Formulating Research Questions
Amanda Wolf
School of Government
FGR Workshop Presentation
20 May 2010
Overview
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Why is formulating research questions important?
Questions in perspective: Looking forward and
backward on research questions
Matching questions to research purposes
Examples
Aim: to assist you to use thinking about research
questions in ways that can improve the quality of
the research and your satisfaction
Why Questions are Important
A PhD is a significant and original
contribution to knowledge or
understanding
 Contribution may include critical,
experimental, theoretical or creative
components but must come together in a
single integrated study
 Research questions focus you on those
criteria and help connect you to valuable
knowledge resources
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Looking Forward: Preparing to
Formulate Questions
Know the requirements set by your
supervisor, school, funder
 Read a lot, keep a journal/idea folder, talk
to people, reflect and review
 As appropriate, investigate availability of
data, equipment, access and other
practical matters
 Above all, bear in mind that your research
has begun
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Your research has begun . . .
A Conventional View of Question
Formulation
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You must, first, pose a question that:
◦ Narrows down the ‘topic’ to a single problem
(and often to an hypothesis)
◦ Is not too big and not too small
◦ Builds on what is known
◦ Promises some new knowledge
◦ Will ‘last’ the duration of the research
Typical Advice
“If you don’t get the research question
right at the start of your PhD you
probably won’t enjoy your studies and
you will seriously reduce the chance of a
successful outcome.”
 Yes, yes, but . . . It’s a tall order and sets
frustratingly difficult expectations
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Problems With Conventional Views
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Time: Takes too much time to sift through
overwhelming amount of potentially relevant material
Spinning wheels: Getting stuck in a groove; you know so
much about what is already known, and none of it helps
Goldilocks: ‘Just right’ scope remains elusive
Fit: Questions you like don’t seem to fit academic
criteria, and those that fit you don’t like
Durability: Not entirely sure this is the question you
want to commit to
An Alternative
Back into the task
 Float ‘trial balloons’ in which possible
questions are ‘situated’ in the research
frame
 Work with purpose (aim) in mind
 Remind yourself that research does not
start with the research question
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Back Into the Task
Questions come from a puzzle, a curiosity,
something that ‘grabs’ you
 Think about that and write it down in
two steps:
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◦ State where you are in the world/stream of
literature
◦ Name the puzzle (your puzzle, curiosity, think
about your hunches . . . )
Example 1
Excessive weight gain for women during
pregnancy can be harmful for both
mother and foetus.
 But why do over 40% of women put on
excessive weight while others do not? (I
keep thinking that there might be
something to do with hormones . . . )
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Example 2
New Zealand policy targets an increase in
skilled immigration as a key response to
addressing skill shortages and thereby
increasing the country’s economic growth.
 However, while we know a good deal in the
aggregate about the work and settlement
experiences of immigrants, I’m curious to
know how immigrants’ experiences in NZ
match their prior expectations
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Trial Balloons in Four Parts
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A coherent, feasible, interesting summary
As above, first:
◦ A. Situate your study in an area ripe for investigation,
or as the focus of your learning goals; Express as a
declarative sentence
◦ B. Name a puzzle or curiosity for focused attention
(yes, but, however. . . )
 We study puzzles, not ‘topics’
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Next:
◦ C. Name something specific about the puzzle that we
need to know something about
◦ D. Foreshadow the nature of what you will find out
(the aim or purpose of the research)
Something Precise Needs
Investigation
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Your question:
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To choose question, think about:
◦ Something specific about the puzzle that warrants
asking and answering questions
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Personal or academic motives
Literature (existing theories, research, models)
Hunches
Assumptions
Preferred approaches to enquiry
Restrictions (audience, feasibility, politics,
instrumental factors, logistics)
Example
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Is pregnancy-related weight gain due to
the interaction of two reproductive
hormones: oxytocin, which is produced in
the brain and suppresses food intake and
prolactin, which may act by reducing the
brain’s ability to respond to oxytocin,
leading to a cycle of hunger, eating and
obesity?
Example Generically
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Is X (pregnancy-related weight gain) due to Y
(the interaction of two reproductive
hormones)?
What is the interaction between A
(oxytocin, which is produced in the brain
and suppresses food intake) and B (prolactin,
which may act by reducing the brain’s ability
to respond to oxytocin)?
Does the interaction between A and B lead
to C (a cycle of hunger and eating)?
Therefore, is C a reason for X?
Purpose
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The purpose foreshadows the findings of the research
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Purposes “match” question, so develop together
◦ What will be known
◦ What you will have gained
◦ Exploration (find thing)
◦ Description (details of thing)
◦ Explanation (establish mechanism)
 Causes and/or effects
◦ Understanding (establish reasons)
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 Meanings, context, process
Prediction (forecast outcomes under conditions)
Recommend action (change or process focus)
Evaluate (assess; judge)
Create/make something (new design, performance, tool, etc)
Purpose links to methods, which can provide a further check on
coherence of the research
Questions Match Purpose
Why: understanding or explanation
 How: change-focused
 What: exploration, description, prediction, design solution
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Only some purposes require a hypothesis
◦ A hypothesis is a possible, testable, answer to why and some how
questions, expressed as a relationship between two concepts,
variables, things
 Women gain weight because hormones interact in a weight-influencing cycle
◦ No ‘hypothesis’ in ‘what’ questions
 What happens to rocks surrounding volcanoes in response to changes in
movement of potentially hazardous magma deep underground?
