After you have chosen and narrowed down your research topic, you will need to identify your research purpose. A research purpose will guide your scope of inquiry by better defining exactly what you intend to write your course assignment, lab report or thesis on.

Think about your topic. You should have a good sense of what your topic is and why it is important. However, it may be useful to consider placing your topic inside a research framework.

Research purpose and framework
To learn more about a Research Purpose, click this text.
Consider your topic in the context of being either a problem, a puzzle or a gap. If your topic is some type of issue or a problem, your purpose to research it is to find a proposed solution. Maybe there is a large volume of data on your subject, but with no coherent understanding. This presents a puzzle that requires comparing data to present a clearer picture of your topic. Lastly, you may believe that there is missing information or a knowledge gap. The purpose of your research would then be to fill that gap by creating new knowledge.

Remember, your research is unlikely to solve the problem, create a complete understanding of puzzling information, or to fill a gap. The real intention is for you to identify such a purpose, demonstrate your understanding and do your best to come to a logical conclusion based on the research that you have conducted.

By framing your research topic and creating a purpose to research the topic, you are now required to clarify exactly what, why and how you hope to undertake your specific research. Developing a hypothesis or research questions will define exactly what you intend to research about your topic. Without a strong research question, you should not expect to develop a strong research answer.

Research question or hypothesis: Which should you use?
What is the difference between a research question and a hypothesis?

Both are aspects of the Scientific Method, but they are not identical. A research question is typically a concise, focused and debatable question that will provide a clear path for research. A hypothesis is a formal statement designed to predict the relationship between two or more variables. The noticeable difference is that a research question does not predict how variables will interact or if relationships exist. Research questions tend to be more open-ended, while hypotheses are more direct, focused and closed.

Determining which approach to take will depend on several factors: your level of certainty about relationships and how much research exists about your topic.

Think about it this way:
A hypothesis is better suited when a large body of research on your topic has been established and you have a high level of certainty about the relationships between variables.

It is predictive in nature
Data is collected and analyzed to support or negate the hypothesis
A definite conclusion arises at the end of the research

A hypothesis is best suited to an experimental study and will influence your experimental design.

A research question is better suited for exploratory research into novel, or new areas, where little research exists, or the relationships between variables are more uncertain.

It is used to analyze and investigate a topic by asking a question that is inquisitive in nature
It should include the topic being studied, or the research purpose, the variables and the population under investigation
Data is collected and analyzed to make a conclusion
There are three main kinds of research questions:

Casual questions, which compare two or more phenomena to determine if a relationship exists
Descriptive questions seek to describe phenomena and often examine how much, how often or what is the change
And Comparative questions, which examine the difference between two or more groups in relation to one or more variables

The type of research question you develop will influence your research design.

Developing research questions
According to the scientific method, we often ask questions before we predict hypotheses, so let us further examine how you can create a research question.

You will unlikely create a final research question without creating a few preliminary questions first. Preliminary research questions should be:

Flexible and open to change, because you will need to conduct preliminary research to improve these questions and strengthen your scope of inquiry
Research questions should also be answerable within a reasonable boundary. Just like your topic, a good research question is not so broad that it becomes overly philosophical, nor too specific that you cannot find evidence to help answer it.

Creating the optimal research question is challenging, which is why you need to be flexible and open to new ideas. Developing a research question should be an iterative, or cyclical process, where you continually return to your question and try to improve upon it.

Remember, this process takes time and should be started months in advance of beginning your research and collecting your data. Your research questions and/or hypothesis should be firmly established before you begin designing your research plan and methodology.

So, how can you develop research questions?

First, you need to be critical of your topic. Keep the question in mind: Why is this even important? Thinking critically about your topic will help you determine critical research questions that have importance and relevance for your research and your scientific field.

Begin by speaking with your professor, thesis supervisor, or potential supervisors. Probe professors and professional researchers about your topic to identify potential gaps or questions within your field that remain unanswered. Professors and supervisors will help you understand if your research questions are suitable or not.

Preliminary research and literature review
You should also conduct preliminary research on your topic and ask yourself what gaps, problems or puzzles emerge. Investigate your topic by doing a broad literature review on your topic. Broad does not mean reading dozens of scientific articles word-for-word. Begin with a general Internet search. Establish keywords about your topic and search using those keywords. A general information search should uncover what is currently known on your topic and should uncover areas where you could probe further.

Read related research from the same field, or even from similar research projects. What can you learn, and what remains unanswered by those articles?

While speaking with researchers and doing general information searching, you should remember the following:

If you are able to answer your preliminary research question, or questions, just by speaking to a person or reading a general Internet article, you will need to redevelop your research question because it is too simple.
If you cannot find any information on your topic and no one is knowledgeable enough to speak to you about the topic, you are likely examining something too specific. Redefine your research question and begin your preliminary research anew.

Research involving primary data collection
Depending on the amount of information you discover, and the degree of certainty you have about relationships between variables, you can choose to either investigate your topic by trying to answer your research question, or you can create a hypothesis to test. Knowing which choice you will make will influence how you will design your research approach.

Once you have a firm research question or hypothesis, you should begin researching which data collection and analysis method, or methods, will be most relevant to answer your question or validate your hypothesis.

Again, you are going to need to ask yourself some critical questions when choosing your methodology.

- Are you conducting qualitative, quantitative or mixed-methodology research?

- Will you use surveys, experiments, field work and field observations, meta-analysis?

Determining which general methodological approach you plan to take will help you to choose which specific data collection and analysis methods you will use. Depending on your scientific field, should expect to do fieldwork, literature review, lab analysis, meta-analysis, statistical analysis or experimental design, or a combination of these approaches.

A strong research question or hypothesis is necessary for good research, but you must also spend time conducting preliminary research on your methodology if you want to produce strong written research. Choosing an appropriate methodological approach for data Â collection and analysis is required BEFORE you begin your actual research. Knowing how you will collect, handle and analyze data should be known before you begin collecting data.

Here are a few ways to help you narrow down which methodology might be most useful for you:

Speak with professors or supervisors and ask them for suggestions
Read scientific articles related to your topic and see which methods were used
Compare similar topics that used different methodologies and analyze which might be more applicable in your case

Independent research is not a small undertaking, but with appropriate planning by thinking about a suitable topic, conducting some preliminary research and creating logical and appropriate research questions, you will establish a strong starting point for the rest of your research design.

Example of research question

The following video provides you with an informative look at a real-life Master's thesis. It presents an overview of how to choose a topic and create research questions and hypotheses.

Related resources

Finding the right thesis topic

How do you know you have the right topic?

How to develop a research question

Writing research questions

Developing a good hypothesis

References

https://writingcenter.gmu.edu/guides/how-to-write-a-research-question

https://researchrundowns.com/intro/writing-research-questions

http://www.public.asu.edu/~kroel/www500/hypothesis.pdf

https://www.gradschools.com/get-informed/surviving-graduate-school/graduate-thesisdissertation/thesis-topics-how-come-thesis

https://thesiswhisperer.com/2010/10/13/5-ways-to-know-you-have-the-right-thesis-topic