Research

How to construct a research question

The FINER framework (Hulley et al., 2013, pp.17-19) outlines some of the characteristics of a good research question. Review the FAQs below for more information. 

• Feasible:  Can you realistically conduct this research with the resources you have, such as time, money, participants, or skills?
• Interesting:Is the question relevant or significant to your academic community or society as a whole? Discuss it with mentors, funding organizations, and colleagues to assess whether the investigation is worthwhile.
• Novel:  Does the study contribute something new to the existing literature? Research doesn't have to be entirely original; it can build on prior work by exploring a new perspective or replicating previous findings.
• Ethical: Consult with your ethics committee early in the process if your study might raise any ethical concerns, such as putting participants at risk.
• Relevant: What will be the impact or ultimate outcome of your research? In what ways will it advance the field, influence guidelines or policies, or inspire further studies?

Hulley, S. B., Cummings, S. R., Browner, W. S., Grady, D. G., & Newman, T. B. (2013). Designing clinical research. Wolters Kluwer.

How to identify the searchable concepts in your research question

Once you have put your research question together, it is recommended that you perform a scoping search (see FAQ below) to get a sense of what already exists on your topic. To do this, it's important to identify the searchable concepts in your question. These are the parts of the question that will be translated into the actual search.

If our research question is:  

Does access to professional development opportunities improve morale in high school teachers?

The main concepts in this search are professional development, morale, and high school teachers, and you could start by searching just these terms in a general source like the Library's FiNDit.  Keeping the initial searches broad will help provide a sense of the breadth and depth of existing literature, or the absence of coverage. The terms "access", "opportunities" and "improve" are important parts of the question, but at this stage, they are not the searchable parts of the question. 

As you review the search results, you might notice synonyms that match your concepts. Note these terms down, as they will become useful as you perform more advanced searches. This table shows the initial concepts that were searched, and some synonyms that appeared in the results. 

How to structure your research question

Using a research question framework can help clarify and classify the concepts in your research question. There are many frameworks available, and which one you choose depends on the nature of your research. Frameworks are useful, but optional, as not all research aligns with the components. 

Popular frameworks include:

• PICO(T): Population/Patient, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome and sometimes also Timeframe
• PEO: Population, Experience, Outcome 
• SPICE: Setting, Perspective; Intervention/Interest, [Comparison], Evaluation
• SPIDER: Sample, Phenomenon of Interest, Design, Evaluation, Research type

See our Evidence Based Practice guide for more research question structures and examples of how they can be used.