Read these guidelines from Dr. Vikneswaran Nair (Dean,
Professor and Researcher at the University of The Bahamas). Then write your own
research questions and objectives.
To come up with optimal research questions first be
clear with what is the title of your research all about (at least your working
title).
You may not know right away what your research
question is. Gather information on the broader topic to explore new
possibilities and to help narrow your topic.
• Choose an interesting topic. If you’re interested in
your topic, chances are that others will be, too. Plus researching will be a
lot more fun!
•
Gather background information (do a good literature review).
•
Ask yourself:
- What subtopics
relate to the broader topic?
- What questions
do these sources raise?
- What do you
find interesting about the topic?
- Who would be
interested in the issue?
After choosing a topic and gathering background
information, add focus with a research question.
•
Explore questions:
- Ask open-ended
“how” and “why” questions about your general topic.
- Consider the
“so what” of your topic. Why does this topic matter to you? Why should it
matter to others?
- Reflect on the
questions you have considered. Identify one or two questions you find engaging
and which could be explored further through research.
•
Determine and evaluate your research question:
- What aspect of
the more general topic you will explore?
- Is your
research question clear?
- Is your
research question focused? (Research questions must be specific enough to be
well covered in the space available.)
- Is your
research question complex? (Questions shouldn’t have a simple yes/no answer and
should require research and analysis.)
•
Hypothesize. After you’ve come up with a question,
consider the path your answer might take:
- If you are
making an argument, what will you say?
- Why does your
argument matter?
- How might
others challenge your argument?
- What kind of
sources will you need to support your argument?
In short the research questions must be relevant,
manageable in terms of research and in terms of your own academic abilities,
substantial and with original dimensions, consistent with the requirements of
the assessment, clear and simple and interesting.
