Research Basics

The Research Steps

Students often ask what makes a good research question. There are certain criteria you should follow to develop your research question.

Be concise. As with all writing, you must state the parameters of your research question clearly so that your audience will know exactly what you are interested in finding out.
Be specific. A good rule of thumb is that you should avoid broad and general questions. After deciding your topic of interest, spend some time thinking about what exactly you are concerned with researching. For example, a question that asks 'what is the root of society’s problems' will take you several, if not an infinite number, of lifetimes to answer.
Make sure you can answer your research question with data. In constructing your question, you should ensure that there some feasible way to gather data that will answer your question. Remember, at the core of social science research is the use of empirical (i.e. observed) evidence to answer the inquiry. Questions such as 'Is there a god?' are problematic. How will you gather evidence of this? Other questions that are inappropriate for research are opinion questions. For example, 'Is it right for the state to have the capacity to execute?' can only be answered with opinions, not evidence.