Research Questions Examples
Research Questions Examples
QUESTIONS
What makes a good qualitative
research question?
Qualitative research questions are most effective for
those looking to carry out one-to-one or focus group-style
interviews to understand how your target demographic
thinks and feels; and why they make certain choices. The
key qualities of a good qualitative research question are:
1. Being able to discover problems and
opportunities from respondents
2. Open-ended in nature
3. Easy to understand and digest with no need for
clarification
Good types of qualitative wording for
research questions
Include the following types of qualitative words to
engineer the type of responses you’re looking for from
interviewees:
o How
o What
o Generate
o Identify
o Describe
o Meaning
o Outline
Words to avoid for qualitative research
questions
The following types of words should not be included
within a qualitative research question to avoid possible
ambiguity for respondents:
o Relate
o Impact
o Effect
o Cause
o Influence
o Compare
o Contrast
Examples of effective qualitative
research questions
Poor example Good example
What is the childhood obesity How does the amount of time
rate in Kensington? children play computer games
each day affect childhood
obesity rates in Kensington?
Reason: Not only is this too
factual to form the basis of a
valid argument, it’s also too Reason: This question is much
easy to answer with a single more refined; the results of
statistic. As a rule of thumb, which could also be used to
qualitative research questions form a more credible argument.
should never be able to be
answered ‘yes’ or ‘no’.
Examples of effective qualitative
research questions
Poor example Good example
How much time do you listen to Why do you prefer listening to
rock music a week? rock music more than other
Reason: This would be a much music genres?
more suitable quantitative Reason: This is a considerably
research question, as it enables more subjective question; the
you to collect data en-masse. results of which could
However, from a qualitative potentially lead to you forming
viewpoint, the data could not be the basis of a more credible
used to create a judgment or argument.
perception as the data is just
factual information.
Examples of effective qualitative
research questions
Poor example Good example
What is the meaning of life? Could you describe the most
important factors in your life?
Marie Conroy
Dublin Institute of Technology, [email protected]