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Research Process 101: Research Question & Keywords

This guide will introduce the research method.

Overview

This video from the John M. Pfau Library at CSUSB will show you how to develop your research question and determine your keyword choices.  Learn to think big and small, and use synonyms to brainstorm different keywords to describe your topic. Keyword brainstorming will come in handy before starting your research. 

Create a Research Question

Create a Research Question: Come up with a tentative question you want to answer in your project.

Creating a research question will take your refined topic and turn it into a question your assignment will attempt to answer. Research questions should not be too narrow or too broad.  Questions need to be specific, have significance, be of interest to the researcher and be able to be answered. Creating a research question will help keep you focused as you begin searching for information.

Examples: 

  • Vague research question:  Is television a bad influence?
  • Refined research question:  Do violent cartoons increase aggressive behavior in children?

Types of Questions

Examples of defining/introductory questions:
  • What is _________________?
  • Why is ____________ an important issue?
  • What background information is necessary to understand ______________?
  • What are the different types of ____________?

 

Examples of analytical/body questions:
  • What are the causes of ________________?
  • What are the effects of ________________

  • What are the “pro” arguments about_______________?

  • What are the “con” arguments about ______________?

  • How can I refute arguments about ______________?

  • What is being done about ______________?

 

Examples of concluding questions:
  • What do I think should be done about  ________________?
  • Based on my research what do I think about  ________________ and why?

Develop a Search Strategy

Develop a Search Strategy: Select your resources and develop your keywords

The search terms or keywords you use to search are what determine the results you get.  Here's a good exercise to help you generate keywords:

  1. Express your topic in a topic sentence: "What is the effect of violence in movies on children?"
  2. Generate keyword search terms by identifying the main ideas or concepts within that topic sentence: "What is the effect of violence in movies on children?"; = Effect, Cinema, Violence, or Movie violence and Children
  3. Expand your search terms by brainstorming related terms or synonyms that describe your main ideas:
  • Movies; media, TV,
  • Violence; aggression,
  • Effect; influence,
  • Children; toddlers, youngsters, boys, girls

Infographic

https://noushinn.github.io/experimentation_course/developing-a-research-question.html