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1. INTRODUCTION

2. background, 5. discussion, 6. conclusions, author contributions, competing interests, funding information, data availability, how common are explicit research questions in journal articles.

Handling Editor: Ludo Waltman

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Mike Thelwall , Amalia Mas-Bleda; How common are explicit research questions in journal articles?. Quantitative Science Studies 2020; 1 (2): 730–748. doi: https://doi.org/10.1162/qss_a_00041

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Although explicitly labeled research questions seem to be central to some fields, others do not need them. This may confuse authors, editors, readers, and reviewers of multidisciplinary research. This article assesses the extent to which research questions are explicitly mentioned in 17 out of 22 areas of scholarship from 2000 to 2018 by searching over a million full-text open access journal articles. Research questions were almost never explicitly mentioned (under 2%) by articles in engineering and physical, life, and medical sciences, and were the exception (always under 20%) for the broad fields in which they were least rare: computing, philosophy, theology, and social sciences. Nevertheless, research questions were increasingly mentioned explicitly in all fields investigated, despite a rate of 1.8% overall (1.1% after correcting for irrelevant matches). Other terminology for an article’s purpose may be more widely used instead, including aims, objectives, goals, hypotheses, and purposes, although no terminology occurs in a majority of articles in any broad field tested. Authors, editors, readers, and reviewers should therefore be aware that the use of explicitly labeled research questions or other explicit research purpose terminology is nonstandard in most or all broad fields, although it is becoming less rare.

Academic research is increasingly multidisciplinary, partly due to team research addressing practical problems. There are also now large multidisciplinary journals, such as PLOS ONE and Nature Scientific Reports , with editorial teams that manage papers written by people from diverse disciplinary backgrounds. There is therefore an increasing need for researchers to understand disciplinary norms in writing styles and paradigms. The authors of a research paper need to know how to frame its central contribution so that it is understood by multidisciplinary audiences. One strategy for this is to base an article around a set of explicitly named research questions that address gaps in prior research. Employing the standard phrase “research question” gives an unambiguous signpost for the purpose of an article and may therefore aid clarity. Other strategies include stating hypotheses, goals, or aims, or describing an objective without calling it an objective (e.g., “this paper investigates X”). Similarly, structured abstracts are believed to help readers understand a paper ( Hartley, 2004 ), perhaps partly by having an explicit aim, objective, or goal section. A paper that does not recognize or value the way in which the central contribution is conveyed may be rejected by a reviewer or editor if they are unfamiliar with the norms of the submitting field. It would therefore be helpful for authors, reviewers, and editors to know which research fields employ explicitly labeled research questions or alternative standard terminology.

Purpose statements and research questions or hypotheses are interrelated elements of the research process. Research questions are interrogative statements that reflect the problem to be addressed, usually shaped by the goal or objectives of the study ( Onwuegbuzie & Leech, 2006 ). For example, a healthcare article argued that “a good research paper addresses a specific research question. The research question—or study objective or main research hypothesis—is the central organizing principle of the paper” and “the key attributes are: (i) specificity; (ii) originality or novelty; and (iii) general relevance to a broad scientific community” ( Perneger & Hudelson, 2004 ).

The choice of terminology to describe an article’s purpose seems to be conceptually arbitrary, with the final decision based on community norms, journal guidelines, and author style. For example, a research paper investigating issue X could phrase its purpose in the following ways: “research question 1: is X true?,” “this paper aims to investigate X,” “the aim/objective/purpose/goal is to investigate X,” or “X?” (as in the current paper). Implicit purpose statements might include “this paper investigates X” or just “X,” where the context makes clear that this is the purpose. Alternatively, the reader might deduce the purpose of a paper after reading it, with all these options achieving the same result with different linguistic strategies. Some research purposes might not be easily expressible as a research question, however. For example, a humanities paper might primarily discuss an issue (e.g., “Aspects of the monastery and monastic life in Adomnán’s Life of Columba ”) but even these could perhaps be expressed as research questions, if necessary (e.g., “Which are the most noteworthy aspects of the monastery and monastic life in Adomnán’s Life of Columba ?”).

In which fields are explicitly named research questions commonly used?

Has the use of explicitly named research questions increased over time?

Are research purposes addressed using alternative language in different fields?

Do large journals guide authors to use explicitly named research questions or other terminology for purpose statements in different fields?

2.1. Advice for Authors

There are some influential guidelines for reporting academic research. In the social sciences, Swales’ (1990 , 2004) Create A Research Space (CARS) model structures research article introductions in three moves (establishing a territory, establishing a niche, and occupying a niche), which are subdivided into steps. Within the 1990 model, move 3 includes the steps “outlining purposes” and “announcing present research,” but research questions are not explicitly included, being similar the “question raising” step in move 2. In the updated 2004 model, move 3 includes an obligatory step named “announcing present research descriptively and/or purposively” (that joins the steps “outlining purposes” and “announcing present research” from the 1990 model), whereas “listing research questions or hypotheses” is a new optional step.

In medicine, the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) initiative is a checklist of items that should be included to improve reporting quality. One of these is a statement of objectives that “may be formulated as specific hypotheses or as questions that the study was designed to address” or may be less precise in early studies ( Vandenbroucke, von Elm, et al., 2014 ). This description therefore includes stating research questions as one of a range of ways of specifying objectives. An informal advice article in medicine instead starts by arguing that the paper’s aim should be clearly defined ( McIntyrei, Nisbet, et al., 2007 ).

Researchers may also be guided about the language to use in papers by any ethical or other procedures that they need to follow before conducting their work. For example, clinical trials often need to be registered and declared in a standard format, which may include explicit descriptions of objectives (e.g., see “E.2.1: Main objective of the trial” at: https://www.clinicaltrialsregister.eu/ctr-search/trial/2015-002555-10/GB ).

2.2. Empirical Evidence

Journal article research questions and other purpose statements, such as aims, objectives, goals, and hypotheses ( Shehzad, 2011 ), are usually included within Introduction sections or introductory phases, sometimes appearing as separate sections ( Kwan, 2017 ; Yang & Allison, 2004 ). Some studies have analyzed research article introductions in different disciplines and languages based on the Swales’ (1990 , 2004) CARS model. Although these studies analyze small sets of articles, they seem to agree that the research article introduction structure varies across disciplines (e.g., Joseph, Lim & Nor, 2014 ) and subdisciplines within a discipline, including for engineering ( Kanoksilapatham, 2012 ; Maswana, Kanamaru, & Tajino, 2015 ), applied linguistics ( Jalilifar, 2010 ; Ozturk, 2007 ) and environmental sciences ( Samraj, 2002 ). Introductions in English seem to follow this pattern more closely than introductions in other languages ( Ahamad & Yusof, 2012 ; Hirano, 2009 ; Loi & Evans, 2010 ; Rahimi & Farnia, 2017 ; Sheldon, 2011 ), reflecting cultural differences. Research questions and other purpose terminology, such as aims, objectives, goals, or hypotheses, might also reappear within the Results or Discussion sections ( Amunai & Wannaruk, 2013 ; Brett, 1994 ; Hopkins & Dudley-Evans, 1988 ; Kanoksilapatham, 2005 ).

Previous research has shown that research questions and hypotheses are more common among English-language papers than non-English papers ( Loi & Evans, 2010 ; Mur Dueñas, 2010 ; Omidi & Farnia, 2016 ; Rahimi & Farnia, 2017 ; Sheldon, 2011 ), especially those written by English native speakers ( Sheldon, 2011 ). However, a study analyzing 119 English research article introductions from Iranian and international journals in three subdisciplines within applied linguistics found that “announcing present research” was more used in international journals whereas research questions were proclaimed explicitly more often in local journals ( Jalilifar, 2010 ).

In some fields the verbs examine , determine , evaluate , assess , and investigate are associated with the research purpose ( Cortés, 2013 ; Jalali & Moini, 2014 ; Kanoksilapatham, 2005 ) and the verbs expect , anticipate , and estimate are associated with hypotheses ( Williams, 1999 ). Some computer scientists seem to prefer to write the details of the method(s) used rather than stating the purpose or describing the nature of their research and use assumptions or research questions rather than hypotheses ( Shehzad, 2011 ). Moreover, scholars might state the hypotheses in other ways, such as “it was hypothesized that” ( Jalali & Moini, 2014 ).

A study analyzing lexical bundles (usually phrases) in medical research article introductions showed that the most frequent four-word phrases are related to the research objective, such as “the aim of the,” “aim of the present,” and “study was to evaluate” ( Jalali & Moini, 2014 ). Another study examined lexical bundles in a million-word corpus of research article introductions from several disciplines, showing that the main bundle used to announce the research descriptively and/or purposefully included the terms aim , objective , and purpose (e.g., “the aim of this paper,” “the objective of this study,” “the purpose of this paper”), but no bundles related to research questions or hypotheses were identified ( Cortés, 2013 ).

These findings are in line with other previous studies investigating the structure of research articles, especially the introduction section, which report a much higher percentage of journal papers specifying the research purpose than the research questions or hypotheses across disciplines, regardless of the language in which they are published, with the exception of law articles (see Table 1 ). These studies also show that research questions and hypotheses are much more frequent among social sciences articles (see Table 1 ), which has also been found in other genres, such as PhD theses and Master’s theses (see Table 2 ).

Reference to a wide research purposes, without specifying if they are objectives or RQs/hypotheses.

Restating RQs in the result section.

Note: Studies that have based their analysis on the Swales’s (1990) CARS model ( Anthony, 1999 ; Posteguillo, 1999 ; Mahzari & Maftoon, 2007 ) report the percentage related to “outlining purposes” and “announcing present research.” For these studies, the column “Present the research purpose” reports the higher value. Moreover, for these studies, the value reported in the RQs/hypotheses column refers to the “Question raising” information.

A few studies have focused exclusively on research purposes, research questions, and hypotheses. Some have discussed the development of research questions in qualitative ( Agee, 2009 ) or mixed method ( Onwuegbuzie & Leech, 2006 ) studies, whereas others have examined the ways of constructing research questions or hypotheses within some fields, such as organization studies ( Sandberg & Alvesson, 2011 ) or applied linguistics doctoral dissertations ( Lim, 2014 ; Lim, Loi, & Hashim, 2014 ). Shehzad (2011) examined the strategies and styles employed by computer scientists outlining purposes and listing research questions. She found an increase in the use of research nature or purpose statements and suggested that the “listing research questions or hypotheses” step of Swales’s model was obligatory in computing. No study seems to have examined how often journal guidelines give authors explicit advice about research questions or other purpose statements, however.

The PMC (Pub Med Central) Open Access subset ( www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/tools/openftlist/ ) was downloaded in XML format in November 2018. This is a collection of documents from open access journals or open access articles within hybrid journals. The collection has a biomedical focus, but includes at least a few articles from all broad disciplinary areas. Although a biased subset is not ideal, this is apparently the largest open access collection. Only documents declared in their XML to be of type “research article” were retained for analysis. This excludes many short contributions, such as editorials, that would not need research goals.

The XML of the body section of each article was searched for the test strings “research question,” “RESEARCH QUESTION,” “Research Question,” or “Research question,” recording whether each article contained at least one. This would miss papers exclusively using abbreviations, such as RQ1.

Full body text searches are problematic because terms could be mentioned in other contexts, depending on the part of an article. For example, the phrase “research question” in a literature review section may refer to an article reviewed. For a science-wide analysis it is not possible to be prescriptive about the sections in which a term must occur, however, because there is little uniformity in section names or orders ( Thelwall, 2019 ). Making simplifying assumptions about the position in a text in which a term should appear, such as that a research question should be stated in the first part of an article, would also not be defensible. This is because the structure of articles varies widely between journals and fields. For example, methods can appear at the end rather than the middle, and some papers start with results, with little introduction. There are also international cultural differences in the order in which sections are presented in some fields ( Teufel, 1999 ). The current paper therefore uses full-text searches without any heuristics to restrict the results for transparency and to give an almost certain upper bound to the prevalence of terms, given the lack of a high-quality alternative.

Articles were separated into broad fields using the Science-Metrics public journal classification scheme ( Archambault, Beauchesne, & Caruso, 2011 ), which allocates each journal into exactly one category. This seems to be more precise than the Scopus or Web of Science schemes ( Klavans & Boyack, 2017 ). The Science-Metrics classification was extended by adding the largest 100 journals in the PMC collection that had not been included in the original Science-Metrics classification scheme. These were classified into a Science-Metrics category by first author based on their similarity to other journals in the Science-Metrics scheme.

Five of the broad fields had too little data to be useful (Economics & Business; Visual & Performing Arts; Communication & Text Studies; General Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences; Built Environment & Design) and were removed. Years before 2000 were not included because of their age and small amount of data. Individual field/year combinations were also removed when there were fewer than 30 articles, since they might give a misleading percentage. Each of the 17 remaining categories contained at least 630 articles ( Table 3 ), with exact numbers for each field and year available in the online supplementary material (columns AE to AW: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.10274012 ). For all broad fields, most articles have been published in the last 5 years (2014–2018), with the exception of Historical Studies, Chemistry, and Enabling & Strategic Technology.

For the third research question, alternative terms for research goals were searched for in the full text of articles. These terms might all be used in different contexts, so a match is not necessarily related to the main goal of the paper (e.g., the term “question” could be part of a discussion of a questionnaire), but the rank order between disciplines may be informative and the results serve as an upper bound for valid uses. The terms searched for were “research questions,” “questions,” “hypotheses,” “aims,” “objectives,” “goals,” and “purposes” in both singular and plural forms. These have been identified above as performing similar functions in research. For this exploration, the term “question” is used in addition to “research question” to capture more general uses.

Any of the queried terms could be included in an article out of context. For example, “research question” could be mentioned in a literature review rather than to describe the purpose of the new article. To check the context in which each term was used, a random sample of 100 articles (using a random number generator) matching each term (200 for each concept, counting both singular and plural, totaling 1,400 checks) was manually examined to ascertain whether any use of the term in the article stated the purpose of the paper directly (e.g., “Our research questions were…”) or indirectly (e.g., “This answered our research questions”), unless mentioned peripherally as information to others (e.g., “The study research questions were explained to interviewees”). There did not seem to be stock phrases that could be used to eliminate a substantial proportion of the irrelevant matches (e.g., “objective function” or “microscope objective”). There also was not a set of standard phrases that collectively could unambiguously identify the vast majority of research questions (e.g., “Our research questions were” or “This article’s research question is”).

Journal guidelines given to authors were manually analyzed to check whether they give advice about research questions and other purpose statements. Three journals with the most articles in each of the 17 academic fields were selected for this (see online supplement doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.10274012 ). This information is useful background context to help interpret the results.

4.1. RQ1 and RQ2: Articles Mentioning Research Questions

Altogether, 23,282 out of 1,314,412 articles explicitly mentioned the phrases “research question” or “research questions” (1.8%), although no field included them in more than a fifth of articles in recent years and there are substantial differences between broad fields ( Figure 1 ). When the terms are used in an article they usually (63%, from the 1,400 manual checks) refer to the article’s main research question(s). Other uses of these terms include referring to questions raised by the findings, and a discussion of other articles’ research questions in literature review sections or as part of the selection criteria of meta-analyses. Thus, overall, only 1.1% of PMC full-text research articles mention their research questions explicitly using the singular or plural form. There has been a general trend for the increasing use of these terms, however ( Figure 2 ).

The percentage of full-text research articles containing the phrases “research question” or “research questions” in the body of the text, 2014–2018, for articles in the PMC Open Access collection from 17 out of 22 Science-Metrics broad fields; 63% of occurrences of these terms described the hosting article’s research question(s) ( n = 801,895 research articles).

As for Figure 1 but covering 2000–2018 ( n = 1,314,412 research articles). (All fields can be identified in the Excel versions of the graph within the online supplement 10.6084/m9.figshare.10274012).

