What are examples of research questions? This article lists 8 illustrative examples of research questions.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Well-written research questions determine how the entire research process will proceed.
To effectively write the statement of your thesis’s problem, you will need to remember certain principles that will guide you in framing those critical questions.
This article features some examples of research questions.
There are already many literature pieces written on how to write the research questions required to investigate a phenomenon. But how are the research questions framed in actual situations? How do you write the research questions?
The intention of the research activity should guide all research activities. Once this is clearly defined, the research has three primary outcomes.
The next sections discuss these three principles of framing research questions in more detail.
Intention of Writing Research Questions
You will need to remember specific rules and principles on how to go about writing the research questions. Before you write the research questions, discern what you intend to arrive at in your research.
What are your aims, and what are your expected research outcomes? Do you intend to describe something, determine differences, or explain the causes of a phenomenon?
Research has at least three essential research outcomes. These are described below, along with examples of research questions for each outcome.
Three Primary Research Outcomes
In quantitative research, there are at least three basic research outcomes that will arise in writing the research questions. These are
- come up with a description,
- determine differences between variables, and
- find out correlations between variables.
Research Outcome Number 1. Come up with a description.
The outcome of your research question may be as a description. The description contextualizes the situation, explains something about the subjects or respondents of the study. It also provides the reader with an overview of your research.
For instance, the school administrator might want to study a group of teachers in a school to help improve the school’s performance in the licensure examinations. The school has been lagging in their ranking and there is a need to identify training needs to make the teachers more effective.
Specifically, the administrator would like to find out the composition of teachers in that school, find out how much time they spend in preparing their lessons, and what teaching styles they use in managing the teaching-learning process.
Below are examples of research questions for Research Outcome Number 1 on research about this hypothetical study.
3 Examples of Research Questions That Entail Description
- What is the demographic profile of the teachers in terms of age, gender, educational attainment, civil status, and number of training attended?
- How much time do teachers devote to preparing their lessons?
- What teaching styles are used by teachers in managing their students?
The expected outcomes of the example research questions above will be a description of the teachers’ demographic profile, a range of time devoted to preparing their lessons, and a description of the teachers’ teaching styles.
These research outcomes show tables and graphs with accompanying highlights of the findings. Highlights are those interesting trends or dramatic results that need attention, such as very few training provided to teachers.
Armed with information derived from such research, the administrator can then undertake measures to enhance the teachers’ performance. A hit-and-miss approach is avoided. Thus, the intervention becomes more effective than issuing memos to correct the situation without systematic study.
Research Outcome Number 2. Determine differences between variables.
To write research questions that integrate the variables of the study, you should be able to define what is a variable. If this term is already quite familiar to you, and you are confident in your understanding, you may read the rest of this post.
Check this out: What are examples of variables in research?
For example, you might want to find out the differences between groups in a selected variable in your study. Say you would like to know if there is a significant difference in long quiz scores (the variable you are interested in) between students who study at night and students who study early in the morning.
You may frame your research questions thus:
2 Examples of Research Questions to Determine Difference
Non-directional
- Is there a significant difference in long quiz score between students who study early in the morning and students who study at night?
Directional
- Are the quiz scores of students who study early in the morning higher than those who study at night?
The first example research question intends to determine if a difference exists in long quiz scores between students who study at night and those who study early in the morning, hence are non-directional. The aim is just to find out if there is a significant difference. A two-tailed t-test will show if a difference exists.
The second research question aims to determine if students who study in the morning have better quiz scores than what the literature review suggests. Thus, the latter is directional.
Research Outcome Number 3. Find out correlations or relationships between variables.
The outcome of research questions in this category will be to explain correlations or causality. Below are examples of research questions that aim to determine correlations or relationships between variables using a combination of the variables mentioned in research outcome numbers 1 and 2.
3 Examples of Research Questions That Imply Correlation Analysis
- Is there a significant relationship between teaching style and the long quiz score of students?
- Is there a significant association between the student’s long quiz score and the teacher’s age, gender, and training attended?
- Is there a relationship between the long quiz score and the number of hours devoted by students in studying their lessons?
Note that in all the preceding examples of research questions, the conceptual framework integrates the study variables. Therefore, research questions must always incorporate the variables in them so that the researcher can describe, find differences, or correlate them with each other.
Be more familiar with the conceptual framework: Conceptual Framework: A Step-by-Step Guide on How to Make One
If you find this helpful, take the time to share this with your peers to discover new and exciting things along with their fields of interest.
