Lamson Library: Research Starter: Developing a Research Question

Developing a Research Question

If researching is asking questions and getting answers, then in order to research, you need to ask at least one question. This question can be about any topic that interests you, or any topic your professor has assigned. The best way to start working toward a question is to find out everything you do know about a topic already. Often, making your knowledge explicit will also let you know where gaps exist in that knowledge. I personally like to use a mind map for this process, but there are plenty of other methods for organizing information. You will want to explore and find the method that works best for you.

Mind Mapping

This example mind map explores the topic of cat training. I've been wondering about the best way to train my kitten, Antigone. The topic, cat training, is at the center of the mind map. I broke it down into what I know about cat training. I know treats are important, and I know Tiggy's favorite treats. I know two methods of training that work for cats, and that those methods can be and often are used together. Seeing all the information laid out, here are some questions that come to mind:

How do you train a cat who isn't food motivated?
What is the best treat to use when training a cat?
Are there cat training methods I'm not aware of?
What are the benefits of training a cat?
Do cats enjoy learning tricks?

Which question or questions you choose to pursue will depend on your purpose for researching the topic. I started with the topic of cat training, and really with the question "What is the best way to train a kitten?". However, I'd already done some research on that question, which gave me the information I put in the example mind map. In addition to searching online, I consulted my sister-in-law, who has a degree in animal husbandry. She's a great primary source for this kind of question! But research is iterative, so after answering this question I ended up with a lot of information that leads to new questions, like the ones listed above. You may use all of the questions you come up with, or you may use just one. That decision depends on the time scale and scope of the project you are completing.

While I am interested in training Tiggy for my own reasons, I only want to do it if she will enjoy it, or if it will be good for her in some way. With the priority of my pet's emotional and psychcological welfare in mind, I am currently most interested in the questions "What are the benefits of training a cat?" and "Do cats enjoy learning tricks?"

Breaking Down a Research Question

When you have at least one question, you also have what librarians call a plain language search. This means a search that is phrased exactly how you would ask a question in casual conversation. Generally, databases will not understand a question that is stated in this way. In order for a database to understand the question, you need to break it down into keywords.

Even though a search engine such as Google will understand a plain language search, it is still often advisable to use keywords for more than very basic research. When you put a plain language search into a search engine, you are getting the search engine's interpretation of your question. When you break a question down into keywords, you create the interpretation of your question. It gives you a higher degree of control over the information you receive.

We will use the question, "What are the benefits of training a cat?" as an example. To turn a question into key words, you need to break it into it's main concepts. In the case of this question, the main concepts are "benefits", "training", and "cat". It is possible that using those three words will get you all of the information you need. However, it can be (and often is) useful to think of different ways to state, explain, and explore those concepts. This is another step in the process where I find it useful to create a mind map.

Let's take a look at the keywords in this mind map. The "training" section becomes the largest, because it's what I already know the most about. "Training" is the broadest version of the word, but all of the other more specific words will narrow the search to one type of training. It's useful to know these words, and ultimately I might want to narrow my focus to a specific type of training, but at he start of the process I think keeping it broad and using training is the best way to go.

The cat section has as many variations of the word cat as I could think of. Most of the words I came up with, such as "domestic feline", are just more scientific ways of saying the word cat. Using more professional language can be useful when trying to search papers written by professionals. Feline would probably be too general of a word to use. It could also refer to an animal like a tiger. "Domestic feline" narrows the field down to house cats. However, in this case I decided I wanted to see what would come up for plain old cat first.

Finally, we have benefits. I listed a few of the things I think might be benefits to cats from training. Those words could be useful to try if a) I want to learn more about a specific benefit or b) I'm not getting results for benefits more generally. However, benefits still comes with some problems. It is a loaded word that is biasing my results. If I use benefit as a keyword, I will only get articles that speak about the benefits of training cats. If there are counter arguments about drawbacks, those may not come up in my search. The more professional language I came up with, "positive outcomes", has the same problem. What I'm really looking for, though, is to connect to the impact on the wellbeing of my kitten. Welfare will address that and allow for both positive and negative responses to training.