How to Write a Strong Research Question in One Minute 👈

Hi, this is David from PeakWriting. And I want to talk about the problem that I most often see when helping students with their research projects. And that problem is this: You get your topic.

But after you have that topic, what next? How do you go about conducting research on that topic? And the answer is, with a research question.

With a research question, you now have a direction to your research, and a focus for finding all of the things that you need to find. Okay, let's take a look at a quick and simple technique that I often give for this problem. First, what is a research question?

It's a one sentence question about your topic that gets answered with your research. Let's unpack that a little bit. First, research, there's a big difference between search and research.

A search looks for one answer to a specific question. What's the speed of light? Not a problem should take us about the speed of light to find out that answer.

However, when researching, you're looking for multiple answers to one question. Here's an example. Does a service dog improve life for cancer patients?

A quick Google search provides an answer in about three seconds. But now, let's turn that into a research question. In what ways does a service dog improve life for cancer patients?

That question requires research. But even before diving into the research, you should be able to predict a list that will guide your research. Way number one it improves, way number two, way number three.

In other words, you now know that you'll be looking for ways in your research. Your research now has a direction. You know exactly what you'll be looking for about the use of service dogs in medicine.

Here's another example. How much did world population grow in the 20th century? The answer is just a Google away: about 7 billion.

Case closed. Paper over. But now let's turn that into a research question that generates a list.

What fueled world population growth in the 20th century? That question requires research, it requires a list that must be researched. Factor one that influenced the growth.

factor two that influenced the growth, factor three. This list means that we know exactly what to look for--the factors that influenced world population during that time period. And sure enough, as we begin researching, we quickly discovered the three main factors--advances in medicine, factor two advances in sanitation, factor three advances in nutrition.

Moreover, you also in your research are discovering multiple advances that were made in medicine, multiple advances in sanitation, and nutrition. Covering just one set of those advances might be all you can manage in your six to 10 page paper, or whatever length it is. In other words, you started out with a strong initial direction.

And now your research has made it clear, you need to narrow the question. This is both natural and expected. In this case, we would focus either on the advances in medicine or in sanitation, or in nutrition.

So we revised our initial question: what advances in medicine influenced world population in the last century. Now your list would be medical advance number one, medical advance number two, medical advance number three. Now.

on the other hand, there may also be times when you need to broaden your question. For example, you begin to research the effects of artificial sweeteners, but then you realize your question may be too narrow. How did aspartame affect postmenopausal women in the 1980s who suffered from migraines?

So let's broaden that research question to How does aspartame affect women who suffer from migraines? Now you'll have a much easier time finding answers about effect number one, effect number two, effect number three. Narrowing or broadening the original research question should be an expected part of your research process.

Okay, time for a quick review. How would you revise this bad research question into one that must be answered with a list? Does online writing advice have any effect on adult students?

Think about it. Find the word that would allow you to build a list. Effect number one, effect number two, effect number three.

Let's try one more. Do medications alleviate symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, ADHD? That is a search question.

It calls for a yes or no answer. Let's turn it into an effective research question. How effective are medications in treating symptoms of ADHD in high school students?

Now, is it narrow? And does it generate a list? Yes, effectiveness of medication one, effectiveness of medication two, effectiveness of medication three.

So to summarize, a good research question generates a list of answers. As you implement the strategy, be sure to avoid these three traps. Number one, the unanswerable question.

These are questions like, How can humans be so cruel to each other? Is Man inherently good or evil? Well, God only knows.

But if we changed it to what are the leading causes of murder in the US, we now have a list of factors to research--cause number one, cause number two, etc. Trap number two, avoid the opinions. In other words, if you ask a question like which National Park is the best, that would result in an opinion paper, not a research paper.

However, if you want to really research national parks, try this question. What features do the most popular national parks have? And now you see the word that can help you produce a list.

Feature number one, feature number two, feature number 3. Next trap--Avoid why questions. Why questions do not always elicit clear and specific answers.

Why do some companies continue to pollute the water despite regulations? Well, now you have to look at motives. So turn that kind of why question into a what or how question.

Now let's end with this quick checklist. First, is it approved? After you've generated your topic and research question, make sure that your instructor, thesis advisor, or committee members approve of your research question and make sure you have this approval before diving into your research.

Two-- Are you objective? Are you trying to convince your audience to believe what you cherish rather than answering a research question in an objective way? You may have very strong feelings about the protection of coral reefs.

And your opinion is they should be highly protected, and we need to do more to protect them. Well, that's an opinion. You're doing a research paper, and the research paper would ask a far different question.

The third trap, Answerable. Is the research question answerable with the research method and time that you have to develop it? And finally, doable.

Do you have the knowledge and the experience and the skills required? Or are you biting off more than you can chew? Do you have the sufficient equipment?

Do you have the time? And if it involves funds, such as paying participants or paying for surveys, do you have the funds you need to conduct your research? So those are some of the considerations that you should definitely think about as you fabricate the important research question.

Thanks for watching. I hope this video helped you learn how to turn a research topic into a research question. Check out this video for instruction the entire research paper, start to finish.