 Note: If ‘hypothesis’ is taken as ‘an educated guess’, then ‘what’ questions can
be motivated by an hypothesis
Getting the Question ‘Right’
The ‘right’ question is the one that is
centrally focused on your puzzle, your
curiosity; it requires that other questions
and problems are relegated (for the sake
of research to the periphery)
 A long list exercise can help
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◦ Write all questions that occur, group, sort,
expose assumptions, rule out
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A matter of balancing levels
Three ‘Levels’ of Questions
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‘Your’ research question refers to the
precise focus of your original, independent
research  findings
Subsidiary questions guide the operational
stages of your inquiry, the steps as you build
the answer and address assumptions
A higher-level question shows the more
general class of knowledge to which your
research contributes: It is the essence of
your question, the reason for your
investigation  significance of findings
Ruamoko’s Rumbles: What Happens Before a
Volcano Erupts?
Mount Ruapehu caught scientists and the public by surprise
when it erupted in 1995.
 But analysis of data collected before and during this eruption
indicates there may be subtle changes beneath volcanoes
before they blow their tops.
 We will examine how the rocks surrounding volcanoes
respond to changes in movement of potentially hazardous
magma deep underground.
 The team hope to understand what happens just before a
volcano erupts. This will make it easier to read telltale signs
of stress build-up and magma movement. Although the
underlying processes of eruptions have yet to be fully
understood, this research offers hope of a reliable early
warning system for volcanic activity.
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Preventing Pregnancy-Induced
Obesity
Excessive weight gain during pregnancy is a problem for
women in modern society, and can be harmful to both
mother and foetus.
 But why do over 40% of women put on excessive weight
while others do not?
 This study will investigate whether pregnancy-related weight
gain is due to the interaction of two reproductive hormones.
Oxytocin is produced in the brain; one of its roles is to
suppress food intake. The other hormone, prolactin, may act
by reducing the brain’s ability to respond to oxytocin, leading
to a cycle of hunger, eating and obesity.
 By understanding how these hormones interact, Dr Brown
hopes that strategies may be developed to limit excessive
weight gain during pregnancy and so reduce health risks for
mother and child.
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War Captives in Māori Society
War captives or ‘slaves’ comprised somewhere between 10 and 50 percent
of the Māori population in the early nineteenth century. Were the reasons
for taking captives spiritual, political, or economic in nature? Were captives
treated differently according to their rank or gender? Did codes of
conduct govern their treatment? Did enslavement deprive individuals of
their mana or personal tapu?
 Slavery is an emotive term, and causes interpretive problems. This study
will investigate the purpose and function of war captives in Māori society.
It will attempt to dissect apparently contradictory accounts of their status
and role, both before and after European contact.
 English terms such as ‘slave’ may or may not have an equivalent Māori
meaning and, therefore, may distort the reality such terms appear to
represent.
 But more important than vocabulary distinctions is the tendency to see
such concepts within particular ideological frameworks or from culturally
bounded perspectives. Perhaps they should be seen as distinct social or
economic institutions, unique to their own society.
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Teaching an Old Brain New Tricks
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The traditional view of neural plasticity (changes in the number and
strength of connections within the brain) was that children’s brains
are more ‘plastic’ than those of adults. The less plastic your brain,
the less able you are to acquire new skills, form new memories and
recover from injury or impaired development.
Dr Thompson will investigate whether the use of Prozac can
increase brain plasticity in humans (following studies with adult
mice).
Using a variety of brain plasticity measures that target both
movement and vision, Dr Thompson will investigate the ability of
Prozac to increase brain plasticity in healthy adults and to facilitate
recovery from the common visual disorder ‘lazy eye’.
This innovative project has the potential to alter neural plasticity in
adults, with the view to enhancing learning and re-learning after
brain injury.
The Story of My Life
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Adolescents are urged to ‘get a life’, but they also need a sense of
who they are. A strong sense of identity helps lead to greater life
satisfaction, and academic and occupational success. How is a sense
of identity formed? And is it shaped in the same way for
adolescents in different cultures?
One important way that adolescents form an identity is through
talking about their lives with others in order to form ‘life stories’,
but the extent to which this is done varies between cultures.
Most previous research in this area has concentrated on life stories
and identity in adults. At what point in development does life-story
telling become crucial for well-being?
Associate Professor Reese will ask ninety 12- to 20-year-old
adolescents from three culture groups to tell the stories of their
lives and to report on their well-being. The expectation is that
adolescents who tell more coherent and insightful life stories will
experience greater well-being.
Managing the Levels
Independence is demonstrated by your
ability to set up the questions
 Original contribution is gauged by the detail
in your reported answer to the main
question
 Significant contribution is shown by the
reasons you give to justify your work and
explain its contribution.
 You need to find a good balance:
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◦ Too much detail, significance hard to find
◦ Too little detail, originality unclear
Looking Backward
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Especially in PhD research, the formulation
of your questions helps assessors judge
whether you have presented an original,
integrated argument, and the significance of
your contribution
Even though your questions will have
evolved, everything in your final thesis should
demonstrate you know what your research
question is and what it has led you to add to
knowledge and understanding
References
Blaikie, N. (2000). Designing social research. Polity
 Hawke, G. (2010). Presentation to School of
Government PhD students
 Examples derived from studies designed by Di Buchan
(skilled migrants) and Marsden award winners: Assoc
Prof JE Reese (stories); Dr B Thompson (old brains); Dr
H Petrie (slavery); Dr CH Brown and Professor DR
Grattan (hormones); Professor MK Savage (volcanoes)
(www.marsden.rsnz.org)
 http://www.brighthub.com/education/postgraduate/articl
es/68825.aspx (‘typical advice’)
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