3

Formulating Research
Questions

Research questions can derive from the aims of a thesis.

Here is a clear example of such derivation, from an
investigation of children's writing in a Hong Kong pri-
mary school:
The specific aims of this thesis are:
First, to develop a broad theoretical framework within
which HK children's writing can be analysed and
described;
Second, to develop a method of analysis to analyse HK
children's (and perhaps other children's) writing
systematically;
Third, to use this method to explore and to describe what
HK children do in their writing with particular reference
to certain syntactic and textual aspects;
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Finally, to discuss the contribution and possible impli-

cations the study ma) have for the teaching of writing in
English in HK.
How do these aims - which are well framed and lucid -
translate into research questions? The temptation is to
simply translate the wording into questions: 'What is a
theoretical framework within which HK children's writing
[in English] can be analysed and described?'. Indeed,
that makes a very good research question, as would each
of the aims translated simply into questions. The first
lesson to be learnt from such translation is that the aims of
a thesis can be mirrored by the research questions.
23

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 Research Questions

However, such translations do not always work as neatly

as they might have done in the example discussed above.
A factor to bear in mind with such translation is whether
the research questions which derive from the aims are
manageable and workable research questions. By 'man-
ageable', I mean do they suggest a research methodology
and is it likely that they can be answered in the course of
the research project? By 'workable' is meant, are they of
sufficient scale to be appropriate for the project in hand?
Further questions that have to be asked are how do the
questions relate to each other? Are there main and
subsidiary questions in the set of questions?
Interestingly, the candidate who framed the aims
described above did not undertake a straight translation
from aims to research questions. Instead, these were what
emerged:
Put in another way, the thesis seeks to provide answer to
the following research questions:
1. What do HK children do in their writing with regard to
syntactic and textual aspects?
2. What would a method of analysis look like that enabled
the syntactic and textual aspects of children's writing to
be analysed systematically? What are its descriptive
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categories?
3. To a lesser extent: is there any discernible change over
the age range in HK children's writing?
4. To a lesser extent: is there any discernible difference
across genres in HK children's writing?

The first point to make about these research questions is

that they are not the aims 'put in another way'. There is
no reference to the aim 'to develop a broad theoretical
framework within which HK children's writing can be
analysed and described'. The first question - 'What do
HK children do in their writing . . .?' invites a descriptive
approach, which could be undertaken without recourse
to theoretical reference. The second point is that the
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 Formulating Research Questions

subsidiary questions, indicated by the phrase 'to a lesser

extent', import new issues for consideration: one on the
question as to whether there is change in the age range in
HK children's writing, and one on differences across
genres in the writing.
It cannot be said, therefore, that the aims are reflected
clearly in the research questions, and vice versa. This may
not be a problem in the course of the thesis, if either the
aims or the research questions are used to inform the
research; it will simply be the case that one or the other
set will become redundant. But it could be the case that
the research falls between two stools because neither the
aims nor the research questions provide a clear starting
point and foundation for the research. In fact, what
happened in the thesis is that the subsidiary questions
were not fully addressed and it might have been better to
leave them out altogether. Furthermore, the first aim was
not fully addressed, other than in an adequate literature
review (but a 'broad theoretical framework' - why use
broad?- was not developed).
The main aim would have been better cast as:
To explore and to describe what HK children do in their
writing with particular reference to certain syntactic and
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textual aspects.
The research questions would follow from this over-
arching aim:
Main question:
What do HK children do in their writing in English with
regard to syntactic and textual aspects?
Subsidiary questions:
What would a theoretical framework look like within
which HK children's writing in English might be analysed
and described?
What would a method of analysis look like that enabled
the syntactic and textual aspects of HK children's writing
in English to be analysed systematically?
25

