Research Methods in Psychology: Create a Research Question

Creating a Research Question

What is a research question?
A research question is the question around which you center your research. It should be:

• clear: it provides enough specifics that one’s audience can easily understand its purpose without needing additional explanation.

• focused: it is narrow enough that it can be answered thoroughly in the space the writing task allows.

• concise: it is expressed in the fewest possible words.

• complex: it is not answerable with a simple “yes” or “no,” but rather requires synthesis and analysis of ideas and sources prior to composition of an answer.

• arguable: its potential answers are open to debate rather than accepted facts.

You should ask a question about an issue that you are genuinely curious and/or passionate about.

Steps to developing a research question:

1. Choose an interesting general topic. 
2. Do some preliminary research on your general topic. 
3. Start asking questions. 
4. Evaluate your question. 
   • Is your research question clear? 
   • Is your research question focused? 
   • Is your research question complex? 
5. Begin your research. 

The table below illustrates how a research question develops from a broad topic to a focused question. Follow the four examples down the columns to see how the questions develop.