Research Questions

Developing a Strong Research Question

The question around which you center your research for a research paper will help you focus your work by providing a path through the research and writing processes. A well-developed research question will help you work toward supporting a specific, arguable thesis.

Steps to developing a strong research question:

  1. Choose a general topic, preferably one you are genuinely interested in learning more about.
  2. Do some preliminary research. What issues are scholars writing about when it comes to this topic? What questions are you asking in your freewrites as you read and respond to these articles?
  3. Ask yourself open-ended questions, such as questions that begin with “how” and “why” about your topic. This will help you narrow your focus from the initial, broad topic to something more manageable.

Types of research questions:

  • Emancipatory research questions aim to produce knowledge that allows for engagement in social action.
  • Explanatory research questions seek to examine reasons for and associations between what exists.
  • Exploratory research questions investigate little-known areas of a particular topic.
  • Generative research questions aim to provide new ideas for the development of theories and actions.

Your research question should be:

Clear. Your question should provide enough specifics that your reader can understand its purpose without additional explanation or further research on their own. (Do they need to Google your topic to know what it really is? How can you make it clearer, if so.)

Focused. Your question should be narrow enough that it can be answered thoroughly before your paper is due. Too broad a question could take all semester to answer! Ask yourself what’s possible given the timeline for this assignment.

Complex. Your question should not be answerable with a simple “yes” or “no.” It needs to require analysis of ideas and synthesis of the sources you read before you are able to posit a possible answer in your thesis or conclusion.

Arguable. The potential answers to your question should be open to debate, not accepted as facts. If your reader would say, “Yes, of course,” to your conclusion, you haven’t posited an original idea.

Not sure if your question meets these standards? Make an appointment with a writing tutor or the director of the writing center to get some feedback!