The importance of research questions

The importance of research questions

December 4, 2020 by Amy Sparrow

This post is one in a series of guest blogs by Dr Zina O’Leary, Senior Fellow at the Australia and New Zealand School of Government and internationally-recognized leader in research methodologies.

Zina is the author of sage campus’ upcoming present your research , research proposal and research question online courses, launching in 2021. the courses are inspired by sage’s popular little quick fixes book series and you can read zina’s last post on presentations that influence here ., what do you think is the most critical think you need to do in the conduct of research.

It is to ARTICULATE YOUR QUESTION .

Now you may be thinking, ‘I have a pretty good idea about what I want to research - isn’t that enough? ’. Well, the answer is an unequivocal NO . There are a lot of students who want to jump right into their research project without taking the time to really think through and develop their research question. Some have ideas about their topic, but they are not clear on the aspects they want to explore. Others will have their ideas narrowed down but have not clearly articulated this in a researchable question.

I have to say, I am a real stickler for a good research question. They are absolutely fundamental to good research. After all, how will you know when you have found the answer to your question, if you can’t say what your question is?

Remember: research is a decision-making journey.

The process, in fact, demands that you constantly engage in decision-making that is logical, consistent and coherent. And what do you think is the benchmark for logical, consistent and coherent decision-making? It’s that the choices you make take you one step closer to being able to answer your research question credibly. So without clear articulation of your question you are really travelling blind.

Research questions are essential because they:

• Define an investigation

• Set boundaries

• Provide direction

• Act as a frame of reference for assessing your work

Now I don’t want to make it sound like research questions are reductionist devices that take all exploration, creativity and fluidity out of the research process. Not at all. Research questions themselves can be designed so that they are open and exploratory. As well, research questions can, and often do, change, shift and evolve during the early stages of a project. This is as it should be, since your engagement in the literature evolves both your knowledge and thinking.

Yes, research questions define an investigation and provide direction, but it is up to the researcher to define and redefine questions so that they can most appropriately accomplish these tasks.

If you want to learn these skills yourself or are interested in assigning them to your students, researchers or staff, register your interest for a free module of the online courses at the pages below:

Present your research, research proposal, research question, libraries can request a 30 day free trial to sage campus for institution-wide access. recommend us to your library or request a free trial today if you are an institutional administrator..

IMAGES

  1. Why is Research Important?

    explain the importance of research questions in psychological research

  2. Representation of the research questions and their importance

    explain the importance of research questions in psychological research

  3. The role of research in the practice of psychology

    explain the importance of research questions in psychological research

  4. Research Questions

    explain the importance of research questions in psychological research

  5. How to Write a Research Question in 2024: Types, Steps, and Examples

    explain the importance of research questions in psychological research

  6. How Applied Research Is Used in Psychology

    explain the importance of research questions in psychological research

VIDEO

  1. Psychological Research: Crash Course Psychology #2

  2. How useful is Psychological Research? (Psychology Debate Explained) #Alevel

  3. Psychological Research Methods

  4. The Purpose of Psychological Research: PSYCHademia, AP Psychology

  5. How different are research objectives and research questions? Know in this video 👆🙂

  6. Research Methods in Psychology: Types of Psychology Studies

COMMENTS

  1. Why Is Research Important?

    Explain how scientific research addresses questions about behavior; Discuss how scientific research guides public policy; Appreciate how scientific research can be …

  2. Why the research question is so important

    A research question is a sentence that defines what you will examine, within which population, and what the outcome of interest will be. Defining a clear research question is the first and most important part of the project.

  3. 2.1 Why is Research Important

    Learning Objectives. By the end of this section, you will be able to: Explain how scientific research addresses questions about behavior. Discuss how scientific research guides public …

  4. Why research is important

    Why is research important? There are many reasons why research is important, and needs to be taken seriously by anyone working as a counsellor or psychotherapist. These reasons …

  5. 10 Why is Research Important?

    Explain how scientific research addresses questions about behaviour; Discuss how scientific research guides public policy; Appreciate how scientific research can be important in making …

  6. 2.1 Why Is Research Important?

    Explain how scientific research addresses questions about behavior; Discuss how scientific research guides public policy; Appreciate how scientific research can be important in making personal decisions

  7. Developing qualitative research questions: a reflective process

    Using qualitative research questions reflexively can help researchers to clarify purpose, make connections with a field of study, and reflect on and interrogate the impact of …