“Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers,” said French Enlightenment writer, Voltaire  

That’s right!

If the questions are flawed. How can one possibly answer them?

Therefore, summon your inner Socrates. Because, when writing a dissertation, the ability to ask the right question is more important than finding a perfect answer.

Clear and focused research questions act as North Star, that provides direction, focus, and a clear objective to your dissertation. Hence, it guides the entire research process from data collection to analysis.

So, how do you write a strong research question that sets up your dissertation for success? This blog will walk you through the process, step by step.

1. Choose a topic of your Interest

You must believe in what you do, it must speak from your soul.

The bare minimum dilemma is rampant academics. Moreover, the bare minimum results in low-quality research papers. Thus, the whole field becomes stagnant and degenerative.

Dear academics! Choose a topic that you are passionate to research about.

When you are interested in the topic, that’s when magic happens. You will be more willing to invest time and effort into your dissertation.

Your creativity will be at its zenith!

2. Determine Research objective

You can only know what to ask when you know what you want. This might sound like Master Oogway’s statement. 

But, it is not, it is a sign to ask, what’s the purpose of your research? What does your research intend to accomplish?

It is essential to know your research objective before you frame your research question. Your research objective indicates the particular focus and approach of your dissertation. So, if you are still confused about this, then you should talk to an expert and get Assignment Help Dubai or consultation to get it done the way it should be. As, It acts as the foundation for framing research questions for your dissertation.

3. Conduct Preliminary Research

Read! The more you read, the more you find out how little you know. 

Keep in mind you are not reading to answer, you are reading to develop a research question. Yeah! It is a different type of reading.

In this type of reading, you are to familiarise yourself with the key debates in academic writing on the topic.

Thus, follow these main guidelines to follow 

• Limit your reading to recently published material and perhaps one or two influential works on the topic. 
• Focus on the main ideas and arguments usually present in the introduction and the conclusion). 
• don’t read every word or take down extensive notes at this stage, you are here to identify the main aspects of the topic
• In addition, go through literature reviews and identify knowledge gaps or limitations in your topic.

4. Narrow down your topic

You are sitting on the bench, enjoying the view of the park. Looking at the birds, and trees.

Meanwhile, your gossiper friend inquired, “Hey, did you look at that girl in red? Did you? 

Your reply will be,” No, I wasn’t looking at her.” Since you had a different perspective from your friend. Your lens was different.

So, choose your lens for your dissertation.

 What aspect of your research problem most intrigues you?  You need to narrow your focus to a specific dimension within the broader topic. Or you can also consider taking dissertation help Dubai to ensure an ideal dissertation. 

For instance, the broad topic of your research is “climate change.” You narrow it down to “The impact of climate change on sea levels in coastal areas.” See, through this deductive approach, you can get into depth of the topic.

Hence, you can formulate your research question in this way. “To what extent have rising sea levels caused by climate change impacted coastal communities in Karachi, Pakistan?”

5. Write your question

Beware! Your words have power. They can instill the universe into action.

The wording of research questions matters. It must outline a clear research problem. Choose the best choice of words to formulate your questions.

John Ward Creswell, an American academician known for his work in mixed methods research remarks that “research questions should be researchable.” That means don’t use abstract terms that can’t be translated into practice.

Here are important guidelines while formulating research questions:

• When thinking about the wording of your question, reflect on the purpose of your dissertation.
• The wording of your research question must be as simple.
• Don’t stuff words. In other words, don’t make it too wordy, questions must be concise.
• Avoid using ambiguous terms. It will make the main focus of the research unclear.
• Be mindful! The way you frame your questions can reflect your bias.

Hence, the wording of the central research question needs to be clear and concise.

Understand Types of Questions.

Quantitative Research Questions measure and analyze variables.

Moreover, they are:

• Descriptive: describing the characteristics of a population/phenomenon.
• Comparative: comparing two or more variables.
• Relational: exploring the relationship between variables.
• Explanatory: understanding the causes and effects of a phenomenon.
• Predictive: aims to forecast future outcomes based on existing data.

Qualitative Research Questions aim to understand a phenomenon in depth. Also, these questions are :

• Exploratory: questions are broad and open-ended.
• Interpretive: Focus on the multiple meanings of a phenomenon. 
• Contextual: Examine the context of a phenomenon. 
• Evaluation: Assess the effectiveness of programs and policies.
• Plus, generative: generate new ideas or theories.

That is to say, the process of developing your research questions is the foundation of all your subsequent research.

Conclusion

Dear followers of Socrates!

First, choose a topic of your interest, then determine the objective of your research.

Secondly, conduct a preliminary research and then narrow down the topic.

Finally, the most important step is to choose accurate words to frame research questions.

Hence, all components of your dissertation. Methodology, literature review, and analysis all are focused on these questions.

With well-crafted research questions set up your dissertation for success.

Above all, remember the best research question, not merely fill the gap in the literature. But it makes you excited to find the answer.