A research question is a clear, focused, concise, complex and arguable question around which you center your research.
A research question:
- Asks a question,
- Is "researchable"- information is available that will help provide an answer,
- Is clear, straightforward & comprehensible,
- Identifies an important confusion or ambiguity in a problem,
- Points to an incompleteness or inaccuracy in an accepted explanation,
- Highlights some sort of inconsistency in an accepted position or view,
- Has a narrow focus area- not too broad of a topic,
- Is controversial- tension and uncertainty about the answer,
- Calls assumptions into question,
- Answer is not immediately obvious,
- Could be more than one answer or solution,
- Realigns accepted notions - forces different view of issue.
