how to formulate a research question science

Jul 7, 2020

How to Write a Science Research Question

how to formulate a research question science

Humans are a very curious species. We are always asking questions. But the way we formulate a question is very important when we think about science and research. Here we’ll lay out how to form a science research question and the concepts needed to formulate a good research question. Luckily, we’ve got some handy visuals to help you along.

In order to inquire about the world, produce new information, and solve a mystery of about the natural world, we always use the scientific process to inform research questions. So, we need to keep in mind the steps of the scientific process :

Observation

Data to be obtained

Ways to analyze data

Conclusions to obtain from the question

First, clearly define your population and your variables.

Now, what is a population ? Defined in ecologic terms, a population are all the individuals of one species in a given area (e.g. population of deer, leatherback turtles, spruce trees, mushrooms, etc.).

Now, what is a variable ? A variable is any factor, trait, or condition that can exist in differing amounts or types (e.g. length, quantity, temperature, speed, mass, distance, depth, etc.).

So, using different combinations of these two components, we can create three different types of research questions: descriptive, comparative, and correlative. These three types also match three of the modern research methodologies.

Descriptive field investigations involve describing and/or quantifying parts of a natural system. Includes generally 1 population and one distinctive variable (figure 1). Examples of descriptive research questions:

How many pine trees are in the Mammoth Hot Springs area?

What is the wolf pack’s distribution range?

How frequently do humpback whales breed?

Comparative field investigations involve collecting data on different populations/organisms, or under different conditions (e.g., times of year, locations), to make a comparison. Includes two or more populations and one distinctive variable (figure 2). Examples of comparative research questions:

Is there a difference in body length between male and female tortoises?

Is there a difference in diversity of fungi that live in the forest compared with non-forested areas?

Correlative field investigations involve measuring or observing two variables and searching for a relationship between them for a distinctive population (figure 3). Examples of correlative research questions:

What is the relationship between length of the tail and age in humpback whales?

How does a spider’s reproduction rate change with a change in season?

To practice how to write a research question, we suggest the following steps:

Find a nice place where you can be alone and connected with nature. Bring nothing else but a journal and a pencil. Take a few moments to breath and observe everything that surrounds you. Use all of your senses to obtain information from your surroundings: smell the flowers around you, feel the leaves, hear the birds, and recognize all the life.

Choose a population that is around you and that interests you (flowers, trees, insects, rocks), and think about what would you like to know about that population. Write down what you want to study from that population (your variable). It is easier to choose the population first and the variables second. Think about a feasible and simple measurement. One easy measurement is counting, since it doesn’t require an instrument.

Write down your question using your population and variable. Remember to write a question that is going to be simple, measurable, attainable, relevant, and limited to a particular time and place. Avoid why questions.

Next, write a prediction that answers your question. This is your hypothesis .

Now that you have a defined population, measure your variable, and obtain data. Don’t forget to write it down in your journal.

Finally, compare your hypothesis with your actual data and write a conclusion about your findings.

These simple and fun steps will help you create great questions that will lead you to find interesting answers and discoveries. But remember, this process not only works for scientific questions but also for daily issues, such as why the car stopped working. You can use it to investigate local environmental problems and provide possible solutions for the benefit of your community and future generations.

You can find more information about this topic in: Ryken, A. E., Otto, P., Pritchard, K., & Owens, K. (2007). Field investigations: Using outdoor environments to foster student learning of scientific processes . Pacific Education Institute.

Systematic and systematic-like review toolkit: Step 1: Formulating the research question

Systematic and systematic-like review toolkit.

Systematic and systematic-like reviews overview

Step 1: Formulating the research question

Step 2: Developing the search
Step 3: Screening and selection of articles
Step 4: Appraisal of articles
Step 5: Writing and publishing
Filters and complex search examples
Evidence synthesis support services

Tip: Look for these icons for guidance on which technique is required

Email your Librarians

The first stage in a review is formulating the research question. The research question accurately and succinctly sums up the review's line of inquiry. This page outlines approaches to developing a research question that can be used as the basis for a review.

Research question frameworks

It can be useful to use a framework to aid in the development of a research question. Frameworks can help you identify searchable parts of a question and focus your search on relevant results

A technique often used in research for formulating a clinical research question is the PICO model. Slightly different versions of this concept are used to search for quantitative and qualitative reviews.

The PICO/ PECO framework is an adaptable approach to help you focus your research question and guide you in developing search terms. The framework prompts you to consider your question in terms of these four elements:

P : P atient/ P opulation/ P roblem

I/E : I ntervention/ I ndicator/ E xposure/ E vent

C : C omparison/ C ontrol

O : O utcome

For more detail, there are also the PICOT and PICOS additions:

PICO T - adds T ime

PICO S - adds S tudy design

PICO example

Consider this scenario:

Current guidelines indicate that nicotine replacement therapies (NRTs) should not be used as an intervention in young smokers. Counselling is generally the recommended best practice for young smokers, however youth who are at high risk for smoking often live in regional or remote communities with limited access to counselling services. You have been funded to review the evidence for the effectiveness of NRTs for smoking cessation in Australian youths to update the guidelines.

The research question stemming from this scenario could be phrased in this way:

In (P) adolescent smokers , how does (I) nicotine replacement therapy compared with (C) counselling affect (O) smoking cessation rates ?

Alternative frameworks

PICO is one of the most frequently used frameworks, but there are several other frameworks available to use, depending on your question.

Question type

Qualitative; Aetiology or risk
Services, policy, social care
Prevalence & prognosis; Economics

Structuring qualitative questions?

Try PIC or SPIDER :

P opulation, Phenomena of I nterest, C ontext
S ample, P henomenon of I nterest, D esign, E valuation, R esearch type

Cooke, A., Smith, D., & Booth, A. (2012). Beyond PICO: the SPIDER tool for qualitative evidence synthesis . Qualitative health research, 22(10), 1435-1443.

Question about aetiology or risk?

P opulation, E xposure, O utcomes

Moola, Sandeep; Munn, Zachary; Sears, Kim; Sfetcu, Ralucac; Currie, Marian; Lisy, Karolina; Tufanaru, Catalin; Qureshi, Rubab; Mattis, Patrick; Mu, Peifanf. Conducting systematic reviews of association (etiology) , International Journal of Evidence-Based Healthcare: September 2015 - Volume 13 - Issue 3 - p 163-169.

Evaluating an intervention, policy or service?

Try SPICE :

S etting, P opulation or P erspective, I ntervention, C omparison, E valuation

Booth, A. (2006), " Clear and present questions: formulating questions for evidence based practice ", Library Hi Tech, Vol. 24 No. 3, pp. 355-368. https://doi-org.ezproxy-b.deakin.edu.au/10.1108/07378830610692127

Investigating the outcome of a service or policy?

Try ECLIPSE :

E xpectation, C lient group, L ocation, I mpact, P rofessionals, SE rvice

Wildridge, V., & Bell, L. (2002). How CLIP became ECLIPSE: a mnemonic to assist in searching for health policy/management information . Health Information & Libraries Journal, 19(2), 113-115.

Working out prevalence or incidence?

Try CoCoPop :

Co ndition, Co ntext, Pop ulation

Munn, Z., Moola, S., Lisy, K., Riitano, D., & Tufanaru, C. (2015). Methodological guidance for systematic reviews of observational epidemiological studies reporting prevalence and cumulative incidence data . International journal of evidence-based healthcare, 13(3), 147-153.

Determining prognosis?

P opulation, Prognostic F actors, O utcome

Conducting an economic evaluation?

Try PICOC :

P opulation, I ntervention, C omparator/s, O utomes, Context

Petticrew, M., & Roberts, H. (2006). Systematic reviews in the social sciences: a practical guide . Blackwell Pub.

JBI recommends the PCC (Population (or Participants), Concept, and Context) search framework to develop the research question of a scoping review. In some instances, just the concept and context are used in the search.

The University of Notre Dame Australia provides information on some different frameworks available to help structure the research question.

Search for existing reviews

Before you start searching, find out whether any systematic reviews have been conducted recently on your topic. This is because similar systematic reviews could help with identifying your search terms, and information on your topic. It is also helpful to know if there is already a systematic review on your topic as it may mean you need to change your question.

Cochrane Library and Joanna Briggs Institute publish systematic reviews. You can also search for the term "systematic review" in any of the subject databases. You can also search PROSPERO , an international register of systematic reviews, to see if there are any related reviews underway but not yet published; there are additional review registers detailed below.

Watch this video to find out how to search for published systematic reviews

Protocols and Guidelines for reviews

It is recommended that authors consult relevant guidelines and create a protocol for their review.

Protocols provide a clear plan for how the review will be conducted, including what will and will not be included in the final review. Protocols are widely recommended for any systematic review and are increasingly a requirement for publication of a completed systematic review.

Guidelines provide specific information on how to perform a review in your field of study. A completed review may be evaluated against the relevant guidelines by peer reviewers or readers, so it makes sense to follow the guidelines as best you can.

Click the headings below to learn more about the importance of protocols and guidelines.

Your protocol (or plan for conducting your review) should include the rationale, objectives, hypothesis, and planned methods used in searching, screening and analysing identified studies used in the review. The rationale should clearly state what will be included and excluded from the review. The aim is to minimise any bias by having pre-defined eligibility criteria.

Base the protocol on the relevant guidelines for the review that you are conducting. PRISMA-P was developed for reporting and development of protocols for systematic reviews. Their Explanation and Elaboration paper includes examples of what to write in your protocol. York's CRD has also created a document on how to submit a protocol to PROSPERO .

There are several registers of protocols, often associated with the organisation publishing the review. Cochrane and Joanna Briggs Institute both have their own protocol registries, and PROSPERO is a wide-reaching registry covering protocols for Cochrane, non-Cochrane and non-JBI reviews on a range of health, social care, education, justice, and international development topics.

Before beginning your protocol, search within protocol registries such as those listed above, or Open Science Framework or Research Registry , or journals such as Systematic Reviews and BMJ Open . This is a useful step to see if a protocol has already been submitted on your review topic and to find examples of protocols in similar areas of research.

While a protocol will contain details of the intended search strategy, a protocol should be registered before the search strategy is finalised and run, so that you can show that your intention for the review has remained true and to limit duplication of in progress reviews.

A protocol should typically address points that define the kind of studies to be included and the kind of data required to ensure the systematic review is focused on the appropriate studies for the topic. Some points to think about are:

What study types are you looking for? For example, randomised controlled trials, cohort studies, qualitative studies
What sample size is acceptable in each study (power of the study)?
What population are you focusing on? Consider age ranges, gender, disease severity, geography of patients.
What type of intervention are you focusing on?
What outcomes are of importance to the review, including how those outcomes are measured?
What context should you be looking for in a study? A lab, acute care, school, community...
How will you appraise the studies? What methodology will you use?
Does the study differentiate between the target population and other groups in the data? How will you handle it if it does not?
Is the data available to access if the article does not specify the details you need? If not, what will you do?
What languages are you able to review? Do you have funding to translate articles from languages other than English?

Systematic Review guidelines

The Cochrane handbook of systematic reviews of interventions is a world-renowned resource for information on designing systematic reviews of intervention.

Many other guidelines have been developed from these extensive guidelines.

General systematic reviews

The PRISMA Statement includes the well-used Checklist and Flow Diagram.
Systematic Reviews: CRD's guidance on undertaking reviews in health care . One of the founding institutions that developed systematic review procedure. CRD's guide gives detailed clearly written explanations for different fields in Health.
National Academies Press (US); 2011. 3, Standards for Finding and Assessing Individual Studies. Provides guidance on searching, screening, data collection, and appraisal of individual studies for a systematic review.

Meta-analyses

An alternative to PRISMA is the Meta‐analysis Of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (MOOSE) for observational studies. It is a 35‐item checklist. It pays more attention to certain aspects of the search strategy, in particular the inclusion of unpublished and non‐English‐language studies.

Surgical systematic reviews

Systematic reviews in surgery-recommendations from the Study Center of the German Society of Surgery . Provides recommendations for systematic reviews in surgery with or without meta-analysis, for each step of the process with specific recommendations important to surgical reviews.

Nursing/Allied Health systematic reviews

Joanna Briggs Institute Manual for Evidence Synthesis a comprehensive guide to conducting JBI systematic and similar reviews

Nutrition systematic reviews

Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Evidence Analysis Manual is designed to guide expert workgroup members and evidence analysts to understand and carry out the process of conducting a systematic review.

