Developing a Research Question

This coming week, I am looking forward to listening to guest speakers Elizabeth Childs and Deborah Zornes talk to our cohort about pursuing the research option for the MALAT program. It started me thinking more about what areas of interest I have and if there is potentially a research question that I want to pursue. One of the concerns that I have is how to create that "perfect" question.

According to the Sheffield Hallam University's Guide to Undergraduate Dissertations (Hemmings & Hollows, n.d.), good research questions share the following attributes:

• Relevant
• Manageable
• Substantial and original
• Fit for assessment
• Clear and simple
• Interesting (Hemmings & Hollows, n.d.)

(Note: This website has excellent downloadable templates to use as resources to assist you in the process of developing your research question.)

These are all good attributes to use as standards for my research question to achieve... but how do I actually come up with the question in the first place?  Hung and Popp (2009), in their web-article Learning to do Historical Research: A Primer How to Frame a Researchable Question, provide an excellent guide on how to do just this. A key point that they make is that developing a good research question is an "iterative process" (Hung & Popp, 2009). You start with an idea that interests you and you keep drilling deeper and deeper into the idea until your reach a specific question that focuses your research and has sufficient scope for the time allowance for your research.

 (Hung & Popp, 2009)

Using the example from my team's 2nd assignment on situating research, I would start with my item of interest being accessibility. The question raised could be whether or not technology aids accessibility of education. My next steps might be to discuss this issue with my CSD department, other faculty or students. The results of these talks might highlight an issue specifically around the idea of visual impairment.  Based on this result, my new item of interest visually challenged learners and my new question raised is how technology supports or hinders accessibility for students with a visual impairment... and the cycle continues.

What I really appreciate about Hung and Popp's web article is the section with helpful hints on how to begin finding your research topic. For someone like myself, who is just starting out in research, this is a very helpful push in the right direction.

References:

Hemmings, S & Hollows, A. (n.d.).  Guide to undergraduate dissertations in the social sciences.  Sheffield Hallam University. Retrieved from http://www.socscidiss.bham.ac.uk/research-question.html

Hung, P & Popp, A. (2009). Learning to do historical research: a primer how to frame a researchable question. Retrieved from http://www.williamcronon.net/researching/questions.htm

Hypothesis Driven Research [Image]. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.riskscience.umich.edu/hypothesis-driven-research/