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What Makes A Strong Research Question?

The document discusses what makes a strong research question. It provides several criteria that research questions should meet, including being focused on a single topic or problem, being answerable using available data or sources, and not asking subjective questions. Additionally, good research questions are feasible to answer within time and resource constraints, use specific concepts, do not ask for a conclusive solution, cannot be answered with a simple yes or no, leave room for debate, address a relevant problem, and contribute something original to an ongoing discussion in the field.

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Jaun Fernando
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41 views4 pages

What Makes A Strong Research Question?

The document discusses what makes a strong research question. It provides several criteria that research questions should meet, including being focused on a single topic or problem, being answerable using available data or sources, and not asking subjective questions. Additionally, good research questions are feasible to answer within time and resource constraints, use specific concepts, do not ask for a conclusive solution, cannot be answered with a simple yes or no, leave room for debate, address a relevant problem, and contribute something original to an ongoing discussion in the field.

Uploaded by

Jaun Fernando
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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What makes a strong research question?

Writing questions isn’t a difficult task in itself, but it can be hard to work out if you have a good research question.
Research questions anchor your whole project, so it’s important to spend some time refining them. The criteria below can
help you evaluate the strength of your research question.

Focused and researchable

Criteria Explanation

Focuses on a single Your central research question should follow from your research problem to keep your work focused. If
topic and problem you have multiple questions, they should all clearly relate to this central aim.

Answerable You must be able to find an answer by collecting quantitative and/or qualitative data, or by reading


using primary or scholarly sources on the topic to develop an argument. If such data is impossible to access, you will
secondary data have to rethink your question and ask something more concrete.

Does not ask for a Avoid subjective words like good, bad, better and worse, as these do not give clear criteria for
subjective value answering the question. If your question is evaluating something, use terms with more measurable
judgement definitions.

 Is X or Y a better teaching approach?


 How effective are X and Y learning strategies at reducing rates of Z?
Feasible and specific

Criteria Explanation

Answerable within practical Make sure you have enough time and resources to do the research required to answer the
constraints question. If you think you might struggle to gain access to enough data, consider narrowing
down the question to be more specific.

Uses specific, well-defined All the terms you use in the research question should have clear meanings. Avoid vague
concepts language and broad ideas, and be clear about what, who, where and when your question
addresses.

 What effect does social media have on learners’ minds?


 What effect does daily use of Twitter have on the attention span of under-16s?

Does not ask for a conclusive Research is about informing, not instructing. Even if your project is focused on a practical
solution, policy, or course of problem, it should aim to improve understanding and suggest possibilities rather than asking for
action a ready-made solution.

 What should L2 instructors do about student engagement?


 What are the most effective teacher strategies for increasing learner engagement in the
L2 low-proficient classroom?
Complex and arguable

Criteria Explanation

Cannot be answered Closed yes/no questions are too simple to work as good research questions — they don’t provide
with yes or no enough scope for investigation and discussion.

 Has there been an increase in learners’ cultural competence in the Spanish school setting in
the past ten years?
 How have teaching and socio-political factors affected patterns of intercultural competence
in Spanish learners’ acquisition of foreign languages over the past ten years?

Cannot be answered with If you can answer the question through a Google search or by reading a single book or article, it is
easily found facts and probably not complex enough. A good research question requires original data, synthesis of multiple
figures sources, interpretation and/or argument to provide an answer.
Provides scope for debate The answer to the question should not just be a simple statement of fact: there needs to be space for
and deliberation you to discuss and interpret what you found. This is especially important in an essay or research
paper, where the answer to your question often takes the form of an argumentative thesis statement.

Relevant and original


Criteria Explanation

Addresses a problem relevant to your The research question should be developed based on initial reading around
field or discipline your topic, and it should focus on addressing a problem or gap in the existing
knowledge.

Contributes to a topical social or The question should aim to contribute to an existing debate — ideally one that is
academic debate current in your field or in society at large. It should produce knowledge that future
Criteria Explanation

researchers or practitioners can build on.

Has not already been answered You don’t have to ask something groundbreaking that nobody has ever thought of
before, but the question should have some aspect of originality (for example, by
focusing on a specific location or taking a new angle on a long-running debate).

Source: https://www.scribbr.com/research-
process/research-questions/

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