Occupational therapy

American Occupational Therapy Association: Guidelines for Systematic reviews . The American Journal of Occupational Therapy (AJOT) provides guidance for authors conducting systematic reviews.

Education/Law/ Sociology systematic reviews

Campbell Collaboration, Cochrane's sister organisation provides guidelines for systematic reviews in the social sciences: MECIR
Systematic Reviews in Educational Research: Methodology, Perspectives and Application

Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Diagnostic Test Accuracy

COSMIN Guideline for Systematic Reviews of Outcome Measurement Instruments – This was developed for patient reported outcomes (PROMs) but has since been adapted for use with other types of outcome measurements in systematic reviews.

Prinsen, C.A.C., Mokkink, L.B., Bouter, L.M. et al. COSMIN guideline for systematic reviews of patient-reported outcome measures . Qual Life Res 27, 1147–1157 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-018-1798-3

HuGENet™ Handbook of systematic reviews – particularly useful for describing population-based data and human genetic variants.

AHRQ: Methods Guide for Effectiveness and Comparative Effectiveness Reviews - from the US Department of Health and Human Services, guidelines on conducting systematic reviews of existing research on the effectiveness, comparative effectiveness, and harms of different health care interventions.

Mariano, D. C., Leite, C., Santos, L. H., Rocha, R. E., & de Melo-Minardi, R. C. (2017). A guide to performing systematic literature reviews in bioinformatics . arXiv preprint arXiv:1707.05813.

Integrative Review guidelines

Integrative reviews may incorporate experimental and non-experimental data, as well as theoretical information. They differ from systematic reviews in the diversity of the study methodologies included.

Guidelines:

Whittemore, R. and Knafl, K. (2005), The integrative review: updated methodology. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 52: 546–553. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2648.2005.03621.x
A step-by-step guide to conducting an Integrative Review (2020), edited by C.E. Toronto & Ruth Remington, Springer Books

Rapid Review guidelines

Rapid reviews differ from systematic reviews in the shorter timeframe taken and reduced comprehensiveness of the search.

Cochrane has a methods group to inform the conduct of rapid reviews with a bibliography of relevant publications .

A modified approach to systematic review guidelines can be used for rapid reviews, but guidelines are beginning to appear:

Crawford C, Boyd C, Jain S, Khorsan R and Jonas W (2015), Rapid Evidence Assessment of the Literature (REAL©): streamlining the systematic review process and creating utility for evidence-based health care . BMC Res Notes 8:631 DOI 10.1186/s13104-015-1604-z

Philip Moons, Eva Goossens, David R. Thompson, Rapid reviews: the pros and cons of an accelerated review process , European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, Volume 20, Issue 5, June 2021, Pages 515–519, https://doi.org/10.1093/eurjcn/zvab041

Rapid Review Guidebook: Steps for conducting a rapid review National Collaborating Centre for Methods and Tools (McMaster University and Public Health Agency Canada) 2017

Tricco AC, Langlois EV, Straus SE, editors (2017) Rapid reviews to strengthen health policy and systems: a practical guide (World Health Organization). This guide is particularly aimed towards developing rapid reviews to inform health policy.

Scoping Review guidelines

Scoping reviews can be used to map an area, or to determine the need for a subsequent systematic review. Scoping reviews tend to have a broader focus than many other types of reviews, however, still require a focused question.

Peters MDJ, Godfrey C, McInerney P, Munn Z, Tricco AC, Khalil, H. Chapter 11: Scoping Reviews (2020 version). In: Aromataris E, Munn Z (Editors). Joanna Briggs Institute Reviewer's Manual, JBI, 2020.
Statement / Explanatory paper

Scoping reviews: what they are and how you can do them - Series of Cochrane Training videos presented by Dr. Andrea C. Tricco and Kafayat Oboirien

Martin, G. P., Jenkins, D. A., Bull, L., Sisk, R., Lin, L., Hulme, W., ... & Group, P. H. A. (2020). Toward a framework for the design, implementation, and reporting of methodology scoping reviews . Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 127, 191-197.

Khalil, H., McInerney, P., Pollock, D., Alexander, L., Munn, Z., Tricco, A. C., ... & Peters, M. D. (2021). Practical guide to undertaking scoping reviews for pharmacy clinicians, researchers and policymakers . Journal of clinical pharmacy and therapeutics.

Colquhoun, H (2016) Current best practices for the conduct of scoping reviews (presentation)

Arksey H & O'Malley L (2005) Scoping studies: towards a methodological framework , International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 8:1, 19-32, DOI: 10.1080/1364557032000119616

Umbrella reviews

Pollock M, Fernandes RM, Becker LA, Pieper D, Hartling L. Chapter V: Overviews of Reviews . In: Higgins JPT, Thomas J, Chandler J, Cumpston M, Li T, Page MJ, Welch VA (editors). Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions version 6.2 (updated February 2021). Cochrane, 2021. Available from www.training.cochrane.org/handbook .
Aromataris E, Fernandez R, Godfrey C, Holly C, Khalil H, Tungpunkom P. Chapter 10: Umbrella Reviews . In: Aromataris E, Munn Z (Editors). JBI Manual for Evidence Synthesis. JBI, 2020. Available from https://jbi-global-wiki.refined.site/space/MANUAL/4687363 .
Aromataris, Edoardo; Fernandez, Ritin; Godfrey, Christina M.; Holly, Cheryl; Khalil, Hanan; Tungpunkom, Patraporn. Summarizing systematic reviews: methodological development, conduct and reporting of an umbrella review approach , International Journal of Evidence-Based Healthcare: September 2015 - Volume 13 - Issue 3 - p 132-140.

Meta-syntheses

Noyes, J., Booth, A., Cargo, M., Flemming, K., Garside, R., Hannes, K., ... & Thomas, J. (2018). Cochrane Qualitative and Implementation Methods Group guidance series—paper 1: introduction . Journal of clinical epidemiology, 97, 35-38.

Harris, J. L., Booth, A., Cargo, M., Hannes, K., Harden, A., Flemming, K., ... & Noyes, J. (2018). Cochrane Qualitative and Implementation Methods Group guidance series—paper 2: methods for question formulation, searching, and protocol development for qualitative evidence synthesis . Journal of clinical epidemiology, 97, 39-48.

Noyes, J., Booth, A., Flemming, K., Garside, R., Harden, A., Lewin, S., ... & Thomas, J. (2018). Cochrane Qualitative and Implementation Methods Group guidance series—paper 3: methods for assessing methodological limitations, data extraction and synthesis, and confidence in synthesized qualitative findings . Journal of clinical epidemiology, 97, 49-58.

Cargo, M., Harris, J., Pantoja, T., Booth, A., Harden, A., Hannes, K., ... & Noyes, J. (2018). Cochrane Qualitative and Implementation Methods Group guidance series—paper 4: methods for assessing evidence on intervention implementation . Journal of clinical epidemiology, 97, 59-69.

Harden, A., Thomas, J., Cargo, M., Harris, J., Pantoja, T., Flemming, K., ... & Noyes, J. (2018). Cochrane Qualitative and Implementation Methods Group guidance series—paper 5: methods for integrating qualitative and implementation evidence within intervention effectiveness reviews . Journal of clinical epidemiology, 97, 70-78.

Flemming, K., Booth, A., Hannes, K., Cargo, M., & Noyes, J. (2018). Cochrane Qualitative and Implementation Methods Group guidance series—Paper 6: Reporting guidelines for qualitative, implementation, and process evaluation evidence syntheses . Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 97, 79-85.

Walsh, D. and Downe, S. (2005), Meta-synthesis method for qualitative research: a literature review . Journal of Advanced Nursing, 50: 204–211. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2648.2005.03380.x

Living reviews

Akl, E.A., Meerpohl, J.J., Elliott, J., Kahale, L.A., Schünemann, H.J., Agoritsas, T., Hilton, J., Perron, C., Akl, E., Hodder, R. and Pestridge, C., 2017. Living systematic reviews: 4. Living guideline recommendations . Journal of clinical epidemiology, 91, pp.47-53.

Qualitative systematic reviews

Dixon-Woods, M., Bonas, S., Booth, A., Jones, D. R., Miller, T., Sutton, A. J., . . . Young, B. (2006). How can systematic reviews incorporate qualitative research? A critical perspective . Qualitative Research,6(1), 27–44.
Thomas, J., & Harden, A. (2008). Methods for the thematic synthesis of qualitative research in systematic reviews . BMC Medical Research Methodology,8, 45–45.

Mixed methods systematic review

Lizarondo L, Stern C, Carrier J, Godfrey C, Rieger K, Salmond S, Apostolo J, Kirkpatrick P, Loveday H. Chapter 8: Mixed methods systematic reviews . In: Aromataris E, Munn Z (Editors). JBI Manual for Evidence Synthesis. JBI, 2020. Available from https://synthesismanual.jbi.global. https://doi.org/10.46658/JBIMES-20-09
Pearson, A, White, H, Bath-Hextall, F, Salmond, S, Apostolo, J, & Kirkpatrick, P 2015, ' A mixed-methods approach to systematic reviews ', International Journal of Evidence-Based Healthcare, vol. 13, no. 3, p. 121-131. Available from: 10.1097/XEB.0000000000000052
Dixon-Woods, M., Agarwal, S., Jones, D., Young, B., & Sutton, A. (2005). Synthesising qualitative and quantitative evidence: A review of possible methods . Journal of Health Services Research &Policy,10(1), 45–53.

Realist reviews

The RAMESES Projects - Includes information on publication, quality, and reporting standards, as well as training materials for realist reviews, meta-narrative reviews, and realist evaluation.

Rycroft-Malone, J., McCormack, B., Hutchinson, A. M., DeCorby, K., Bucknall, T. K., Kent, B., ... & Wilson, V. (2012). Realist synthesis: illustrating the method for implementation research . Implementation Science, 7(1), 1-10.

Wong, G., Westhorp, G., Manzano, A. et al. RAMESES II reporting standards for realist evaluations. BMC Med 14, 96 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-016-0643-1

Wong, G., Greenhalgh, T., Westhorp, G., Buckingham, J., & Pawson, R. (2013). RAMESES publication standards: realist syntheses. BMC medicine, 11, 21. https://doi.org/10.1186/1741-7015-11-21

Wong, G., Greenhalgh, T., Westhorp, G., Buckingham, J., & Pawson, R. (2013). RAMESES publication standards: realist syntheses. BMC medicine, 11(1), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1186/1741-7015-11-21

Social sciences

Chapman, K. (2021). Characteristics of systematic reviews in the social sciences . The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 47(5), 102396.
Crisp, B. R. (2015). Systematic reviews: A social work perspective . Australian Social Work, 68(3), 284-295.

Writing Studio

Formulating your research question (rq).

In an effort to make our handouts more accessible, we have begun converting our PDF handouts to web pages. Download this page as a PDF: Formulating Your Research Question Return to Writing Studio Handouts

In a research paper, the emphasis is on generating a unique question and then synthesizing diverse sources into a coherent essay that supports your argument about the topic. In other words, you integrate information from publications with your own thoughts in order to formulate an argument. Your topic is your starting place: from here, you will develop an engaging research question. Merely presenting a topic in the form of a question does not transform it into a good research question.

Research Topic Versus Research Question Examples

1. broad topic versus narrow question, 1a. broad topic.

“What forces affect race relations in America?”

1b. NARROWER QUESTION

“How do corporate hiring practices affect race relations in Nashville?”

The question “What is the percentage of racial minorities holding management positions in corporate offices in Nashville?” is much too specific and would yield, at best, a statistic that could become part of a larger argument.

2. Neutral Topic Versus Argumentative Question

2a. neutral topic.

“How does KFC market its low-fat food offerings?”

2b. Argumentative question

“Does KFC put more money into marketing its high-fat food offerings than its lower-fat ones?”

The latter question is somewhat better, since it may lead you to take a stance or formulate an argument about consumer awareness or benefit.

3. Objective Topic Versus Subjective Question

Objective subjects are factual and do not have sides to be argued. Subjective subjects are those about which you can take a side.

3a. Objective topic

“How much time do youth between the ages of 10 and 15 spend playing video games?”

