Mostly, if
not all the time, working on a dissertation can be overwhelming for you. A
dissertation requires extensive research and the formulation of research
questions. After you formulate research questions, all the discussion is on
answering those questions. The research you conduct, the methods you apply to
analyse your data, and the findings of your dissertation all contribute to
answering those questions.
What if you
do not know how to formulate research questions, like many other students? How
can you answer them if you do not have them? In this scenario, there is a need
to develop a guideline for formulating such questions. So, today’s article will
serve as a guide to help you structure good questions. Hence, let’s start by describing
the steps you need to consider.
Formulation of research
questions
A good
research question forms the backbone of good research. Formulating research
questions is an essential thing as it leads to the methodology. However, many
researchers do not know anything about their development. Hence, a brief
description of the steps that can help you in this is as follows:
Determine the
nature of the research
Before you
begin the process of developing questions for your research, it is important to
determine the nature of your research. The nature of the research defines the
way you have to go to formulate research questions. The nature of the research
means checking if this research is a test or proposition. Is this research
about stating an argument or defending it? Answering these questions is the
first you need to take. However, in case of any issue, you can get masters
dissertation help.
Do the
research
You have
determined the nature of your research; now, what’s next? The next step is to
conduct some preliminary research on your topic. You can do this research by
exploring the journals in your field or reading books. This quick research lets
you identify the research gaps in your field that still need to be explored.
Knowing those gaps is the second step to formulate research questions.
Consider the
audience
Most of the
time, the audience is the academic audience. You need to write by keeping them
in mind. But this cannot be the case every time. Sometimes, the general public
also reads your research to understand a phenomenon. Therefore, you also need
to consider them when formulating your research questions. Ask yourself if my
audience would be interested in the question I am developing. This question
will help you a lot in developing good questions.
Start writing
questions
This is the
4th and last step after performing all the steps mentioned above. Now
the only thing that you need to do is to start asking questions. Ask the
questions and write them, but do not finalise them. It is because the first
draft is not always the final draft. After writing your questions, return to
them after some time and edit them. This way, you can formulate research questions
that are good and relevant to the research.
Conclusion
Formulating the perfect research questions is essential for research. Without having good research questions, the goal of your research is unclear. With the unclear goal, you can achieve nothing but delay in completing your dissertation. Therefore, follow the steps mentioned above to formulate research questions.