Is It a Question?
Now that you’ve thought about what topics interest you and identified a topic that is both empirical and broadly concerned with the applied human sciences, you need to form a research question about that topic. [1] So what makes a good research question? First, it is generally written in the form of a question. To say that your research question is “child-free adults” or “students’ knowledge about current events” or “movies” would not be correct. You need to frame a question about the topic that you wish to study. A good research question is also one that is well focused. Writing a well- focused question isn’t really all that different from what the paparazzi do regularly. As a social scientist you need to be as clear and focused as those photographers who stalk Britney Spears to get that perfect shot of her while she waits in line at Starbucks. OK, maybe what we do as social scientists isn’t exactly the same, but think about how the paparazzi get paid. They must take clear, focused photographs in order to get paid for what they do. Likewise, we will not hit the jackpot of having our research published, read, or respected by our peers if we are not clear and focused.
In addition to being written in the form of a question and being well focused, a good research question is one that cannot be answered with a simple yes or no. For example, if your interest is in gender norms, you could ask, “Does gender affect a person’s shaving habits?” but you will have nothing left to say once you discover your yes or no answer. Instead, why not ask, “How or to what extent does gender affect a person’s feelings about body hair?” By tweaking your question in this small way, you suddenly have a much more fascinating question and more to say as you attempt to answer it.
A good research question should also have more than one plausible answer. The student who studied the relationship between gender and body hair preferences had a specific interest in the impact of gender, but she also knew that preferences might vary on other dimensions. For example, she knew from her own experience that her more politically conservative friends were more likely to shave every day and more likely to only date other regular shavers. Thinking through the possible relationships between gender, politics, and shaving led that student to realize that there were many plausible answers to her questions about how gender affects a person’s feelings about body hair. Because gender doesn’t exist in a vacuum she, wisely, felt that she needed to take into account other characteristics that work together with gender to shape people’s behaviors, likes, and dislikes. By doing this, the student took into account the third feature of a good research question: She considered relationships between several concepts. While she began with an interest in a single concept—body hair—by asking herself what other concepts (such as gender or political orientation) might be related to her original interest, she was able to form a question that considered the relationships among those concepts.
In sum, a good research question generally has the following features:
- It is written in the form of a question.
- It is clearly focused.
- It is not a yes/no question.
- It has more than one plausible answer.
- It considers relationships among multiple concepts.
In short, you will struggle unless you are clear in your aims and clearly focus your research question. You could be the most eloquent writer in your class, or even in the world, but if the research question about which you are writing is unclear, your work will ultimately fall flat. The good news is that much of this text is dedicated to learning how to write, and then answer, a good research question.
Some Specific Examples
Putting all this advice together, let’s take a look at a few more examples of possible research questions and consider the relative strengths and weaknesses of each. While reading Table 3.1 below, keep in mind that I have only noted what I view to be the most relevant strengths and weaknesses of each question. Certainly, each question may have additional strengths and weaknesses not noted in the table. Also, it may interest you to know that the questions in Table 3.1 “Sample Sociological Research Questions: Strengths and Weaknesses” all come from undergraduate sociology student projects that I have either advised in the course of teaching sociological research methods or have become familiar with from sitting on undergraduate thesis committees. The work by thesis students is cited.
Table 3.1 Sample Research Questions: Strengths and Weaknesses
| Sample Question | Question's strengths | Question's weaknesses | Proposed alternative |
|---|---|---|---|
| Do children’s books teach us about gender norms in our society? | Written as a question. Focused. |
Written as a yes/no. | What (or how) do children’s books teach us about gender norms in our society? |
| Why are some men such jerks? | Written as a question. Focused. |
Lacks theoretical grounding. Biased. |
Who supports sexist attitudes and why? |
| Does sexual maturity change depending on where you’re from? | Written as a question. | Unclear phrasing. Written as a yes/no. |
How does knowledge about sex vary across different geographical regions? |
| What is sex? | Written as a question. | Too broadly focused. Not clear whether question is social scientific. Does not consider relationships among concepts. |
How do students' definitions of sex change as they age? |
| Do social settings and peers and where you live influence an university student’s exercise and eating habits? | Written as a question. Considers relationships among multiple concepts. |
Lacks clarity. Unfocused. Written as a yes/no. |
How does social setting influence a person's engagement in healthy behaviors? |
| What causes people to ignore someone in need of assistance? | Written as a question. Socially relevant. |
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| How do workers cope with short-term unemployment? | Written as a question. Focused. More than one plausible answer. |
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| Are motivations to volunteer gendered? | Written as a question. Socially relevant. More than one plausible answer. |
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| How have representations gender in video games changed over time? | Written as a question. Considers relationships among multiple concepts. |
Now that you have thought about topics that interest you and you’ve learned how to frame those topics empirically, as social science, and as questions, you have probably come up with a few potential research questions—questions to which you are dying to know the answers. However, even if you have identified the most brilliant research question ever, you are still not ready to begin conducting research. First, you’ll need to think about the feasibility of your research question and to make a visit to your campus library.