If the terms “question” or “questions” are searched for instead, there are many more matches, although for a minority of articles in most fields ( Figures 3 and 4 ). When these terms are mentioned, they rarely (17%) refer to the hosting article’s research questions (excluding matches with the exact phrases “research question” or “research questions” to avoid overlaps with the previous figure). Common other contexts for these terms include questions in questionnaires and questions raised by the findings. Sometimes the term “question” occurred within an idiomatic phrase or issue rather than a query (e.g., “considerable temperature gradients occur within the materials in question” and “these effects may vary for different medications. Future studies are needed to address this important question”). In Philosophy & Theology, the matches could be for discussions of various questions within an article, rather than a research question that is an article’s focus. Similarly for Social Sciences and Public Health & Health Services, the question mentioned might be in questionnaires rather than being a research question. After correcting for the global irrelevant matches, which is a rough approximation, in all broad fields fewer than 14% of research articles use these terms to refer to research questions. Nevertheless, this implies that the terms “question” or “questions” are used much more often than the phrases “research question” or “research questions” (1.8%) to refer to an article’s research purposes.

The percentage of full-text research articles containing the terms “question” or “questions” in the body of the text, 2014–2018, for articles in the PMC Open Access collection from 17 out of 22 Science-Metrics broad fields; 17% of occurrences of these terms described the hosting article’s main research question(s) without using the exact phrases “research question” or “research questions,” not overlapping with Figure 1(a) ( n = 801,895 research articles).

As for Figure 3 , but covering 2000–2018 ( n = 1,314,412 research articles).

4.2. RQ3: Other Article Purpose Terms

The terms “hypothesis” and “hypotheses” are common in Psychology and Cognitive Science as well as in Biology ( Figure 5 ). They are used in a minority of articles in all other fields, but, by 2018 were used in at least 15% of all (or 4% after correcting for irrelevant matches). The terms can be used to discuss statistical results from other papers and in philosophy and mathematics they can be used to frame arguments, so not all matches relate to an article’s main purpose, and only 28% of the random sample checked used the terms to refer to the articles’ main hypothesis or hypotheses.

The percentage of full-text research articles containing the terms “hypothesis” or “hypotheses” in the body of the text, 2014–2018, for articles in the PMC Open Access collection from 17 out of 22 Science-Metrics broad fields; 28% of occurrences of these terms described the hosting article’s main hypothesis or hypotheses. A corresponding time series graph showing little change is in the online supplement ( n = 801,895 research articles).

The use of the terms “aim” and “aims” is increasing overall, possibly in all academic fields ( Figures 6 and 7 ). Fields frequently using the term include Philosophy & Theology, Information & Communication Technologies (ICTs) and Public Health & Health Services, whereas it is used in only about 20% of Chemistry and Biomedical Research papers. Articles using the terms mostly use them (especially the singular “aim”) to describe their main aim (70%), so these are the terms most commonly used to describe the purpose of a PMC full-text article. The terms are also sometimes used to refer to wider project aims or relevant aims outside of the project (e.g., “The EU’s biodiversity protection strategy aims to preserve…”).

The percentage of full-text research articles containing the terms “aim” or “aims” in the body of the text, 2014–2018, for articles in the PMC Open Access collection from 17 out of 22 Science-Metrics broad fields; 70% of occurrences of these terms described the hosting article’s main aim(s) ( n = 801,895 research articles).

As for Figure 6 , but covering 2000–2018 ( n = 1,314,412 research articles).

The terms “objective” and “objectives” are reasonably common in most academic fields ( Figure 8 ) and are used half of the time (52%) for the hosting article’s objectives. Other common uses include lenses and as an antonym of subjective (e.g., “high-frequency ultrasound allows an objective assessment…”). It is again popular within ICTs, Philosophy & Theology, and Public Health & Health Services, whereas it is used in only about 12% of Physics & Astronomy articles.

The percentage of full-text research articles containing the terms “objective” or “objectives” in the body of the text, 2014–2018, for articles in the PMC Open Access collection from 17 out of 22 Science-Metrics broad fields; 52% of occurrences of these terms described the hosting article’s objective(s). A corresponding time series graph showing little change is in the online supplement ( n = 801,895 research articles).

The terms “goal” and “goals” follow a similar pattern to “aim” and “objective” ( Figure 9 ), but refer to the hosting paper’s goals in only 28% of cases. Common other uses include methods goals (“the overall goal of this protocol is…”) and field-wide goals (e.g., “over the last decades, attempts to integrate ecological and evolutionary dynamics have been the goal of many studies”).

The percentage of full-text research articles containing the terms “goal” or “goals” in the body of the text, 2014–2018, for articles in the PMC Open Access collection from 17 out of 22 Science-Metrics broad fields; 28% of occurrences of these terms described the hosting article’s research question(s). A corresponding time series graph showing little change is in the online supplement ( n = 801,895 research articles).

Some articles may also use the terms “purpose” or “purposes” rather than the arguably more specific terms investigated above, and there are disciplinary differences in the extent to which they are used ( Figure 10 ). These terms may also be employed to explain or justify aspects of an article’s methods. When used, they referred to main purposes in fewer than a third of articles (29%), and were often instead used to discuss methods details (e.g., “it was decided a priori that physical examination measures would not be collected for the purpose of this audit”), background information (e.g., “species are harvested through fishing or hunting, mainly for alimentary purposes”) or ethics (e.g., “Animal care was carried out in compliance with Korean regulations regarding the protection of animals used for experimental and other scientific purposes.”).

The percentage of full-text research articles containing the terms “purpose” or “purposes” in the body of the text, 2014–2018, for articles in the PMC Open Access collection from 17 out of 22 Science-Metrics broad fields; 29% of occurrences of these terms described the hosting article’s purpose(s). A corresponding time series graph showing little change is in the online supplement ( n = 801,895 research articles).

4.3. RQ4: Journal Guidelines

“The motivation or purpose of your research should appear in the Introduction, where you state the questions you sought to answer” ( zookeys.pensoft.net/about )

“Define the purpose of the work and its significance, including specific hypotheses being tested” ( www.mdpi.com/journal/nutrients/instructions )

“The introduction briefly justifies the research and specifies the hypotheses to be tested” ( www.ajas.info/authors/authors.php )

“A brief outline of the question the study attempts to address” ( onlinelibrary.wiley.com/page/journal/20457758/homepage/registeredreports.html )

“Acquaint the reader with the findings of others in the field and with the problem or question that the investigation addresses.” ( www.oncotarget.com )

“State the research objective of the study, or hypothesis tested” ( www.springer.com/biomed/human+physiology/journal/11517 )

In the first quote above, for example, “state the questions” could be addressed literally by listing (research) questions or less literally by stating the research objectives. Thus, journal guidelines seem to leave authors the flexibility to choose how to state their research purpose, even if suggesting that research questions or hypotheses are used. This also applies to the influential American Psychological Society guidelines, such as, “In empirical studies, [explaining your approach to solving the problem] usually involves stating your hypotheses or specific question” ( APA, 2009 , p. 28).

An important limitation of the methods is that the sample contains a small and biased subset of all open access research articles. For example, the open access publishers BMC, Hindawi, and MDPI have large journals in the data set. The small fields ( Table 3 ) can have unstable lines in the graphs because of a lack of data. Sharp changes between years for the same field are likely due to either small amounts of data or changes in the journals submitted to PubMed in those years, rather than changes in field norms. It is possible that the proportions discovered would be different for other collections. Another limitation is that although articles were searched with the text string “research question,” this may not always have signified research questions in the articles processed (e.g., if mentioned in a literature review or in a phrase such as “this research questions whether”). Although the corrections reported address this, they provide global correction figures rather than field-specific corrections. Conversely, a research question may just be described as a question (e.g., “the query of this research”) or phrased as a question without describing it as such (e.g., “To discover whether PGA implants are immunologically inert…”). Thus, the field-level results are only indicative.

RQ1: Only 23,282 (1.8%, 1.1% after correcting for irrelevant matches) out of 1,314,412 articles assessed in the current paper explicitly mentioned “research question(s),” with significant differences between fields. Although there has been a general trend for the increasing use of explicitly named research questions, they were employed in fewer than a quarter of articles in all fields. Research questions were mostly used by articles in Social Sciences, Philosophy & Theology, and ICTs, whereas they have been mentioned by under 2% of articles in engineering, physical, life, and medical sciences. Previous studies have shown that 73.3% of English articles in Physical Education ( Omidi & Farnia, 2016 ), 33% of Applied Linguistics articles ( Sheldon, 2011 ) and 32% of Computer Science articles ( Shehzad, 2011 ) included research questions or hypotheses. Studies focused on doctoral dissertations show that 97% of U.S. Applied Linguistics ( Lim, 2014 ), 90% of English Language Teaching ( Geçíklí, 2013 ), 70% of Education Management ( Cheung, 2012 ), and 50% of computing doctoral dissertations ( Soler-Monreal, Carbonell-Olivares, & Gil-Salom, 2011 ) listed research questions, a large difference.

The results also show that about 13% of Public Health and Health Services articles and 12% of Psychology and Cognitive Science articles use the term “research questions.” However, a study focused on Educational Psychology found that 35% of English-language papers listed research questions and 75% listed hypotheses ( Loi & Evans, 2010 ). Thus, the current results reveal a substantially lower overall prevalence than suggested by previous research.

RQ2: There has been a substantial increase in the use of the term “research questions” in some subjects, including ICTs, Social Sciences, and Public Health and Health Services ( Figure 2 ), as well as a general trend for increasing use of this term, but with most fields still rarely using it. This suggests that some disciplines are standardizing their terminology, either through author guidelines in journals (RQ4), formal training aided by frameworks such as Swales’ CARS model, or informal training or imitation. For example, the analysis of the “instructions for authors” given by 51 journals (online supplement doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.10274012 ) showed that the three biology journals, the three psychology journals, and two biomedical journals included in the analysis referred to both research questions and hypotheses in their author guidelines.

RQ3: Terminology for the purpose of an article seems to be quite widely used, including aims, objectives, and goals ( Figures 5 – 9 ). This is in line with a study examining the lexical bundles identified in research article introductions from several disciplines, which reported the terms “aim,” “objective,” and “purpose” as the main terms used to announce the research descriptively and/or purposefully, although no phrase related to research questions or hypotheses was identified ( Cortés, 2013 ), and with another study reporting similar terminology in medical articles ( Jalali & Moini, 2014 ). Related to this (RQ4), the analysis of the “instructions for authors” given by 51 journals (online supplement 10.6084/m9.figshare.10274012) showed that “purpose” is the term mostly mentioned in the Abstract guidelines and “aims” is the term mainly used in the body of the text (Introduction or Background) guidelines. The term “objective” also appears in some article body guidelines, whereas the term “goal” is not mentioned in them. After correcting for irrelevant matches (e.g., articles using the term “hypothesis” but not for their main research hypotheses) using the percentages reported with the figures above, no terminology was found in a majority of articles in any field. Thus, at least from the perspective of PMC Open Access publications, there is no standardization of research terminology in any broad field.

There are substantial disciplinary differences in the terminology used. Whereas the term “research question” is relevant in Social Sciences, Philosophy & Theology, and ICTs, the term “hypothesis” is important in Psychology and Cognitive Science, used in over 60% of articles. This is in line with a study focused on Educational Psychology, which found that the 75% out of 20 English papers introduced the hypotheses, whereas 35% of them introduced the research questions ( Loi & Evans, 2010 ). The three psychology journals with the highest frequency in the data set used for this study referred to hypotheses in their author guidelines (see online supplement 10.6084/m9.figshare.10274012).

The terms “aim,” “objective,” and “goal” are mainly used in Philosophy, Theology, ICTs, and Health. The term “aim” is also quite often used in health, mathematics, and psychological articles, whereas the term “objective” is also used in engineering and mathematics articles. The term “goal” is also used in psychology and biomedical articles. Although most articles in all fields include a term that could be used to specify the purpose of an article (question or questions, hypothesis, aim, objective, goal), they are relatively scarce in Chemistry and Physics & Astronomy. The use of purpose-related terms has also increased over time in most academic fields. This agrees with a study about Computer Science research articles that found an increasing use of outlining purpose or stating the nature of the research ( Shehzad, 2011 ).

An example article from Chemistry illustrates how a research purpose can be implicit. The paper, “Fluid catalytic cracking in a rotating fluidized bed in a static geometry: a CFD analysis accounting for the distribution of the catalyst coke content” has a purpose that is clear from its title but that is not described explicitly in the text. Its abstract starts by describing what the paper offers, but not why, “Computational Fluid Dynamics is used to evaluate the use of a rotating fluidized bed in a static geometry for the catalytic cracking of gas oil.” The first sentence of the last paragraph of the introduction performs a similar role, “The current paper presents CFD simulations of FCC in a RFB-SG using a model that accounts for a possible nonuniform temperature and catalyst coke content distribution in the reactor.” Both sentences could easily be rephrased to start with, “The purpose of this paper is to,” but it is apparently a stylistic feature of chemical research not to do this. Presumably purposes are clear enough in typical chemistry research that they do not need to be flagged linguistically, but this is untrue for much social science and health research, for example, partly due to nonstandard goals (i.e., task uncertainty: Whitley, 2000 ).

5.1. Possible Origins of the Differences Found

Broad epistemological: Fields work with knowledge in different ways and naturally use different terminology as a result. Arts and humanities research may have the goal to critique or analyze, or may be practice-based research rather than having a more specific knowledge purpose. For this, research questions would be inappropriate. Thus, terminology variation may partly reflect the extent to which a broad field typically attempts to create knowledge.

Narrow epistemological: Narrow fields that address similar problems may feel that they do not need to use research problem terminology to describe their work because the purpose of a paper is usually transparent from the description of the methods or outcome. For example, it would be unnecessary to formulate, “This paper investigates whether treatment x reduces death rates from disease y” as a named research question or even explain that it is the goal of a paper. This may also be relevant for fields that write short papers. It may be most relevant for papers that use statistical methods and have high standards of evidence requirement (e.g., medicine) and clearly defined problems. In contrast, many social sciences research projects are not intrinsically clearly demarcated and need an explanation to define the problem (as for the current article). Thus, describing what the problem is can be an important and nontrivial part of the research. This relates to “task uncertainty,” which varies substantially between fields ( Whitley, 2000 ) and affects scholarly communication ( Fry, 2006 ).

Field or audience homogeneity: Fields with homogeneous levels and types of expertise may avoid terminology that field members would be able to deduce from the context. For example, a mixed audience paper might need to specify statistical hypotheses, whereas a narrow audience paper might only need to specify the result, because the audience would understand the implicit null and alternative hypotheses.

Field cultures for term choice: Academic publishing relies to some extent on imitation and reaching a consensus about the ways in which research is presented (e.g., Becher & Trowler, 2001 ). It might therefore become a field norm to use one term in preference to a range of synonyms, such as “aims” instead of “objectives.”

Field cultures for term meaning: Following from the above, a field culture may evolve an informal convention that two synonyms have different specific uses. For example, “aims” could be used for wider goals and “objectives” for the narrower goals of a paper.

Guidelines: Fields or their core journals may adopt guidelines that specify terminology, presumably because they believe that this standardization will improve overall communication clarity.

The results suggest that the explicit use of research questions, in the sense that they are named as such, is almost completely absent in some research fields, and they are at best a substantial minority (under 20%) in most others (ignoring the fields that did not meet the inclusion threshold). Although the word search approach does not give conclusive findings, the results suggest that alternative terminologies for describing the purpose of a paper are more widespread in some fields, but no single terminology is used to describe research purposes in a majority of articles in any of the broad fields examined.

The lack of standardization for purpose terminology in most or all fields may cause problems for reviewers and readers expecting to see explicit statements. It is not clear whether guidelines to standardize terminology for journals or fields would be practical or helpful, however, but this should be explored in the future. Presumably any guidelines should allow exceptions for articles that make nonstandard contributions, although there are already successful journals with prescriptive guidelines, and the advantage of standardization through structured abstracts seems to be accepted ( Hartley, 2004 ).

The disciplinary differences found may cause problems for referees, authors, editors, and readers of interdisciplinary research or research from outside of their natural field if they fail to find an article’s purpose expressed in the terminology that they expect. This issue could not reasonably be resolved by standardizing across science because of the differing nature of research. Instead, evidence in the current article of the existence of valid disciplinary differences in style may help reviewers and editors of large interdisciplinary journals to accept stylistic differences in research problem formulations.

Mike Thelwall: Conceptualization, Investigation, Software, Writing—original draft. Amalia Mas-Bleda: Investigation, Writing—original draft.

The authors have no competing interests to declare.

