What should a research question not be?
Andrew Mclaughlin
Published Apr 02, 2026
Research questions should not be answerable with a simple “yes” or “no” or by easily-found facts. They should, instead, require both research and analysis on the part of the writer. They often begin with “How” or “Why.”
What makes a good research topic?
The research topic should have to be well-defined and well-phrased and it should have to be easy to understand. it should have a single meaning. When the research topic is not well-defined the researcher is not able to formulate the right objectives and the hypothesis.
What is a good and bad research question?
The figure below gives some examples of good and “not-so-good” research questions….Good vs. Bad Research Questions.
| Good Research Questions | Bad Research Questions |
|---|---|
| Have no simple answer – are open-ended and consider cause/effect | Have simple or easy answers – can be answered with one word, a number, or a list |
What are good research questions?
In general, however, a good research question should be:
- Clear and focused. In other words, the question should clearly state what the writer needs to do.
- Not too broad and not too narrow.
- Not too easy to answer.
- Not too difficult to answer.
- Researchable.
- Analytical rather than descriptive.
What is a bad research question?
A bad research question is too abstract and general. Public finance, human resource management, inequality and poverty, e-government, social welfare, or corruption is not specific enough.
Is it possible to have two research questions?
In a research paper or essay, you will usually write a single research question to guide your reading and thinking. In a bigger research project, such as a thesis or dissertation, you might have multiple research questions, but they should all be clearly connected and focused around a central research problem.
What are the steps to developing a research question?
Once you know the steps and their order, only three skills are involved in developing a research question: 1 Imagining narrower topics about a larger one, 2 Thinking of questions that stem from a narrow topic, and 3 Focusing questions to eliminate their vagueness.
How to think of a good research question?
The trick is to think of a question related to your topic, but not answerable with a quick search. Also, try to be specific so that your research question can be fully answered in the final product for your research assignment. For each of the narrow topics below, think of a research question that is logically related to that topic.
When to ask research questions and hypotheses?
It then becomes necessary to ask whether these questions can be answered through one study or if more than one study needed.1Additional research questions can be developed, but several basic principles should be taken into consideration.1All questions, primary and secondary, should be developed at the beginning and planning stages of a study.
Can a research statement be changed into a research question?
What you need to do next is change these into a research statement which, in turn, can be changed these into research questions, aims, objectives for use in these documents. Here is some advice on one way you can do it: Usually, at the outset of research, you will have some vague or broad idea of your aim, objective or research question.
