of public employees of a country as a whole. In stead, you can select few ministries.
Read: Background of the Study in Research : What and How to Write?
Final Thoughts
Finding a good research question requires curiosity and creativity. It gives your research purpose and direction. So, take your time. Explore your interests. Read widely. And do not be afraid to ask for help or revise your question as you go. Remember, the best research questions don’t just lead to answers, they lead to more questions, and therefore the research will never end this world. I wish you good luck. If you have any questions, feel free to drop in comment box below.
