Writing Tips and Tricks : Developing Research Questions

Find Background Information

Once you have a general topic in mind, it is important to refine your focus until you have a manageable topic. An idea like "I want to write a paper about the problem of censorship" lacks focus and will leave you frustrated.

Refining your topic can be difficult if you are not deeply familiar with your general area of interest. In order to help you focus your topic, it is important that you gather background information early on in your research.

Purpose of gathering background information

• To give you an overview of the topic as a whole
• To alert you to the key issues and controversies
• To provide you with a sense of how the topic area relates to other topics
• To introduce you to the specialized vocabulary relating to the topic

Specialized Encyclopedias

• Have articles that are specific topics within a particular area (A general encyclopedia would have an article on Buddhism, a religion encyclopedia would have an article on a specific Buddhist ritual)
• The articles are written by experts in the field
• The articles provide bibliographies that list other sources on the same topic
• The articles typically contain cross-reference to other related topics

Specialized Dictionaries

• Provide definitions for specialized vocabulary
• Often provide lengthy explanations associated with the vocabulary, more like a normal encyclopedia article

Our evidence-based practice page has a lot of useful links to help you get started

Content from this section originally by the University of Lethbridge Guide named "1) Plan Your Research"

Translate Your Interest Into a Research Question

After gathering background information, one of the easiest ways to focus your topic is to frame it as a question. Research is not passive reporting, it is a search for answers. 

For instance, after doing research on censorship, you discover a current controversy involving censorship of the Internet. So, looking at your background research, you have determined that this is the area on which you wish to focus.

There are a number of ways to focus this interest even further into a research question.

Some Questions to Get You Started

Who is involved?

• What are the political affiliations of those who are in favour of and opposed to censoring the Internet?
• How do public schools address Internet access and censorship?
• Does the government have the right to censor the Internet?

Are there comparisons you can make?

• How does the debate concerning Internet censorship differ from the debate about book banning?
• Does Canada have different rules about Internet censorship than other countries?

Are there Pros & Cons to your topic? This reflects a potential decisions to be made.

• What are the ethical arguments for or against censoring the Internet?
• Should libraries censor Internet use?
• Should Internet filters block pornography?

Your background research using specialized encyclopedias and dictionaries will give you the knowledge you need to formulate a good research question.

Common Problems with Research Questions

The question is too broad to be manageable 

• What is the history of Christianity?
  • Try instead, How did the conversion of Emperor Constantine affect the history of Christianity?
• How are environmental disasters being fought?
  • Try instead, How effective are the current practices for cleaning oil spills?

The question is too narrow

Sometimes the narrowness is logical (such as there being an easily obtainable "right" answer), and sometimes it is too narrow given the availability of resources

• Does Sweden have nationalized healthcare? (The answer is "yes." That doesn't make for much of a paper)
  • Try instead, What does the political process that enabled Sweden to establish nationalized healthcare?
• How did the UAW affect the economy in Dayton, Ohio in 1973?
  • Try instead, What influence did the automobile labour unions have on the economy in the early 1970's?

The question cannot be answered

Sometimes this is because of a logical problem in the question, because the information needed to answer the question cannot be logically or legally obtained.

• What are the pros and cons of evolution? (This is not a very logical question)
  • Try instead, How does teaching of evolution in public schools affect children who are raised in religions that embrace creationism?
• How many girls are forced into prostitution each year?
  • Try instead, What are the traits that make girls vulnerable for being forced into prostitution?

Content from this section originally by the University of Lethbridge Guide named "1) Plan Your Research"

Further Modifying Your Topic

You will continue to modify your topic throughout the research process. How you modify your topic will depend upon:

• Whether there is too much information
• Whether there is too little information
• Whether new issues arise during the research process that need to be addressed

If you need any help with this part, always feel free to:

• Talk to your professor
• Visit the LRC Website or in person for help

Content from this section originally by the University of Lethbridge Guide named "1) Plan Your Research"

A research problem that is too broad may lead to any of the following problems: 

• You find too many sources and it is difficult to decide what to include or exclude or what are the most important.
• You find information that is too general and it is difficult to develop a clear framework for examining the research problem.
• A lack of sufficient parameters that clearly define the research problem makes it difficult to identify and apply the proper methods needed to analyze it.
• You find information that covers a wide variety of concepts or ideas that can't be integrated into one paper and you easily trail off into unnecessary tangents. 

A topic is too broad to be manageable when you find that you have too many different, and oftentimes conflicting or only remotely related, ideas about how to investigate the research problem. Although you will want to start the writing process by considering a variety of different approaches to studying the research problem, you will need to narrow the focus of your investigation at some point early in the writing process. 

Here are some strategies to help narrow your topic:

Aspect: choose one lens though which to view the research problem, or look at just one facet of it

Components: determine if your initial variable or unit of analysis can be broken down into smaller parts

Methodology: the way in which you gather information can reduce the domain of interpretive analysis needed to address the research problem

Place: the smaller the geographic unit of analysis, the more narrow the focus

Relationship: ask yourself how do two or more different perspectives or variables relate to one another and design a study around relationships between specific variables 

Time: the shorter the time period of study, the more narrow the focus

Type: focus your topic in terms of a specific type or class of people, places, or phenomena

Combination: use two or more of the above strategies to focus your topic

Content by the research guide "Organizing your Social Sciences Research Paper - Narrowing a Topic Idea," at the University of Southern California.