Research Question

Choosing the Right Research Question

Choosing the right research question involves a number of decisions that will shape both the research project and process. The “right” question has to involve several issues: an adequate knowledge of the area being considered for research, constructive support from a supervisor, and the time a researcher has to carry out the research. First, the researcher must have knowledge of the general and specific subject area. This knowledge may have been obtained from previous study; otherwise, research evidence from recent, published literature has to be examined. The researcher needs to realize that the research to be undertaken contributes to ongoing debates within a subject area being researched. Some students and academics do not realize that the rules and regulations that apply to senior researchers also apply to students and novice researchers at the undergraduate level (termed junior researchers). Literature reviews have to begin at the earliest possible stage of research because this knowledge has to inform the development of the research question. The first evidence base in research is published and edited literature, and the application of key and core texts within the subject has to inform the creation and evolution of the research question. This strategy suggests that the research question might have to change when a researcher acknowledges what has been published in a subject area.

A supervisor plays a crucial role in directing or nudging the researcher in the right direction. As Thomas Murray and Dale Brubaker suggest, it is well to identify potential sources of help and to recognize the advantages and limitations of each. Those sources of most value are usually academic advisers, fellow graduate students, experts outside one's own department or institution, the researcher him- or herself, and the professional literature. The supervisor can advise which research direction a researcher can travel. This direction can be absolutely controlled if the researcher is working within a funded team, in which a supervisor can be a senior researcher. Relative control exists when a research supervisor informs the researcher about research design, which consists not only of devising the right question but also of literature review; methods and methodology, data collection, presentation, analysis, and answering the question in a research project conclusion. Third, time is an issue that has to be considered by all researchers when thinking how to answer a research question. On reflection, planning and organization are crucial techniques in research design, but time still shapes what can and what cannot be done. As Elizabeth Wilson and Dorothy Bedford have argued, What are the consequences for full- and part-time students and staff who have full-time responsibilities outside academia? Time is an issue that also concerns both the quality of research and supervision.

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