3b. Subjective Question

“What are the effects of video-gaming on the attention spans of youth between the ages of 10 and 15?”

The first question is likely to lead to some data, though not necessarily to an argument or issue. The second question is somewhat better, since it might lead you to formulate an argument for or against time spent playing video games.

4. Open-Ended Topic Versus Direct Question

4a. open-ended topic.

“Does the author of this text use allusion?”

4b. Direct question (gives direction to research)

“Does the ironic use of allusion in this text reveal anything about the author’s unwillingness to divulge his political commitments?”

The second question gives focus by putting the use of allusion into the specific context of a question about the author’s political commitments and perhaps also about the circumstances under which the text was produced.

Research Question (RQ) Checklist

Is my RQ something that I am curious about and that others might care about? Does it present an issue on which I can take a stand?
Does my RQ put a new spin on an old issue, or does it try to solve a problem?
Is my RQ too broad, too narrow, or OK?
within the time frame of the assignment?
given the resources available at my location?
Is my RQ measurable? What type of information do I need? Can I find actual data to support or contradict a position?
What sources will have the type of information that I need to answer my RQ (journals, books, internet resources, government documents, interviews with people)?

Final Thoughts

The answer to a good research question will often be the THESIS of your research paper! And the results of your research may not always be what you expected them to be. Not only is this ok, it can be an indication that you are doing careful work!

Adapted from an online tutorial at Empire State College: http://www.esc.edu/htmlpages/writerold/menus.htm#develop (broken link)

Last revised: November 2022 | Adapted for web delivery: November 2022

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University of Tasmania, Australia

Systematic reviews for health: 1. formulate the research question.

Handbooks / Guidelines for Systematic Reviews
Standards for Reporting
Registering a Protocol
Tools for Systematic Review
Online Tutorials & Courses
Books and Articles about Systematic Reviews
Finding Systematic Reviews
Critical Appraisal
Library Help
Bibliographic Databases
Grey Literature
Handsearching
Citation Tracking
1. Formulate the Research Question
2. Identify the Key Concepts
3. Develop Search Terms - Free-Text
4. Develop Search Terms - Controlled Vocabulary
5. Search Fields
6. Phrase Searching, Wildcards and Proximity Operators
7. Boolean Operators
8. Search Limits
9. Pilot Search Strategy & Monitor Its Development
10. Final Search Strategy
11. Adapt Search Syntax
Documenting Search Strategies
Handling Results & Storing Papers

Step 1. Formulate the Research Question

A systematic review is based on a pre-defined specific research question ( Cochrane Handbook, 1.1 ). The first step in a systematic review is to determine its focus - you should clearly frame the question(s) the review seeks to answer ( Cochrane Handbook, 2.1 ). It may take you a while to develop a good review question - it is an important step in your review. Well-formulated questions will guide many aspects of the review process, including determining eligibility criteria, searching for studies, collecting data from included studies, and presenting findings ( Cochrane Handbook, 2.1 ).

The research question should be clear and focused - not too vague, too specific or too broad.

You may like to consider some of the techniques mentioned below to help you with this process. They can be useful but are not necessary for a good search strategy.

PICO - to search for quantitative review questions

Richardson, WS, Wilson, MC, Nishikawa, J & Hayward, RS 1995, 'The well-built clinical question: A key to evidence-based decisions', ACP Journal Club , vol. 123, no. 3, pp. A12-A12 .

We do not have access to this article at UTAS.

A variant of PICO is PICOS . S stands for Study designs . It establishes which study designs are appropriate for answering the question, e.g. randomised controlled trial (RCT). There is also PICO C (C for context) and PICO T (T for timeframe).

You may find this document on PICO / PIO / PEO useful:

Framing a PICO / PIO / PEO question Developed by Teesside University

SPIDER - to search for qualitative and mixed methods research studies

Cooke, A, Smith, D & Booth, A 2012, 'Beyond pico the spider tool for qualitative evidence synthesis', Qualitative Health Research , vol. 22, no. 10, pp. 1435-1443.

This article is only accessible for UTAS staff and students.

SPICE - to search for qualitative evidence

Cleyle, S & Booth, A 2006, 'Clear and present questions: Formulating questions for evidence based practice', Library hi tech , vol. 24, no. 3, pp. 355-368.

ECLIPSE - to search for health policy/management information

Wildridge, V & Bell, L 2002, 'How clip became eclipse: A mnemonic to assist in searching for health policy/management information', Health Information & Libraries Journal , vol. 19, no. 2, pp. 113-115.

There are many more techniques available. See the below guide from the CQUniversity Library for an extensive list:

Question frameworks overview from Framing your research question guide, developed by CQUniversity Library

This is the specific research question used in the example:

"Is animal-assisted therapy more effective than music therapy in managing aggressive behaviour in elderly people with dementia?"

Within this question are the four PICO concepts :

S - Study design

This is a therapy question. The best study design to answer a therapy question is a randomised controlled trial (RCT). You may decide to only include studies in the systematic review that were using a RCT, see Step 8 .

See source of example

Need More Help? Book a consultation with a Learning and Research Librarian or contact [email protected] .

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Next: 2. Identify the Key Concepts >>
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Formulating a researchable question: A critical step for facilitating good clinical research

Sadaf aslam.

Clinical and Translational Science Institute and Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA

Patricia Emmanuel

Developing a researchable question is one of the challenging tasks a researcher encounters when initiating a project. Both, unanswered issues in current clinical practice or when experiences dictate alternative therapies may provoke an investigator to formulate a clinical research question. This article will assist researchers by providing step-by-step guidance on the formulation of a research question. This paper also describes PICO (population, intervention, control, and outcomes) criteria in framing a research question. Finally, we also assess the characteristics of a research question in the context of initiating a research project.

INTRODUCTION

A researchable question is an uncertainty about a problem that can be challenged, examined, and analyzed to provide useful information.[ 1 ] A successful research project depends upon how well an investigator formulates the research question based on the problems faced in day-to-day research activities and clinical practice. The underlying questions of a research project provide important information to decide whether the topic is relevant, researchable, and significant. A well-formulated research question needs extreme specificity and preciseness which guides the implementation of the project keeping in mind the identification of variables and population of interest. Here we will present a clinical scenario and see how clinical questions arise and help us in finding the evidence to answer our question.

FORMULATING THE RESEARCH QUESTION

A 2-year-old boy presents in an outpatient clinic with fever and severe pain in his right ear. He has a history of recurrent ear infections, and his mother expresses a concern that he has been on the antibiotic amoxicillin for the past few weeks. She is worried about the consequences of the long-term antibiotic use. She is also concerned about the outcome associated with recurrent ear infections. She wants to know if the prescribed amoxicillin is effective, or it can be substituted with another antibiotic because of its side effects such as frequent diarrhea.

Several questions arise from this case which can be broadly classified into background and foreground questions. The general questions about a clinical problem or a disease are called “Background Questions.”[ 2 ] These questions generally ask what, when, how, and where about the disease, disorder, or treatment for instance, “What is otitis media?” or “How does amoxicillin work?” etc. These types of questions can be answered by going through review articles or text books.

The patient-oriented questions involving interpretation of a therapy or disease and consideration of risk vs. benefit for a patient or a group of patient are called “Foreground Questions.”[ 2 ] These types of complex clinical questions are best answered by primary or pre-assessed studies in the literature. These questions mostly compare the two, either two drugs or treatments or two diagnostic methods, etc.

The PICO (population, intervention, control, and outcomes) format [ Table 1 ] is considered a widely known strategy for framing a “foreground” research question.[ 3 ] Sackett et al . pointed out that breaking the question into four components will facilitate the identification of relevant information.

Considering PICO and FINER criteria for developing a research question[ 3 , 5 ]

Population or problem - addressing a specific population, its important characteristics and demographic information. From the above case, you can identify pediatric population with otitis media, the age range, sex, presenting complaint, and history.

Intervention or treatment of interest - the intervention can be a treatment, procedure, diagnostic test, and risk or prognostic factors. In this case, the intervention will be your plan to treat the patient which can be a new therapy, a diagnostic test, prognostic factor, or a procedure. For example, based on your observation in clinic, cefuroxime is another better treatment option as compared to amoxicillin in treating otitis media but you are not sure about its efficacy in pediatric population with otitis media.

Comparator or control -when a new therapy is compared with the existing one.

Outcome - is the effect of the intervention. For example, its effectiveness in controlling pain. Therefore, the outcome in the above case can be the relief of pain, the resolution of infection, or decreasing the risk of developing resistance. A good primary outcome should be easily quantifiable, specific, valid, reproducible, and appropriate to your research question.[ 4 ]

In a typical clinical setting, a clinician needs to know about background and foreground questions depending upon the experience about a particular disease and therapy. Once background questions are answered, more complex questions are addressed. The clinical questions arise from the central issues in a clinical work.[ 2 ] For example, identifying causes or risk factors (etiological questions), comparing diagnostic tests based on sensitivity and specificity (diagnostic query), identifying best treatment options (therapeutic question), and outcome of the treatment (prognostic question).

After determining a foreground question, the PICO approach is followed. Dissecting the question into parts makes it easy and searchable. As evident in this case, there are several relevant questions, for example: what are the outcomes associated with recurrent ear infection, what are the possible effects of long-term use of antibiotic, and what are the harms associated with current treatment? Now if you gather all the information from PICO approach, the following researchable questions can be formulated.

In children with acute otitis media (P), is cefuroxime (I) effective in reducing the duration of symptoms (O) as compared to amoxicillin (C)?

In children suffering from otitis media, will cefuroxime result in the improvement of symptoms and reduction in developing resistance?

Does treatment with amoxicillin increase the risk of developing resistance in children suffering from otitis media?

Does surgical procedure has better outcome for the treatment of otitis media in children after repeated antibiotic therapy?

From the above case, we have formulated multiple questions based on our patient’s illness and concerns. Now we can use the strategy of “selecting” the best question.[ 2 ] For example, which question has more significance for the patient’s well-being, which question is relevant to our knowledge needs and which question might lead to interesting answers for our patients and clinical query? Further, we need to consider the feasibility of finding the evidence in a short period.

ASSESSING THE RESEARCH QUESTION IN THE CONTEXT OF A STUDY DESIGN

As proposed by Hulley et al . [ Table 1 ], a research question should be formulated keeping in mind the FINER (feasible, interesting, novel, ethical, and relevant) criteria[ 5 ] and that the answer should fill gaps in the existing knowledge. The following points should be considered while assessing a research question.

Determining the required resources

The feasibility of conducting a research project is based on the research question and should be considered early in the process in order to avoid waste of resources and intellectual energy. This is sometimes difficult for a new investigator and they need guidance from their mentors.[ 4 ]

Consider doing a pilot or proof of concept study to asses the feasibility;
Consult a biostatistician early in the project in order to choose less costly design and common outcomes;
Consider feasibility of enrolling the intended number of subjects from the population of your interest. Also, consider expanding your inclusion criteria and modifying exclusion criteria if it is difficult to enroll the intended number; and
Consider cost of each element of the study design, research staff, and resources.

Significance of making it interesting and relevant

An important question may not seem interesting the way it is presented. It is a challenge to present a research question clearly and engage the interest and attention of the reviewers. Research is too much work to not have a passion for what you are investigating. You will have more support for your study, and it will be easier to publish if the topic is novel and also interests your collaborators, colleagues, and the community at large. It is important to pursue a research question with a passion of getting the truth out of the matter.[ 5 ] This is how we all perceive research; commitment to a high-quality systematic and unbiased completion of an innovative project. If your question can explain a given problem while pointing toward a specific aspect which is missing then your project can get a great deal of support.