© 2012 October 22 P. A. Regoniel; Updated 01/11/24
pls sir what do u think could be my research questions on effects of broken homes on academic performance of secondary students in Nigeria
Dear Mari, your research topic appears okay as long as you specify the group activities you will study as well as the specific variable you need to measure academic performance. There are just a lot of group activities that can influence academic performance which may be the student’s grade in a particular subject. To identify which group activities affect academic performance, you will have to review relevant literature.
Sir you are doing a great job which we are all benefiting from but my question sir is um currently doing an attachment at a company which specialises in the manufacturing of stock feed so i want to know how do i come out with a research question based on the company for an example one of the research question i had thought of was What makes(company name) succesful in the stockfeed industry?
Dear t.J, the first question you have to ask yourself or probably better, questions you should ask the managers or leaders of your stock feed company, is “What improvements do they desire or problems the company has to solve related to the operations of the stock feed company?” You just use research as a tool to help them. The bottom line is: Why do you want to do research in the first place? What are your objectives, goals or desires for the company? Start off with a purpose and design your research to fulfill that purpose. Your question will depend on the goals or objectives of the company. You should align your research to what they want to realize as a supplier of stock feed.
Is this a good research problem?
“Effectiveness of Group Activities to Academic Performance”
Thank you so much!
Is overweight problem too broad to use as a research topic? Thanks.
Hello Hanna,
If you want to study people being overweight, there are many things you need to consider such as associating this with health problems like diabetes, heart disease, or cancer. Or you might want to study a group of people who were once overweight but engaged themselves in an exercise program. Or maybe you’d want to study the relationship between diet and being overweight. Thus, you need to narrow down further your topic into something that can be investigated based on laid out objectives of your study. You should have a goal in mind first. You may read my previous post on how to design your study to address this concern: https://simplyeducate.me/wordpress_Y/2014/04/24/research-goal-its-importance-in-designing-a-study/
Thank you so much for your help!
Thank you so much for your help!
Dear Ogah,
Your research question may be posed like this: Is there a significant relationship between motivation and teacher’s retention in secondary schools? But of course you need to define what is motivation and teacher’s retention in measurable terms for you to apply statistical tests for it. The nature of the two variables that you try to relate will determine the type of statistical test. See discussion of the appropriate statistical test in https://simplyeducate.me/wordpress_Y/2015/02/18/statistical-analysis-how-to-choose-a-statistical-test/
What will be likely research questions for a project like ” Motivation and teachers retention in secondary schools”? And what statistical method will be suitable?Thanks.
Dear JoMak,
Let me rephrase your research question. It should be stated something like this: “Is there a significant relationship between managerial succession and managerial performance?” You will have to define your managerial succession and managerial performance. Read: https://simplyeducate.me/wordpress_Y/2012/10/22/what-are-examples-of-variables-in-research/
You should be able to get free literature from several sources. I wrote about those sources here: https://simplyeducate.me/wordpress_Y/2014/02/07/five-techniques-to-review-related-literature/
Is this a good research question; “studying the relationship between managerial succession and organizational performance” and where would i get the literature view that would enable me build a good hypothesis and framework for data collection
Dear Louie, your question is okay as long as you are clear on how you are going to measure active use of Facebook as well as a student’s self esteem. You also need to establish the relationship between the use of social media such as Facebook and self-esteem through your review of literature. That will strengthen your thesis on the social media vs. self-esteem connection.
Is this a good research question?
“Is there a significant relationship between the active use of Facebook and the self-esteem of a student?”
What would be good research questions for a research topic ” project based learning on teaching and learning in Business Education.
Dear Kupsy, project based learning is founded on the assumption that learning can be best achieved if done independently by students. Thus, they are exposed to real world problems unlike the conventional approach in classrooms where they are at the receiving end.
An example directional research question I could figure out is: Are students trained under project based learning approach more congruent with their jobs after graduation compared to those who underwent conventional academic training? You may then have to measure the level of congruence as the dependent variable while the teaching approach, conventional and project based, are your independent variables.
Hope that helps.
Hello Gabriel, thanks for visiting simplyeducate.me. I think that would make a good topic. But you have to define the context of your study. What specific accident would you like to look into? Is it road accident, accident at work, or other places it could occur? You need to translate your idea into something that you can focus on or manage.
I want to work on “the major causes accident”. So it’s that a good project topic.
Modern education systems tend to effect social inequality in the society. please help me to find readings for this topic
Dear Rozy, thank you for visiting this site.
You need to be more specific about what modern educational system you would like to study as well as what social inequality you would like to explore.
