Evaluating Your Research Question
We discuss the following topic on this page:
We also provide the following activities:
How do you know when you have posed a good research question? Below we discuss several criteria for evaluating your research question. Keep reworking your research question until it meets all the criteria.
Evaluating Your Research Question[1]
The spectrum of inquiry ranges from asking simple questions that depend upon basic recapitulation of knowledge to increasingly sophisticated abilities to refine research questions, use more advanced research methods, and explore more diverse disciplinary perspectives.[2]
Key Concepts
- Is your question clear, complex, and focused?
- Is your answer arguable?
Once you have developed a workable research question, the next step is to ensure that it’s clear, complex, focused, and that the answer is arguable. This brings us back to the conversation analogy: Will others in your field – your audience – want to discuss your question? Will your findings add anything meaningful to the discourse and keep the conversation going?
Evaluating Your Research Question
- Are you filling a gap or solving a problem? (Either is fine – just know which direction your research is going)
- Is your question loaded or leading? (If so, keep refining your question)
- Is your question too broad or narrow? (If so, keep refining your question)
- Is the scope of your project realistic and researchable within the given timeframe? (If not, keep refining your question)
- Do you have the tools &/or technology needed to accomplish your task? (If not, keep refining your question)
- Do you have access to the information and resources you will need? (If not, keep refining your question)
Let’s watch Jada discuss how she evaluated the question she discussed in the last section:
Literature Research Strategies – Part 5 [3 min 19 sec]
Key Quote from the Video:
Is your question clear, complex and focused?
“So, when thinking about my research question and my thesis statement … one of the things that I tried to think about and I wish I would have thought about a little bit more, is, ‘is my thesis clear, complex and focused?’ And then the other part of that is, ‘is it arguable?’
The research question is really important of course, because you’re asking all these questions as you’re writing, and you’re gathering and you’re organizing, but the thesis statement kind of brings you back down to earth and kind of says, ‘okay, this is your argument, is it arguable? Is it clear? Is it focused? Are you saying something important? are you engaging?’
It’s important to have a complex research question and then also an arguable thesis statement, because once those two come together, you can have a more productive scholarly conversation … And you can shift the conversation in a different direction and bring a different light. Because as a writer, as a researcher, you’re bringing forth more evidence and more complex and different ideas that you maybe weren’t important before, weren’t relevant before.”
A key point is to avoid questions with easy ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answers. Those kinds of questions generally end the discussion and the goal of your research should be to add to the discussion by making an arguable claim. At the time Jada wrote her paper, her research question centered around why James Baldwin and “Sonny’s Blues” are still relevant today. However, now that we’ve been through the refining and evaluation process, we see that she could further narrow her question to focus on topics such as as urbanization, race, and addiction. For instance, how did urbanization after World War II affect the lives of black people? Did changes in urban life lead to more addiction among black people? What does Baldwin’s story teach us about these issues and what can we learn from them about urbanization, race, and addiction today?
As we discussed in the Scholarship as Conversation section, the issues addressed by Baldwin are largely unsolved problems that are part of a productive paradigm that continues to engage researchers from many fields. Jada could expand on what she started here by adding her personal perspective with her findings from her research in literature and sociology.
If you are still unsure if your question is refined enough, Wendy Belcher, author of Writing Your Journal Article in 12 Weeks, suggests talking through your research question with a friend or advisor. She also suggests writing an abstract and sending it to a friend or advisor for review. Even if an abstract is not required for your assignment, consider writing one and soliciting feedback as Belcher suggests. Feedback can be invaluable since at this point you are looking for your place to jump into the conversation.
In the “Back Matter” of this book, you will find a page titled “Rubrics.” In that page, we provide a rubric for the research question.
If you are using an offline version of this text, access the quiz for this section via the QR code.
Exercises
- What is your research question?
- Does it meet all the criteria for a good research question listed in the page?
- Is your question clear, complex, and focused?
- Is your answer arguable?
- Are you filling a gap or solving a problem? (Either is fine – just know which direction your research is going)
- Is your question loaded or leading? (If so, keep refining your question)
- Is your question too broad or narrow? (If so, keep refining your question)
- Is the scope of your project realistic and researchable within the given timeframe? (If not, keep refining your question)
- Do you have the tools &/or technology needed to accomplish your task? (If not, keep refining your question)
- Do you have access to the information and resources you will need? (If not, keep refining your question)
- Using the criteria in this page, try to assess one or more of these research questions:
- “Will ‘Sonny’s Blues’ will help us solve the problem of racism today?”
- “Why should we teach ‘Sonny’s Blues’ in the classroom?”
- “Does ‘Sonny’s Blues’ encourage people to appreciate Black culture?”
- “How did ‘Sonny’s Blues’ change the conversation about race and addiction?”
- If you have read “Sonny’s Blues,” posit a research question that might work better than those above.
- If there are any elements of your assignment that need clarification, please list them.
- What was the most important lesson you learned from this page? What point was confusing or difficult to understand?
Creating a Research Question Rubric
| TASK: Create a Research Question | |||
| LEVELS OF PERFORMANCE: | |||
| Above Satisfactory (A/B) | Satisfactory (C) | Below Satisfactory (D/F) | |
| Clear, Complex, and Focused Question | The research question is clear, complex, and focused. It is not unnecessarily loaded or leaning. It sets up a researchable and realistic project. | The research question remains too broad or too narrow. It is somewhat unnecessarily loaded or leaning. It is not very researchable and the project it sets up is not very realistic. The research question requires refining. | The research question is extremely broad or narrow. It is very unnecessarily loaded or leaning. It is not researchable and sets up an unrealistic project. The research question requires major refining. |
| Arguable Answers | The possible answers to the research question (the thesis) are arguable. These answers can be much more than just “yes” or “no.” | The possible answers to the research question (the thesis) are only partially arguable. These answers can be only slightly more than just “yes” or “no.” | The possible answers to the research question (the thesis) are unarguable. These answers can only be a mere “yes” or “no.” |
| Relevance to the scholarly conversation | The research question is relevant to the scholarly conversation and includes key concepts in the discipline. Other researchers and scholars are likely to be highly interested in the question. | The research question is somewhat relevant to the scholarly conversation and may be missing a key concept. Other researchers and scholars may only be slightly interested in this discourse. | The research question does not add anything of value to the scholarly conversation and is lacking any key concepts. Other researchers and scholars would not be interested in this question. |
| Question relates to available scholarly sources and evidence | Key research sources and evidence are available and relate directly to the research question. | Key research sources and evidence may only partially available and may only partially relate to the research question. | Key research sources and evidence are not available and/or do not relate to the research question. |
| Grammar/Mechanics | MLA or APA is used correctly throughout the research question. Sentence structure as well as grammar, punctuation, and capitalization are used correctly with minimal to no errors. | Generally, MLA or APA format is used correctly throughout the research question, but with mistakes. Some awkward sentences appear as well as some grammar, punctuation, and capitalization errors. | The research question contains multiple incorrect sentence structures and lacks the use of correct MLA or APA format. There are significant errors in grammar, punctuation, and capitalization. |
- In the “Back Matter” of this book, you will find a page titled “Rubrics.” On that page, we provide a rubric for Creating a Research Question ↵
- Association of College and Research Libraries. "Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education." 2016. https://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/ilframework ↵