Conducting literature review

The innovation of any research question is determined by a thorough literature search. Any replication of the study already existing in the literature is not worth repeating as it is. Depending upon the research question, sometimes the study can be replicated if your question approaches an existing problem in a refreshing way. This can be achieved by using a different populations, different techniques, new conceptual approaches, or linking two different studies in which outcomes did not solve the problem.[ 5 ] Once a preliminary question has been formulated, literature search should be done to find out what is known or unknown about the topic. The goal of the literature review is to determine what research has been conducted on the topic of interest? and how has it been conducted? and what are the gaps in the knowledge?. It is recommended to use PubMed, MedlinePlus, CINAHL, or Web of Science as the main search databases, but other databases can be used as well. PubMed clinical query is an easy and user-friendly database to search for evidence related to clinical practice. This also provides information to search MEDLINE by doing categorical searches, for example, therapeutic, diagnostic, etiological, and prognostic. The American College of Physicians (ACP) and clinical evidence from BMJ Publishing Group are excellent systems to find evidence on therapeutic questions. Other search engines such as OVID has a large selection of texts and journals which provides access to other databases such as Cochrane library in getting full text articles and systematic reviews. Gray et al . suggested 4 Ss for literature review: Systems : use of comprehensive resources, Synopses : extracting high-quality studies and abstracts, Syntheses: systematic reviews, and Studies : original research studies.[ 6 ] In the hierarchy of evidence-based medicine, systematic reviews are considered the best method for evidence. Systematic reviews are rigorous methods of collecting and synthesizing the results of many high-quality studies. Conducting a thorough literature search also helps in finding information on the methodology, calculating the sample size, and also the type of analysis as we are looking to find a difference. This information is necessary to help structure a new study and to identify gaps in the knowledge base of the scientific community.

Refining research question

A focused research question leads to a systematic planning of a research project. The difficulty in framing a research question is not due to the lack of ideas. The challenge is to transform a novel research question into a valid study design which is the next step in refining a research question.

Asking a well-formulated research question is a starting point in conducting a quality research project and in evidence-based clinical practice. The framework presented in this paper can be helpful for a clinician to formulate a question and search for an answer and for a researcher to develop a new research project. The classical approach is to identify a research question followed by a thorough literature search keeping in mind the PICO and FINER criteria. If it is a well-defined research question, it will lead to an appropriate study design and methodology. Discussing your research question with knowledgeable peers, department chair, mentor, and the biostatistician from the start will lead to the completion of a successful project. Other steps such as type and phase of the clinical trial, budget, informed consent, sites, resource constraints of both personnel and facilities, and timeline should also be considered while formulating a research question. We have introduced the concept of background and foreground questions and also the types of different questions that can arise (therapy, harm, diagnosis, and prognosis). We have described several strategies here while highlighting the major steps that will help investigators in framing a question with the goal of finding an answer based on evidence or initiation of a new research project. It is always good to focus on a single research question based on its relevance to patient’s health or one primary objective to drive the study design.[ 4 ] Once we have formulated our research question, we need to keep track of the progress toward finding an appropriate answer and then finally applying the results to a specific patient population. In short, a researchable question is what leads toward the facts rather than opinion[ 7 ] and is clearly linked to the overall research project goal.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge Dr. J.K Kosambiya, Dr. Eknath Naik, and Dr. Ambuj Kumar for their time in reviewing the paper and providing useful insights.

Source of Support: Nil

Conflict of Interest: None declared.

Research Question Examples 🧑🏻‍🏫

25+ Practical Examples & Ideas To Help You Get Started

By: Derek Jansen (MBA) | October 2023

A well-crafted research question (or set of questions) sets the stage for a robust study and meaningful insights. But, if you’re new to research, it’s not always clear what exactly constitutes a good research question. In this post, we’ll provide you with clear examples of quality research questions across various disciplines, so that you can approach your research project with confidence!

Research Question Examples

Psychology research questions
Business research questions
Education research questions
Healthcare research questions
Computer science research questions

Examples: Psychology

Let’s start by looking at some examples of research questions that you might encounter within the discipline of psychology.

How does sleep quality affect academic performance in university students?

This question is specific to a population (university students) and looks at a direct relationship between sleep and academic performance, both of which are quantifiable and measurable variables.

What factors contribute to the onset of anxiety disorders in adolescents?

The question narrows down the age group and focuses on identifying multiple contributing factors. There are various ways in which it could be approached from a methodological standpoint, including both qualitatively and quantitatively.

Do mindfulness techniques improve emotional well-being?

This is a focused research question aiming to evaluate the effectiveness of a specific intervention.

How does early childhood trauma impact adult relationships?

This research question targets a clear cause-and-effect relationship over a long timescale, making it focused but comprehensive.

Is there a correlation between screen time and depression in teenagers?

This research question focuses on an in-demand current issue and a specific demographic, allowing for a focused investigation. The key variables are clearly stated within the question and can be measured and analysed (i.e., high feasibility).

Free Webinar: How To Find A Dissertation Research Topic

Examples: Business/Management

Next, let’s look at some examples of well-articulated research questions within the business and management realm.

How do leadership styles impact employee retention?

This is an example of a strong research question because it directly looks at the effect of one variable (leadership styles) on another (employee retention), allowing from a strongly aligned methodological approach.

What role does corporate social responsibility play in consumer choice?

Current and precise, this research question can reveal how social concerns are influencing buying behaviour by way of a qualitative exploration.

Does remote work increase or decrease productivity in tech companies?

Focused on a particular industry and a hot topic, this research question could yield timely, actionable insights that would have high practical value in the real world.

How do economic downturns affect small businesses in the homebuilding industry?

Vital for policy-making, this highly specific research question aims to uncover the challenges faced by small businesses within a certain industry.

Which employee benefits have the greatest impact on job satisfaction?

By being straightforward and specific, answering this research question could provide tangible insights to employers.

Examples: Education

Next, let’s look at some potential research questions within the education, training and development domain.

How does class size affect students’ academic performance in primary schools?

This example research question targets two clearly defined variables, which can be measured and analysed relatively easily.

Do online courses result in better retention of material than traditional courses?

Timely, specific and focused, answering this research question can help inform educational policy and personal choices about learning formats.

What impact do US public school lunches have on student health?

Targeting a specific, well-defined context, the research could lead to direct changes in public health policies.

To what degree does parental involvement improve academic outcomes in secondary education in the Midwest?

This research question focuses on a specific context (secondary education in the Midwest) and has clearly defined constructs.

What are the negative effects of standardised tests on student learning within Oklahoma primary schools?

This research question has a clear focus (negative outcomes) and is narrowed into a very specific context.

Need a helping hand?

Examples: Healthcare

Shifting to a different field, let’s look at some examples of research questions within the healthcare space.

What are the most effective treatments for chronic back pain amongst UK senior males?

Specific and solution-oriented, this research question focuses on clear variables and a well-defined context (senior males within the UK).

How do different healthcare policies affect patient satisfaction in public hospitals in South Africa?

This question is has clearly defined variables and is narrowly focused in terms of context.

Which factors contribute to obesity rates in urban areas within California?

This question is focused yet broad, aiming to reveal several contributing factors for targeted interventions.

Does telemedicine provide the same perceived quality of care as in-person visits for diabetes patients?

Ideal for a qualitative study, this research question explores a single construct (perceived quality of care) within a well-defined sample (diabetes patients).

Which lifestyle factors have the greatest affect on the risk of heart disease?

This research question aims to uncover modifiable factors, offering preventive health recommendations.

Examples: Computer Science

Last but certainly not least, let’s look at a few examples of research questions within the computer science world.

What are the perceived risks of cloud-based storage systems?

Highly relevant in our digital age, this research question would align well with a qualitative interview approach to better understand what users feel the key risks of cloud storage are.

Which factors affect the energy efficiency of data centres in Ohio?

With a clear focus, this research question lays a firm foundation for a quantitative study.

How do TikTok algorithms impact user behaviour amongst new graduates?

While this research question is more open-ended, it could form the basis for a qualitative investigation.

What are the perceived risk and benefits of open-source software software within the web design industry?

Practical and straightforward, the results could guide both developers and end-users in their choices.

Remember, these are just examples…

In this post, we’ve tried to provide a wide range of research question examples to help you get a feel for what research questions look like in practice. That said, it’s important to remember that these are just examples and don’t necessarily equate to good research topics . If you’re still trying to find a topic, check out our topic megalist for inspiration.

Psst... there’s more!

This post was based on one of our popular Research Bootcamps . If you're working on a research project, you'll definitely want to check this out ...

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Research 101

1c. formulate research questions, craft your questions.

Once you have selected a topic, find a question that clearly identifies what you hope to learn. With a definite question in mind, you can focus your research.

Well-crafted questions guide the systematic planning of research. Formulating your questions precisely enables you to design a study with a good chance of answering them. Light, et al. , 1990 , p. 13

How to Formulate the Question

Once you have selected an initial topic, ask a question that identifies what you hope to learn.

Write down what you know or don’t know about the topic.

Using the information you wrote down, develop questions you’d like to answer.

Use probing questions such as why? how? what if? should?

Avoid questions that can be answered with yes or no .

Ask open-ended questions.

Yes / no questions can usually be answered quickly without leaving room for further exploration. Instead, ask questions you can effectively examine.

Avoid loaded language.

Phrase your question in a way that is value-neutral so that it does not presuppose an expected answer.

Avoid over-long questions.

An ideal research question is brief and to the point, not so broad as to be vague but not so narrow as to give you room for exploration.

From Topic to Research Question

Use tips from the document below to craft an effective question.

Note. This brief guide explains how to move from general information to a specific research question. Adapted from “ From Topic to Research Question ,” by Indiana University Bloomington, 2019 ( https://libraries .indiana .edu /file /topic-research-question-pdf ). Copyright 2008 by George Mason University. Used with permission.

English Editing Research Services

How to Formulate Research Questions for Studies that Get Cited

The research process answers important questions; so, choosing and formulating your research question is the beginning and most fundamental part of any research project.

Whether for a master’s thesis, PhD dissertation, or research you’ll submit to a journal for publication, your research question guides you. It justifies why you’re doing the work, both to others and as a reminder to yourself.

This article walks you through the process of creating a research question. You’ll the different types of research question, good and bad examples, and recommended steps to prepare yours.

Descriptive research questions in action

Critical/improvement-based, attend conferences and seminars, 3. formulate your effective research question, what is a research question.

A research question is what your research will confirm or test, and what it will then answer. It’s the specific inquiry that your study will answer.

What your research question does

It also has a number of functions. Your research question:

Narrows down your topic from the infinite other possible questions to a specific topic of concern
Guides what sources you’ll use
Suggests how you’ll structure your argument
Directly informs your hypothesis (what you initially, based on previous evidence, expect as a result)

It’s also dynamic; it can change. As your study progresses, you may find you want (or need) to adjust your question.

That’s perfectly OK.

But all research questions aren’t the same. There are different types. As the pilot of your research, you can choose from among them.

Different kinds of research questions

Different studies have different objectives. Some seek breakthroughs based on great new ideas . Some will build on previous work. Some want to speculate while others want to clarify what’s going on.

Descriptive

The most fundamental type of research question is a descriptive question.

This is where you present data or observations to describe something.

What is the speed of x?
How many of x are present in area y?
What is the solubility of the new drug x?

Descriptive questions will be personally interesting for you, the researcher. The trick here is to see the bigger picture.

Ensure that the basic, descriptive questions you seek to answer are actually going to have some relevance to others, inside and hopefully outside your field. That’s the type of research that will be read and cited.

“How many, and which, species of butterfly in the family Pieridae are present in the Chocó–Darién moist forests of eastern Colombia?”

For a butterfly biologist or ecologist, this is interesting. But outside of this quite-specific research area, this question holds little interest.

So, while it may appeal to other lepidopterists (butterfly researchers), there is little for any other researchers to cite or build on.

The study may get published in a low-impact specialized journal because it has so little impact. If you aren’t recognized and cited, it will be harder to you to get support and funding for studying more of your questions.

But you can reframe your question a little, for much more impact:

“How has climate warming affected butterfly species numbers and composition over the last 50 years in Colombia?”

Now you’ve taken a purely descriptive question and put in much wider contexts (climate change and geography) means that the work immediately becomes more interesting to a wider readership group (and therefore has a better chance of higher impact publication).

This is a great way to think about your own research and how to formulate questions.

“The decline of butterflies in Europe: Problems, significance, and possible solutions”

This was the title of an article in PNAS . The descriptive question, then, is: “What are the problems, significance, solution for the decline in butterflies in Europe?”

It’s a pretty simple question at face value. But it’s hard to answer because it needs so much data, which then need to be placed and analyzed along a time axis.

The authors collated existing data from standard sources and presented a series of simple conservation solutions.

The answer to their question is yes – there has been a considerable decline in butterfly species numbers over time across Europe. Then they tackled the significance and solutions.

“Trial of Intensive Blood-Pressure Control in Older Patients with Hypertension”

This was one we edited at Edanz. Read it here .

