Drafting Your Research Question
Developing a Research Question[1]
It is important to ensure you choose a research topic that interests you, because this will make it much earlier for you to develop an effective and researchable research question. In this section we will consider aspects you must consider as you think about your research topic you would like to explore. We will also examine the characteristics and components of an effective research question.
When it comes to research questions, there are two concepts that are very important to social scientists: normative and empirical statements. Normative statements are judgmental, whereas empirical statements are informative and facts based. Let us look at two statements. Can you pick out which one is normative and which one is empirical?
- Canada has one of the best science programs in the world.
- In 2015, Canada ranked 4th overall in science education performance of 15-year-old high school students in a study conducted by the Organization for Education Cooperation and Development (OECD, 2015).
If you concluded that the first statement is normative and the second is empirical, you are exactly right. While normative statements can underlie an empirical statement, as demonstrated above, sociologists are focused on answering empirical questions—those that can be answered by real experience in the real world.
After thinking about what topics interest you and identifying a topic, the next step is to form a research question about your topic. For many researchers, forming hypotheses comes after developing one’s research question. However, for now, we will just think about research questions.
So then, what makes a good research question? Let us first consider some practical aspects. A good research question is one that:
- You are interested in;
- You have resource to answer the question;
- You have access to the data you need;
- Is operationalized appropriately;
- Has a specific objective (anything from explaining something to describing something).
A good research question also has some specific characteristics, as follows:
- It is generally written in the form of a question;
- It is also well focused;
- It cannot be answered with a simple yes or no;
- It should have more than one plausible answer;
- It considers relationships amongst multiple concepts.
Generally speaking, your research question will guide whether your research project is best approached with a quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods, or other[1] approaches. The table below provides some examples of problematic research questions and then suggestions for how to improve each research question.
| Problematic Research Questions | Improved Research Question |
| Too narrow: How many paramedics were registered in the province of British Columbia in 2017?
This topic is too narrow because it can be answered with a simple statistic. |
Less narrow: What factors lead individuals to choose paramedics as a profession in British Columbia?
This question demonstrates that the correct amount of specificity and the results would provide the opportunity for an argument to be formed. |
| Unfocused and too broad: What are the effects of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) on firefighters in Ontario?
This question is so broad that the research methodology would be very difficult. It is also too broad to be discussed in a typical research paper. |
More focused: What are the social effects of PTSD on families of firefighters in Ontario?
The question has a very clear focus for which data can be collected, analyzed, and discussed. |
| Too objective: How much money does the average downtown Vancouver store spend on security guards?
This question may allow the researcher to collect data but does not lend itself to collecting data that can be used to create a valid argument because the data is just factual information. |
More subjective: What is the relationship between security spending and product loss through theft at downtown Vancouver stores?
This is a more subjective question that may lead to the formation of an argument based on the results and analysis of the data. |
| Too simple: What are municipal governments doing to address the problem of sexism in policing?
This information can be obtained without the need to collect unique date. The question could probably be answered with an online search and does not provide an opportunity for analysis. Also, the use of the word “problem” is leading … it assumes there is a problem with seasonality.
|
More complex: What is the relationship between the 2017-2018 publicized incidents of sexism in the RCMP and the number of females applying for entry to police departments in St. John´s, Newfoundland?
The question is more complex and requires both investigation and evaluation of sexism and females applying to police departments in St. John´s. This will lead the researcher to produce more valuable and specific research. |
Want to Learn More?
Want to learn more about Research Questions? Check out these resources:
This chapter includes additional information on the purpose of research questions, the difference between regular and research questions, the influence of a research question, as well as additional tips for developing your research question.
- Adapted from Sheppard, V. (2020). An introduction to research methods in sociology: Developing a research question. BCcampus. Retrieved from https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/researchmethods/part/developing-a-research-question/. Licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. ↵