This research received no funding.

The data behind the results are available at FigShare ( https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.10274012 ).

Author notes

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Examples of Good and Bad Research Questions

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Written by  Scribendi

So, you've got a research grant in your sights or you've been admitted to your school of choice, and you now have to write up a proposal for the work you want to perform. You know your topic, have done some reading, and you've got a nice quiet place where nobody will bother you while you try to decide where you'll go from here. The question looms:     

What Is a Research Question?

Your research question will be your focus, the sentence you refer to when you need to remember why you're researching. It will encapsulate what drives you and be something your field needs an answer for but doesn't have yet. 

Whether it seeks to describe a phenomenon, compare things, or show how one variable influences another, a research question always does the same thing: it guides research that will be judged based on how well it addresses the question.

So, what makes a research question good or bad? This article will provide examples of good and bad research questions and use them to illustrate both of their common characteristics so that you can evaluate your research question and improve it to suit your needs.

How to Choose a Research Question

At the start of your research paper, you might be wondering, "What is a good research question?"

A good research question focuses on one researchable problem relevant to your subject area.

To write a research paper , first make sure you have a strong, relevant topic. Then, conduct some preliminary research around that topic. It's important to complete these two initial steps because your research question will be formulated based on this research.

With this in mind, let's review the steps that help us write good research questions.

1. Select a Relevant Topic

When selecting a topic to form a good research question, it helps to start broad. What topics interest you most? It helps when you care about the topic you're researching!

Have you seen a movie recently that you enjoyed? How about a news story? If you can't think of anything, research different topics on Google to see which ones intrigue you the most and can apply to your assignment.

Also, before settling on a research topic, make sure it's relevant to your subject area or to society as a whole. This is an important aspect of developing your research question, because, in general, your research should add value to existing knowledge .

2. Thoroughly Research the Topic

Now that you've chosen a broad but relevant topic for your paper, research it thoroughly to see which avenues you might want to explore further.

For example, let's say you decide on the broad topic of search engines. During this research phase, try skimming through sources that are unbiased, current, and relevant, such as academic journals or sources in your university library.

Check out: 21 Legit Research Databases for Free Articles in 2022

Pay close attention to the subtopics that come up during research, such as the following: Which search engines are the most commonly used? Why do some search engines dominate specific regions? How do they really work or affect the research of scientists and scholars?

Be on the lookout for any gaps or limitations in the research. Identifying the groups or demographics that are most affected by your topic is also helpful, in case that's relevant to your work.

3. Narrow Your Topic to a Single Point

Now that you've spent some time researching your broad topic, it's time to narrow it down to one specific subject. A topic like search engines is much too broad to develop a research paper around. What specifically about search engines could you explore?

When refining your topic, be careful not to be either too narrow or too broad. You can ask yourself the following questions during this phase:

Can I cover this topic within the scope of my paper, or would it require longer, heavier research? (In this case, you'd need to be more specific.)

Conversely, is there not enough research about my topic to write a paper? (In this case, you'd need to be broader.)

Keep these things in mind as you narrow down your topic. You can always expand your topic later if you have the time and research materials.

4. Identify a Problem Related to Your Topic

When narrowing down your topic, it helps to identify a single issue or problem on which to base your research. Ask open-ended questions, such as why is this topic important to you or others? Essentially, have you identified the answer to "so what"?

For example, after asking these questions about our search engine topic, we might focus only on the issue of how search engines affect research in a specific field. Or, more specifically, how search engine algorithms manipulate search results and prevent us from finding the critical research we need.

Asking these "so what" questions will help us brainstorm examples of research questions we can ask in our field of study.

5. Turn Your Problem into a Question

Now that you have your main issue or problem, it's time to write your research question. Do this by reviewing your topic's big problem and formulating a question that your research will answer.

For example, ask, "so what?" about your search engine topic. You might realize that the bigger issue is that you, as a researcher, aren't getting the relevant information you need from search engines.

How can we use this information to develop a research question? We might phrase the research question as follows:

"What effect does the Google search engine algorithm have on online research conducted in the field of neuroscience?"

Note how specific we were with the type of search engine, the field of study, and the research method. It's also important to remember that your research question should not have an easy yes or no answer. It should be a question with a complex answer that can be discovered through research and analysis.

Perfect Your Paper

Hire an expert academic editor , or get a free sample, how to find good research topics for your research.

It can be fun to browse a myriad of research topics for your paper, but there are a few important things to keep in mind.

First, make sure you've understood your assignment. You don't want to pick a topic that's not relevant to the assignment goal. Your instructor can offer good topic suggestions as well, so if you get stuck, ask them!

Next, try to search for a broad topic that interests you. Starting broad gives you more options to work with. Some research topic examples include infectious diseases, European history, and smartphones .

Then, after some research, narrow your topic to something specific by extracting a single element from that subject. This could be a current issue on that topic, a major question circulating around that topic, or a specific region or group of people affected by that topic.

It's important that your research topic is focused. Focus lets you clearly demonstrate your understanding of the topic with enough details and examples to fit the scope of your project.

For example, if Jane Austen is your research topic, that might be too broad for a five-page paper! However, you could narrow it down to a single book by Austen or a specific perspective.

To keep your research topic focused, try creating a mind map. This is where you put your broad topic in a circle and create a few circles around it with similar ideas that you uncovered during your research. 

Mind maps can help you visualize the connections between topics and subtopics. This could help you simplify the process of eliminating broad or uninteresting topics or help you identify new relationships between topics that you didn't previously notice. 

Keeping your research topic focused will help you when it comes to writing your research question!

2. Researchable

A researchable question should have enough available sources to fill the scope of your project without being overwhelming. If you find that the research is never-ending, you're going to be very disappointed at the end of your paper—because you won't be able to fit everything in! If you are in this fix, your research question is still too broad.

Search for your research topic's keywords in trusted sources such as journals, research databases , or dissertations in your university library. Then, assess whether the research you're finding is feasible and realistic to use.

If there's too much material out there, narrow down your topic by industry, region, or demographic. Conversely, if you don't find enough research on your topic, you'll need to go broader. Try choosing two works by two different authors instead of one, or try choosing three poems by a single author instead of one.

3. Reasonable

Make sure that the topic for your research question is a reasonable one to pursue. This means it's something that can be completed within your timeframe and offers a new perspective on the research.

Research topics often end up being summaries of a topic, but that's not the goal. You're looking for a way to add something relevant and new to the topic you're exploring. To do so, here are two ways to uncover strong, reasonable research topics as you conduct your preliminary research:

Check the ends of journal articles for sections with questions for further discussion. These make great research topics because they haven't been explored!

Check the sources of articles in your research. What points are they bringing up? Is there anything new worth exploring? Sometimes, you can use sources to expand your research and more effectively narrow your topic.

4. Specific

For your research topic to stand on its own, it should be specific. This means that it shouldn't be easily mistaken for another topic that's already been written about.

If you are writing about a topic that has been written about, such as consumer trust, it should be distinct from everything that's been written about consumer trust so far.

There is already a lot of research done on consumer trust in specific products or services in the US. Your research topic could focus on consumer trust in products and services in a different region, such as a developing country.

If your research feels similar to existing articles, make sure to drive home the differences.

Whether it's developed for a thesis or another assignment, a good research topic question should be complex enough to let you expand on it within the scope of your paper.

For example, let's say you took our advice on researching a topic you were interested in, and that topic was a new Bridezilla reality show. But when you began to research it, you couldn't find enough information on it, or worse, you couldn't find anything scholarly.

In short, Bridezilla reality shows aren't complex enough to build your paper on. Instead of broadening the topic to all reality TV shows, which might be too overwhelming, you might consider choosing a topic about wedding reality TV shows specifically.

This would open you up to more research that could be complex enough to write a paper on without being too overwhelming or narrow.

6. Relevant

Because research papers aim to contribute to existing research that's already been explored, the relevance of your topic within your subject area can't be understated.

Your research topic should be relevant enough to advance understanding in a specific area of study and build on what's already been researched. It shouldn't duplicate research or try to add to it in an irrelevant way.

For example, you wouldn't choose a research topic like malaria transmission in Northern Siberia if the mosquito that transmits malaria lives in Africa. This research topic simply isn't relevant to the typical location where malaria is transmitted, and the research could be considered a waste of resources.

Do Research Questions Differ between the Humanities, Social Sciences, and Hard Sciences?

The art and science of asking questions is the source of all knowledge. 

–Thomas Berger

First, a bit of clarification: While there are constants among research questions, no matter what you're writing about, you will use different standards for the humanities and social sciences than for hard sciences, such as chemistry. The former depends on subjectivity and the perspective of the researcher, while the latter requires answers that must be empirically tested and replicable.

For instance, if you research Charles Dickens' writing influences, you will have to explain your stance and observations to the reader before supporting them with evidence. If you research improvements in superconductivity in room-temperature material, the reader will not only need to understand and believe you but also duplicate your work to confirm that you are correct.

Do Research Questions Differ between the Different Types of Research?

Research questions help you clarify the path your research will take. They are answered in your research paper and usually stated in the introduction.

There are two main types of research—qualitative and quantitative. 

If you're conducting quantitative research, it means you're collecting numerical, quantifiable data that can be measured, such as statistical information.

Qualitative research aims to understand experiences or phenomena, so you're collecting and analyzing non-numerical data, such as case studies or surveys.

The structure and content of your research question will change depending on the type of research you're doing. However, the definition and goal of a research question remains the same: a specific, relevant, and focused inquiry that your research answers.

Below, we'll explore research question examples for different types of research.

Comparative Research

Comparative research questions are designed to determine whether two or more groups differ based on a dependent variable. These questions allow researchers to uncover similarities and differences between the groups tested.

Because they compare two groups with a dependent variable, comparative research questions usually start with "What is the difference in…"

A strong comparative research question example might be the following:

"What is the difference in the daily caloric intake of American men and women?" ( Source .)

In the above example, the dependent variable is daily caloric intake and the two groups are American men and women.

A poor comparative research example might not aim to explore the differences between two groups or it could be too easily answered, as in the following example:

"Does daily caloric intake affect American men and women?"

Always ensure that your comparative research question is focused on a comparison between two groups based on a dependent variable.

Descriptive Research

Descriptive research questions help you gather data about measurable variables. Typically, researchers asking descriptive research questions aim to explain how, why, or what.

These research questions tend to start with the following:

What percentage?

How likely?

What proportion?

For example, a good descriptive research question might be as follows:

"What percentage of college students have felt depressed in the last year?" ( Source .)

A poor descriptive research question wouldn't be as precise. This might be something similar to the following:

"What percentage of teenagers felt sad in the last year?"

The above question is too vague, and the data would be overwhelming, given the number of teenagers in the world. Keep in mind that specificity is key when it comes to research questions!

Correlational Research

Correlational research measures the statistical relationship between two variables, with no influence from any other variable. The idea is to observe the way these variables interact with one another. If one changes, how is the other affected?

When it comes to writing a correlational research question, remember that it's all about relationships. Your research would encompass the relational effects of one variable on the other.

For example, having an education (variable one) might positively or negatively correlate with the rate of crime (variable two) in a specific city. An example research question for this might be written as follows:

"Is there a significant negative correlation between education level and crime rate in Los Angeles?"

A bad correlational research question might not use relationships at all. In fact, correlational research questions are often confused with causal research questions, which imply cause and effect. For example:

"How does the education level in Los Angeles influence the crime rate?"

The above question wouldn't be a good correlational research question because the relationship between Los Angeles and the crime rate is already inherent in the question—we are already assuming the education level in Los Angeles affects the crime rate in some way.

Be sure to use the right format if you're writing a correlational research question.

How to Avoid a Bad Question

Ask the right questions, and the answers will always reveal themselves. 

–Oprah Winfrey

If finding the right research question was easy, doing research would be much simpler. However, research does not provide useful information if the questions have easy answers (because the questions are too simple, narrow, or general) or answers that cannot be reached at all (because the questions have no possible answer, are too costly to answer, or are too broad in scope).

For a research question to meet scientific standards, its answer cannot consist solely of opinion (even if the opinion is popular or logically reasoned) and cannot simply be a description of known information.

However, an analysis of what currently exists can be valuable, provided that there is enough information to produce a useful analysis. If a scientific research question offers results that cannot be tested, measured, or duplicated, it is ineffective.

Bad Research Question Examples

Here are examples of bad research questions with brief explanations of what makes them ineffective for the purpose of research.

"What's red and bad for your teeth?"

This question has an easy, definitive answer (a brick), is too vague (What shade of red? How bad?), and isn't productive.

"Do violent video games cause players to act violently?"

This question also requires a definitive answer (yes or no), does not invite critical analysis, and allows opinion to influence or provide the answer.

"How many people were playing balalaikas while living in Moscow on July 8, 2019?"

This question cannot be answered without expending excessive amounts of time, money, and resources. It is also far too specific. Finally, it doesn't seek new insight or information, only a number that has no conceivable purpose.

How to Write a Research Question

The quality of a question is not judged by its complexity but by the complexity of thinking it provokes. 

–Joseph O'Connor

What makes a good research question? A good research question topic is clear and focused. If the reader has to waste time wondering what you mean, you haven't phrased it effectively.

It also needs to be interesting and relevant, encouraging the reader to come along with you as you explain how you reached an answer. 

Finally, once you explain your answer, there should be room for astute or interested readers to use your question as a basis to conduct their own research. If there is nothing for you to say in your conclusion beyond "that's the truth," then you're setting up your research to be challenged.

Good Research Question Examples

Here are some examples of good research questions. Take a look at the reasoning behind their effectiveness.

"What are the long-term effects of using activated charcoal in place of generic toothpaste for routine dental care?"

This question is specific enough to prevent digressions, invites measurable results, and concerns information that is both useful and interesting. Testing could be conducted in a reasonable time frame, without excessive cost, and would allow other researchers to follow up, regardless of the outcome.

"Why do North American parents feel that violent video game content has a negative influence on their children?"

While this does carry an assumption, backing up that assumption with observable proof will allow for analysis of the question, provide insight on a significant subject, and give readers something to build on in future research. 

It also discusses a topic that is recognizably relevant. (In 2022, at least. If you are reading this article in the future, there might already be an answer to this question that requires further analysis or testing!)

"To what extent has Alexey Arkhipovsky's 2013 album, Insomnia , influenced gender identification in Russian culture?"

While it's tightly focused, this question also presents an assumption (that the music influenced gender identification) and seeks to prove or disprove it. This allows for the possibilities that the music had no influence at all or had a demonstrable impact.

Answering the question will involve explaining the context and using many sources so that the reader can follow the logic and be convinced of the author's findings. The results (be they positive or negative) will also open the door to countless other studies.

How to Turn a Bad Research Question into a Good One

If something is wrong, fix it if you can. But train yourself not to worry. Worry never fixes anything.

–Ernest Hemingway

How do you turn something that won't help your research into something that will? Start by taking a step back and asking what you are expected to produce. While there are any number of fascinating subjects out there, a grant paying you to examine income disparity in Japan is not going to warrant an in-depth discussion of South American farming pollution. 

Use these expectations to frame your initial topic and the subject that your research should be about, and then conduct preliminary research into that subject. If you spot a knowledge gap while researching, make a note of it, and add it to your list of possible questions.

If you already have a question that is relevant to your topic but has flaws, identify the issues and see if they can be addressed. In addition, if your question is too broad, try to narrow it down enough to make your research feasible.

Especially in the sciences, if your research question will not produce results that can be replicated, determine how you can change it so a reader can look at what you've done and go about repeating your actions so they can see that you are right.

Moreover, if you would need 20 years to produce results, consider whether there is a way to tighten things up to produce more immediate results. This could justify future research that will eventually reach that lofty goal.

If all else fails, you can use the flawed question as a subtopic and try to find a better question that fits your goals and expectations.

Parting Advice

When you have your early work edited, don't be surprised if you are told that your research question requires revision. Quite often, results or the lack thereof can force a researcher to shift their focus and examine a less significant topic—or a different facet of a known issue—because testing did not produce the expected result. 

If that happens, take heart. You now have the tools to assess your question, find its flaws, and repair them so that you can complete your research with confidence and publish something you know your audience will read with fascination.