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 Research Questions

It can be seen from the above example that the sub-

sidiary questions derive from the main question, and that
the answers to them contribute to the answer to the main
question. The relationship between the main and sub-
sidiary question is clear.
Another example shows how a research question, with
subsidiary questions, is formulated against the back-
ground of a problem that is identified as worth research-
ing. In a doctoral thesis on multimedia approaches to
teaching literature, the 'problem' was well set out. It
consisted of the candidate's perception of the lack of
guidance for multimedia teaching of literature, and his
own sense of the need for further research in the field.
The problem was multi-faceted, and was presented in the
form of statements rather than questions. The main
research question emerges from the context thus:
The main area of research in the present thesis is whether
multimedia technology can successfully explain the liter-
ary symbols that a human teacher, even with the help of
other media, fails to explain and whether multimedia
technology can help distance learners on their own.
This 'question' is not, in fact, a question - it is more of a
statement. It contains two implied questions:
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Can multimedia technology successfully explain the liter-

ary symbols that a human teacher . . . fails to explain?
Can multimedia technology help distance learners on
their own?
These two questions overlap somewhat, though each
would require a different methodology to answer them
(the first suggests an experimental design in order to
compare 'success'; the second requires an exploration of
distance learners' practices and views). Because they are
'can' questions, the answer is probably 'yes' (with quali-
fications). It might have been better to couch these
questions in slightly different terms:
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 Formulating Research Questions

To what extent does multimedia technology successfully

explain . . .?
To what extent does multimedia technology help distance
learners . . .?
Here, the assumption is that the technology does help in
some way and the aim of the research is to find out what
the nature of that help is.
The candidate's questions were followed by a sensitive
discussion of the role of subsidiary questions in the
research:
Most substantial research has a main research question
and a number of subsidiary questions to answer which
crop up passim [in passing; in the course of the research]
. . . Corollary issues that arise are: do teachers have non-
textual resources available to explain the non-native sym-
bols and do they use them? Do Indian students have the
necessary training in 'reading' to elicit information from
these media?
It is true that these are 'corollary issues that arise', but
the danger is that such issues might simply be raised and
then not explored by the research. If the raising of issues
is an important and central part of the research, they are
probably best discussed in the conclusion under 'Implica-
tions for practice/theory/policy/further research',
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rather than as pseudo research questions.

In yet another example of a research question emerg-
ing from a 'problem', the main research question is
clearly stated - but with a secondary question attached:
This thesis attempts to approach the problem of the
learning and teaching of argument via narrative, asking
the principal research question, 'What are the connec-
tions between the structures and composing processes
associated with narrative and argumentative writing in the
work of Year 8 students?' and secondly, 'Might narrative
act as a bridge to argumentative writing?'. Various sub-
sidiary questions emerge during the course of the
research which will be discussed passim.
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 Research Questions

The main, or principal, research question is clearly and

precisely stated, as well as being eminently researchable. .

But the secondary question is more of a metaphorical

wish than a question, and might have been better cast as
one of the aims of the research. It is interesting to note in
this example that the subsidiary questions are not even
set out at the start of the thesis: they are so subsidiary as
to be a distraction at this point.
In the following example, from a Masters dissertation
completed as part of a taught Masters course (i.e. a
dissertation of 15-20000 words), the research questions
emerge clearly at the beginning of the dissertation:
This dissertation will examine how the experience of
returning to study affects mature women students. It
poses, and attempts to give a reply to, three questions. The
first is, why mature women feel the need to enter edu-
cation again in the first place; the second is, how it affects
their lives when they have done so and the third question
asks how best they can be helped through the process.
The study does not operate with main and subsidiary
questions: each question is as important as the other. The
strength of this particular formulation is that the ques-
tions are clearly related to each other. Perhaps their
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strength derives in some part from the fact that the

implicit main question for the dissertation is 'How does
the experience of returning to study affect mature
women students?'. Such a 'how' question invites the
researcher to lay out the stages in answering the main
question: why, how and how best? Of these three, the
middle question is the central and main one. The first is
contributory and the third looks at the implication for
practice of the answer to the main question.
My final example in this section is taken from a doc-
toral study, the aim of which is 'to investigate the impact
of the textual environment on two children, their concep-
tions of reading and what counts as texts in their daily
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 Formulating Research Questions

experiences'. This is a particularly interesting example of

how to formulate a research question, in that the ques-
tion derives from a long and careful process of considera-
tion of a field. The field - post-typographic (i.e.
on-screen) reading behaviour - is a relatively recent one
for researchers, and therefore is one in which the
researcher has to map out the field and discuss how best
to research it. There is little previous practice she can
draw on. She begins with a rationale, then sets out 'four
operational propositions' as the theoretical basis. These
four claims act as the framework within which the actual
research study can be formulated. Questions are asked
along the way, e.g. 'concerning how the perspectives of
preschool children, or children in their first years of
school who proficiently use the Internet might differ
from perspectives on text and reading of children who
engage principally with print-based materials'. Such ques-
tions are used to create rhetorical and research space for
the study, rather than as actual questions to be answered
in the study.
The opening chapter moves gradually toward the
asking of the main research question for thesis:
How do the reading processes of two young readers differ
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across conventionally produced texts and multimedia,

