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Forming Research Questions

🎯 Objectives

This learning module should take you about 15-20 minutes to complete.
In this learning module, you will:
  • Consider the value of forming narrow research questions.
  • Learn how to form narrow research questions.
  • Assignment: Practice narrowing down a research question.
  • Assignment: Narrow down your research question.

Star Wars And Research Questions

We will be learning about how to create effective research questions. But first, let's start with a quick story


Have you ever watched Star Wars IV? ❗Spoiler Alert❗At the end of the movie, a fleet of Rebel starfighters are attempting to destroy the Empire’s Death Star. Luke Skywalker ultimately annihilates the Death Star by firing two proton torpedos into a narrow shaft that leads to the Death Star’s reactor core. Luke and the rebel forces did not destroy the Death Star by focusing on attacking the entire moon-sized space station, but by focusing on the small exhaust port shaft. When creating research questions, you should follow a similar tactic as the rebels and focus on narrowing your research questions.

An illustration of the Deathstar. There is a zoomed-in image of the exhaust port, which appears as a hole on the surface of the Deathstar.

A research question is a sentence that explains what you will be learning, researching, and writing about. Your research question often reflects your information need and drives your search for sources.

It is often our natural tendency to create too broad of research questions, but picking your topic and narrowing down your question is part of the research process!

The process of narrowing your research question can take some practice. Watch the following video to learn from a past WRTG150 student who successfully selected and narrowed down his research topic.

How I Formed My Research Quetsion

As you take the time to complete this homework, you will learn how to create narrower and higher-quality research questions.

🎓 Expert Tip: Just because you select a topic or form a research question doesn’t mean that your topic or question is set in stone. You can change or edit your research question anytime during the research and writing process. Professional researchers, such as professors and scientists, often adapt their research questions as they learn more. Being flexible in adapting your research question as you learn will allow you to create a more focused paper.



Why Should I Create a Narrow Research Question?

That is a good question. At first glance, you may wonder why you should take the time to narrow down your research question. Explore the interactive infographic below to discover the benefits of forming specific research questions. Make sure to click on the red plus signs for an explanation of each benefit.

As you can see, there are many reasons you will want to narrow your research question. Narrowing your research question makes it easier and quicker to find relevant, high-quality sources, so taking time to narrow your research question at the beginning of the writing process will save you in the long run. Take some time to look at the following example.

An infographic titled 'Narrowing Down Research Questions.' On the left side of the infographic, there are four rectangles with different versions of a research question. The questions from top to bottom are, 1. 'What affects people's mental health?' 2. 'What affects teenagers' mental health?' 3. 'How does social media affect teenagers' self-esteem?' 4. 'How does Instagram affect teenage girls' eating habits?' Each rectangle has an arrow pointing to a section of an upside-down triangle. The triangle is split into four horizontal sections of the triangle. The top section is the widest and the sections get narrower as you move down the page. The question 'What affects people's mental health?' is connected to the top section of the triangle that is labeled 'Way too broad. The question 'What affects teenagers' mental health?' is connected to the second section of the triangle that is labeled 'Still too broad'. The question 'How does social media affect teenagers' self-esteem?' is connected to the third section of the triangle that is labeled 'Getting Better. ' The question 'How does Instagram affect teenage girls' eating habits?' is connected to the fourth and last section of the triangle that is labeled 'Pretty Good.' Lastly, there is a two-sided verticle arrow on the right of the triangle. The top point of the arrow, in connection to the side of the triangle labeled 'Way too broad,' is labeled, "Hard to find relevant, high-quality sources.' The bottom point of the arrow is labeled 'Easy to find relevant, high-quality sources."

As you saw in the above example, as you narrow your research question, it is easier to find high-quality sources that relate to your specific research question.

Think of it this way; if you Google a broad subject like “mental health”, you would get sources about hundreds of thousands of different subtopics, or more specific topics, related to mental health. It would be hard to know what specific subtopic to write about and which sources to use.

On the other hand, you could ask a specific question such as, “How does Instagram affect teenage girls’ eating habits?” You could then use phrases such as “mental health” & “Instagram” & “eating habits” in your Google search. This search would then provide you with sources specific to your narrow research question.

💡Note: It is important to also create a question...

  • That is interesting to you.
  • That you can approach with curiosity and openness.
  • About which you can find factual information that is compelling to your audience, whether they are peers or an academic audience.
  • That fits the requirements of your assignment.




The Process of Narrowing Your Research Question

You may have already selected a topic and possibly have even already formed your initial research question. These can even be considered the first two steps of writing a research paper. The next step is narrowing down your initial research question.

If going through the writing process were driving a car, the research would be the gas that continually fuels your writing. If at any point your “car” stops receiving gas, the writing process is halted. If you were traveling through the desert and ran out of gas, you would not get where you wanted to go. Similarly, if you stop conducting research during any part of the writing process, your paper will not reach its full potential.

Look at the image below to get an idea of where narrowing your research question fits in the overall writing process. Also, take note of the importance that research has throughout the process.

An infographic titled 'The Process of Writing Research Papers.' There is an illustrated jeep in the top left corner and a desert rock formation in the top right corner. There is a gas can labeled 'research' in the bottom left-hand corner. The bulk of the infographic is dedicated to a series of steps connected to each other by arrows in a horizontal direction. The first step, starting on the left, is 'Select a Topic' which is connected to the next step 'Form Initial Research Question.' The next step is 'Narrow Down the Question' which is linked to the step 'Test the Question.' 'Test the Question also leads to 'Narrow Down the Question' signifying that you can repeat these two steps. There is also another arrow connecting 'test the question' to the next step 'write and edit.' The step 'write and edit' is on the right side of the page. There is an arrow from 'write and edit that leads back to the 'narrow down question' and 'test the question' steps. Lastly, there is a gas can under each arrow connect the steps, indicating that research should be done at each step of the writing process.

After you have formed your initial research question, you should then narrow down your original question by asking follow-up questions. Below are some examples of questions that you could ask.

An infographic with a red question mark in. the middle. There are six blue thought bubbles arranged in a circle around the red question mark. There is text in each bubble. Starting in the top left-hand corner, traveling clockwise, the text is: 1. 'What? What about the topic interests you?' 2.'Why? Why is this topic important to you? Why is it important to other people?' 3. 'Who? Who is involved in the situation? Who is affected?' 4. 'Where? What part of the world will you focus on?' 5. 'When? What time period do you want to focus on? ' 6. 'How? How is this topic affecting people? How is it happening?'

Once you have narrowed your research question, you should then test your research question to determine if it is narrow enough by beginning to research your specific topic.

If, when you search for the information, you are getting many results that don’t address your specific question, then you should:

  1. Double-check that you are searching using the correct keywords and Boolean operators. (Review keywords and boolean operators here)
  2. If you are searching using the correct methods and are still getting too many results, then you will need to narrow your research question even more.

If, instead, you are finding many results that address parts of your question and are feeling a little less overwhelmed, then congratulations! You are off to a good start.

❗Disclaimer: Sources don’t have to directly answer the questions to be used in your paper. Some sources can be used to provide context or background information in your paper.





Practice: Narrow Down a Research Question

Activity: Narrow Your Research Question

Now that you have learned how to create a narrow research question, it is your opportunity to do it yourself. We have included a tool that can help you go through the process of making a more narrow research question. Start by answering the first question, then hit the “next” button.

What Have We Learned

  • It's natural to create broad research questions, but narrowing them down is essential.
  • Narrowing down research questions helps find relevant, high-quality sources.
  • Narrowing research questions saves time and effort in the long run.
  • Narrow down your research questions by considering who, when, why, what, and where.