Of course, if you receive affirmation that your research question is strong or are polishing your work before submitting it to a publisher, you might just need a final proofread to ensure that your confidence is well placed. Then, you can start pursuing something new that the world does not yet know (but will know) once you have your research question down.

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How to Write a Research Question: Types and Examples 

The first step in any research project is framing the research question. It can be considered the core of any systematic investigation as the research outcomes are tied to asking the right questions. Thus, this primary interrogation point sets the pace for your research as it helps collect relevant and insightful information that ultimately influences your work.   

Typically, the research question guides the stages of inquiry, analysis, and reporting. Depending on the use of quantifiable or quantitative data, research questions are broadly categorized into quantitative or qualitative research questions. Both types of research questions can be used independently or together, considering the overall focus and objectives of your research.  

What is a research question?

A research question is a clear, focused, concise, and arguable question on which your research and writing are centered. 1 It states various aspects of the study, including the population and variables to be studied and the problem the study addresses. These questions also set the boundaries of the study, ensuring cohesion. 

Designing the research question is a dynamic process where the researcher can change or refine the research question as they review related literature and develop a framework for the study. Depending on the scale of your research, the study can include single or multiple research questions. 

A good research question has the following features: 

• It is relevant to the chosen field of study. 
• The question posed is arguable and open for debate, requiring synthesizing and analysis of ideas. 
• It is focused and concisely framed. 
• A feasible solution is possible within the given practical constraint and timeframe. 

A poorly formulated research question poses several risks. 1   

• Researchers can adopt an erroneous design. 
• It can create confusion and hinder the thought process, including developing a clear protocol.  
• It can jeopardize publication efforts.  
• It causes difficulty in determining the relevance of the study findings.  
• It causes difficulty in whether the study fulfils the inclusion criteria for systematic review and meta-analysis. This creates challenges in determining whether additional studies or data collection is needed to answer the question.  
• Readers may fail to understand the objective of the study. This reduces the likelihood of the study being cited by others. 

Now that you know “What is a research question?”, let’s look at the different types of research questions. 

Types of research questions

Depending on the type of research to be done, research questions can be classified broadly into quantitative, qualitative, or mixed-methods studies. Knowing the type of research helps determine the best type of research question that reflects the direction and epistemological underpinnings of your research. 

The structure and wording of quantitative 2 and qualitative research 3 questions differ significantly. The quantitative study looks at causal relationships, whereas the qualitative study aims at exploring a phenomenon. 

• Quantitative research questions:  
• Seeks to investigate social, familial, or educational experiences or processes in a particular context and/or location.  
• Answers ‘how,’ ‘what,’ or ‘why’ questions. 
• Investigates connections, relations, or comparisons between independent and dependent variables. 

Quantitative research questions can be further categorized into descriptive, comparative, and relationship, as explained in the Table below. 

• Qualitative research questions  

Qualitative research questions are adaptable, non-directional, and more flexible. It concerns broad areas of research or more specific areas of study to discover, explain, or explore a phenomenon. These are further classified as follows: 

• Mixed-methods studies  

Mixed-methods studies use both quantitative and qualitative research questions to answer your research question. Mixed methods provide a complete picture than standalone quantitative or qualitative research, as it integrates the benefits of both methods. Mixed methods research is often used in multidisciplinary settings and complex situational or societal research, especially in the behavioral, health, and social science fields. 

What makes a good research question

A good research question should be clear and focused to guide your research. It should synthesize multiple sources to present your unique argument, and should ideally be something that you are interested in. But avoid questions that can be answered in a few factual statements. The following are the main attributes of a good research question. 

• Specific: The research question should not be a fishing expedition performed in the hopes that some new information will be found that will benefit the researcher. The central research question should work with your research problem to keep your work focused. If using multiple questions, they should all tie back to the central aim. 
• Measurable: The research question must be answerable using quantitative and/or qualitative data or from scholarly sources to develop your research question. If such data is impossible to access, it is better to rethink your question. 
• Attainable: Ensure you have enough time and resources to do all research required to answer your question. If it seems you will not be able to gain access to the data you need, consider narrowing down your question to be more specific. 
• You have the expertise 
• You have the equipment and resources 
• Realistic: Developing your research question should be based on initial reading about your topic. It should focus on addressing a problem or gap in the existing knowledge in your field or discipline. 
• Based on some sort of rational physics 
• Can be done in a reasonable time frame 
• Timely: The research question should contribute to an existing and current debate in your field or in society at large. It should produce knowledge that future researchers or practitioners can later build on. 
• Novel 
• Based on current technologies. 
• Important to answer current problems or concerns. 
• Lead to new directions. 
• Important: Your question should have some aspect of originality. Incremental research is as important as exploring disruptive technologies. For example, you can focus on a specific location or explore a new angle. 
• Meaningful whether the answer is “Yes” or “No.” Closed-ended, yes/no questions are too simple to work as good research questions. Such questions do not provide enough scope for robust investigation and discussion. A good research question requires original data, synthesis of multiple sources, and original interpretation and argumentation before providing an answer. 

Steps for developing a good research question

The importance of research questions cannot be understated. When drafting a research question, use the following frameworks to guide the components of your question to ease the process. 4  

• Determine the requirements: Before constructing a good research question, set your research requirements. What is the purpose? Is it descriptive, comparative, or explorative research? Determining the research aim will help you choose the most appropriate topic and word your question appropriately. 
• Select a broad research topic: Identify a broader subject area of interest that requires investigation. Techniques such as brainstorming or concept mapping can help identify relevant connections and themes within a broad research topic. For example, how to learn and help students learn. 
• Perform preliminary investigation: Preliminary research is needed to obtain up-to-date and relevant knowledge on your topic. It also helps identify issues currently being discussed from which information gaps can be identified. 
• Narrow your focus: Narrow the scope and focus of your research to a specific niche. This involves focusing on gaps in existing knowledge or recent literature or extending or complementing the findings of existing literature. Another approach involves constructing strong research questions that challenge your views or knowledge of the area of study (Example: Is learning consistent with the existing learning theory and research). 
• Identify the research problem: Once the research question has been framed, one should evaluate it. This is to realize the importance of the research questions and if there is a need for more revising (Example: How do your beliefs on learning theory and research impact your instructional practices). 

How to write a research question

Those struggling to understand how to write a research question, these simple steps can help you simplify the process of writing a research question. 

Sample Research Questions

The following are some bad and good research question examples 

• Example 1 
• Example 2 

References:  

• Thabane, L., Thomas, T., Ye, C., & Paul, J. (2009). Posing the research question: not so simple.  Canadian Journal of Anesthesia/Journal canadien d’anesthésie ,  56 (1), 71-79. 
• Rutberg, S., & Bouikidis, C. D. (2018). Focusing on the fundamentals: A simplistic differentiation between qualitative and quantitative research.  Nephrology Nursing Journal ,  45 (2), 209-213. 
• Kyngäs, H. (2020). Qualitative research and content analysis.  The application of content analysis in nursing science research , 3-11. 
• Mattick, K., Johnston, J., & de la Croix, A. (2018). How to… write a good research question.  The clinical teacher ,  15 (2), 104-108. 
• Fandino, W. (2019). Formulating a good research question: Pearls and pitfalls.  Indian Journal of Anaesthesia ,  63 (8), 611. 
• Richardson, W. S., Wilson, M. C., Nishikawa, J., & Hayward, R. S. (1995). The well-built clinical question: a key to evidence-based decisions.  ACP journal club ,  123 (3), A12-A13 

Paperpal is a comprehensive AI writing toolkit that helps students and researchers achieve 2x the writing in half the time. It leverages 21+ years of STM experience and insights from millions of research articles to provide in-depth academic writing, language editing, and submission readiness support to help you write better, faster.  

Get accurate academic translations, rewriting support, grammar checks, vocabulary suggestions, and generative AI assistance that delivers human precision at machine speed. Try for free or upgrade to Paperpal Prime starting at US$19 a month to access premium features, including consistency, plagiarism, and 30+ submission readiness checks to help you succeed.  

Experience the future of academic writing – Sign up to Paperpal and start writing for free!  

Related Reads:

• Scientific Writing Style Guides Explained
• Ethical Research Practices For Research with Human Subjects
• 8 Most Effective Ways to Increase Motivation for Thesis Writing 
• 6 Tips for Post-Doc Researchers to Take Their Career to the Next Level

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Find the answers to your biggest research questions from 2021. With collective views of over 3.7 million, researchers explored topics spanning from nutritional immunology and political misinformation to sustainable agriculture and the human-dog bond .

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Research Aims, Objectives & Questions

The “Golden Thread” Explained Simply (+ Examples)

By: David Phair (PhD) and Alexandra Shaeffer (PhD) | June 2022

The research aims , objectives and research questions (collectively called the “golden thread”) are arguably the most important thing you need to get right when you’re crafting a research proposal , dissertation or thesis . We receive questions almost every day about this “holy trinity” of research and there’s certainly a lot of confusion out there, so we’ve crafted this post to help you navigate your way through the fog.

Overview: The Golden Thread

• What is the golden thread
• What are research aims ( examples )
• What are research objectives ( examples )
• What are research questions ( examples )
• The importance of alignment in the golden thread

What is the “golden thread”?  

The golden thread simply refers to the collective research aims , research objectives , and research questions for any given project (i.e., a dissertation, thesis, or research paper ). These three elements are bundled together because it’s extremely important that they align with each other, and that the entire research project aligns with them.

Importantly, the golden thread needs to weave its way through the entirety of any research project , from start to end. In other words, it needs to be very clearly defined right at the beginning of the project (the topic ideation and proposal stage) and it needs to inform almost every decision throughout the rest of the project. For example, your research design and methodology will be heavily influenced by the golden thread (we’ll explain this in more detail later), as well as your literature review.

The research aims, objectives and research questions (the golden thread) define the focus and scope ( the delimitations ) of your research project. In other words, they help ringfence your dissertation or thesis to a relatively narrow domain, so that you can “go deep” and really dig into a specific problem or opportunity. They also help keep you on track , as they act as a litmus test for relevance. In other words, if you’re ever unsure whether to include something in your document, simply ask yourself the question, “does this contribute toward my research aims, objectives or questions?”. If it doesn’t, chances are you can drop it.

Alright, enough of the fluffy, conceptual stuff. Let’s get down to business and look at what exactly the research aims, objectives and questions are and outline a few examples to bring these concepts to life.

Research Aims: What are they?

Simply put, the research aim(s) is a statement that reflects the broad overarching goal (s) of the research project. Research aims are fairly high-level (low resolution) as they outline the general direction of the research and what it’s trying to achieve .

Research Aims: Examples  

True to the name, research aims usually start with the wording “this research aims to…”, “this research seeks to…”, and so on. For example:

“This research aims to explore employee experiences of digital transformation in retail HR.”   “This study sets out to assess the interaction between student support and self-care on well-being in engineering graduate students”  

As you can see, these research aims provide a high-level description of what the study is about and what it seeks to achieve. They’re not hyper-specific or action-oriented, but they’re clear about what the study’s focus is and what is being investigated.

Need a helping hand?

Research Objectives: What are they?

The research objectives take the research aims and make them more practical and actionable . In other words, the research objectives showcase the steps that the researcher will take to achieve the research aims.

The research objectives need to be far more specific (higher resolution) and actionable than the research aims. In fact, it’s always a good idea to craft your research objectives using the “SMART” criteria. In other words, they should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound”.

Research Objectives: Examples  

Let’s look at two examples of research objectives. We’ll stick with the topic and research aims we mentioned previously.  

For the digital transformation topic:

To observe the retail HR employees throughout the digital transformation. To assess employee perceptions of digital transformation in retail HR. To identify the barriers and facilitators of digital transformation in retail HR.

And for the student wellness topic:

To determine whether student self-care predicts the well-being score of engineering graduate students. To determine whether student support predicts the well-being score of engineering students. To assess the interaction between student self-care and student support when predicting well-being in engineering graduate students.

  As you can see, these research objectives clearly align with the previously mentioned research aims and effectively translate the low-resolution aims into (comparatively) higher-resolution objectives and action points . They give the research project a clear focus and present something that resembles a research-based “to-do” list.

Research Questions: What are they?

Finally, we arrive at the all-important research questions. The research questions are, as the name suggests, the key questions that your study will seek to answer . Simply put, they are the core purpose of your dissertation, thesis, or research project. You’ll present them at the beginning of your document (either in the introduction chapter or literature review chapter) and you’ll answer them at the end of your document (typically in the discussion and conclusion chapters).  

The research questions will be the driving force throughout the research process. For example, in the literature review chapter, you’ll assess the relevance of any given resource based on whether it helps you move towards answering your research questions. Similarly, your methodology and research design will be heavily influenced by the nature of your research questions. For instance, research questions that are exploratory in nature will usually make use of a qualitative approach, whereas questions that relate to measurement or relationship testing will make use of a quantitative approach.  

Let’s look at some examples of research questions to make this more tangible.

Research Questions: Examples  

Again, we’ll stick with the research aims and research objectives we mentioned previously.  

For the digital transformation topic (which would be qualitative in nature):

How do employees perceive digital transformation in retail HR? What are the barriers and facilitators of digital transformation in retail HR?  

And for the student wellness topic (which would be quantitative in nature):

Does student self-care predict the well-being scores of engineering graduate students? Does student support predict the well-being scores of engineering students? Do student self-care and student support interact when predicting well-being in engineering graduate students?  

You’ll probably notice that there’s quite a formulaic approach to this. In other words, the research questions are basically the research objectives “converted” into question format. While that is true most of the time, it’s not always the case. For example, the first research objective for the digital transformation topic was more or less a step on the path toward the other objectives, and as such, it didn’t warrant its own research question.  

So, don’t rush your research questions and sloppily reword your objectives as questions. Carefully think about what exactly you’re trying to achieve (i.e. your research aim) and the objectives you’ve set out, then craft a set of well-aligned research questions . Also, keep in mind that this can be a somewhat iterative process , where you go back and tweak research objectives and aims to ensure tight alignment throughout the golden thread.

The importance of strong alignment 

Alignment is the keyword here and we have to stress its importance . Simply put, you need to make sure that there is a very tight alignment between all three pieces of the golden thread. If your research aims and research questions don’t align, for example, your project will be pulling in different directions and will lack focus . This is a common problem students face and can cause many headaches (and tears), so be warned.

Take the time to carefully craft your research aims, objectives and research questions before you run off down the research path. Ideally, get your research supervisor/advisor to review and comment on your golden thread before you invest significant time into your project, and certainly before you start collecting data .  

Recap: The golden thread

In this post, we unpacked the golden thread of research, consisting of the research aims , research objectives and research questions . You can jump back to any section using the links below.

As always, feel free to leave a comment below – we always love to hear from you. Also, if you’re interested in 1-on-1 support, take a look at our private coaching service here.

Psst... there’s more!

This post was based on one of our popular Research Bootcamps . If you're working on a research project, you'll definitely want to check this out ...

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39 Comments

Thank you very much for your great effort put. As an Undergraduate taking Demographic Research & Methodology, I’ve been trying so hard to understand clearly what is a Research Question, Research Aim and the Objectives in a research and the relationship between them etc. But as for now I’m thankful that you’ve solved my problem.

Well appreciated. This has helped me greatly in doing my dissertation.

An so delighted with this wonderful information thank you a lot.

so impressive i have benefited a lot looking forward to learn more on research.

I am very happy to have carefully gone through this well researched article.

Infact,I used to be phobia about anything research, because of my poor understanding of the concepts.

Now,I get to know that my research question is the same as my research objective(s) rephrased in question format.

I please I would need a follow up on the subject,as I intends to join the team of researchers. Thanks once again.

Thanks so much. This was really helpful.

I know you pepole have tried to break things into more understandable and easy format. And God bless you. Keep it up

i found this document so useful towards my study in research methods. thanks so much.

This is my 2nd read topic in your course and I should commend the simplified explanations of each part. I’m beginning to understand and absorb the use of each part of a dissertation/thesis. I’ll keep on reading your free course and might be able to avail the training course! Kudos!

Thank you! Better put that my lecture and helped to easily understand the basics which I feel often get brushed over when beginning dissertation work.

This is quite helpful. I like how the Golden thread has been explained and the needed alignment.

This is quite helpful. I really appreciate!