interactive digital texts?
The researcher goes on to state what the theoretical
underpinning of the approach is, thus providing for the
reader a clear account of the background against which
the questions will be answered:
Responding to the question requires a focus on two
interrelated theoretical fields, reported in Chapters 2 and
3 respectively:
* the typological and structural differences between print
and interactive multimedia digital texts, and
* the reading theories which have application to linear
print only, and emergent theory which accommodates
29

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 Research Questions

nonlinear integrated compositions of media and inter-

active processing behaviours.
A major point emerging from this example is that a
research question plus an attendant methodology is not
enough to complete the main structure for a research
project; the other element required is reference to the-
ory, or to a body of theoretical perspectives. Such map-
ping of the background to the study is important because
otherwise the research would proceed without point and
be open to the criticism 'Why are asking this question,
and why are you approaching it with this particular
methodology?'. To use the terminology and concepts of
the seminal thinker on argumentation, Toulmin (1958),
it is not enough to collect 'grounds' [evidence] to sup-
port your 'claims' [propositions, hypotheses, research
questions]. You need also to provide the 'warrant'
[means by which you link the evidence to the prop-
osition] and 'backing' [validation of the epistemological
- disciplinary and contextual - approach] in order to
build a strong argument in your thesis.

Other research questions

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Examples of other research questions follow. They each

serve to demonstrate different aspects of the process of
formulating such questions in the design of research
projects. These examples come from work at Masters
level.
The first derive from a study of a Canadian-European
community programme for co-operation in higher edu-
cation and training, and specifically from a collaboration
between The University of Prince Edward Island and The
University of York:
What are the different perceptions of the principal stake-
holders involved in the programme?
30

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 Formulating Research Questions

To what extent does an exchange programme have the

potential to contribute to the professional development of
citizenship education teachers?
These are two very different questions. The first one is
typical of a Masters thesis in that it focuses on perceptions
or attitudes. Such a focus enables a direct link with the
methodology: if perceptions are what the researcher
seeks, then she can ask via interview or questionnaire. All
that needs to be defined is who the principal stakeholders
are in this case. The second question is likely to be more
problematic, in that measuring potential is a very inexact
science: potential can be speculative, open-ended, even
vague in its nature. Stakeholders may have differing views
on potential and, if the potential is merely gauged on the
basis of their perceptions, it would be relatively simple to
record; but if the overall potential of a programme is to
be measured, the researcher is up against the fact that
potential is a future, idealistic phenomemon and, as such,
cannot be measured. It might have been better to ask:
To what extent does this particular exchange programme
contribute to the professional development . . .?
or
To what extent do participants in the programme perceive
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its potential to be?

in which case, the question is clearly subsidiary to the
first, main question.
Another student poses her main question thus:
What factors influence Chinese high school students to
develop their English conversational skills?
This, in itself, is a very good question at Masters level.
There is no attempt to determine which of the factors
might be the most important, nor to prioritize the factors
(though that would also be relatively manageable within a
Masters thesis). However, the student then proceeds to
add a number of further questions:
31

Andrews, Richard. Research Questions, Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2003. ProQuest Ebook Central,
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 Research Questions

What are 'conversational skills'? What do Chinese students

think are the elements of good English conversational
skills?
What is the status of English conversational skills in cur-
rent English teaching and learning in high schools in
China?
What factors influence high school students to develop
their conversational skills inside the classroom?
What factors influence high school students to develop
their conversational skills outside the classroom?
The first of these further questions is definitional and
might be left to discussion in the introduction of the
thesis, or at some appropriate point. The second one -
'What do Chinese students think are the elements of
good English conversational skills?' - is seemingly irrele-
vant to the main question, unless what the students think
are the elements of the skills is actually a factor influenc-
ing the development of the skills. The third question, on
the status of conversational skills in current teaching and
learning, is also probably irrelevant. And the last two are
clearly subsidiary, focussing as they do on factors inside
and outside the classroom respectively.
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32

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