Formulating a research question is an essential step in carrying out a research project, and can represent an interminable pitfall for many students who have rarely had the opportunity to practice this kind of practice. This is why a good research question, and especially good inspiration, can help you structure your project.
Finding this famous question, this problem without which you cannot start anything is sometimes difficult, which is why we offer you here about ten examples that can give you confidence, and from which you can concentrate your efforts and guide your first data collection.
No matter what academic exercise you are going to undertake, whether it is a thesis, a dissertation or an academic project, having a clear and precise question is not only important, it is a real starting point that alone allows you to achieve a writing that is relevant in its entirety.
Before coming to our examples, it is worth remembering that a well-formulated research question must be specific, and let us insist on this word because specific does not mean restrictive either. It must be easy to know in which direction you are going, without imposing a path on yourself that does not allow for real reflection.
1. Research question in Health Sciences
Example question: What are the long-term effects of excessive screen time on adolescents aged 13 to 18?
This question is oriented, on the one hand, to a specific group of individuals who represent only a part of the population, and makes the connection between them and the use they can have of digital tools, the objective is quite obvious, the student who asks this question tries to highlight and explore the physical, mental and emotional impacts of prolonged exposure to screens among young people.
2. Research question in Environmental studies
Example of a question: How do urban green spaces influence air quality in metropolitan areas compared to rural areas?
This question is of the order of the comparison, it allows to make a parallel study of two environments, which are: the city and urban spaces, opposed to the countryside and therefore to rural areas. This time it is not a question of studying a group in a restrictive but interesting way, on the contrary, the subject takes hold of a vast problem, and in order not to get lost the student can then count on the nature of the question itself. Because without studying the entire field, it will be a question of highlighting the differences that are found there. Better still, we can say that this is a subject of general interest, which opens a perspective to the student who at the end of the research could quite easily be tempted to make an opening on the evolution of our society with regard to global warming.
3. Research question in Education
Example question: What is the impact of distance learning on the academic performance of high school students during the COVID-19 pandemic?
This question is sociological, and more specifically from the sciences of education, it does not divide but rather focuses on the effectiveness of online learning and its implications for education in the long term. It is a question that requires an empirical study, that is to say, the search for numerical data or the creation by the student of a questionnaire. Its interest is all the greater, since it is a current subject still little known, allowing the student to make a real contribution to a still new scientific field.
4. Research question in Social sciences
Example question: How do social networks contribute to the political polarization of young adults aged 18 to 25?
This is a direct question, one could say that it is shocking, and that is why it directly arouses the interest of a corrector. For the student and his research work, it is a question of basing it on both the studies that were carried out during the previous elections, but also of providing a more psychological answer, because if young people are polarizing it is not necessarily a reflection of society.
5. Research question in Economy
Example of a question: What are the economic effects of the platform economy on traditional employment models in Western Europe?
It is interesting for a student to treat this subject with a social thought, because if the question obviously induces a notion of history, dealing with both modern and ancient society by comparing them, it is also a question of analyzing the pitfall that platformization constitutes, a well-known phenomenon, for many middle-class workers who sometimes find themselves forced to change their lives in favor of an increasingly individualistic society.
6. Research question in Psychology
Example question: How does childhood trauma affect emotional regulation in adulthood?
A psychological question is of particular interest, because it is not a hard science, and as far as soft sciences are concerned, psychology is still the victim of much criticism. This is therefore an opportunity for a serious and motivated student to highlight the benefits and the capacity of this subject to study Man and his behavior, in particular through the path of life, and the socialization that follows.
7. Research question in Technology and society
Example question: How has the use of artificial intelligence in the recruitment process affected diversity in technology companies?
This is a typical question for which we must not fall into the trap of abusive criticism; indeed we are always tempted to either adore or criticize artificial intelligence, but that is not the point here. Quite the contrary, what needs to be undertaken is research work, why not alongside one or more companies that can quite easily answer such a question from a practical point of view.
8. Research question in Cultural studies
Example of a question: How does cultural representation in video games influence the formation of identity among adolescents?
This is a question that involves at least two levels of awareness, the first on the cultural aspect because we must not denigrate video games or consider only one part of them, on the other hand it is necessary to make the link with the stages of socialization in children and to talk about the games they play as a separate instance; and to study their influence on them.
9. Research question in Political Science
Example question: What is the role of international organizations in resolving conflicts in sub-Saharan Africa?
This question requires a long, sometimes tedious but very important study of NGOs and of course the International Court of Justice; because the conflicts present on the African continent are often linked to several nations, and the question requires an analysis and not a simple description of what our Western countries and the organizations that are the fruits of these conflicts may have had to do.
10. Research question in Public Health
Example question: How do vaccination rates vary between urban and rural populations, and what are the contributing factors?
This question, asked in principle by a student who works in the medical field, is not there to simply state the obvious, because it is understood that rural populations are less vaccinated. What must be glimpsed is the real complexity of such a subject, because the study does not focus on the result but rather on the causes of it, and in the opening we can quite imagine a reminder of the consequences that this can have.
Conclusion
The formulation of a research question is indeed essential, and we have explained it, it is sometimes difficult to establish a reflection from a simple question, which is why it is necessary to think carefully about each word, to weigh its meaning, and finally to always ask yourself what it can mean to others.