Research questions

In the last blog, I presented the main components of a research proposal. In this blog, I shall discuss an important component ‘research questions. Your research project sets a research question or questions. Each research question should have enough theoretical support (literature review).

The research questions are an essential element in both quantitative and qualitative studies. They are the focus of your research. Therefore, they must be accurately and clearly formulated. In a mixed-methods study, the research questions should be clear from the first glance whether they relate to the quantitative or qualitative analyses – for example, ‘to what extent do or does …’ which indicates that there will be some quantitative analyses. Please, check the examples of bad or good research question available on this blog: https://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-good-and-bad-research-questions.html.

There are three basic types of research questions: descriptive, relational, and causal (for more details: https://conjointly.com/kb/research-question-types/). A single study may initially address a descriptive research question, and then moves to analyse (guided by a relational research question). For PhD research, it may not be enough to address descriptive research questions only, you should show some analytical work.

The research questions should be answerable. To do so, researchers use the findings obtained from the quantitative and/or the quantitative to discuss the claims established in the literature review and to reveal the implications of the study. These implications are used to discuss the research questions and to link back to your contributions. I highly recommend discussing this with your supervisors, as there seem to be different ways of how to deal with the research questions.

Mattick et al. (2018) have categorised three considerations for the development of research questions: relevance, originality, and rigour.

Relevance: identify and clearly articulate the problem that you are going to research to different audiences by using lay terms.

Originality: ensure your research question(s) lead to original work, in order to develop new insights

Rigour: ensure that the methods of data collection and analysis enable generating useful ideas to discuss the research questions.

The ethical aspect of question development also should be thought about. For example, you may need to be reflective, by considering how the research questions may affect the participants (Agee, 2009). If it really does, you may not be able to collect the required data and other issues might arise. As your research gradually develops, you may feel the need to reformulate your research questions. There are no problems with doing so, but your edits also should adhere to the values of rigour and integrity (ethics).

Should you need further assistance in formulating the research questions, or you find it hard to make a start, please do not hesitate to get in touch: djamelbenchaib@outlook.com. I will try to help.

References

Agee, J. (2009). Developing qualitative research questions: a reflective process. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 22(4), pp.431- 447. Available from: DOI: 10.1080/09518390902736512 [Accessed 14 July 2020]

Mattick, K., Johnston, J. & La Croix, A. (2018). How to … write a good research question. The Clinical Teacher, 15, pp. 104–108.  Available from: DOI: 10.1111/tct.12776 [Accessed 14 July 2020]