The article made it simple for researcher students to differentiate between three concepts.

Very innovative and educational in approach to conducting research.

I am very impressed with all these terminology, as I am a fresh student for post graduate, I am highly guided and I promised to continue making consultation when the need arise. Thanks a lot.

A very helpful piece. thanks, I really appreciate it .

Very well explained, and it might be helpful to many people like me.

Wish i had found this (and other) resource(s) at the beginning of my PhD journey… not in my writing up year… 😩 Anyways… just a quick question as i’m having some issues ordering my “golden thread”…. does it matter in what order you mention them? i.e., is it always first aims, then objectives, and finally the questions? or can you first mention the research questions and then the aims and objectives?

Thank you for a very simple explanation that builds upon the concepts in a very logical manner. Just prior to this, I read the research hypothesis article, which was equally very good. This met my primary objective.

My secondary objective was to understand the difference between research questions and research hypothesis, and in which context to use which one. However, I am still not clear on this. Can you kindly please guide?

In research, a research question is a clear and specific inquiry that the researcher wants to answer, while a research hypothesis is a tentative statement or prediction about the relationship between variables or the expected outcome of the study. Research questions are broader and guide the overall study, while hypotheses are specific and testable statements used in quantitative research. Research questions identify the problem, while hypotheses provide a focus for testing in the study.

Exactly what I need in this research journey, I look forward to more of your coaching videos.

This helped a lot. Thanks so much for the effort put into explaining it.

What data source in writing dissertation/Thesis requires?

What is data source covers when writing dessertation/thesis

This is quite useful thanks

I’m excited and thankful. I got so much value which will help me progress in my thesis.

where are the locations of the reserch statement, research objective and research question in a reserach paper? Can you write an ouline that defines their places in the researh paper?

Very helpful and important tips on Aims, Objectives and Questions.

Thank you so much for making research aim, research objectives and research question so clear. This will be helpful to me as i continue with my thesis.

Thanks much for this content. I learned a lot. And I am inspired to learn more. I am still struggling with my preparation for dissertation outline/proposal. But I consistently follow contents and tutorials and the new FB of GRAD Coach. Hope to really become confident in writing my dissertation and successfully defend it.

As a researcher and lecturer, I find splitting research goals into research aims, objectives, and questions is unnecessarily bureaucratic and confusing for students. For most biomedical research projects, including ‘real research’, 1-3 research questions will suffice (numbers may differ by discipline).

Awesome! Very important resources and presented in an informative way to easily understand the golden thread. Indeed, thank you so much.

Well explained

The blog article on research aims, objectives, and questions by Grad Coach is a clear and insightful guide that aligns with my experiences in academic research. The article effectively breaks down the often complex concepts of research aims and objectives, providing a straightforward and accessible explanation. Drawing from my own research endeavors, I appreciate the practical tips offered, such as the need for specificity and clarity when formulating research questions. The article serves as a valuable resource for students and researchers, offering a concise roadmap for crafting well-defined research goals and objectives. Whether you’re a novice or an experienced researcher, this article provides practical insights that contribute to the foundational aspects of a successful research endeavor.

A great thanks for you. it is really amazing explanation. I grasp a lot and one step up to research knowledge.

I really found these tips helpful. Thank you very much Grad Coach.

I found this article helpful. Thanks for sharing this.

thank you so much, the explanation and examples are really helpful

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Sat / act prep online guides and tips, 113 great research paper topics.

General Education

One of the hardest parts of writing a research paper can be just finding a good topic to write about. Fortunately we've done the hard work for you and have compiled a list of 113 interesting research paper topics. They've been organized into ten categories and cover a wide range of subjects so you can easily find the best topic for you.

In addition to the list of good research topics, we've included advice on what makes a good research paper topic and how you can use your topic to start writing a great paper.

What Makes a Good Research Paper Topic?

Not all research paper topics are created equal, and you want to make sure you choose a great topic before you start writing. Below are the three most important factors to consider to make sure you choose the best research paper topics.

#1: It's Something You're Interested In

A paper is always easier to write if you're interested in the topic, and you'll be more motivated to do in-depth research and write a paper that really covers the entire subject. Even if a certain research paper topic is getting a lot of buzz right now or other people seem interested in writing about it, don't feel tempted to make it your topic unless you genuinely have some sort of interest in it as well.

#2: There's Enough Information to Write a Paper

Even if you come up with the absolute best research paper topic and you're so excited to write about it, you won't be able to produce a good paper if there isn't enough research about the topic. This can happen for very specific or specialized topics, as well as topics that are too new to have enough research done on them at the moment. Easy research paper topics will always be topics with enough information to write a full-length paper.

Trying to write a research paper on a topic that doesn't have much research on it is incredibly hard, so before you decide on a topic, do a bit of preliminary searching and make sure you'll have all the information you need to write your paper.

#3: It Fits Your Teacher's Guidelines

Don't get so carried away looking at lists of research paper topics that you forget any requirements or restrictions your teacher may have put on research topic ideas. If you're writing a research paper on a health-related topic, deciding to write about the impact of rap on the music scene probably won't be allowed, but there may be some sort of leeway. For example, if you're really interested in current events but your teacher wants you to write a research paper on a history topic, you may be able to choose a topic that fits both categories, like exploring the relationship between the US and North Korea. No matter what, always get your research paper topic approved by your teacher first before you begin writing.

113 Good Research Paper Topics

Below are 113 good research topics to help you get you started on your paper. We've organized them into ten categories to make it easier to find the type of research paper topics you're looking for.

Arts/Culture

• Discuss the main differences in art from the Italian Renaissance and the Northern Renaissance .
• Analyze the impact a famous artist had on the world.
• How is sexism portrayed in different types of media (music, film, video games, etc.)? Has the amount/type of sexism changed over the years?
• How has the music of slaves brought over from Africa shaped modern American music?
• How has rap music evolved in the past decade?
• How has the portrayal of minorities in the media changed?

Current Events

• What have been the impacts of China's one child policy?
• How have the goals of feminists changed over the decades?
• How has the Trump presidency changed international relations?
• Analyze the history of the relationship between the United States and North Korea.
• What factors contributed to the current decline in the rate of unemployment?
• What have been the impacts of states which have increased their minimum wage?
• How do US immigration laws compare to immigration laws of other countries?
• How have the US's immigration laws changed in the past few years/decades?
• How has the Black Lives Matter movement affected discussions and view about racism in the US?
• What impact has the Affordable Care Act had on healthcare in the US?
• What factors contributed to the UK deciding to leave the EU (Brexit)?
• What factors contributed to China becoming an economic power?
• Discuss the history of Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies  (some of which tokenize the S&P 500 Index on the blockchain) .
• Do students in schools that eliminate grades do better in college and their careers?
• Do students from wealthier backgrounds score higher on standardized tests?
• Do students who receive free meals at school get higher grades compared to when they weren't receiving a free meal?
• Do students who attend charter schools score higher on standardized tests than students in public schools?
• Do students learn better in same-sex classrooms?
• How does giving each student access to an iPad or laptop affect their studies?
• What are the benefits and drawbacks of the Montessori Method ?
• Do children who attend preschool do better in school later on?
• What was the impact of the No Child Left Behind act?
• How does the US education system compare to education systems in other countries?
• What impact does mandatory physical education classes have on students' health?
• Which methods are most effective at reducing bullying in schools?
• Do homeschoolers who attend college do as well as students who attended traditional schools?
• Does offering tenure increase or decrease quality of teaching?
• How does college debt affect future life choices of students?
• Should graduate students be able to form unions?

• What are different ways to lower gun-related deaths in the US?
• How and why have divorce rates changed over time?
• Is affirmative action still necessary in education and/or the workplace?
• Should physician-assisted suicide be legal?
• How has stem cell research impacted the medical field?
• How can human trafficking be reduced in the United States/world?
• Should people be able to donate organs in exchange for money?
• Which types of juvenile punishment have proven most effective at preventing future crimes?
• Has the increase in US airport security made passengers safer?
• Analyze the immigration policies of certain countries and how they are similar and different from one another.
• Several states have legalized recreational marijuana. What positive and negative impacts have they experienced as a result?
• Do tariffs increase the number of domestic jobs?
• Which prison reforms have proven most effective?
• Should governments be able to censor certain information on the internet?
• Which methods/programs have been most effective at reducing teen pregnancy?
• What are the benefits and drawbacks of the Keto diet?
• How effective are different exercise regimes for losing weight and maintaining weight loss?
• How do the healthcare plans of various countries differ from each other?
• What are the most effective ways to treat depression ?
• What are the pros and cons of genetically modified foods?
• Which methods are most effective for improving memory?
• What can be done to lower healthcare costs in the US?
• What factors contributed to the current opioid crisis?
• Analyze the history and impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic .
• Are low-carbohydrate or low-fat diets more effective for weight loss?
• How much exercise should the average adult be getting each week?
• Which methods are most effective to get parents to vaccinate their children?
• What are the pros and cons of clean needle programs?
• How does stress affect the body?
• Discuss the history of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
• What were the causes and effects of the Salem Witch Trials?
• Who was responsible for the Iran-Contra situation?
• How has New Orleans and the government's response to natural disasters changed since Hurricane Katrina?
• What events led to the fall of the Roman Empire?
• What were the impacts of British rule in India ?
• Was the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki necessary?
• What were the successes and failures of the women's suffrage movement in the United States?
• What were the causes of the Civil War?
• How did Abraham Lincoln's assassination impact the country and reconstruction after the Civil War?
• Which factors contributed to the colonies winning the American Revolution?
• What caused Hitler's rise to power?
• Discuss how a specific invention impacted history.
• What led to Cleopatra's fall as ruler of Egypt?
• How has Japan changed and evolved over the centuries?
• What were the causes of the Rwandan genocide ?

• Why did Martin Luther decide to split with the Catholic Church?
• Analyze the history and impact of a well-known cult (Jonestown, Manson family, etc.)
• How did the sexual abuse scandal impact how people view the Catholic Church?
• How has the Catholic church's power changed over the past decades/centuries?
• What are the causes behind the rise in atheism/ agnosticism in the United States?
• What were the influences in Siddhartha's life resulted in him becoming the Buddha?
• How has media portrayal of Islam/Muslims changed since September 11th?

Science/Environment

• How has the earth's climate changed in the past few decades?
• How has the use and elimination of DDT affected bird populations in the US?
• Analyze how the number and severity of natural disasters have increased in the past few decades.
• Analyze deforestation rates in a certain area or globally over a period of time.
• How have past oil spills changed regulations and cleanup methods?
• How has the Flint water crisis changed water regulation safety?
• What are the pros and cons of fracking?
• What impact has the Paris Climate Agreement had so far?
• What have NASA's biggest successes and failures been?
• How can we improve access to clean water around the world?
• Does ecotourism actually have a positive impact on the environment?
• Should the US rely on nuclear energy more?
• What can be done to save amphibian species currently at risk of extinction?
• What impact has climate change had on coral reefs?
• How are black holes created?
• Are teens who spend more time on social media more likely to suffer anxiety and/or depression?
• How will the loss of net neutrality affect internet users?
• Analyze the history and progress of self-driving vehicles.
• How has the use of drones changed surveillance and warfare methods?
• Has social media made people more or less connected?
• What progress has currently been made with artificial intelligence ?
• Do smartphones increase or decrease workplace productivity?
• What are the most effective ways to use technology in the classroom?
• How is Google search affecting our intelligence?
• When is the best age for a child to begin owning a smartphone?
• Has frequent texting reduced teen literacy rates?

How to Write a Great Research Paper

Even great research paper topics won't give you a great research paper if you don't hone your topic before and during the writing process. Follow these three tips to turn good research paper topics into great papers.

#1: Figure Out Your Thesis Early

Before you start writing a single word of your paper, you first need to know what your thesis will be. Your thesis is a statement that explains what you intend to prove/show in your paper. Every sentence in your research paper will relate back to your thesis, so you don't want to start writing without it!

As some examples, if you're writing a research paper on if students learn better in same-sex classrooms, your thesis might be "Research has shown that elementary-age students in same-sex classrooms score higher on standardized tests and report feeling more comfortable in the classroom."

If you're writing a paper on the causes of the Civil War, your thesis might be "While the dispute between the North and South over slavery is the most well-known cause of the Civil War, other key causes include differences in the economies of the North and South, states' rights, and territorial expansion."

#2: Back Every Statement Up With Research

Remember, this is a research paper you're writing, so you'll need to use lots of research to make your points. Every statement you give must be backed up with research, properly cited the way your teacher requested. You're allowed to include opinions of your own, but they must also be supported by the research you give.

#3: Do Your Research Before You Begin Writing

You don't want to start writing your research paper and then learn that there isn't enough research to back up the points you're making, or, even worse, that the research contradicts the points you're trying to make!

Get most of your research on your good research topics done before you begin writing. Then use the research you've collected to create a rough outline of what your paper will cover and the key points you're going to make. This will help keep your paper clear and organized, and it'll ensure you have enough research to produce a strong paper.

What's Next?

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These recommendations are based solely on our knowledge and experience. If you purchase an item through one of our links, PrepScholar may receive a commission.

Christine graduated from Michigan State University with degrees in Environmental Biology and Geography and received her Master's from Duke University. In high school she scored in the 99th percentile on the SAT and was named a National Merit Finalist. She has taught English and biology in several countries.

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Research Question

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A research question serves as the foundation of any academic study, driving the investigation and framing the scope of inquiry. It focuses the research efforts, ensuring that the study addresses pertinent issues systematically. Crafting a strong research question is essential as it directs the methodology, data collection, and analysis, ultimately shaping the study’s conclusions and contributions to the field.

What is a Research Question?

A research question is the central query that guides a study, focusing on a specific problem or issue. It defines the purpose and direction of the research, influencing the methodology and analysis. A well-crafted research question ensures the study remains relevant, systematic, and contributes valuable insights to the field.

Types of Research Questions

Research questions are a crucial part of any research project. They guide the direction and focus of the study. Here are the main types of research questions:

1. Descriptive Research Questions

These questions aim to describe the characteristics or functions of a specific phenomenon or group. They often begin with “what,” “who,” “where,” “when,” or “how.”

• What are the common symptoms of depression in teenagers?

2. Comparative Research Questions

These questions compare two or more groups or variables to identify differences or similarities.

• How do the academic performances of students in private schools compare to those in public schools?

3. Correlational Research Questions

These questions seek to identify the relationships between two or more variables. They often use terms like “relationship,” “association,” or “correlation.”

• Is there a relationship between social media usage and self-esteem among adolescents?

4. Causal Research Questions

These questions aim to determine whether one variable causes or influences another. They are often used in experimental research.

• Does a new teaching method improve student engagement in the classroom?

5. Exploratory Research Questions

These questions are used when the researcher is exploring a new area or seeking to understand a complex phenomenon. They are often open-ended.

• What factors contribute to the success of start-up companies in the tech industry?

6. Predictive Research Questions

These questions aim to predict future occurrences based on current or past data. They often use terms like “predict,” “forecast,” or “expect.”

• Can high school GPA predict college success?

7. Evaluative Research Questions

These questions assess the effectiveness or impact of a program, intervention, or policy .

• How effective is the new community outreach program in reducing homelessness?

8. Ethnographic Research Questions

These questions are used in qualitative research to understand cultural phenomena from the perspective of the participants.

• How do cultural beliefs influence healthcare practices in rural communities?

9. Case Study Research Questions

These questions focus on an in-depth analysis of a specific case, event, or instance.

• What were the critical factors that led to the failure of Company X?

10. Phenomenological Research Questions

These questions explore the lived experiences of individuals to understand a particular phenomenon.

• What is the experience of living with chronic pain?

Research Question Format

A well-formulated research question is essential for guiding your study effectively. Follow this format to ensure clarity and precision:

• Begin with a broad subject area.
• Example: “Education technology”
• Define a specific aspect or variable.
• Example: “Impact of digital tools”
• Decide if you are describing, comparing, or investigating relationships.
• Example: “Effectiveness”
• Identify who or what is being studied.
• Example: “High school students”
• Formulate the complete question.
• Example: “How effective are digital tools in enhancing the learning experience of high school students?”

Sample Format: “How [specific aspect] affects [target population] in [context]?” Example: “How does the use of digital tools affect the academic performance of high school students in urban areas?”