The study assigned Chinese patients with hypertension aged 60–80 years to a systolic blood pressure target. This analysis/question + response, was purely descriptive in scope and was successfully published in the elite (impact factor 74) journal, The New England Journal of Medicine .

It’s an interesting and very relevant question and has clear and immediate clinical relevance. It can be compared with other studies in different populations, and it can be extended in the same way.

The topic, naturally, as a global concern, can also attract attention from across the clinical and social sciences.

That’s good research from a good descriptive question, and it was justifiably rewarded. The authors performed well in their field , gained prestige, and increased their publication output .

Sometimes, though, we want to look to the future. Anticipating what may happen is another immensely valuable motivation for a researcher.

Speculative

Speculative research questions are often called “blue sky research.” Thinking outside of the box. They may result from great research ideas that come from seemingly out of nowhere. Because they’re so novel, they are also the hardest to justify, fund, and get off to the ground. And perhaps the most rewarding.

What happens if I do x instead of y?
Why is this problem x so prevalent in area y?
No one’s tried the x approach for x yet. Why on Earth not?

For this reason, speculative research questions often end up getting tested on a whim, or by accident. Once you have some data, and some answers, it’s often possible to reformulate these kinds of questions so they do address something of clear interest to journals and prospective readers.

Speculation helps refine our questions and ask more inventive questions with our research.

Ironically, this kind of work is often the most productive in terms of opening up new questions or new areas of research.

Some results that address a speculative research question are also great for grant applications: You’re able to show that a new direction will in fact lead to something. This is often exactly what funding agencies are looking for, rather than “more of the same”, “run of the mill” research.

Here’s another one that passed through the hands of our expert editors .

“Comparison of Surgical Outcomes Between Two Types of Lamellar Macular Holes”

This speculative research question simply seeks to understand the difference in outcomes between two different forms of degenerative eye conditions. Its descriptive in its impartially looking at what happens. Yet it leads to speculation, and valuable continued research.

Case studies in medical research are very often speculative and fit within this kind of question setting. You don’t know WHY a piece of research is interesting until after the work or study is complete.

Read the article here (don’t worry, it’s open access).

Someone should be trying out these great ideas. Why not you? But perhaps we have a more specific idea of what will happen. Or perhaps someone else has put forth a theory and you want to take it up as a challenge. Read on.

Interrogative hypothesis-testing

Interrogative research questions seek to test a hypothesis that you’ve postulated yourself oer another researcher has.

Often in research, a hypothesis is stated at the start, and then data ( qualitative or quantitative) are collected to test the question. A null hypothesis assumes a hypothesis can’t be supported.

So when posing interrogative questions, it’s also important to think about how these might be testable. What kind of data would need to be collected in your work to present a significant interrogation of the hypothesis.

Here’s an award-winning example of an interrogative hypothesis-based research question from the University of Michigan:

“Grandparenthood, Grandparenting, and Working Longer: Do the Genders of Grandparent and of Grandchild’s Parent Matter?” ( source )

This study assessed the effects of ability and time available to work given that older people are increasingly called on to take care of their grandchildren.

A further example and one we edited:

“Should compression bandage be performed after total knee arthroplasty? A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials” ( source )

Critical research questions are usually formulated in response to existing work.

You might read something written in another academic article and disagree. You might already have data, or know how to collect data, that enable you to be critical of a research question from an earlier work.

This might be taken up in a commentary, as explained in Berterö (2016) .

A key here is to remain positive in how you formulate the critical research question. No one likes to read overly negative “attack” papers, nor are they good for your career.

Remain positive even if you do need to strongly criticize others’ work. That’s why these are also caused “improvement-based” questions, as they seek to do better.

Good and bad research questions

In graduate school, your supervisor/chair/etc. should be guiding you on formulating a good question. But as a post-doc or a career researcher, you may lack that immediate criticism. These are general guidelines for how to make good questions (and how not to).

What makes a good research question?

A good research question effectively guides your work, or at least gets it going, and maybe you’ll modify it later.

Your question should be clear and focused. It should use existing literature to present a unique hypothesis.

You can use all these devices to come up with a good question:

Base your research question on existing knowledge in your field of study
Relate your question to problems that people face daily
Discuss your proposed question with your colleagues and project supervisors to refine it
Focus your question. Make it specific.
Consider if you’ll be able to answer that question within your given time and resources.

Also consider:

Is your research question an important one? (we’ll explain how to evaluate this)
Are your findings useful? (will other researchers, ideally from a range of different disciplines, need to use and apply the outcomes of your study?)
Is your research ethical?

“Does quetiapine increase the effects of moderate alcohol consumption on short-term memory?”

In this well-formulated, precise research question the kind of influence being investigated is clear. It’s also clear what kind of data will need to be collected (and how), so that you can address the question.

What makes a bad research question?

Now we’ve built it, let’s knock it over and see how to make it a bad research question.

Anticipates a simple answer, a yes or no

It’s too simple. It’s not nuanced at all.

It’s hard to anticipate how you might collect data bearing on this question. Also, generally obvious given the leading nature of the question.

“Is drinking alcohol a bad idea if you are also taking antipsychotic drugs?”

Uses loaded, vague, or argumentative terms

It leaves the reader in no doubt of the author’s opinion at the outset. It makes strong, contentious claims.

“Does drinking alcohol badly harm health when taken concurrently with antipsychotic drugs”

With some rewording and evidence, this could be the start of a hypothesis, but it’s not a good research question.

The kind of relationship being investigated isn’t clear. Again, it’s hard to determine what kind of data collection would be relevant to test this question.

“What is the relationship between antipsychotics and alcohol?”

There are many types of relationships, antipsychotics, and alcohol. Not to mention populations that take them.

Ties things down too much, looks for too much detail

Too specific, requires the exact collection of data to answer a question that is not broad enough to be appealing to more than just a handful of other researchers working directly in the same field.

“What is the cumulative effect on GABA of drinking Old Grandma whiskey and the effects of the quetiapine in never-married men aged 31-34 in Kamloops, Canada”

Indeed, the findings might be interesting, but how can anyone cite or extend something so specific?

Steps to take to formulate your research question

So then, we’ve laid out the types of research questions, and good and bad examples. Now let’s start formulating.

1. Do the background work

Typically, research question formulation starts with reading. And more reading.

To create a research question that will make a new contribution to the literature and keep your field moving forward, you must read extensively on the topic.

You already know your general research area – this is your broad area of interest, be it animal biology, organic chemistry, or contemporary Chinese literature.

Often, your own interests have already determined your topic of research. Otherwise you wouldn’t be working as a researcher.

Start broad enough, within your field.

Literature searches

Literature searches for existing data on compound characteristics can help you streamline or redirect your own research, saving you countless hours.

Relying on such third-party data has traditionally required attention to its origin. You do this by verifying peer review status, replicability, clearly identifiable compound characteristics, fit with other established research, and consideration of alternative conclusions.

Modern databases typically have done a lot of this vetting for you. Note that each journal may have guidelines or standard practices for citing or incorporating received compound data, which may shape how you conduct and document your literature search.

In large databases, like Scopus and Web of Science , you can try special publisher repositories .

Online journal subscribers can sign up for email alerts for databases such as Google and PubMed , and from journal publishers. These e-mails provide titles and links to relevant new articles as they are published online. Using this approach, it is easy to acquire articles by simply clicking on titles of interest and downloading them to your computer or mobile device.

Check preprints as well, to see immediately trending topics.

This is a great way to keep up with the latest research developments, understand what’s being studied, and identify what knowledge is missing in your field.

This knowledge can help you formulate your research question. Exciting or controversial topics are often presented, and there are opportunities to speak with peers and experts.

If you have the chance, present your unpublished results (usually in poster form ) at a conference and encourage people you meet to give you feedback on your presentation.

The way others respond to your work will be a good indicator of how much (or how little) your future manuscript will appeal to others.

If you present your work at a conference and it gains little attention, compare your topic with topics that attracted greater interest. How do they differ? Can you adjust your topic to focus more on current trends?

If your study doesn’t attract the attention of your peers at a conference, your article will be less likely to be published, or to be read and cited if it is published.

2. Identify a knowledge gap

Thorough research within, and around, your topic will lead to a number of ideas for potential future investigations. These so-called knowledge gaps are questions and new directions that will likely lead to new results that fill the gaps in your area.

The question is: Where to focus your energy and resources? Which gap should you try to fill?

This comes with experience. Senior researchers have had the chance to practice more, often through trial and error, which areas to focus their attention. If you don’t have that background, you can offset it.

Talk to colleagues, discuss with your peers, and ask for feedback from supervisors and other senior researchers to determine which gaps are going to be better use of your time than others.

Which questions are more interesting? More fundamental? Non-trivial? Likely to result in higher impact publications?

By this point, you probably have a list of candidate questions.

As we’ve discussed, when you start to formulate your research question, it’s important to consider:

What’s the problem to be solved?
Who cares about this problem and why?
What have others done?
What’s your solution to the problem?
How can you demonstrate that your solution is a good one?

When formulating your research question, remember the handy F.I.N.E.R. criteria (Hulley et al., 2007). Thus, is your research question:

F easible: Do you have enough time, staff, and funding?
I nteresting: Will people be curious about your study?
N ovel: Have you done a careful literature search to find a knowledge gap?
E thical: Have you used a design method reviewers will approve of?
R elevant: Will your work advance scientific practice or policy?

Good luck and happy questioning!

Whether you need help with formulating your question, doing research, critically analyzing your work, or refining the language before submission, we have services to help you succeed. Explore Edanz Research Services here.

You can also ramp up your knowledge on every step of the research process by signing up for the Edanz Learning Lab for free. If you haven’t already, sign up here .

Access courses, tools, and infographics, like this one on mastering the F.I.N.E.R. approach .

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Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Paper

The Research Problem/Question
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Reading Research Effectively
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A research problem is a definite or clear expression [statement] about an area of concern, a condition to be improved upon, a difficulty to be eliminated, or a troubling question that exists in scholarly literature, in theory, or within existing practice that points to a need for meaningful understanding and deliberate investigation. A research problem does not state how to do something, offer a vague or broad proposition, or present a value question. In the social and behavioral sciences, studies are most often framed around examining a problem that needs to be understood and resolved in order to improve society and the human condition.

Bryman, Alan. “The Research Question in Social Research: What is its Role?” International Journal of Social Research Methodology 10 (2007): 5-20; Guba, Egon G., and Yvonna S. Lincoln. “Competing Paradigms in Qualitative Research.” In Handbook of Qualitative Research . Norman K. Denzin and Yvonna S. Lincoln, editors. (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1994), pp. 105-117; Pardede, Parlindungan. “Identifying and Formulating the Research Problem." Research in ELT: Module 4 (October 2018): 1-13; Li, Yanmei, and Sumei Zhang. "Identifying the Research Problem." In Applied Research Methods in Urban and Regional Planning . (Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing, 2022), pp. 13-21.

Importance of...

The purpose of a problem statement is to:

Introduce the reader to the importance of the topic being studied . The reader is oriented to the significance of the study.
Anchors the research questions, hypotheses, or assumptions to follow . It offers a concise statement about the purpose of your paper.
Place the topic into a particular context that defines the parameters of what is to be investigated.
Provide the framework for reporting the results and indicates what is probably necessary to conduct the study and explain how the findings will present this information.

In the social sciences, the research problem establishes the means by which you must answer the "So What?" question. This declarative question refers to a research problem surviving the relevancy test [the quality of a measurement procedure that provides repeatability and accuracy]. Note that answering the "So What?" question requires a commitment on your part to not only show that you have reviewed the literature, but that you have thoroughly considered the significance of the research problem and its implications applied to creating new knowledge and understanding or informing practice.

To survive the "So What" question, problem statements should possess the following attributes:

Clarity and precision [a well-written statement does not make sweeping generalizations and irresponsible pronouncements; it also does include unspecific determinates like "very" or "giant"],
Demonstrate a researchable topic or issue [i.e., feasibility of conducting the study is based upon access to information that can be effectively acquired, gathered, interpreted, synthesized, and understood],
Identification of what would be studied, while avoiding the use of value-laden words and terms,
Identification of an overarching question or small set of questions accompanied by key factors or variables,
Identification of key concepts and terms,
Articulation of the study's conceptual boundaries or parameters or limitations,
Some generalizability in regards to applicability and bringing results into general use,
Conveyance of the study's importance, benefits, and justification [i.e., regardless of the type of research, it is important to demonstrate that the research is not trivial],
Does not have unnecessary jargon or overly complex sentence constructions; and,
Conveyance of more than the mere gathering of descriptive data providing only a snapshot of the issue or phenomenon under investigation.

