Framing a Research Question
Turn an interest into a question a study can answer: narrow enough to investigate, open enough to have more than one answer, and answerable with material you can actually get hold of.
What a learner can do afterwards
- Narrow a broad interest into a question answerable in the time available
- Reject a question whose answer is already settled, or that nothing could test
- Say what evidence would answer the question before collecting any
1 · Read
A research question is a promise about what you will find out, so frame it before touching any sources. Start wide, then cut it down until it fits your deadline and your library. Swap untestable words like best for measurable ones like most cited.
Mara likes gaming chats and wonders if they harm homework. Her weak version is: is gaming chat bad. Her strong version is: how do Year 12 pupils at her school describe late night chat effects on homework during one survey week. It names a tight group, a scope, and survey answers she can actually gather.
Reject questions nobody could test, or ones everyone already answered. A settled answer or an untestable word wastes the project. Before collecting anything, say out loud what evidence would settle it. If you cannot name that evidence, the question is still too big.
Run a repeatable process, not random searching. Skim widely, read deeply only where the question points, and log each source as claim, source, page, and your comment. One well used study beats five dropped names.
Narrow until it fits, keep it testable, and name the settling evidence before you collect.
More to read
13.1 The Research Process: Where to Look for Existing Sources
A research question is a promise about what you will find out, so frame it before touching any sources. Start wide, then cut it down until it fits your deadline and library. Swap untestable words like best for measurable ones like most cited or fastest growing. Say out loud what evidence would answer it. If you cannot name that evidence, the question is still too big.
12.1 Introducing Research and Research Evidence
Research earns its place by doing work your own opinion cannot do. Strong projects introduce each source, explain what it proves, and connect it back to the question. One well used study beats five name dropped ones. Keep a log as you read: claim, source, page, your comment. When drafting gets hard, that log becomes your plan.
13.3 Glance at the Research Process: Key Skills
Good researchers run a repeatable process, not random searching. Skim widely first, then read deeply only where the question points. Judge every source for purpose and method before trusting its claims. Take notes in your own words with links back to exact pages. These three habits, searching, judging, logging, decide the grade more than total hours.
Making Meaning With & Through Writing: An Approach to Research Writing
Research writing means making meaning with sources, not stacking quotes. Draft your own answer first, then let sources challenge or sharpen it. Each paragraph should carry one claim, one piece of evidence, and your explanation of the link. End by stating what your evidence cannot yet prove. Honest limits make the rest of your argument stronger.
2 · Watch
Take it off screen
Where it sits
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.