Research Question Examples

Research questions in business.

• “What are the primary factors influencing customer loyalty in the retail industry?”
• “How does employee satisfaction differ between remote work and in-office work environments in tech companies?”
• “What is the relationship between social media marketing and brand awareness among small businesses?”
• “How does implementing a four-day workweek impact productivity in consulting firms?”
• “What are the emerging trends in consumer behavior post-COVID-19 in the e-commerce sector?”
• “Why do some startups succeed in attracting venture capital while others do not?”
• “How effective is corporate social responsibility in enhancing brand reputation for multinational companies?”
• “How do decision-making processes in family-owned businesses differ from those in publicly traded companies?”
• “What strategies do successful entrepreneurs use to scale their businesses in competitive markets?”
• “How does supply chain management affect the operational efficiency of manufacturing firms?”

Research Questions in Education

• “What are the most common challenges faced by first-year teachers in urban schools?”
• “How do student achievement levels differ between traditional classrooms and blended learning environments?”
• “What is the relationship between parental involvement and student academic performance in elementary schools?”
• “How does the implementation of project-based learning affect critical thinking skills in middle school students?”
• “What are the emerging trends in the use of artificial intelligence in education?”
• “Why do some students perform better in standardized tests than others despite similar instructional methods?”
• “How effective is the flipped classroom model in improving student engagement and learning outcomes in high school science classes?”
• “How do teachers’ professional development programs impact teaching practices and student outcomes in rural schools?”
• “What strategies can be employed to reduce the dropout rate among high school students in low-income areas?”
• “How does classroom size affect the quality of teaching and learning in elementary schools?”

Research Questions in Health Care

• “What are the most common barriers to accessing mental health services in rural areas?”
• “How does patient satisfaction differ between telemedicine and in-person consultations in primary care?”
• “What is the relationship between diet and the incidence of type 2 diabetes in adults?”
• “How does regular physical activity influence the recovery rate of patients with cardiovascular diseases?”
• “What are the emerging trends in the use of wearable technology for health monitoring?”
• “Why do some patients adhere to their medication regimen while others do not despite similar health conditions?”
• “How effective are community-based health interventions in reducing obesity rates among children?”
• “How do interdisciplinary team meetings impact patient care in hospitals?”
• “What strategies can be implemented to reduce the spread of infectious diseases in healthcare settings?”
• “How does nurse staffing level affect patient outcomes in intensive care units?”

Research Questions in Computer Science

• “What are the key features of successful machine learning algorithms used in natural language processing?”
• “How does the performance of quantum computing compare to classical computing in solving complex optimization problems?”
• “What is the relationship between software development methodologies and project success rates in large enterprises?”
• “How does the implementation of cybersecurity protocols impact the frequency of data breaches in financial institutions?”
• “What are the emerging trends in blockchain technology applications beyond cryptocurrency?”
• “Why do certain neural network architectures outperform others in image recognition tasks?”
• “How effective are different code review practices in reducing bugs in open-source software projects?”
• “How do agile development practices influence team productivity and product quality in software startups?”
• “What strategies can improve the scalability of distributed systems in cloud computing environments?”
• “How does the choice of programming language affect the performance and maintainability of enterprise-level software applications?”

Research Questions in Psychology

• “What are the most common symptoms of anxiety disorders among adolescents?”
• “How does the level of job satisfaction differ between remote workers and in-office workers?”
• “What is the relationship between social media use and self-esteem in teenagers?”
• “How does cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) affect the severity of depression symptoms in adults?”
• “What are the emerging trends in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)?”
• “Why do some individuals develop resilience in the face of adversity while others do not?”
• “How effective are mindfulness-based interventions in reducing stress levels among college students?”
• “How does group therapy influence the social skills development of children with autism spectrum disorder?”
• “What strategies can improve the early diagnosis of bipolar disorder in young adults?”
• “How do sleep patterns affect cognitive functioning and academic performance in high school students?”

More Research Question Examples

Research question examples for students.

• “What are the primary study habits of high-achieving college students?”
• “How do academic performances differ between students who participate in extracurricular activities and those who do not?”
• “What is the relationship between time management skills and academic success in high school students?”
• “How does the use of technology in the classroom affect students’ engagement and learning outcomes?”
• “What are the emerging trends in online learning platforms for high school students?”
• “Why do some students excel in standardized tests while others struggle despite similar study efforts?”
• “How effective are peer tutoring programs in improving students’ understanding of complex subjects?”
• “How do different teaching methods impact the learning process of students with learning disabilities?”
• “What strategies can help reduce test anxiety among middle school students?”
• “How does participation in group projects affect the development of collaboration skills in university students?”

Research Question Examples for College Students

• “What are the most common stressors faced by college students during final exams?”
• “How does academic performance differ between students who live on campus and those who commute?”
• “What is the relationship between part-time employment and GPA among college students?”
• “How does participation in study abroad programs impact cultural awareness and academic performance?”
• “What are the emerging trends in college students’ use of social media for academic purposes?”
• “Why do some college students engage in academic dishonesty despite awareness of the consequences?”
• “How effective are university mental health services in addressing students’ mental health issues?”
• “How do different learning styles affect the academic success of college students in online courses?”
• “What strategies can be employed to improve retention rates among first-year college students?”
• “How does participation in extracurricular activities influence leadership skills development in college students?”

Research Question Examples in Statistics

• “What are the most common statistical methods used in medical research?”
• “How does the accuracy of machine learning models compare to traditional statistical methods in predicting housing prices?”
• “What is the relationship between sample size and the power of a statistical test in clinical trials?”
• “How does the use of random sampling affect the validity of survey results in social science research?”
• “What are the emerging trends in the application of Bayesian statistics in data science?”
• “Why do some datasets require transformation before applying linear regression models?”
• “How effective are bootstrapping techniques in estimating the confidence intervals of small sample data?”
• “How do different imputation methods impact the results of analyses with missing data?”
• “What strategies can improve the interpretation of interaction effects in multiple regression analysis?”
• “How does the choice of statistical software affect the efficiency of data analysis in academic research?”

Research Question Examples in Socialogy

• “What are the primary social factors contributing to urban poverty in major cities?”
• “How does the level of social integration differ between immigrants and native-born citizens in urban areas?”
• “What is the relationship between educational attainment and social mobility in different socioeconomic classes?”
• “How does exposure to social media influence political participation among young adults?”
• “What are the emerging trends in family structures and their impact on child development?”
• “Why do certain communities exhibit higher levels of civic engagement than others?”
• “How effective are community policing strategies in reducing crime rates in diverse neighborhoods?”
• “How do socialization processes differ in single-parent households compared to two-parent households?”
• “What strategies can be implemented to reduce racial disparities in higher education enrollment?”
• “How does the implementation of public housing policies affect the quality of life for low-income families?”

Research Question Examples in Biology

• “What are the primary characteristics of the various stages of mitosis in eukaryotic cells?”
• “How do the reproductive strategies of amphibians compare to those of reptiles?”
• “What is the relationship between genetic diversity and the resilience of plant species to climate change?”
• “How does the presence of pollutants in freshwater ecosystems impact the growth and development of aquatic organisms?”
• “What are the emerging trends in the use of CRISPR technology for gene editing in agricultural crops?”
• “Why do certain bacteria develop antibiotic resistance more rapidly than others?”
• “How effective are different conservation strategies in protecting endangered species?”
• “How do various environmental factors influence the process of photosynthesis in marine algae?”
• “What strategies can enhance the effectiveness of reforestation programs in tropical rainforests?”
• “How does the method of seed dispersal affect the spatial distribution and genetic diversity of plant populations?”

Research Question Examples in History

• “What were the key social and economic factors that led to the Industrial Revolution in Britain?”
• “How did the political systems of ancient Athens and ancient Sparta differ in terms of governance and citizen participation?”
• “What is the relationship between the Renaissance and the subsequent scientific revolution in Europe?”
• “How did the Treaty of Versailles contribute to the rise of Adolf Hitler and the onset of World War II?”
• “What are the emerging perspectives on the causes and impacts of the American Civil Rights Movement?”
• “Why did the Roman Empire decline and eventually fall despite its extensive power and reach?”
• “How effective were the New Deal programs in alleviating the effects of the Great Depression in the United States?”
• “How did the processes of colonization and decolonization affect the political landscape of Africa in the 20th century?”
• “What strategies did the suffragette movement use to secure voting rights for women in the early 20th century?”
• “How did the logistics and strategies of the D-Day invasion contribute to the Allied victory in World War II?”

Importance of Research Questions

Research questions are fundamental to the success and integrity of any study. Their importance can be highlighted through several key aspects:

• Research questions provide a clear focus and direction for the study, ensuring that the researcher remains on track.
• Example: “How does online learning impact student engagement in higher education?”
• They establish the boundaries of the research, determining what will be included or excluded.
• Example: “What are the effects of air pollution on respiratory health in urban areas?”
• Research questions dictate the choice of research design, methodology, and data collection techniques.
• Example: “What is the relationship between physical activity and mental health in adolescents?”
• They make the objectives of the research explicit, providing clarity and precision to the study’s goals.
• Example: “Why do some startups succeed in securing venture capital while others fail?”
• Well-crafted research questions emphasize the significance and relevance of the study, justifying its importance.
• Example: “How effective are public health campaigns in increasing vaccination rates among young adults?”
• They enable a systematic approach to inquiry, ensuring that the study is coherent and logically structured.
• Example: “What are the social and economic impacts of remote work on urban communities?”
• Research questions offer a framework for analyzing and interpreting data, guiding the researcher in making sense of the findings.
• Example: “How does social media usage affect self-esteem among teenagers?”
• By addressing specific gaps or exploring new areas, research questions ensure that the study contributes meaningfully to the existing body of knowledge.
• Example: “What are the emerging trends in the use of artificial intelligence in healthcare?”
• Clear and precise research questions increase the credibility and reliability of the research by providing a focused approach.
• Example: “How do educational interventions impact literacy rates in low-income communities?”
• They help in clearly communicating the purpose and findings of the research to others, including stakeholders, peers, and the broader academic community.
• Example: “What strategies are most effective in reducing youth unemployment in developing countries?”

Research Question vs. Hypothesis

Chracteristics of research questions.

Research questions are fundamental to the research process as they guide the direction and focus of a study. Here are the key characteristics of effective research questions:

1. Clear and Specific

• The question should be clearly articulated and specific enough to be understood without ambiguity.
• Example: “What are the effects of social media on teenagers’ mental health?” rather than “How does social media affect people?”

2. Focused and Researchable

• The question should be narrow enough to be answerable through research and data collection.
• Example: “How does participation in extracurricular activities impact academic performance in high school students?” rather than “How do activities affect school performance?”

3. Complex and Analytical

• The question should require more than a simple yes or no answer and should invite analysis and discussion.
• Example: “What factors contribute to the success of renewable energy initiatives in urban areas?” rather than “Is renewable energy successful?”

4. Relevant and Significant

• The question should address an important issue or problem in the field of study and contribute to knowledge or practice.
• Example: “How does climate change affect agricultural productivity in developing countries?” rather than “What is climate change?”

5. Feasible and Practical

• The question should be feasible to answer within the constraints of time, resources, and access to information.
• Example: “What are the challenges faced by remote workers in the tech industry during the COVID-19 pandemic?” rather than “What are the challenges of remote work?”

6. Original and Novel

• The question should offer a new perspective or explore an area that has not been extensively studied.
• Example: “How do virtual reality technologies influence empathy in healthcare training?” rather than “What is virtual reality?”
• The question should be framed in a way that ensures the research can be conducted ethically.
• Example: “What are the impacts of privacy laws on consumer data protection in the digital age?” rather than “How can we collect personal data more effectively?”

8. Open-Ended

• The question should encourage detailed responses and exploration, rather than limiting answers to a simple yes or no.
• Example: “In what ways do cultural differences affect communication styles in multinational companies?” rather than “Do cultural differences affect communication?”

9. Aligned with Research Goals

• The question should align with the overall objectives of the research project or study.
• Example: “How do early childhood education programs influence long-term academic achievement?” if the goal is to understand educational impacts.

10. Based on Prior Research

• The question should build on existing literature and research, identifying gaps or new angles to explore.
• Example: “What strategies have proven effective in reducing urban air pollution in European cities?” after reviewing current studies on air pollution strategies.

Benefits of Research Question

Research questions are fundamental to the research process and offer numerous benefits, which include the following:

1. Guides the Research Process

A well-defined research question provides a clear focus and direction for your study. It helps in determining what data to collect, how to collect it, and how to analyze it.

Benefit: Ensures that the research stays on track and addresses the specific issue at hand.

2. Clarifies the Purpose of the Study

Research questions help to articulate the purpose and objectives of the study. They make it clear what the researcher intends to explore, describe, compare, or test.

Benefit: Helps in communicating the goals and significance of the research to others, including stakeholders and funding bodies.

3. Determines the Research Design

The type of research question informs the research design, including the choice of methodology, data collection methods, and analysis techniques.

Benefit: Ensures that the chosen research design is appropriate for answering the specific research question, enhancing the validity and reliability of the results.

4. Enhances Literature Review

A well-crafted research question provides a framework for conducting a thorough literature review. It helps in identifying relevant studies, theories, and gaps in existing knowledge.

Benefit: Facilitates a comprehensive understanding of the topic and ensures that the research is grounded in existing literature.

5. Focuses Data Collection

Research questions help in identifying the specific data needed to answer them. This focus prevents the collection of unnecessary data and ensures that all collected data is relevant to the study.

Benefit: Increases the efficiency of data collection and analysis, saving time and resources.

6. Improves Data Analysis

Having a clear research question aids in the selection of appropriate data analysis methods. It helps in determining how the data will be analyzed to draw meaningful conclusions.

Benefit: Enhances the accuracy and relevance of the findings, making them more impactful.

7. Facilitates Hypothesis Formation

In quantitative research, research questions often lead to the development of hypotheses that can be tested statistically.

Benefit: Provides a basis for hypothesis testing, which is essential for establishing cause-and-effect relationships.

8. Supports Result Interpretation

Research questions provide a lens through which the results of the study can be interpreted. They help in understanding what the findings mean in the context of the research objectives.

Benefit: Ensures that the conclusions drawn from the research are aligned with the original aims and objectives.

9. Enhances Reporting and Presentation

A clear research question makes it easier to organize and present the research findings. It helps in structuring the research report or presentation logically.

Benefit: Improves the clarity and coherence of the research report, making it more accessible and understandable to the audience.

10. Encourages Critical Thinking

Formulating research questions requires critical thinking and a deep understanding of the subject matter. It encourages researchers to think deeply about what they want to investigate and why.

Benefit: Promotes a more thoughtful and analytical approach to research, leading to more robust and meaningful findings.

How to Write a Research Question

Crafting a strong research question is crucial for guiding your study effectively. Follow these steps to write a clear and focused research question:

Identify a Broad Topic:

Start with a general area of interest that you are passionate about or that is relevant to your field. Example: “Climate change”

Conduct Preliminary Research:

Explore existing literature and studies to understand the current state of knowledge and identify gaps. Example: “Impact of climate change on agriculture”

Narrow Down the Topic:

Focus on a specific aspect or issue within the broad topic to make the research question more manageable. Example: “Effect of climate change on crop yields”

Consider the Scope:

Ensure the question is neither too broad nor too narrow. It should be specific enough to be answerable but broad enough to allow for thorough exploration. Example: “How does climate change affect corn crop yields in the Midwest United States?”

Determine the Research Type:

Decide whether your research will be descriptive, comparative, relational, or causal, as this will shape your question. Example: “How does climate change affect corn crop yields in the Midwest United States over the past decade?”

Formulate the Question:

Write a clear, concise question that specifies the variables, population, and context. Example: “What is the impact of increasing temperatures and changing precipitation patterns on corn crop yields in the Midwest United States from 2010 to 2020?”

Ensure Feasibility:

Make sure the question can be answered within the constraints of your resources, time, and data availability. Example: “How have corn crop yields in the Midwest United States been affected by climate change-related temperature increases and precipitation changes between 2010 and 2020?”

