researchQuestions rev26

0:06[music]

0:08Hi everyone. In this video, we're going

0:11to look at writing research questions.

0:15All right. So, what are research

0:16questions? Well, they're basically

0:19questions that you ask about an issue to

0:21help define the scope of your research.

0:24Research questions will help you to

0:25focus your research and writing task so

0:27that you're not writing about

0:28everything, but you know specifically

0:31what to look for.

0:34Good research questions are not too

0:36broad or too narrow. They're specific.

0:39They're focused on one issue. Usually,

0:41they'll answer the five W's and one H

0:43questions. They're phrased carefully and

0:46specifically. They're usually open-ended

0:48and arguable. They're researchable and

0:50answerable with additional research, and

0:52they're expoundable. You should be able

0:54to elaborate on what you find. They're

0:57typically clear, concise, and easy to

0:59understand.

1:01An example of a good research question

1:03is, "How has glacial melting affected

1:05the lives of penguins in Antarctica, and

1:07what can be done to protect them?" The

1:10question is focused on one issue. It's

1:12phrased carefully and clearly. It's

1:14arguable. Uh, it's researchable, it's

1:18answerable, and it's also expoundable.

1:21Broad research questions typically cover

1:23too much information. You may have too

1:25many key words. They're not typically

1:27easy to research. They may not be

1:29answerable. They might be unclear and

1:31unfocused. And they might have vague,

1:33broad terms. Examples of broad research

1:35questions are things like, "What is the

1:37Coca-Cola company's future marketing

1:39plan?" Well, this is too broad because

1:41we don't know what their future

1:43marketing plan is. you likely won't be

1:45able to find anything about it online

1:47either.

1:49Another broad question might be, do

1:51children sent to daycare or preschool

1:52start kindergarten with more developed

1:54skills? This particular question is too

1:56broad because it's requiring you to look

1:57up and research too many different

1:59things. Daycare versus preschool and

2:02then kindergarten. Uh when we're talking

2:04about develop skills, that term is very

2:06broad. What do we mean? Are we talking

2:08about motor skills, cognitive skills,

2:11etc.? Narrow research questions are so

2:14specific that they lead to an easy

2:15listing of answers. Typically, you can

2:17answer narrow research questions with a

2:19simple yes or no. Also, you can point to

2:22a specific fact that can be found on the

2:24internet very quickly. Typically,

2:26narrowed research questions, overly

2:28narrow research questions, have obvious

2:30answers, and they may be things that you

2:32already know the answer to. Examples of

2:35questions that are too narrow. What are

2:37the 14 different disease-causing genes

2:39that were discovered in 1994? this we

2:41could go to a single website online and

2:43find the answer. What is diia loss

2:45muertos and how is it celebrated? Again,

2:47we could find this simply listed on some

2:50website and it's not going to give us a

2:52lot to expound upon.

2:56Some questions are going to be

2:57unanswerable. So, unanswerable questions

2:59are typically too recent so that there's

3:01not enough written about them that

3:03you'll find from multiple sources. They

3:05may be answerable with research, but our

3:07library may not have the right re

3:09resources or the research might be so

3:12highly technical and difficult for you

3:13to understand that it's almost

3:16impossible to to research standing.

3:19Sometimes uh

3:22a question might be unanswerable because

3:24we don't know the answer and there's not

3:26scientific evidence for us to draw upon.

3:28One, for instance, one semester a

3:31student said she wanted to write about

3:32what happens after we die.

3:35And the response from another student

3:38was, "Well, how many times have you died

3:40and come back to life? We don't have

3:42scientific evidence for this, so it's

3:44not something that would be answerable."

3:48Sometimes questions are just unclear.

3:50You should be able to understand the

3:51question very easily and clearly. Um, so

3:55unclear questions use very broad terms

3:57that have multiple meanings or that need

3:59to be broken down further. So unclear

4:02might unclear research questions might

4:04be why are social networking sites

4:06harmful. This is unclear because we're

4:08not sure which social networking sites

4:10you don't want to talk about every

4:11single social networking site and what

4:13do we mean by harmful? Harmful to how

4:15and to whom. Something that might be

4:17clearer would be something like how has

4:19Instagram failed to protect users

4:21privacy. This would be something that

4:23could be argued

4:25and it's also much clearer, much easier

4:28to understand.

4:30Unfocused questions typically are not

4:32sufficiently narrowed or focused. For

4:35instance, an unfocused question might be

4:37what is the effect of the environment?

4:40What is the effect on the environment

4:41from global warming? Well, there are

4:43many effects, not just one.

4:46What kind or specific part of the

4:48environment in terms of global warming?

4:50What aspect of global warming? So again,

4:52a focus question might look like this.

4:54How is glacial melting affecting

4:56penguins in Antarctica?

5:00Research questions also should be

5:01sufficiently complex and not too simple.

