As we have seen, creating an interesting question is a good starting point for doing research. After determining your topic, you need to figure out what questions other people have asked about it. And then you can use those as the basis of your own new questions.
By asking different versions of the same question, you get more information! This is important because not only will most studies ask the same basic questions, but also researchers tend to take for granted how well they are answered.
So by adding your own unique questions, you give yourself a chance to find out if there are already answers or not! And if there are, great, you’ve got some ideas for points to make your article more persuasive.
If there aren’t though, that’s okay too! You’ll still know both parts of our tip-for changing the way people think.
Look up different definitions of scientific research question
A scientific research question is an important thing to have as you begin your academic career. This article will talk about some important points about how to frame your questions, what types of questions are good or bad, and then provide examples.
First, make sure your question is relevant. Is your question related to things that actually happen? Or are they possible events or possibilities? If it’s the later, than something like “What would happen if we didn’t put any sugar in our diet for one month?” is okay, but not very interesting.
Reflect on your own experience with scientific research questions
Framing a question is one of the most important things you can do as a researcher because it determines how effectively you approach your study, what types of information you look for, and what conclusions you reach.
As we have discussed before, starting with a strong question helps ensure that you are asking the right questions and exploring all relevant areas of knowledge.
But beyond this, it also shapes what kind of findings you expect to get from your studies.
If your question includes “why” or “what factors influence,” then you may be looking to find answers in causal relationships – conditions followed by effects. If your question contains words like “how much?” or “what is the best?,” then you may be seeking quantitative data — numbers that tell you something about the topic under investigation.
And if your question sounds more like a statement than a question, then you may be asking yourself whether a particular idea will work well, not necessarily whether there is evidence supporting it.
Reflect on the past few days. What experiences have you been through? And why were those experiences effective or ineffective?
What lessons can you draw from them? Try to apply these to your life and career as a student or professional.
Read up on question formation
A scientific research question is how you want to explore an idea or topic. This must be a clear, focused statement that can be answered with a simple “yes” or “no.”
Ask yourself what you want to know about your topic? Then, formulate a question that addresses this clearly!
Good questions are framed using the underused word pattern –– predicate-verb-ing noun. The term predicates refer to features of the topic, such as “is,” “has,” and “are.” The term verbs describe actions or states, like “explore” and “question.
Make a list of questions that you would ask a scientist
Asking good scientific research questions is like asking good question for any topic — they depend on your understanding of the topic, and how well you use vocabulary.
For example, if your question was “how does vitamin D help our bodies grow?” then you must know what Vitamin D is! You would not be able to ask this question unless you knew what it did and why it helped our bones develop.
So, before you even approach a scientist with your question, make sure you have done your homework by looking up some information about their field!
And once you do find a doctor or researcher who is willing to talk to you, there are several other important things to consider.
Does the person look confident in themselves? Are they pleasant to speak to? Does he or she listen to you and respond thoughtfully? These all indicate that people working in health care understand themselves and related fields, and will put time into listening to you.
Write down the exact wording of your scientific research question
As mentioned before, the first step in doing qualitative or quantitative research is to identify a topic you want to study!
Now that we have discussed what makes up an empirical question, it’s time to actually create one. To do this, go back to our example: how to improve people’s moods.
First, write down the word improvement. Then, add the phrase better than something else. The something else can be a comparison group such as talking for five minutes instead of ten, or reading from a printed book rather than video.
Your hypothesis should follow the empirical question. In this case, the experiment would be experimenting with different strategies to see which are more effective at improving someone’s mood.
That’s all there is to creating an experimental question! Now let’s discuss the importance of framing questions correctly.
Research the topic
A scientific research question is how you want to test your hypothesis. This testing process is called systematic analysis. Yours should be clear and precise so that you can easily compare results across different studies.
In science, researchers use rigorous methods to evaluate hypotheses. These methods are referred to as theories or frameworks. Certain theories have worked well in the past, helping us understand natural phenomena. Scientists apply these theories to new questions to determine what factors influence the phenomenon being studied.
Theories include things like physical laws that govern matter, mathematical equations that describe energy flow, and causal relationships between events.
When using a theory to answer a question, make sure to assess not only whether the theory explains the data, but also if the researcher adds additional assumptions to the theory to account for some of the data.
If you’re looking to learn more about this, start with basic theoretical concepts like causation and effect.
Provide an outline for a blog post based on the following topic.
Setting up pre-production of a project is one of the most important things you can do as a producer. It begins with asking yourself what question you want to answer!
Your initial research question should be related to your project or film, but it also needs to be relevant and significant to other people. If yours isn’t, then no one will care about it and therefore nobody will watch/buy your movie!
It should also be clear and unambiguous – if your audience has to work hard to figure out what you are talking about, then they will stop listening after a few minutes.
On the other hand, if your audience understands exactly what you are saying, then they will probably debate the message for hours!
In either case, this won’t help you in the slightest!
That’s why the second part of establishing a strong foundation is determining how to frame your scientific research question.
This article will go into more detail on some helpful tips that apply to any genre, even those without a science backbone.
Narrow down your list of topics to 1) How to start a conversation
Starting a conversation is a good way to gain knowledge about anything. When you are having a conversation, you must keep it relevant by incorporating questions that have answers!
Ask open-ended questions to get more information. “What are some things you learned while studying psychology?” or “How did you learn most of what you know now?” are both good open-ended questions.
The second part of this article will talk about how to choose a topic for your research question.
