Research Question Generator

Looking for an inspiring research question or paper title? Check out our tool! Our research question generator is specially designed for students.

Time to unleash your creativity!

Table of Contents

🔍 What Is It?
📝 Types of Questions
🕰️ Step-by-Step Guide
❗ References

🔍 What Is a Research Question?

A research question is the researcher’s attempt to guide their investigation. Instead of exploring a given topic without a direction, they pose a specific inquiry and answer it through a complete analysis of evidence-based data. Research questions must have a purpose and be clear enough for both the researcher and the reader to understand and follow through.

To find a central focus of your paper, you should consider different factors of the topic you study. Although there is no universal set of rules, your research question should be:

⭐ Interesting and challenging	Your research question should be interesting for the reader and make them think about the topic after your paper.
⭐ Relevant	It should be connected to the discipline or problem under study.
⭐ Clear and precise	The question should be easy to understand. Provide enough information without making it overly complicated.
⭐ Analytically focused	Any research question puts into the spotlight all the available data regarding its context. This way, you allow your readers to follow your thought process and see your conclusions.
⭐ Well-formulated	The question must be well stated in order for others to understand it. People should not have to read through pages of text or skim complex graphs and tables to see what you’re researching.

Our research question generator functions automatically and creates the resulting sentence according to these features. It takes your topic along with the keywords you need and develops the problem statement for your paper. Then, it transforms it into a question, which will help you see and set the direction of your research.

📝 Generating Research Questions Of Various Types

Each topic and task require its own specific kind of research question. Our generator tool the most appropriate inquiry for your assignment based on your keywords and ideas. However, even with our instrument, it is better for you to learn what types of research questions exist.

Qualitative Research Questions

Qualitative research involves collecting, analysing, and interpreting information through observation and communication. By obtaining and examining non-numerical data, individuals can get a perspective that is as close to the real world as possible.

Qualitative research methods seek to understand a phenomenon or its details from a subjective viewpoint. Thus, people use recordings, interviews, questionnaires, first-hand observation, and so on to grasp reality.

Here are some of the most common types of qualitative research:

Ethnography

Ethnography is a qualitative research method that focuses on the lived experience of an individual or group. The researcher explores the context in which people act rather than simply observing or categorizing them. They don’t ask questions or make observations about subjects beforehand.

Some ethnographic research questions are:

What do you dislike about this service?
What do you like about your school curriculum?

Case Study

A case study focuses on the details of a particular situation or event. This research method is used in psychology, sociology, anthropology, and other social sciences. Though these disciplines have their own specific approaches to collecting data, they all share the same goal: to learn about human behavior by examining particular cases in detail.

Examples of case study questions include:

How has the new school system affected your mental health?
What positive changes have you noticed after quitting smoking?

Interview

An interview, also very common in qualitative research, is a structured and planned conversation between two or more people. Its purpose is to gather information from someone who may be an expert or expert witness. As a result, the interviewer gets an answer to a specific research problem.

The aim of an interview is to increase the knowledge base of the researcher and/or the understanding of participants. This way, people will be able to develop new ideas or expand the existing ones.

Some examples of interview questions are:

Why did you make this specific choice?
What do you think that person should have done to improve the situation?

Quantitative Research Questions

Quantitative research is the process of collecting factual numerical data and examining the results. It is usually conducted when researchers want to investigate an issue that requires statistical analyses and comparison of the data sets.

Unlike the qualitative one, quantitative research relies on numerical patterns. Whether imposed via the use of subjective scales or instinctually quantitative, the use of mathematics makes this approach as objective as possible. Thus, this method is common for natural, applied, and social sciences.

Descriptive

Descriptive research is a type used to outline the characteristics of a group or population. It can be thought of as descriptive statistics applied to crowds. The goal is to provide an accurate summary of what is happening without making any claims about why.

Some examples of descriptive questions include:

How often do you fall asleep after 1 AM per week?
How many times have you traveled abroad in the past three years?

Comparative

Comparative quantitative research compares and contrasts two or more groups of individuals or other subjects. The purpose here is to determine whether there are any differences between the items.

The following are examples of comparative questions:

What are the differences in the cost of living between cities?
Do college students who use social media have different stress levels than those who do not?

Relationship-based

Relationship-based research is a qualitative approach to data analysis. The researcher uses analytical tools to analyse the relationship between variables. Later, they use this information to generate hypotheses that can be tested with other methods.

Examples of relationship-based research questions:

What is the relationship between academic pressure and anxiety?
What is the relation between education level and unemployment?

🕰️ How To Make A Research Question In 8 Steps

Unfortunately, you won't always have an opportunity to use our research questions generator. Though the instrument is available 24/7 and doesn't require payment or registration, it only works online. Therefore, without a stable internet connection, you will have to deal with developing a research question on your own. That's why we've created this small step-by-step guide.

Here is how you can write your research question by yourself:

Step 1: Consider all the requirements.	Ask yourself what the purpose of your study is. Are you trying to confirm or explain the topic? Based on the instructions you received from your professor, determine what your reason for exploring the subject is.
Step 2: Pick or come up with a topic.	When writing a research question, you will either have a list of ideas to choose from or the freedom to select anything. If it is the former, choose something that interests you without having studied it before. For the latter, you can look up the ideas online. Make sure that you can research and explore the final topic within a reasonable amount of time and resources.
Step 3: Study your idea.	Before writing the problem statement, read a few relevant scientific papers related to your topic. The point here is to become acquainted with the significant concepts and conflicts about the subject. This way, you’ll see what factors may affect your study and its limitations.
Step 4: Think of your future readers.	Who might read your academic paper? Wonder if they would find it useful, interesting, or relevant. Would they understand how and why you came up with this particular research statement?
Step 5: Ask questions about the topic.	For example, you are writing an essay on how ecological issues influence animals. So, start by asking something more specific. What are the effects of global warming on polar bears? Do we need to know more about this issue? Get some ideas for possible research questions related to your project’s topic.
Step 6: Narrow down your options.	After brainstorming and conducting some general research, you should limit yourself to one or two major points. In general, it is better to have a more specific topic. It will enable you to analyse the issue as much as possible, avoiding overlap with others’ papers.
Step 7: Evaluate your questions.	After you’ve found an engaging and relevant issue related to the topic, assess it. Determine whether it would be a compelling research question or whether it needs more revising and refining. You can do this by asking yourself the following: Is there anything missing from my question? Does it lack clarity? Is it too detailed? Can I ask my question differently?
Step 8: Don’t overthink.	Instead of spending hours formulating your research question, make sure that you can study it well. Besides, ensure that it follows the guidelines that your professor has given you.

Thank you for reading the article! Now feel free to use our research question generator tool whenever you need it. Share it with others if you think they'll benefit from it too.

Updated: Apr 9th, 2024