Bryman, Alan. “The Research Question in Social Research: What is its Role?” International Journal of Social Research Methodology 10 (2007): 5-20; Brown, Perry J., Allen Dyer, and Ross S. Whaley. "Recreation Research—So What?" Journal of Leisure Research 5 (1973): 16-24; Castellanos, Susie. Critical Writing and Thinking. The Writing Center. Dean of the College. Brown University; Ellis, Timothy J. and Yair Levy Nova. "Framework of Problem-Based Research: A Guide for Novice Researchers on the Development of a Research-Worthy Problem." Informing Science: the International Journal of an Emerging Transdiscipline 11 (2008); Thesis and Purpose Statements. The Writer’s Handbook. Writing Center. University of Wisconsin, Madison; Thesis Statements. The Writing Center. University of North Carolina; Tips and Examples for Writing Thesis Statements. The Writing Lab and The OWL. Purdue University; Selwyn, Neil. "‘So What?’…A Question that Every Journal Article Needs to Answer." Learning, Media, and Technology 39 (2014): 1-5; Shoket, Mohd. "Research Problem: Identification and Formulation." International Journal of Research 1 (May 2014): 512-518.

Structure and Writing Style

I. Types and Content

There are four general conceptualizations of a research problem in the social sciences:

Casuist Research Problem -- this type of problem relates to the determination of right and wrong in questions of conduct or conscience by analyzing moral dilemmas through the application of general rules and the careful distinction of special cases.
Difference Research Problem -- typically asks the question, “Is there a difference between two or more groups or treatments?” This type of problem statement is used when the researcher compares or contrasts two or more phenomena. This a common approach to defining a problem in the clinical social sciences or behavioral sciences.
Descriptive Research Problem -- typically asks the question, "what is...?" with the underlying purpose to describe the significance of a situation, state, or existence of a specific phenomenon. This problem is often associated with revealing hidden or understudied issues.
Relational Research Problem -- suggests a relationship of some sort between two or more variables to be investigated. The underlying purpose is to investigate specific qualities or characteristics that may be connected in some way.

A problem statement in the social sciences should contain :

A lead-in that helps ensure the reader will maintain interest over the study,
A declaration of originality [e.g., mentioning a knowledge void or a lack of clarity about a topic that will be revealed in the literature review of prior research],
An indication of the central focus of the study [establishing the boundaries of analysis], and
An explanation of the study's significance or the benefits to be derived from investigating the research problem.

NOTE : A statement describing the research problem of your paper should not be viewed as a thesis statement that you may be familiar with from high school. Given the content listed above, a description of the research problem is usually a short paragraph in length.

II. Sources of Problems for Investigation

The identification of a problem to study can be challenging, not because there's a lack of issues that could be investigated, but due to the challenge of formulating an academically relevant and researchable problem which is unique and does not simply duplicate the work of others. To facilitate how you might select a problem from which to build a research study, consider these sources of inspiration:

Deductions from Theory This relates to deductions made from social philosophy or generalizations embodied in life and in society that the researcher is familiar with. These deductions from human behavior are then placed within an empirical frame of reference through research. From a theory, the researcher can formulate a research problem or hypothesis stating the expected findings in certain empirical situations. The research asks the question: “What relationship between variables will be observed if theory aptly summarizes the state of affairs?” One can then design and carry out a systematic investigation to assess whether empirical data confirm or reject the hypothesis, and hence, the theory.

Interdisciplinary Perspectives Identifying a problem that forms the basis for a research study can come from academic movements and scholarship originating in disciplines outside of your primary area of study. This can be an intellectually stimulating exercise. A review of pertinent literature should include examining research from related disciplines that can reveal new avenues of exploration and analysis. An interdisciplinary approach to selecting a research problem offers an opportunity to construct a more comprehensive understanding of a very complex issue that any single discipline may be able to provide.

Interviewing Practitioners The identification of research problems about particular topics can arise from formal interviews or informal discussions with practitioners who provide insight into new directions for future research and how to make research findings more relevant to practice. Discussions with experts in the field, such as, teachers, social workers, health care providers, lawyers, business leaders, etc., offers the chance to identify practical, “real world” problems that may be understudied or ignored within academic circles. This approach also provides some practical knowledge which may help in the process of designing and conducting your study.

Personal Experience Don't undervalue your everyday experiences or encounters as worthwhile problems for investigation. Think critically about your own experiences and/or frustrations with an issue facing society or related to your community, your neighborhood, your family, or your personal life. This can be derived, for example, from deliberate observations of certain relationships for which there is no clear explanation or witnessing an event that appears harmful to a person or group or that is out of the ordinary.

Relevant Literature The selection of a research problem can be derived from a thorough review of pertinent research associated with your overall area of interest. This may reveal where gaps exist in understanding a topic or where an issue has been understudied. Research may be conducted to: 1) fill such gaps in knowledge; 2) evaluate if the methodologies employed in prior studies can be adapted to solve other problems; or, 3) determine if a similar study could be conducted in a different subject area or applied in a different context or to different study sample [i.e., different setting or different group of people]. Also, authors frequently conclude their studies by noting implications for further research; read the conclusion of pertinent studies because statements about further research can be a valuable source for identifying new problems to investigate. The fact that a researcher has identified a topic worthy of further exploration validates the fact it is worth pursuing.

III. What Makes a Good Research Statement?

A good problem statement begins by introducing the broad area in which your research is centered, gradually leading the reader to the more specific issues you are investigating. The statement need not be lengthy, but a good research problem should incorporate the following features:

1. Compelling Topic The problem chosen should be one that motivates you to address it but simple curiosity is not a good enough reason to pursue a research study because this does not indicate significance. The problem that you choose to explore must be important to you, but it must also be viewed as important by your readers and to a the larger academic and/or social community that could be impacted by the results of your study. 2. Supports Multiple Perspectives The problem must be phrased in a way that avoids dichotomies and instead supports the generation and exploration of multiple perspectives. A general rule of thumb in the social sciences is that a good research problem is one that would generate a variety of viewpoints from a composite audience made up of reasonable people. 3. Researchability This isn't a real word but it represents an important aspect of creating a good research statement. It seems a bit obvious, but you don't want to find yourself in the midst of investigating a complex research project and realize that you don't have enough prior research to draw from for your analysis. There's nothing inherently wrong with original research, but you must choose research problems that can be supported, in some way, by the resources available to you. If you are not sure if something is researchable, don't assume that it isn't if you don't find information right away--seek help from a librarian !

NOTE: Do not confuse a research problem with a research topic. A topic is something to read and obtain information about, whereas a problem is something to be solved or framed as a question raised for inquiry, consideration, or solution, or explained as a source of perplexity, distress, or vexation. In short, a research topic is something to be understood; a research problem is something that needs to be investigated.

IV. Asking Analytical Questions about the Research Problem

Research problems in the social and behavioral sciences are often analyzed around critical questions that must be investigated. These questions can be explicitly listed in the introduction [i.e., "This study addresses three research questions about women's psychological recovery from domestic abuse in multi-generational home settings..."], or, the questions are implied in the text as specific areas of study related to the research problem. Explicitly listing your research questions at the end of your introduction can help in designing a clear roadmap of what you plan to address in your study, whereas, implicitly integrating them into the text of the introduction allows you to create a more compelling narrative around the key issues under investigation. Either approach is appropriate.

The number of questions you attempt to address should be based on the complexity of the problem you are investigating and what areas of inquiry you find most critical to study. Practical considerations, such as, the length of the paper you are writing or the availability of resources to analyze the issue can also factor in how many questions to ask. In general, however, there should be no more than four research questions underpinning a single research problem.

Given this, well-developed analytical questions can focus on any of the following:

Highlights a genuine dilemma, area of ambiguity, or point of confusion about a topic open to interpretation by your readers;
Yields an answer that is unexpected and not obvious rather than inevitable and self-evident;
Provokes meaningful thought or discussion;
Raises the visibility of the key ideas or concepts that may be understudied or hidden;
Suggests the need for complex analysis or argument rather than a basic description or summary; and,
Offers a specific path of inquiry that avoids eliciting generalizations about the problem.

NOTE: Questions of how and why concerning a research problem often require more analysis than questions about who, what, where, and when. You should still ask yourself these latter questions, however. Thinking introspectively about the who, what, where, and when of a research problem can help ensure that you have thoroughly considered all aspects of the problem under investigation and helps define the scope of the study in relation to the problem.

V. Mistakes to Avoid

Beware of circular reasoning! Do not state the research problem as simply the absence of the thing you are suggesting. For example, if you propose the following, "The problem in this community is that there is no hospital," this only leads to a research problem where:

The need is for a hospital
The objective is to create a hospital
The method is to plan for building a hospital, and
The evaluation is to measure if there is a hospital or not.

This is an example of a research problem that fails the "So What?" test . In this example, the problem does not reveal the relevance of why you are investigating the fact there is no hospital in the community [e.g., perhaps there's a hospital in the community ten miles away]; it does not elucidate the significance of why one should study the fact there is no hospital in the community [e.g., that hospital in the community ten miles away has no emergency room]; the research problem does not offer an intellectual pathway towards adding new knowledge or clarifying prior knowledge [e.g., the county in which there is no hospital already conducted a study about the need for a hospital, but it was conducted ten years ago]; and, the problem does not offer meaningful outcomes that lead to recommendations that can be generalized for other situations or that could suggest areas for further research [e.g., the challenges of building a new hospital serves as a case study for other communities].

Alvesson, Mats and Jörgen Sandberg. “Generating Research Questions Through Problematization.” Academy of Management Review 36 (April 2011): 247-271 ; Choosing and Refining Topics. Writing@CSU. Colorado State University; D'Souza, Victor S. "Use of Induction and Deduction in Research in Social Sciences: An Illustration." Journal of the Indian Law Institute 24 (1982): 655-661; Ellis, Timothy J. and Yair Levy Nova. "Framework of Problem-Based Research: A Guide for Novice Researchers on the Development of a Research-Worthy Problem." Informing Science: the International Journal of an Emerging Transdiscipline 11 (2008); How to Write a Research Question. The Writing Center. George Mason University; Invention: Developing a Thesis Statement. The Reading/Writing Center. Hunter College; Problem Statements PowerPoint Presentation. The Writing Lab and The OWL. Purdue University; Procter, Margaret. Using Thesis Statements. University College Writing Centre. University of Toronto; Shoket, Mohd. "Research Problem: Identification and Formulation." International Journal of Research 1 (May 2014): 512-518; Trochim, William M.K. Problem Formulation. Research Methods Knowledge Base. 2006; Thesis and Purpose Statements. The Writer’s Handbook. Writing Center. University of Wisconsin, Madison; Thesis Statements. The Writing Center. University of North Carolina; Tips and Examples for Writing Thesis Statements. The Writing Lab and The OWL. Purdue University; Pardede, Parlindungan. “Identifying and Formulating the Research Problem." Research in ELT: Module 4 (October 2018): 1-13; Walk, Kerry. Asking an Analytical Question. [Class handout or worksheet]. Princeton University; White, Patrick. Developing Research Questions: A Guide for Social Scientists . New York: Palgrave McMillan, 2009; Li, Yanmei, and Sumei Zhang. "Identifying the Research Problem." In Applied Research Methods in Urban and Regional Planning . (Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing, 2022), pp. 13-21.

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How to formulate a research question

Asking the right questions is the first step

Early on in your academic training, you may have been assigned topics to research. As you progress in your studies, however – and especially as you begin thinking about your bachelor thesis – you will increasingly need to identify topics and formulate your research questions on your own. You will want to choose a topic that you are interested in exploring further, of course – beyond what you learned in your coursework – and that will hold your interest long enough to keep you motivated over a longer period of intense focus. In their exploratory focus group interviews, Kacy Lundstrom and Flora Shrode found that students often consider the following when choosing a research paper topic: how easy it is to research, whether your advisor will like the topic, and whether you can easily find sources. If your aspirations go beyond these simple motivations, you may wish to consult Golden Gate University’s guide for some good advice and resources for selecting a topic.