Review and Refine:

Evaluate the question for clarity, focus, and relevance. Revise as necessary to ensure it is well-defined and researchable. Example: “What are the specific impacts of temperature increases and changes in precipitation patterns on corn crop yields in the Midwest United States from 2010 to 2020?”

What is a research question?

A research question is a specific query guiding a study’s focus and objectives, shaping its methodology and analysis.

Why is a research question important?

It provides direction, defines scope, ensures relevance, and guides the methodology of the research.

How do you formulate a research question?

Identify a topic, narrow it down, conduct preliminary research, and ensure it is clear, focused, and researchable.

What makes a good research question?

Clarity, specificity, feasibility, relevance, and the ability to guide the research effectively.

Can a research question change?

Yes, it can evolve based on initial findings, further literature review, and the research process.

What is the difference between a research question and a hypothesis?

A research question guides the study; a hypothesis is a testable prediction about the relationship between variables.

How specific should a research question be?

It should be specific enough to provide clear direction but broad enough to allow for comprehensive investigation.

What are examples of good research questions?

Examples include: “How does social media affect academic performance?” and “What are the impacts of climate change on agriculture?”

Can a research question be too broad?

Yes, a too broad question can make the research unfocused and challenging to address comprehensively.

What role does a research question play in literature reviews?

It helps identify relevant studies, guides the search for literature, and frames the review’s focus.

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Russian disinformation sites linked to former Florida deputy sheriff, research finds

More than 150 fake local news websites pushing Russian propaganda to U.S. audiences are connected to John Mark Dougan, an American former law enforcement officer living in Moscow, according to a research report published Wednesday by NewsGuard, a firm that monitors misinformation.

The websites, with names like DC Weekly, New York News Daily and Boston Times, look similar to those of legitimate local news outlets and have already succeeded in spreading a number of false stories surrounding the war in Ukraine. Experts warn they could be used to launder disinformation about the 2024 election. 

In an interview over WhatsApp, Dougan denied involvement with the websites. “Never heard of them,” he said. 

Dougan, a former Marine and police officer, fled his home in Florida in 2016 to evade criminal charges related to a massive doxxing campaign he was accused of launching against public officials and was given asylum by the Russian government. Most recently, Dougan has posed as a journalist in Ukraine’s Donbas region, testifying at Russian public hearings and making frequent appearances on Russian state TV . 

He’s now part of a small club of Western expats who have become purveyors of English-language propaganda for Russia. Researchers and cybersecurity companies had previously linked Dougan to the sites. The NewsGuard report published Wednesday is the latest to implicate him in the fake news ring. 

Academic research from Clemson University linked Dougan to the network of fake news websites last year after one of them was found to share an IP address with other sites he ran, including his personal website.

In an interview, Darren Linvill, co-director of the Watt Family Innovation Center Media Forensics Hub at Clemson, called Dougan “a tool of the broader Russian disinformation machine” whose websites “are just one of several mechanisms by which these narratives are distributed.”

Linvill noted the fake news websites had lately veered away from the narrow focus of undermining support for Ukraine. Recent fake articles include the false claims that the FBI wiretapped former President Donald Trump’s office at Mar-a-Lago, his estate in Florida, and that the CIA backed a Ukrainian plot to rig the election against Trump.  

“There is no question we are beginning to see a shift in focus toward the U.S. election,” Linvill said. 

Posing as local news, the sites host articles about crime, politics and sports, most of which seem to have been generated with artificial intelligence tools and are attributed to journalists who do not exist . Interspersed within the general news are articles that disparage the U.S., exalt Russia and spread disinformation about topics from the wars in Ukraine and Gaza to Covid vaccines.

Researchers say sites attributed to Dougan are marred with telltale signs of his signature, including early website registration records, IP addresses, similar image headers and layouts, being built with WordPress software, seemingly AI-generated prompts mistakenly left in copy and error messages at the ends of articles.

The reach of the campaigns varies. Some of the sites remained active for just weeks with little to no pickup in the wider media. But some fake news stories have gained traction, including several recent posts using forged documents that falsely claimed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was improperly using foreign aid to enrich himself. Last month, a story on the fake news site The London Crier said Zelenskyy had spent 20 million pounds on a mansion previously owned by King Charles III. 

It followed a story posted to DC Weekly in November that falsely claimed Zelenskyy had used American aid money to buy two yachts. 

Both rumors relied, as the network often does, on videos posted to YouTube by newly created accounts. A site like DC Weekly will publish fake news stories using videos of seemingly AI-generated “leaks” or examples of whistleblowing, and Russian influencers and bot networks will then spread those articles, according to the Clemson researchers. Ultimately, the fake articles are reported as fact by pro-Kremlin media outlets and, in some of the most successful cases, by Western politicos and pundits. 

The rumor about Zelenskyy’s buying yachts was later promoted by Republican members of Congress , including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Sen. JD Vance of Ohio. 

The author of the new report, McKenzie Sadeghi, NewsGuard’s editor, pointed to the network’s sophisticated use of AI to produce content and make narratives seem credible. 

“In the wrong hands, this technology can be used to spread disinformation at scale,” Sadeghi said. “With this network, we’re seeing that play out exactly.”

What specific support Dougan receives from Russia is unclear. In May, the cybersecurity company Recorded Future reported a “realistic possibility” that the network receives strategic guidance, support or oversight from the Russian government. In March, The New York Times reported that the fake local news ring “appears to involve remnants” of the Internet Research Agency, the troll factory created by the late Putin associate Yevgeny Prigozhin to influence the 2016 presidential election. Previous reporting on Dougan and his more dubious claims — including that he was in possession of leaked documents from murdered Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich and secret tapes belonging to Jeffrey Epstein — suggests Dougan may be pursuing wealth, clout or operating from some other motive in addition to a state-sanctioned political agenda.

Dougan was an early creator of fake websites. After he resigned from his job as a sheriff’s deputy in Palm Beach County, Florida, and was fired months later from a subsequent one in Windham, Maine, over sexual harassment claims , he built a network of websites that focused on what he claimed was widespread corruption in Windham, naming local police and town officials in articles. He also reportedly launched a campaign doxxing thousands of federal agents, judges and law enforcement officers, posting their home addresses and salacious allegations online. By 2015 he was operating several websites with official-sounding names like DCWeekly.com and DCPost.org, which hosted made-up articles. In 2016, he fled to Russia following an FBI raid of his home to evade charges linked to his doxxing efforts. 

YouTube banned Dougan last year. On Telegram, he attributed the ban to videos he uploaded alleging a Russian mission to destroy U.S.-run bioweapons labs in Ukraine, a false narrative that would take hold as a justification for Russia’s invasion. Dougan’s ban came on the heels of a report from NewsGuard that highlighted the pro-Russian propaganda on his channel. 

According to co-CEO Steven Brill, NewsGuard’s earlier report and Dougan’s subsequent ban led to a harassment campaign against him. Brill says in a coming book that Dougan impersonated an FBI officer in phone calls to him, left threatening messages and posted YouTube videos showing aerial shots of Brill’s home.

Over WhatsApp, Dougan defended his videos about Brill, citing NewsGuard’s “partnership with the US government” to have his content removed. 

There is no evidence NewsGuard acted in concert with or on behalf of the U.S. government when it investigated Dougan. Asked for proof of such a partnership, Dougan sent a link to his own video, a 31-minute monologue laden with conspiracy theories. He’d reposted it to YouTube.

Brandy Zadrozny is a senior reporter for NBC News. She covers misinformation, extremism and the internet.

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Equity and inclusion in pregnancy care: report on the pregnancy outcomes and health care experiences of people with disabilities in Ontario

Funded by the US National Institutes of Health, the Disability and Pregnancy Study was a landmark study that used parallel evidence from health administrative data on nearly 150,000 births to people with disabilities and qualitative interview data from key informants to examine the preconception, pregnancy, labour and birth, and postpartum and newborn health outcomes and health care experiences of people with physical, sensory, developmental and multiple disabilities in Ontario, Canada.

This initiative was led by a multidisciplinary team with expertise in epidemiology, qualitative methods, maternal-fetal medicine, pediatrics, psychology, psychiatry and disability, including lived experience of disability, and was further informed by an Advisory Committee of people with disabilities, service-providers and decision-makers. The Disability and Pregnancy Study gathered evidence supporting the need for a more equitable and inclusive approach to pregnancy care that addresses the needs of disabled people.

To read the report, scroll to the bottom of this page and download the easy read summary, executive summary, or full report.

Webinar: Equity and Inclusion in Pregnancy Care

On June 18th from 3 – 4:30 p.m. , join us for a webinar! The research team will describe the findings of the Disability and Pregnancy Study, which showed avoidable pregnancy-related health disparities and barriers to care for people with disabilities. With an expert panel that includes researchers, people with lived experience of disability, and health and social service providers, the team will discuss next steps in creating an accessible pregnancy care system that considers the needs of people with disabilities.

We hope you will join us! Visit the registration page: Sign up now .

Information

Brown HK, Saeed G, Tarasoff LA, Proulx L, Welsh K, Fung K, Qureshi S, Guttmann A, Havercamp SM, Parish SL, Ray JG, Vigod SN, Lunsky Y. Toronto, ON: ICES; 2024.

Contributing ICES Scientists

• Hilary Brown
• Yona Lunsky

Research Programs

Associated topics.

• Health services research
• Marginalized populations
• Maternity and neonatal care
• Women or gender-based research

Associated Sites

• ICES Central

Equity and Inclusion in Pregnancy Care: Easy Read Summary

Equity and inclusion in pregnancy care: executive summary, equity and inclusion in pregnancy care: full report, news releases, 1 in 8 pregnant people have a disability, but significant gaps exist in the provision of accessible care , discover more, association between anaesthesia–surgery team sex diversity and major morbidity.

Hallet J, Sutradhar R, Flexman A, McIsaac DI, Carrier FM, Turgeon AF, McCartney C, Chan WC, Coburn N, Eskander A, Jerath A, Perez d’Empaire P, Lorello G. Br J Surg.  2024; 11(5): znae097. Epub 2024 May 15.

COVID-19 hospitalization, mortality and pre-mature mortality by a history of immigration in Ontario, Canada: a population-based cohort study

Wanigaratne S, Shah B, Stukel TA, Lu H, Den Otter-Moore S, Shetty J, Saunders N, Gandhi S, Guttmann A. Lancet  Reg  Health Am . 2024; 34:100762. Epub 2024 May 13.

Postpartum emergency department use following midwifery-model vs obstetrics-model care

Sorbara C, Ray JG, Darling EK, Chung H, Podolsky S, Stukel TA. JAMA Netw Open . 2024; 7(4):e248676. Epub 2024 Apr 29.

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The Alitos, the Neighborhood Clash and the Upside-Down Flag

Inside the escalating conflict on a bucolic suburban street that Justice Alito said prompted a “Stop the Steal” symbol at his home.

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By Jodi Kantor

Jodi Kantor, who has been reporting on the Supreme Court and the controversial flags outside Justice Alito’s homes, welcomes tips at nytimes.com/tips .

The police in Fairfax County, Va., received an unusual phone call on Feb. 15, 2021. A young couple claimed they were being harassed by the wife of a Supreme Court justice.

“Somebody in a position of authority needs to talk to her and make her stop,” said the 36-year-old man making the complaint, according to a recording of the call reviewed by The New York Times. The officer on the line responded that there was little the police could do: Yelling was not a crime.

The couple placed the call after a series of encounters with Martha-Ann Alito, wife of Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., that had gone from uneasy to ugly. That day, Emily Baden, whose boyfriend (now husband) contacted the police, had traded accusations with Mrs. Alito, who lived down the street. In a recent interview, Ms. Baden admitted to calling her a lewd epithet.

The clash between the wife of a conservative Supreme Court justice and the couple, who were in their 30s, liberal and proud of it, played out over months on a bucolic block in Alexandria. It was the kind of shouting match among private citizens, at the height of tensions over the 2020 election, that might have happened in any mixed political community in America. But three years later, that neighborhood spat — which both sides said began over an anti-Trump sign — has taken on far greater proportions.

The Times reported this month that Justice Alito’s household flew an upside-down flag , which had been adopted as a symbol of the “Stop the Steal” campaign, in January 2021. The justice, who did not participate in the contentious neighborhood exchanges, cited the dispute as the reason his wife had raised the flag.

The conflict in the Virginia neighborhood does not explain why a second flag associated with the Jan. 6 riot, as well as with a Christian nationalist movement, later flew at the Alitos’ New Jersey beach house. The justice has offered no explanation for that flag, which The Times reported on last week.

Since these incidents came to light, Justice Alito has come under sharp scrutiny, with Democratic lawmakers and legal experts calling for him to recuse himself from matters related to Jan. 6. Ethics experts and former judges said that a neighborhood dispute — or a spouse’s beliefs — do not justify violating the rule that judges should avoid any appearance of political opinion or bias on issues that could come before the court.

In the coming weeks, the court will rule on two key cases that will shape how accountable the Capitol rioters and former President Donald J. Trump can be held for Jan. 6 and surrounding events. The decisions are expected to influence his chances at regaining the White House this fall.

Amid the controversy, Ms. Baden said she was surprised to find herself playing a central role in Justice Alito’s account about a war of words, political signs and a flag. “I never saw the upside-down flag, never heard about it,” she said.

To better understand the clash, The Times interviewed Ms. Baden, her mother and her husband, as well as other neighbors, and reviewed the texts that Ms. Baden and her husband sent to friends after the episodes. Justice Alito, who did not respond to questions for this article, has in recent weeks given his own explanation of what happened.

There are some differences: For instance, the justice told Fox News that his wife hoisted the flag in response to Ms. Baden’s vulgar insult. A text message and the police call — corroborated by Fairfax County authorities — indicate, however, that the name-calling took place on Feb. 15, weeks after the inverted flag was taken down.

Justice Alito’s version of events was that the flag “was briefly placed by Mrs. Alito in response to a neighbor’s use of objectionable and personally insulting language on yard signs,” he said in a statement to The Times. Mrs. Alito, 70, who has never sought a public role , has not spoken out about the controversy.

The justice later elaborated in an interview with Fox News, saying that in January 2021 a neighbor on the block displayed a vulgar anti-Trump sign, near where children wait for the school bus. Mrs. Alito complained to the neighbor. “Things escalated and the neighbor put up a sign personally addressing Mrs. Alito and blaming her for the Jan 6th attacks,” tweeted the Fox News reporter who interviewed the justice.

While the Alitos were on a neighborhood walk, “there were words between Mrs. Alito and a male at the home with the sign,” the network reported. The justice said the man used “vulgar language, ‘including the C-word,’” After that exchange, “Mrs. Alito was distraught and hung the flag upside-down,” the Fox reporter relayed.

But in the Baden family’s version, the justice’s wife initiated the conflict. “Aside from putting up a sign, we did not begin or instigate any of these confrontations,” Ms. Baden said later.

During the gloomy Covid summer of 2020, Ms. Baden, then a 35-year-old actor and restaurant server in New York, moved back to her mother’s home in Alexandria, Va., eventually staying for a year. Her then-boyfriend, who also grew up in the area, returned as well. The couple adopted a pandemic puppy, took walks around the neighborhood — there was little else to do — and provided company for Emily’s retired mother. (Ms. Baden’s husband would speak only on the condition of anonymity, because his employer requires staff members to keep their political views private.)

The couple participated in Black Lives Matter protests in Washington, propped up Biden-Harris signs, and on the Saturday in November when the election was called, whooped and danced in the streets of the nation’s capital. When they got home, they displayed a political sign they had made from torn-up Amazon boxes, saying “BYE DON” on one side and “Fuck Trump” on the other.

Ms. Baden’s mother, Barbara Baden, a 75-year-old former executive at the Public Broadcasting Service and longtime resident, said she hesitated over the sign at her home, because she feared it looked “tacky.” But she left it up because she did not want to interfere with what she saw as the couple’s expression of political concern. “They made the signs with good intent,” she said.

Shortly after Christmas, as Emily Baden was with her dog in her front yard, an older woman approached and thanked her for taking down the sign, which had merely blown down. Ms. Baden realized that the woman was Martha-Ann Alito. The sign was offensive, Mrs. Alito said, according to both the justice’s account and a text message from Ms. Baden to her boyfriend.

