Research 101 · Module 2
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Research question worksheet
Most projects fail at the question, not the experiment. Work down this page with a pencil.
1 · Start with what you actually wonder about
Write three things you have noticed and do not understand. Not topics ("climate change"), but observations ("my street floods but the next one does not").
- I have noticed that…
- I have noticed that…
- I have noticed that…
2 · Pick one and ask why, five times
Each answer becomes the next question. Stop when you reach something nobody in your class could answer from memory.
- Why?
- Why?
- Why?
- Why?
- Why?
3 · Name the parts
- Who or what am I studying? (the population)
- What changes or differs? (the variable I care about)
- What might it affect? (the outcome)
- Where and when? (the scope)
4 · Decide what kind of question it is
- Descriptive: what is happening, and how much? ("How many students at my school sleep under 7 hours?")
- Correlational: do two things move together? ("Is screen time linked to sleep time?")
- Causal: does one thing change another? Needs an experiment or a very careful design.
- Exploratory: what is going on here at all? Interviews and open questions.
5 · Write it as one sentence
- My research question is:
6 · Check it before you fall in love with it
- Could I collect the data I need in the time I have, with what I can access?
- Has someone already answered it? (Search Google Scholar for 15 minutes before deciding.)
- Could anyone be harmed, embarrassed or identified by my study?
- Is the answer something I do not already know?
- Could I explain it to a friend in one breath?