5:03If you already know the answer, then

5:05it's probably not a good research

5:06question.

5:08An example of an overly simplistic

5:10research question is, has there been an

5:12increase in bullying in the US over the

5:13last past 10 years? Well, surely yes. A

5:17more focused research question would be

5:19something like this. How effective have

5:21afterchool programs been in reducing

5:23bullying in elementary schools?

5:27So, how do you create a research

5:28question? Well, you first need to

5:30brainstorm a topic. You need to do

5:32initial research and you need to narrow

5:33that to a specific issue. Once you do

5:36that, you can develop some kind of a

5:38purpose statement if that helps.

5:39Something like, "The purpose of my

5:41research is to describe the barriers to

5:43contraception use among women at high

5:44risk for unintended pregnancy."

5:47You want to keep an eye on those key

5:49terms. You don't want to have too many

5:50of them like we do here. Okay?

5:54Once you do that, then you want to

5:55phrase your problem [sighs and gasps]

5:57statement as a question. You want to

5:58write several potential overarching

6:00research questions to identify the best

6:03one. You might consider using how or why

6:06or what

6:09even should.

6:11So you might say um possible research

6:14questions that you could develop from

6:16this initial statement might be what are

6:18the barriers to contraception use among

6:20women at high risk for unintended

6:21pregnancy or what kinds of barriers

6:24prevent women who are at high risk for

6:26unintended pregnancy from using

6:27contraception.

6:29You want to continue revising your

6:31question until it's clear and concise

6:32and focused and understandable.

6:35You might also consider the key terms

6:37that you're using in the research. And

6:38if you have more than three key terms,

6:40your question might be too broad or too

6:41difficult to understand. So an example,

6:44look at the look at the statement that I

6:46have here. The purpose of my research is

6:48to describe barriers to contraception

6:50use among women at high risk for

6:51unintended pregnancy. There are too many

6:53key terms, right? Barriers,

6:54contraception use, women, high risk,

6:56unintended pregnancy. You don't want too

6:59many key terms. And so you need to

7:01consider simplifying the question.

7:03something like

7:06what barriers prevent contraception use

7:08among women or what barriers prevent

7:10women from using contraception. These

7:12kinds of questions are simpler. They're

7:14easier to understand and they would be

7:16more appropriate for the kind of paper

7:18that we're kind trying trying to write.

7:22Again, you want to generate multiple

7:23questions. Don't settle on the first

7:25research question. You want to pick the

7:26best question that meets the the

7:29research criteria to use as your

7:31overarching question.

7:33If your primary research question is too

7:35broad, you can often narrow it by using

7:36things like who, what, when, where, and

7:38why questions.

7:42Once you've developed the primary

7:44question, you also need to develop

7:46secondary questions again so that you

7:48know exactly what to look for.

7:51So, a primary question is the

7:52overarching research question. It's the

7:54main question you want to find the

7:55answer to. It's the question you want to

7:57research. Secondary questions are those

8:00questions that you must answer in order

8:02to fully develop an answer to the

8:03primary question.

8:05So one student one year chose should

8:09bamboo be used to make paper tissue

8:10products instead of trees. This is her

8:13overarching research question. But to

8:16answer this question fully for ourselves

8:18and for our readers, you need to ask

8:19yourselves what other questions should

8:21we ask and answer.

8:25So these are some of the secondary

8:28questions or some of the secondary

8:29issues that the student thought about.

8:31So things like what would the cost be to

8:34make bamboo tissue products? Is it more

8:36environmentally friendly to make tissue

8:38products out of bamboo? Is bamboo as

8:40good a quality as wood-based tissue

8:42paper? And would bamboo paper tissue

8:45products be as affordable as wood-based

8:46paper tissue products? So in other

8:49words, these secondary questions are

8:51questions that will help you to answer

8:53the primary question. Students sometimes

8:55ask, "Well, how many secondary questions

8:58do I need?" You would probably want to

9:00keep it limited to maybe the top three

9:02or four that are most

9:05appropriate. You don't want to have too

9:07many and you don't want to have too few.

9:10So, you need to kind of balance it out.

9:13You want to keep in mind, too, that

9:14research questions are tentative and

9:16they will change as you begin

9:17researching. Your research questions

9:19will need to be revised and refined to

9:21become more specific always. And in some

9:24cases, you may find that the research

9:26that you find doesn't fit your research

9:28question, and you might have to go back

9:30and change the research question to fit

9:32whatever information you are finding.

9:35All right, that about does it for us

9:37this week. Your activity this week is to

9:40develop a list of possible secondary as

9:42well as primary questions. And by

9:45Sunday, you should submit all of your

9:47invention maps, your narrowed topic

9:49maps, and your primary and secondary

9:51research questions. If you have

9:53questions, please let me know. I'm

9:55always happy to help you. And I hope you

9:56have a great week.