Ms. Baden told her the sign would stay up, she recalled in the interview. The family was taken aback: Though the Badens and the Alitos lived just a short distance apart, Barbara Baden couldn’t recall ever communicating with the justice’s wife beyond a neighborly wave. In the interview, Emily Baden could not remember whether she put the signs up again.

Then came Jan. 6. Rocked by the violence and threat to democracy, the couple soon put up new signs in their yard, saying “Trump Is a Fascist” and “You Are Complicit.” Emily Baden said in interviews that the second sign was not directed at the Alitos, but at Republicans generally, especially those who weren’t condemning the Capitol attack.

Soon afterward, her mother took them down, out of safety concerns. “Look what these people can do,” she said in an interview, recalling her fears at the time about the mob that had stormed the Capitol. “I do not want to mark my house.”

It’s not clear whether Mrs. Alito saw those signs, but the day after the Capitol riot, as the couple parked in front of their home, she pulled up in her car, they said. She lingered there, glaring, for a long moment, recalled the couple, who texted their friends about the encounter.

On Jan. 17, the upside-down flag hung at the Alito household, according to a photograph obtained by The Times. Neighbors say it was up for a few days. If the flag was intended as a message for the Badens, whose home does not have a direct view of the Alito residence, they missed it, they said.

The inauguration of President Biden, held three days later, was attended by six Supreme Court justices. Justice Alito and two others skipped it out of concerns about Covid, a court spokeswoman said at the time. That day, Ms. Baden and her then-boyfriend decided to drive past the Alito home. “There was a part of me that’s like, let’s see what’s going on,” Ms. Baden said.

Mrs. Alito happened to be standing outside. According to interviews with Ms. Baden and her husband, as well as messages they sent to friends at the time, Mrs. Alito ran toward their car and yelled something they did not understand. The couple continued driving, they said, and as they passed the Alito home again to exit the cul-de-sac, Mrs. Alito appeared to spit toward the vehicle.

The couple, still shaken by the Capitol riot, said the encounter left them feeling uneasy and outmatched by the wife of someone so powerful.

The same day, a Washington Post reporter who had heard about the inverted flag arrived to ask about it. Mrs. Alito looked upset, yelled that the flag was a “signal of distress,” then shouted about a dispute with neighbors, according to an article published on Saturday.

The conflict then seemed to quiet down. But on Feb. 15, the couple were pulling in trash bins when the Alitos, who seemed to be on a stroll, appeared. Mrs. Alito addressed the pair by name, used an expletive and called them “fascists,” the couple told The Times and said in texts at the time. Justice Alito remained silent, they added. The Alitos began to walk away.

That was when Emily Baden snapped, she said. She does not remember her precise words, but recalls something like this: How dare you behave this way. You’ve been harassing us, over signs. You represent the highest court in the land. Shame on you.

Ms. Baden said that she — not her partner, as Justice Alito recalled — used the lewd expression. “I will fully cop to that,” she said. A neighbor standing in the street, who asked not to be identified because of the friction on the block, said he heard her say the word too.

To document the incident, the Badens called the police shortly afterward — they did not mention the vulgar expression — and recorded the conversation.

“It’s very hard for us to come into a situation like this after it’s already settled,” the officer on the line said, explaining that the matter didn’t warrant an immediate response. “Next time that happens, you’re welcome to call us back out there, we’ll see if we can get there to see what’s going on ourselves.”

More than a year later, when Justice Alito wrote the majority opinion overturning the constitutional right to abortion, the block became the scene of clamorous protests targeting him and his wife. The younger couple had moved away, but during a visit home they joined in. (That is when they held up the signs Justice Alito may have been referring to, accusing him of being a fascist and an insurrectionist.)

So Barbara Baden was surprised when she received a Christmas card from the Alitos at the end of last year. She did not save it, but she and her daughter remember a handwritten addition that read, “May you have PEACE.”

Julie Tate contributed reporting.

Jodi Kantor is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter and co-author of “She Said,” which recounts how she and Megan Twohey broke the story of sexual abuse allegations against Harvey Weinstein, helping to ignite the #MeToo movement.    Instagram • More about Jodi Kantor

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• v.53(4); 2010 Aug

Research questions, hypotheses and objectives

Patricia farrugia.

* Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine, the

Bradley A. Petrisor

† Division of Orthopaedic Surgery and the

Forough Farrokhyar

‡ Departments of Surgery and

§ Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ont

Mohit Bhandari

There is an increasing familiarity with the principles of evidence-based medicine in the surgical community. As surgeons become more aware of the hierarchy of evidence, grades of recommendations and the principles of critical appraisal, they develop an increasing familiarity with research design. Surgeons and clinicians are looking more and more to the literature and clinical trials to guide their practice; as such, it is becoming a responsibility of the clinical research community to attempt to answer questions that are not only well thought out but also clinically relevant. The development of the research question, including a supportive hypothesis and objectives, is a necessary key step in producing clinically relevant results to be used in evidence-based practice. A well-defined and specific research question is more likely to help guide us in making decisions about study design and population and subsequently what data will be collected and analyzed. 1

Objectives of this article

In this article, we discuss important considerations in the development of a research question and hypothesis and in defining objectives for research. By the end of this article, the reader will be able to appreciate the significance of constructing a good research question and developing hypotheses and research objectives for the successful design of a research study. The following article is divided into 3 sections: research question, research hypothesis and research objectives.

Research question

Interest in a particular topic usually begins the research process, but it is the familiarity with the subject that helps define an appropriate research question for a study. 1 Questions then arise out of a perceived knowledge deficit within a subject area or field of study. 2 Indeed, Haynes suggests that it is important to know “where the boundary between current knowledge and ignorance lies.” 1 The challenge in developing an appropriate research question is in determining which clinical uncertainties could or should be studied and also rationalizing the need for their investigation.

Increasing one’s knowledge about the subject of interest can be accomplished in many ways. Appropriate methods include systematically searching the literature, in-depth interviews and focus groups with patients (and proxies) and interviews with experts in the field. In addition, awareness of current trends and technological advances can assist with the development of research questions. 2 It is imperative to understand what has been studied about a topic to date in order to further the knowledge that has been previously gathered on a topic. Indeed, some granting institutions (e.g., Canadian Institute for Health Research) encourage applicants to conduct a systematic review of the available evidence if a recent review does not already exist and preferably a pilot or feasibility study before applying for a grant for a full trial.

In-depth knowledge about a subject may generate a number of questions. It then becomes necessary to ask whether these questions can be answered through one study or if more than one study needed. 1 Additional research questions can be developed, but several basic principles should be taken into consideration. 1 All questions, primary and secondary, should be developed at the beginning and planning stages of a study. Any additional questions should never compromise the primary question because it is the primary research question that forms the basis of the hypothesis and study objectives. It must be kept in mind that within the scope of one study, the presence of a number of research questions will affect and potentially increase the complexity of both the study design and subsequent statistical analyses, not to mention the actual feasibility of answering every question. 1 A sensible strategy is to establish a single primary research question around which to focus the study plan. 3 In a study, the primary research question should be clearly stated at the end of the introduction of the grant proposal, and it usually specifies the population to be studied, the intervention to be implemented and other circumstantial factors. 4

Hulley and colleagues 2 have suggested the use of the FINER criteria in the development of a good research question ( Box 1 ). The FINER criteria highlight useful points that may increase the chances of developing a successful research project. A good research question should specify the population of interest, be of interest to the scientific community and potentially to the public, have clinical relevance and further current knowledge in the field (and of course be compliant with the standards of ethical boards and national research standards).

FINER criteria for a good research question

Adapted with permission from Wolters Kluwer Health. 2

Whereas the FINER criteria outline the important aspects of the question in general, a useful format to use in the development of a specific research question is the PICO format — consider the population (P) of interest, the intervention (I) being studied, the comparison (C) group (or to what is the intervention being compared) and the outcome of interest (O). 3 , 5 , 6 Often timing (T) is added to PICO ( Box 2 ) — that is, “Over what time frame will the study take place?” 1 The PICOT approach helps generate a question that aids in constructing the framework of the study and subsequently in protocol development by alluding to the inclusion and exclusion criteria and identifying the groups of patients to be included. Knowing the specific population of interest, intervention (and comparator) and outcome of interest may also help the researcher identify an appropriate outcome measurement tool. 7 The more defined the population of interest, and thus the more stringent the inclusion and exclusion criteria, the greater the effect on the interpretation and subsequent applicability and generalizability of the research findings. 1 , 2 A restricted study population (and exclusion criteria) may limit bias and increase the internal validity of the study; however, this approach will limit external validity of the study and, thus, the generalizability of the findings to the practical clinical setting. Conversely, a broadly defined study population and inclusion criteria may be representative of practical clinical practice but may increase bias and reduce the internal validity of the study.

PICOT criteria 1

A poorly devised research question may affect the choice of study design, potentially lead to futile situations and, thus, hamper the chance of determining anything of clinical significance, which will then affect the potential for publication. Without devoting appropriate resources to developing the research question, the quality of the study and subsequent results may be compromised. During the initial stages of any research study, it is therefore imperative to formulate a research question that is both clinically relevant and answerable.

Research hypothesis

The primary research question should be driven by the hypothesis rather than the data. 1 , 2 That is, the research question and hypothesis should be developed before the start of the study. This sounds intuitive; however, if we take, for example, a database of information, it is potentially possible to perform multiple statistical comparisons of groups within the database to find a statistically significant association. This could then lead one to work backward from the data and develop the “question.” This is counterintuitive to the process because the question is asked specifically to then find the answer, thus collecting data along the way (i.e., in a prospective manner). Multiple statistical testing of associations from data previously collected could potentially lead to spuriously positive findings of association through chance alone. 2 Therefore, a good hypothesis must be based on a good research question at the start of a trial and, indeed, drive data collection for the study.

The research or clinical hypothesis is developed from the research question and then the main elements of the study — sampling strategy, intervention (if applicable), comparison and outcome variables — are summarized in a form that establishes the basis for testing, statistical and ultimately clinical significance. 3 For example, in a research study comparing computer-assisted acetabular component insertion versus freehand acetabular component placement in patients in need of total hip arthroplasty, the experimental group would be computer-assisted insertion and the control/conventional group would be free-hand placement. The investigative team would first state a research hypothesis. This could be expressed as a single outcome (e.g., computer-assisted acetabular component placement leads to improved functional outcome) or potentially as a complex/composite outcome; that is, more than one outcome (e.g., computer-assisted acetabular component placement leads to both improved radiographic cup placement and improved functional outcome).

However, when formally testing statistical significance, the hypothesis should be stated as a “null” hypothesis. 2 The purpose of hypothesis testing is to make an inference about the population of interest on the basis of a random sample taken from that population. The null hypothesis for the preceding research hypothesis then would be that there is no difference in mean functional outcome between the computer-assisted insertion and free-hand placement techniques. After forming the null hypothesis, the researchers would form an alternate hypothesis stating the nature of the difference, if it should appear. The alternate hypothesis would be that there is a difference in mean functional outcome between these techniques. At the end of the study, the null hypothesis is then tested statistically. If the findings of the study are not statistically significant (i.e., there is no difference in functional outcome between the groups in a statistical sense), we cannot reject the null hypothesis, whereas if the findings were significant, we can reject the null hypothesis and accept the alternate hypothesis (i.e., there is a difference in mean functional outcome between the study groups), errors in testing notwithstanding. In other words, hypothesis testing confirms or refutes the statement that the observed findings did not occur by chance alone but rather occurred because there was a true difference in outcomes between these surgical procedures. The concept of statistical hypothesis testing is complex, and the details are beyond the scope of this article.

Another important concept inherent in hypothesis testing is whether the hypotheses will be 1-sided or 2-sided. A 2-sided hypothesis states that there is a difference between the experimental group and the control group, but it does not specify in advance the expected direction of the difference. For example, we asked whether there is there an improvement in outcomes with computer-assisted surgery or whether the outcomes worse with computer-assisted surgery. We presented a 2-sided test in the above example because we did not specify the direction of the difference. A 1-sided hypothesis states a specific direction (e.g., there is an improvement in outcomes with computer-assisted surgery). A 2-sided hypothesis should be used unless there is a good justification for using a 1-sided hypothesis. As Bland and Atlman 8 stated, “One-sided hypothesis testing should never be used as a device to make a conventionally nonsignificant difference significant.”

The research hypothesis should be stated at the beginning of the study to guide the objectives for research. Whereas the investigators may state the hypothesis as being 1-sided (there is an improvement with treatment), the study and investigators must adhere to the concept of clinical equipoise. According to this principle, a clinical (or surgical) trial is ethical only if the expert community is uncertain about the relative therapeutic merits of the experimental and control groups being evaluated. 9 It means there must exist an honest and professional disagreement among expert clinicians about the preferred treatment. 9

Designing a research hypothesis is supported by a good research question and will influence the type of research design for the study. Acting on the principles of appropriate hypothesis development, the study can then confidently proceed to the development of the research objective.

Research objective

The primary objective should be coupled with the hypothesis of the study. Study objectives define the specific aims of the study and should be clearly stated in the introduction of the research protocol. 7 From our previous example and using the investigative hypothesis that there is a difference in functional outcomes between computer-assisted acetabular component placement and free-hand placement, the primary objective can be stated as follows: this study will compare the functional outcomes of computer-assisted acetabular component insertion versus free-hand placement in patients undergoing total hip arthroplasty. Note that the study objective is an active statement about how the study is going to answer the specific research question. Objectives can (and often do) state exactly which outcome measures are going to be used within their statements. They are important because they not only help guide the development of the protocol and design of study but also play a role in sample size calculations and determining the power of the study. 7 These concepts will be discussed in other articles in this series.

From the surgeon’s point of view, it is important for the study objectives to be focused on outcomes that are important to patients and clinically relevant. For example, the most methodologically sound randomized controlled trial comparing 2 techniques of distal radial fixation would have little or no clinical impact if the primary objective was to determine the effect of treatment A as compared to treatment B on intraoperative fluoroscopy time. However, if the objective was to determine the effect of treatment A as compared to treatment B on patient functional outcome at 1 year, this would have a much more significant impact on clinical decision-making. Second, more meaningful surgeon–patient discussions could ensue, incorporating patient values and preferences with the results from this study. 6 , 7 It is the precise objective and what the investigator is trying to measure that is of clinical relevance in the practical setting.

The following is an example from the literature about the relation between the research question, hypothesis and study objectives:

Study: Warden SJ, Metcalf BR, Kiss ZS, et al. Low-intensity pulsed ultrasound for chronic patellar tendinopathy: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Rheumatology 2008;47:467–71.

Research question: How does low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS) compare with a placebo device in managing the symptoms of skeletally mature patients with patellar tendinopathy?

Research hypothesis: Pain levels are reduced in patients who receive daily active-LIPUS (treatment) for 12 weeks compared with individuals who receive inactive-LIPUS (placebo).

Objective: To investigate the clinical efficacy of LIPUS in the management of patellar tendinopathy symptoms.

The development of the research question is the most important aspect of a research project. A research project can fail if the objectives and hypothesis are poorly focused and underdeveloped. Useful tips for surgical researchers are provided in Box 3 . Designing and developing an appropriate and relevant research question, hypothesis and objectives can be a difficult task. The critical appraisal of the research question used in a study is vital to the application of the findings to clinical practice. Focusing resources, time and dedication to these 3 very important tasks will help to guide a successful research project, influence interpretation of the results and affect future publication efforts.

Tips for developing research questions, hypotheses and objectives for research studies

• Perform a systematic literature review (if one has not been done) to increase knowledge and familiarity with the topic and to assist with research development.
• Learn about current trends and technological advances on the topic.
• Seek careful input from experts, mentors, colleagues and collaborators to refine your research question as this will aid in developing the research question and guide the research study.
• Use the FINER criteria in the development of the research question.
• Ensure that the research question follows PICOT format.
• Develop a research hypothesis from the research question.
• Develop clear and well-defined primary and secondary (if needed) objectives.
• Ensure that the research question and objectives are answerable, feasible and clinically relevant.

FINER = feasible, interesting, novel, ethical, relevant; PICOT = population (patients), intervention (for intervention studies only), comparison group, outcome of interest, time.

Competing interests: No funding was received in preparation of this paper. Dr. Bhandari was funded, in part, by a Canada Research Chair, McMaster University.