Starting your research

A research question is the question around which you center your inquiry and write your paper. It helps focus your research by providing a path through the research and writing process, and also helps you create a paper that supports a single, arguable thesis.

Your research question should be:

• Clear: providing enough specifics that your audience can easily understand its purpose without needing additional explanation.
• Focused: narrow enough that it can be answered thoroughly within the length of your paper.
• Concise: expressed in the fewest possible words.
• Complex: cannot be answered through just a "yes" or "no," but requires synthesis and analysis of ideas and sources prior to the composition of an answer.
• Arguable: potential answers are open to debate rather than simple statement of facts.

As mentioned in the previous tab, it's important to select a topic you are passionate about or interested in. You will spend a lot of time with this topic, including hours of research, reading, and writing, so make sure it's something that speaks to you. 

1. Choose an interesting general topic: Start with a broad topic about which you're genuinely interested. An example of a general topic might be "the Underground Railroad" or "Films of the 1930s."

2. Do some preliminary research on that general topic: Conduct quick searches in current periodicals or journals, reference books like encyclopedias (which can be found in the library's first floor reference section), or even Wikipedia, to see what's already been done and to help you narrow your focus. What issues are scholars and researchers discussing when it comes to your topic? What questions occurred to you as you've read these sources?

3. Consider your audience: For most of your papers, your audience will be academic (specifically, the professor who assigned this project), but always keep your audience in mind when narrowing your topic and devising your research question. Would that particular audience be interested in the question you've come up with?

4. Start asking questions: Now that you have a bit of a foundation laid, start asking some open-ended "how" and "why" questions about your general topic. For example, "Why was New York's Hudson Valley such a center of the Underground Railroad?" or "How was the Great Depression reflected in Hollywood films of the 1930s?"

5. Evaluate your question: Once you've come up with some possible research questions, evaluate them to determine whether they would be effective for your project, or whether they require additional revising and refining.

• Is your research question clear? Having a clear research question will help guide and direct your research, and will make it easier for you to develop your argument as you write your paper.
• Is your research question focused? You want to be sure your question is focused enough that you can deal with the topic within the length and confines of your paper. Choose too broad a topic, and you won't be able to answer it completely before you run out of room.
• Is your research question complex? Your question shouldn't be answerable with just a simple "yes" or "no," or by easily-found facts. Instead, it should require both research and analysis on your part.  Often, research questions begin with "how" or "why."
• Begin your research. After you've come up with your research question, think about the possible paths your research might take you. What sources should you look for? What research process will ensure that you find a variety of perspectives and responses to your question? Lucky for you, the following tabs on this guide will help you through this process.

Unclear: How should social media sites address the harm they cause?

Clear: What action should social media sites like Twitter and Facebook take to reduce the spread of disinformation in users' newsfeeds?

The unclear version of this question doesn't specify which social media sites the writer is focusing on, or suggest what kind of harm they might be causing. It also assumes that this "harm" is proven and/or accepted. The clearer version specifies sites (Twitter and Facebook), the type of potential harm (the spread of disinformation), and who might be experiencing that harm (users). A strong research question should never leave room for ambiguity or confusion.

Unfocused: What is the effect on the environment from global warming?

Focused: What is the most significant effect of the melting of polar ice caps on the lives of polar bears in the Arctic?

The unfocused research question is so broad that it could never be properly addressed in an entire book, much less a standard college-level research paper. The focused version narrows down to a specific effect of global warming (the melting of polar ice caps), a specific place (the Arctic), and a specific population that is affected (polar bears). It also requires the writer to take a stance on which effect has the greatest impact on the affected animal. When in doubt, make a research question as narrow and focused as possible.

Too simple: How are doctors addressing diabetes in the U.S.?

Appropriately complex: What main environmental, behavioral, and genetic factors predict whether Americans will develop diabetes, and how can these commonalities be used to aid the medical community in prevention of the disease?

The simple version of this question can be looked up online and answered in a few factual sentences; it leaves no room for analysis. The more complex version is written in two parts; it is thought provoking and requires both significant investigation and evaluation from the writer. As a general rule, if a quick Google search can answer a research question, it's likely not very effective.

This guide is based upon How to Write a Research Question by George Mason University's Writing Center.