Framing Research Questions
Frame a compelling research question around the important ideas of a field: judge whether it can be answered with available evidence, sharpen it when it is too broad or too narrow, and design supporting questions that carry the inquiry forward
What a learner can do afterwards
- Draft a research question, check whether its scope fits the project and accessible evidence, and revise it when needed.
- Explain how a question connects to a bigger idea in the subject without assuming what the evidence will show.
- Plan supporting questions and identify evidence needed to answer each one.
1 · Read
Choose a question that fits your project, time and available evidence. A question covering many places or long periods may be too broad. For a project asking you to explain or compare, a one-fact question may be too narrow. It can still be useful as a supporting question.
'Was the Industrial Revolution good?' needs a clearer meaning for 'good' and a smaller scope. Evidence can help compare benefits and harms. Try: 'How did factory work affect family life in one town from 1850 to 1870?' Search a library catalogue using the town, dates and 'factory work', or ask a librarian. Check that records and accounts cover that place and period and are accessible. If none fit, revise the question. A place and dates do not guarantee evidence.
Explain what bigger idea your question explores. Research about factory work and family life can explore how changes in work affect daily life. This connection explains the investigation's purpose. It does not decide the answer before you examine evidence.
Supporting questions ask for one part of the main answer. For the factory question, ask how hours changed, using work records, or how families described routines, using their accounts. Match people, place and period. Check what sources show on their own: daily counts can show variation, but cannot alone explain causes or effects on animals. Production totals alone cannot show workers' treatment. Evidence from only one period cannot show change over time.
Choose a question that fits the project and accessible evidence. Explain its bigger idea, then match supporting questions to evidence.
Lesson, questions and flashcards written for this learning dataset.
Four original readings written for this learning dataset.
More to read
New to you or new to research?
A question missing from your notes may already have an answer elsewhere. Before calling it a gap in research, check what other people have studied. Keep a record of what you searched and what you found.
A school investigation does not have to discover something new to the world. Your task may be to explain an issue, compare accounts or use evidence to answer a question that is new to you. Read the assignment before deciding what your question must do.
If an answer appears quickly, consider whether that fact could support a larger explanation. If you cannot find an answer, that is a reason to investigate further, not proof that nobody has asked the question.
Try a small evidence search
Before committing to a question, try finding a few sources that could answer it. Note which people, places and dates each source covers. Compare those limits with your question.
Imagine asking how a town's transport changed. A map from one year shows routes at that time. To investigate change, you would need evidence from another time too. A map of a different town would not fill that gap.
Use the trial search to revise your plan. You might shorten the period, choose another place or ask about a change your sources actually describe. Check that the revised question still meets the assignment. A smaller question is useful when you can investigate it and explain why it matters.
Give a judgment clear criteria
A question such as 'Was this change good?' needs a clearer meaning for 'good'. Ask which effects you will examine and whose experiences you will consider. You might investigate changes in working conditions or family routines.
Evidence can support or challenge a judgment. Explain the connection between what a source shows and the criterion you chose. Different effects may point in different directions, so your conclusion may need qualifications.
Do not select only material that agrees with your first idea. Look at relevant evidence that challenges it too. If your sources leave a part unresolved, say what remains uncertain. A clear question helps you investigate; it does not promise that every answer will be definite.
Match each smaller question to evidence
Write your main question at the top of a page. Under it, list the smaller questions whose answers would help. Beside each one, name the evidence you would need and explain the connection to the main question.
Suppose you investigate changes in a school club between two years. Schedules could help you ask which activities were planned in each year. Members' accounts could help you ask how they experienced those activities. The two sources contribute different information.
Check their limits. A schedule does not prove that every planned activity happened. One member's account does not speak for everyone. Combine the supporting answers without claiming that they show more than they do. Revise questions that do not contribute to the main investigation.
2 · Watch
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Where it sits
Learn first
Optional connections
Where this leads
8 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.