To shed light on this matter, please read my previous article written in Knoji here: https://college-college-life.knoji.com/what-is-the-difference-between-the-theoretical-framework-and-the-conceptual-framework/
Dear Jammer,
I am not really clear about your request. See the following articles which might be relevant to your concern: https://simplyeducate.me/wordpress_Y/2014/05/14/5-tips-on-how-to-make-a-mind-map-for-research-purposes/ and https://simplyeducate.me/wordpress_Y/2013/09/14/how-to-use-a-mind-map-to-prepare-your-research-proposal/
please help me to create a concept map using research terms n linking words
you are doing a wonderful job!
My question is,” Do good athletes make good students and good citizens?” can u help me to find a good literature for dis topic… is this a good question?
– Educate Me Plx ! –
Dear Rozy, Dr. Kenneth Cooper, in his book aerobics says that studies indicate that those who were intelligent enough to keep themselves in good physical condition were also intelligent enough to make it as students and officers. Further, he says that a man who is physically fit usually has a better outlook, among others so that means that person will also be good citizens. Read the following article and see the references for more readings: http://www.nwu.ac.za/sites/www.nwu.ac.za/files/files/p-fasrek/pdf/2011/DU%20TOIT%20et%20al%20%282011%29%20RELATIONSHIP%20BETWEEN%20PHYSICAL%20FITNESS%20AND%20ACADEMIC%20PERFORMANCE%20IN%20SOUTH%20AFRICAN%20CHILDREN.pdf
Keep it up with the great work you are doing. At least i have an idea of what i am suppose to do in a research.
I however have one question, how can i frame my research question on multiculturalism? I am interested in finding out the degree of influence that other cultures have to the US economy particularly the Asians’.
Thanks for reading Elly. A good review of literature on the relationship between culture and the economy will help you figure out your research question. There are many theories out there that attempt to explain the influence of culture to the economy and vice-versa. The following reading can help you get started: http://www.micsem.org/pubs/counselor/frames/culture_economic_developmentfr.htm
Congratulation for the work you have been doing. my question is, “How social-economic status of student affect his/her academic perfomance?” and can I use it as my research title?
Hello Philemon, thank you for visiting SimplyEducate.me. Your question that will lend itself to statistical analysis should be: “Is there a significant relationship between a student’s socio-economic status and his/her academic performance?” By all means you may use the two variables in your research title. But I suppose there are already a lot of literature that show that there, indeed, is a significant relationship between socioeconomic status and academic performance.
Sir, is this an example of quantitative research?
Sir, is this an example of quantitative research? What are the things i need to consider in this research? Can you give me an example? Do i have to survey a lot of things? Thank you so much.
Hello sir,
I am going to do a research in my university. I have to make my research question based on political economy subject. I don’t know how to make a question to be applicable in the university. I need your help in this regard.
Thank you
Dear Zirbena,
Your research questions on political economy should revolve around interaction between politics and the economy. For example, you may ask the question: How can the level of corruption affect the market processes? Or probably, national policies on biodiversity to wildlife trade. Your question depends on your interest as a researcher. You also need to read researches related to political economy. See this example: https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/wp97139.pdf
How to approach research questions in a qualitative methodology?
PJGreene
greene.patricia1@comcast.net
Dear Patricia,
Thanks for visiting SimplyEducate.Me. Qualitative methodology answers questions that cannot be answered simply by quantification. Answers to qualitative research questions are words, not numbers, as data for analysis. In the given example above on students’ long quiz score, you might want to ask a qualitative question like “What keeps students from studying their lessons?” Essentially, qualitative questions require qualitative methodology.
what will be a research question on topic of education system?
Dear zahir, education system is quite broad. What do you want to know about it. Narrow down your research topic into something that you can manage, or break down into variables that you can measure.
Pls sir, i want to formulate three different research questions and i dont know how to go about it. I need your help sir. The first one is about ladies who thought time is in their hands and keep finding already-made-man but found none. And when age is no longer on their side, the will begin to find anyone who come their way to marry and many will not see it, some will find the wrong partner etc. The second one is on the fall of education which lies on government, teachers and student – problems and prospects. The third, is diversifying resources to meet personal economic needs. Then, what are the dependent and independent variables. Thank u sir.
Dear Alih, the first question, I believe, relates to women preference in relation to their age. The second one is an exploratory study on how the government, teachers, and students perceive education. The third one pertains to personal finance. Perhaps you just want to know what are the factors that predict one’s income. As for the difference between the dependent and independent variables, read my previous post: https://simplyeducate.me/wordpress_Y/2012/10/22/what-are-examples-of-variables-in-research/
Loved it..can you give an educational research proposal for my assignment??
Dear Aana, we usually provide that as a paid service because of the considerable time it takes to prepare.