From topic to research question Once you have settled on a topic, some questions about it will likely spring to mind immediately. The central question that you wish to answer in your paper is your research question. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, though: formulating your final research question is a process.

An important part of this process is the search for academic literature. We recommend starting at your institution’s library website, which provides access to the library catalog and any databases your institution subscribes to. Most library websites also include tutorials with search tips and techniques to help you find exactly what you’re looking for. To learn more about how libraries can help you with your research, read this entry in our blog .

As you search for sources and begin reading, you will learn more about your topic and discover which questions have already been answered and where there are still gaps in the research that you can fill. You can import the books, articles, and other sources you find in the course of your research into your bibliography in Citavi and rate each source according to its relevance to your project .

What distinguishes a research topic from a research question? The topic of your research is usually formulated more broadly or in more general terms. The research question narrows your topic further and highlights a very specific focus in the form of a question that you would like to answer in your paper. There are usually many different questions that could be asked about a particular topic, only one of which you will choose to focus on in a particular paper.

Answering your chosen research question is the goal of your research paper. As such it determines your next steps and how you will design your research. In larger writing projects such as a thesis or dissertation, you will often want to include secondary questions under the main research question, which will inform the structure of your work. Answering these secondary questions will help you find the answers to your main question.

What to pay attention to when formulating a research question Even (especially) if you are bursting with excitement about your research topic and have tons of questions about it, it is important to clearly identify the scope of your research. For example, you’ll never be able to address all the nuances of a large topic like global warming in a 10-page paper.. Instead, concentrate on one carefully selected aspect of your topic Identifying that aspect is also part of the process.

If one question leads to a dead-end, for example, because too much has already been written about it, try heading in a different direction. It won’t always be the case that you find your research topic by narrowing a broad topic down to a specific subtopic, either. Sometimes your process will lead you in the opposite direction, with a question that arises from a specific situation or need but which can be explored from a broader perspective.

If no suitable research questions occur to you at first, you can look to your institution’s repository of previous theses and dissertations in your field for inspiration. Reading questions that have already been answered in your field will not only familiarize you with the spectrum of possible questions, but also provide new ideas and inspiration – and in the process, you will gain valuable expertise in your field!

Don’t forget to keep any necessary limitations in mind while formulating your research question. For example, if your research question in the field of biology can only be investigated by using a rare and expensive piece of analytical equipment, you will probably not be able to successfully answer it in the timeframe you have to complete your bachelor’s thesis. It is also risky to attempt a new research method that you have no practical experience with in a bachelor thesis.

Don’t bite off more than you can chew in the allotted time, either. Three months to write a bachelor’s thesis may sound like a lot at first. However, the first time you conduct an independent research project, you will have little sense for how long the different phases of your project will last or how much time you will need for revisions and final formatting checks . Be sure to discuss your planned questions and methods in detail with your advisor. Your research questions fundamentally determine your timetable for your paper, and you want it to be a pleasant journey .

Types of research questions What does a final research question look like? Your formulated research question will, of course, end in a question mark, and will usually begin with a question word such as “how” or “why.” The Center for Teaching and Learning at the University of Vienna lays out the following requirements for a good research question. It should be:

doable, and

Keep your question as concise as possible and use language that is easy to understand. You should also be sure that the thesis of your paper follows directly from your research question. Here are some possible types of research questions (and the corresponding wording you might use in your thesis statement):

Descriptive questions These questions describe something and analyze it in a larger context. They usually begin with “what”, “which”, or “how.” Example: Which strategic positioning methods are most effective for a new series of tools for DIYers? Thesis statement: “An examination of…“ or “Overview of…“
Causal questions These questions examine the results, causes, or reasons for something, looking for a direct cause-effect relationship. They usually begin with “why.“ Example: Why do German university departments continue to develop their own citation styles rather than using existing guidelines? Thesis statement: “An analysis of…“ “An examination of…“
Structural questions These questions make suggestions for measures that could be implemented to achieve a certain goal. Example: What steps should cities take if they want to increase use of public transportation? Thesis statement: “Recommendations for...“ “A practical solution for…“
Evaluative questions These questions make a value analysis. Example: How well has Canada communicated mask policies during the pandemic? Thesis statement: “A critical perspective on“ “Advantages and disadvantages of“
Predictive questions These questions attempt to look into the future and predict how something is likely to develop. Example: How will the population of European Robins change in the next 5 years? Thesis statement: “Opportunities and risks of…“ “The development of…“

Whether you are at the very beginning of your process or have already tried and then rejected one or more research questions, narrowing in on a suitable research question is only possible if you identify the relevant literature, read it, and expand your knowledge. It’s not a simple, linear process. Sometimes it will feel like you are going back and starting from scratch. Don’t look at this as a setback, but simply as part of the research process.

If trying to formulate your research question is stressful for you and you simply can’t find the right words, remember that your research question can change during the course of your research. If you’re still unsure what to do, read our search tips and ask your teaching assistant, professor, advisor, or a writing center coach for advice and support – this process may be new to you, but you can learn from others’ experience!

For further reading Alvesson, M., & Sandberg, J. (2013). Constructing research questions: Doing interesting research. SAGE.

Booth, W. C., Colomb, G. G., Williams, J. M., Bizup, J., FitzGerald, W. T., & Turabian, K. L. (Eds.). (2018). Chicago guides to writing, editing, and publishing. A manual for writers of research papers, theses, and dissertations: Chicago Style for students and researchers (9th edition). The University of Chicago Press.

Evans, D., Gruba, P., & Zobel, J. (2014). How to write a better thesis (Third edition). Springer.

Gruba, P. (2017). How to write your first thesis (1st edition). Springer Berlin Heidelberg.

Lester, J. D. (2015). Writing research papers: A complete guide (Sixteenth Edition). Pearson.

Meurer, P., & Schluchter, M. (2017). Writing a Research Paper with Citavi 6 (J. Schultz, Trans.). Based on the Duden book “Die schriftliche Arbeit – kurz gefasst” [Research Papers In a Nutshell] by Jürg Niederhauser. Swiss Academic Software GmbH. https://www.citavi.com/media/1264/citavi_6_writing_a_research_paper.pdf

White, P. (2009). Developing research questions: A guide for social scientists. Palgrave Macmillan.

White, P. (2017). Developing research questions (Second edition). Macmillan International Higher Education; Red Globe Press.

Writing Center, The. (2018, August 8). How to Write a Research Question. George Mason University. https://writingcenter.gmu.edu/guides/how-to-write-a-research-question

About Jana Behrendt

Jana Behrendt, a librarian by training, is deeply interested in everything related to personal information management. However, she does not read as much as you would expect from a librarian. She loves hiking in the Swiss Alps – as long as she doesn’t have to look down.

How to Write a Hypothesis? Types and Examples

All research studies involve the use of the scientific method, which is a mathematical and experimental technique used to conduct experiments by developing and testing a hypothesis or a prediction about an outcome. Simply put, a hypothesis is a suggested solution to a problem. It includes elements that are expressed in terms of relationships with each other to explain a condition or an assumption that hasn’t been verified using facts. 1 The typical steps in a scientific method include developing such a hypothesis, testing it through various methods, and then modifying it based on the outcomes of the experiments.

A research hypothesis can be defined as a specific, testable prediction about the anticipated results of a study. 2 Hypotheses help guide the research process and supplement the aim of the study. After several rounds of testing, hypotheses can help develop scientific theories. 3 Hypotheses are often written as if-then statements.

Here are two hypothesis examples:

Dandelions growing in nitrogen-rich soils for two weeks develop larger leaves than those in nitrogen-poor soils because nitrogen stimulates vegetative growth. 4

If a company offers flexible work hours, then their employees will be happier at work. 5

What is a hypothesis?
Types of hypotheses
Characteristics of a hypothesis
Functions of a hypothesis
How to write a hypothesis
Hypothesis examples
Frequently asked questions

What is a hypothesis?

A hypothesis expresses an expected relationship between variables in a study and is developed before conducting any research. Hypotheses are not opinions but rather are expected relationships based on facts and observations. They help support scientific research and expand existing knowledge. An incorrectly formulated hypothesis can affect the entire experiment leading to errors in the results so it’s important to know how to formulate a hypothesis and develop it carefully.

A few sources of a hypothesis include observations from prior studies, current research and experiences, competitors, scientific theories, and general conditions that can influence people. Figure 1 depicts the different steps in a research design and shows where exactly in the process a hypothesis is developed. 4

There are seven different types of hypotheses—simple, complex, directional, nondirectional, associative and causal, null, and alternative.

Types of hypotheses

The seven types of hypotheses are listed below: 5 , 6,7

Simple : Predicts the relationship between a single dependent variable and a single independent variable.

Example: Exercising in the morning every day will increase your productivity.

Complex : Predicts the relationship between two or more variables.

Example: Spending three hours or more on social media daily will negatively affect children’s mental health and productivity, more than that of adults.

Directional : Specifies the expected direction to be followed and uses terms like increase, decrease, positive, negative, more, or less.

Example: The inclusion of intervention X decreases infant mortality compared to the original treatment.

Non-directional : Does not predict the exact direction, nature, or magnitude of the relationship between two variables but rather states the existence of a relationship. This hypothesis may be used when there is no underlying theory or if findings contradict prior research.

Example: Cats and dogs differ in the amount of affection they express.

Associative and causal : An associative hypothesis suggests an interdependency between variables, that is, how a change in one variable changes the other.

Example: There is a positive association between physical activity levels and overall health.

A causal hypothesis, on the other hand, expresses a cause-and-effect association between variables.

Example: Long-term alcohol use causes liver damage.

Null : Claims that the original hypothesis is false by showing that there is no relationship between the variables.

Example: Sleep duration does not have any effect on productivity.

Alternative : States the opposite of the null hypothesis, that is, a relationship exists between two variables.

Example: Sleep duration affects productivity.

Characteristics of a hypothesis

So, what makes a good hypothesis? Here are some important characteristics of a hypothesis. 8,9

Testable : You must be able to test the hypothesis using scientific methods to either accept or reject the prediction.
Falsifiable : It should be possible to collect data that reject rather than support the hypothesis.
Logical : Hypotheses shouldn’t be a random guess but rather should be based on previous theories, observations, prior research, and logical reasoning.
Positive : The hypothesis statement about the existence of an association should be positive, that is, it should not suggest that an association does not exist. Therefore, the language used and knowing how to phrase a hypothesis is very important.
Clear and accurate : The language used should be easily comprehensible and use correct terminology.
Relevant : The hypothesis should be relevant and specific to the research question.
Structure : Should include all the elements that make a good hypothesis: variables, relationship, and outcome.

Functions of a hypothesis

The following list mentions some important functions of a hypothesis: 1

Maintains the direction and progress of the research.
Expresses the important assumptions underlying the proposition in a single statement.
Establishes a suitable context for researchers to begin their investigation and for readers who are referring to the final report.
Provides an explanation for the occurrence of a specific phenomenon.
Ensures selection of appropriate and accurate facts necessary and relevant to the research subject.

To summarize, a hypothesis provides the conceptual elements that complete the known data, conceptual relationships that systematize unordered elements, and conceptual meanings and interpretations that explain the unknown phenomena. 1

How to write a hypothesis

Listed below are the main steps explaining how to write a hypothesis. 2,4,5

Make an observation and identify variables : Observe the subject in question and try to recognize a pattern or a relationship between the variables involved. This step provides essential background information to begin your research.

For example, if you notice that an office’s vending machine frequently runs out of a specific snack, you may predict that more people in the office choose that snack over another.

Identify the main research question : After identifying a subject and recognizing a pattern, the next step is to ask a question that your hypothesis will answer.

For example, after observing employees’ break times at work, you could ask “why do more employees take breaks in the morning rather than in the afternoon?”

Conduct some preliminary research to ensure originality and novelty : Your initial answer, which is your hypothesis, to the question is based on some pre-existing information about the subject. However, to ensure that your hypothesis has not been asked before or that it has been asked but rejected by other researchers you would need to gather additional information.

For example, based on your observations you might state a hypothesis that employees work more efficiently when the air conditioning in the office is set at a lower temperature. However, during your preliminary research you find that this hypothesis was proven incorrect by a prior study.

Develop a general statement : After your preliminary research has confirmed the originality of your proposed answer, draft a general statement that includes all variables, subjects, and predicted outcome. The statement could be if/then or declarative.
Finalize the hypothesis statement : Use the PICOT model, which clarifies how to word a hypothesis effectively, when finalizing the statement. This model lists the important components required to write a hypothesis.

P opulation: The specific group or individual who is the main subject of the research

I nterest: The main concern of the study/research question

C omparison: The main alternative group

O utcome: The expected results

T ime: Duration of the experiment

Once you’ve finalized your hypothesis statement you would need to conduct experiments to test whether the hypothesis is true or false.

Hypothesis examples

The following table provides examples of different types of hypotheses. 10 ,11

Key takeaways

Here’s a summary of all the key points discussed in this article about how to write a hypothesis.

A hypothesis is an assumption about an association between variables made based on limited evidence, which should be tested.
A hypothesis has four parts—the research question, independent variable, dependent variable, and the proposed relationship between the variables.
The statement should be clear, concise, testable, logical, and falsifiable.
There are seven types of hypotheses—simple, complex, directional, non-directional, associative and causal, null, and alternative.
A hypothesis provides a focus and direction for the research to progress.
A hypothesis plays an important role in the scientific method by helping to create an appropriate experimental design.

Frequently asked questions

Hypotheses and research questions have different objectives and structure. The following table lists some major differences between the two. 9

Here are a few examples to differentiate between a research question and hypothesis.

Yes, here’s a simple checklist to help you gauge the effectiveness of your hypothesis. 9 1. When writing a hypothesis statement, check if it: 2. Predicts the relationship between the stated variables and the expected outcome. 3. Uses simple and concise language and is not wordy. 4. Does not assume readers’ knowledge about the subject. 5. Has observable, falsifiable, and testable results.

As mentioned earlier in this article, a hypothesis is an assumption or prediction about an association between variables based on observations and simple evidence. These statements are usually generic. Research objectives, on the other hand, are more specific and dictated by hypotheses. The same hypothesis can be tested using different methods and the research objectives could be different in each case. For example, Louis Pasteur observed that food lasts longer at higher altitudes, reasoned that it could be because the air at higher altitudes is cleaner (with fewer or no germs), and tested the hypothesis by exposing food to air cleaned in the laboratory. 12 Thus, a hypothesis is predictive—if the reasoning is correct, X will lead to Y—and research objectives are developed to test these predictions.

Null hypothesis testing is a method to decide between two assumptions or predictions between variables (null and alternative hypotheses) in a statistical relationship in a sample. The null hypothesis, denoted as H 0 , claims that no relationship exists between variables in a population and any relationship in the sample reflects a sampling error or occurrence by chance. The alternative hypothesis, denoted as H 1 , claims that there is a relationship in the population. In every study, researchers need to decide whether the relationship in a sample occurred by chance or reflects a relationship in the population. This is done by hypothesis testing using the following steps: 13 1. Assume that the null hypothesis is true. 2. Determine how likely the sample relationship would be if the null hypothesis were true. This probability is called the p value. 3. If the sample relationship would be extremely unlikely, reject the null hypothesis and accept the alternative hypothesis. If the relationship would not be unlikely, accept the null hypothesis.

To summarize, researchers should know how to write a good hypothesis to ensure that their research progresses in the required direction. A hypothesis is a testable prediction about any behavior or relationship between variables, usually based on facts and observation, and states an expected outcome.

We hope this article has provided you with essential insight into the different types of hypotheses and their functions so that you can use them appropriately in your next research project.

References

Dalen, DVV. The function of hypotheses in research. Proquest website. Accessed April 8, 2024. https://www.proquest.com/docview/1437933010?pq-origsite=gscholar&fromopenview=true&sourcetype=Scholarly%20Journals&imgSeq=1
McLeod S. Research hypothesis in psychology: Types & examples. SimplyPsychology website. Updated December 13, 2023. Accessed April 9, 2024. https://www.simplypsychology.org/what-is-a-hypotheses.html
Scientific method. Britannica website. Updated March 14, 2024. Accessed April 9, 2024. https://www.britannica.com/science/scientific-method
The hypothesis in science writing. Accessed April 10, 2024. https://berks.psu.edu/sites/berks/files/campus/HypothesisHandout_Final.pdf
How to develop a hypothesis (with elements, types, and examples). Indeed.com website. Updated February 3, 2023. Accessed April 10, 2024. https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/how-to-write-a-hypothesis
Types of research hypotheses. Excelsior online writing lab. Accessed April 11, 2024. https://owl.excelsior.edu/research/research-hypotheses/types-of-research-hypotheses/
What is a research hypothesis: how to write it, types, and examples. Researcher.life website. Published February 8, 2023. Accessed April 11, 2024. https://researcher.life/blog/article/how-to-write-a-research-hypothesis-definition-types-examples/
Developing a hypothesis. Pressbooks website. Accessed April 12, 2024. https://opentext.wsu.edu/carriecuttler/chapter/developing-a-hypothesis/
What is and how to write a good hypothesis in research. Elsevier author services website. Accessed April 12, 2024. https://scientific-publishing.webshop.elsevier.com/manuscript-preparation/what-how-write-good-hypothesis-research/
How to write a great hypothesis. Verywellmind website. Updated March 12, 2023. Accessed April 13, 2024. https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-a-hypothesis-2795239
15 Hypothesis examples. Helpfulprofessor.com Published September 8, 2023. Accessed March 14, 2024. https://helpfulprofessor.com/hypothesis-examples/
Editage insights. What is the interconnectivity between research objectives and hypothesis? Published February 24, 2021. Accessed April 13, 2024. https://www.editage.com/insights/what-is-the-interconnectivity-between-research-objectives-and-hypothesis
Understanding null hypothesis testing. BCCampus open publishing. Accessed April 16, 2024. https://opentextbc.ca/researchmethods/chapter/understanding-null-hypothesis-testing/#:~:text=In%20null%20hypothesis%20testing%2C%20this,said%20to%20be%20statistically%20significant

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A research question is a statement that defines what is to be studied. It is the core of the research project, study, or literature review. Your research question focuses the study, determines the methodology, and guides all stages of inquiry, analysis, and reporting.

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How to Write a Science Research Question
To practice how to write a research question, we suggest the following steps: Find a nice place where you can be alone and connected with nature. Bring nothing else but a journal and a pencil. Take a few moments to breath and observe everything that surrounds you. Use all of your senses to obtain information from your surroundings: smell the ...
How to Write a Research Question: Types and Examples
Choose a broad topic, such as "learner support" or "social media influence" for your study. Select topics of interest to make research more enjoyable and stay motivated. Preliminary research. The goal is to refine and focus your research question. The following strategies can help: Skim various scholarly articles.
How to Write a Research Question in 2024: Types, Steps, and Examples
1. Start with a broad topic. A broad topic provides writers with plenty of avenues to explore in their search for a viable research question. Techniques to help you develop a topic into subtopics and potential research questions include brainstorming and concept mapping.
10 Research Question Examples to Guide your Research Project
The first question asks for a ready-made solution, and is not focused or researchable. The second question is a clearer comparative question, but note that it may not be practically feasible. For a smaller research project or thesis, it could be narrowed down further to focus on the effectiveness of drunk driving laws in just one or two countries.
Formulation of Research Question
Abstract. Formulation of research question (RQ) is an essentiality before starting any research. It aims to explore an existing uncertainty in an area of concern and points to a need for deliberate investigation. It is, therefore, pertinent to formulate a good RQ. The present paper aims to discuss the process of formulation of RQ with stepwise ...
Writing Strong Research Questions
A good research question is essential to guide your research paper, dissertation, or thesis. All research questions should be: Focused on a single problem or issue. Researchable using primary and/or secondary sources. Feasible to answer within the timeframe and practical constraints. Specific enough to answer thoroughly.
Formulating a good research question: Pearls and pitfalls
The process of formulating a good research question can be challenging and frustrating. While a comprehensive literature review is compulsory, the researcher usually encounters methodological difficulties in the conduct of the study, particularly if the primary study question has not been adequately selected in accordance with the clinical dilemma that needs to be addressed.
Step 1: Formulating the research question
Step 1: Formulating the research question. The first stage in a review is formulating the research question. The research question accurately and succinctly sums up the review's line of inquiry. This page outlines approaches to developing a research question that can be used as the basis for a review.
The Writing Center
Most professional researchers focus on topics they are genuinely interested in studying. Writers should choose a broad topic about which they genuinely would like to know more. An example of a general topic might be "Slavery in the American South" or "Films of the 1930s.". Do some preliminary research on your general topic.
Formulating Your Research Question (RQ)
In a research paper, the emphasis is on generating a unique question and then synthesizing diverse sources into a coherent essay that supports your argument about the topic. In other words, you integrate information from publications with your own thoughts in order to formulate an argument. Your topic is your starting place: from here, you will ...
1. Formulate the Research Question
Step 1. Formulate the Research Question. A systematic review is based on a pre-defined specific research question (Cochrane Handbook, 1.1).The first step in a systematic review is to determine its focus - you should clearly frame the question(s) the review seeks to answer (Cochrane Handbook, 2.1).It may take you a while to develop a good review question - it is an important step in your review.
PDF What Makes a Good Research Question?
In essence, the research question that guides the sciences and social sciences should do the following three things:2. 1) Post a problem. 2) Shape the problem into a testable hypothesis. 3) Report the results of the tested hypothesis. There are two types of data that can help shape research questions in the sciences and social sciences ...
Formulating a researchable question: A critical step for facilitating
A well-formulated research question needs extreme specificity and preciseness which guides the implementation of the project keeping in mind the identification of variables and population of interest. Here we will present a clinical scenario and see how clinical questions arise and help us in finding the evidence to answer our question.
Research Question Examples ‍
A well-crafted research question (or set of questions) sets the stage for a robust study and meaningful insights. But, if you're new to research, it's not always clear what exactly constitutes a good research question. In this post, we'll provide you with clear examples of quality research questions across various disciplines, so that you can approach your research project with confidence!
1c. Formulate Research Questions
Natural Science; Mathematics; Nursing; ... Well-crafted questions guide the systematic planning of research. Formulating your questions precisely enables you to design a study with a good chance of answering them. Light, et al., 1990, p. 13. Figure 1 Creating a Research Question. Note.
Choose and Formulate Great Research Questions
Steps to take to formulate your research question. So then, we've laid out the types of research questions, and good and bad examples. Now let's start formulating. 1. Do the background work. Typically, research question formulation starts with reading. And more reading.
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A good research question is essential to guide your research paper, project, or thesis. It pinpoints exactly what you want to find out and gives your work a ...
The Research Problem/Question
"Framework of Problem-Based Research: A Guide for Novice Researchers on the Development of a Research-Worthy Problem." Informing Science: the International Journal of an Emerging Transdiscipline 11 (2008); How to Write a Research Question. The Writing Center. George Mason University; Invention: Developing a Thesis Statement. The Reading/Writing ...
How to formulate a research question
Your formulated research question will, of course, end in a question mark, and will usually begin with a question word such as "how" or "why.". The Center for Teaching and Learning at the University of Vienna lays out the following requirements for a good research question.
How to Write a Strong Hypothesis
5. Phrase your hypothesis in three ways. To identify the variables, you can write a simple prediction in if…then form. The first part of the sentence states the independent variable and the second part states the dependent variable. If a first-year student starts attending more lectures, then their exam scores will improve.
How to Write a Hypothesis? Types and Examples
Here are two hypothesis examples: Dandelions growing in nitrogen-rich soils for two weeks develop larger leaves than those in nitrogen-poor soils because nitrogen stimulates vegetative growth.4. If a company offers flexible work hours, then their employees will be happier at work.5.
How to Write a Strong Research Question in One Minute
Turn your research topic into a strong research question with this one-minute technique. Without a strong research question, your research topic is a wish, n...
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A careful study of the data has to be done so the data captures the core idea of the research. These are the four essential components of a good research question. Without having a well thought out set of questions, data analysis can be meaningless or bring poor and misleading insights. A bad question
Developing a Research Question
A research question is a statement that defines what is to be studied. It is the core of the research project, study, or literature review. Your research question focuses the study, determines the methodology, and guides all stages of inquiry, analysis, and reporting. Your research question should... Be focused. Identify the problem you're ...