Developing Research Questions

The Big Picture

• A research question poses a puzzle• A hypothesis is the predicted answer • A thesis statement is the actual answer to

the research question

• Each paper, and each subsection of each paper, should have a clear explanation (argument) of how your thesis statement answers your research question.

A good research question is …

• Unique• Interesting• Answerable / measurable

Making your research question unique and interesting• Generate knowledge

– Doing something no one else has done before– An entirely new question or a new time / place

• Situate it in the literature– Empirical holes: no one has ever studied X or we’re

testing X for our particular site– Theoretical paradox: Smith says XYZ, but Jones says

ABC. Which one is correct?

• Articulate the relevance of your answer– Why do we care? How will your answer contribute to

our knowledge of this topic?

Making your research question answerable and measurable• Be precise

– Specify the scope – the who, the when, and the where of your inquiry

– Make your comparisons explicit

• Be realistic– Don’t try to answer THE QUESTION!!! OF

THE CENTURY!!!– Make sure the data can answer it

A method

1. Write your question in a yes/no format

2. Answer your question exactly as written

3. Expand your sentence (or write a second one!) with the explanations, causal mechanisms, or precise points you’re going to lay out.

4. Re-state your thesis as a declarative sentence that articulates the macro-level argument you’re making.

An example

• Topic: Migration and gender

• General thing we’re looking to figure out:– Is the post-migration female

empowerment thesis true?

• Situate it in literature: – Testing the findings which argue that

women become more empowered after migrating.

Non-optimal question

• How do gender relations change in the context of international migration?

• Questions:– For whom? And compared to whom? – Do we have specific data to answer this?– Are we really going to be able to answer

this in 20 pages?

Improved question

• Are Mexican women who migrate to the US more empowered than non-migrant women from the same sending community?*

– Scope!– Comparison!– Answerable!

*notice I’m only creating a comparison to non-migrant women. Also, I’m not positing causality.

Predicting an answer (aka your hypothesis)• Answer: (Yes,) Mexican migrant women are

more empowered* relative to non-migrant women from the same sending community.

• In what ways:– More equitable division of household

responsibilities– Greater labor force participation– Decline in acceptance of patriarchal attitudes

*if you’re going to use a term like this, make sure you specify how you’re going to be measuring and/or defining it.

Thesis statement

• Mexican women who migrate to the United states

report a more equitable division of household

labor than non-migrant women; participate in the

formal workforce to a greater extent than do non-

migrant women; and report a lower acceptance of

patriarchal attitudes than do non-migrant women.

In other words, Mexican migrant women are

more empowered than non-migrant Mexican

women.

Repeat for sub-hypotheses

• It can be helpful to create a specific research question and sub-hypothesis for each section of your paper

• Make sure your sub-hypotheses are contributing to your larger argument

Examples of sub-hypotheses

• Migrant women divide their household labor more equitably with their husbands than do non-migrant women.

• Migrant women participate in the formal workforce more consistently and at higher wages than do non-migrant women.

• Migrant women are less accepting of patriarchal attitudes than are non-migrant women.

Important reminders

• Is a scope clarified? Does it specify for whom? And compared to whom? How about when or where or under what conditions?

• Are we going to be able to obtain the kind of data we need to answer this question?

• Are we really going to be able to answer this in 20 pages?

The overall shape of a paper

• Introduction / Hook: Setting up the argument or puzzle– Pose the question, posit the answer, and tell us why we

should care– Tell us what you’re going to tell us (a roadmap to the

chapter)

• Theoretical framework and lit review • Methods• Sub-thesis statement A

– Findings that show A is true

• Sub-thesis B– Findings that show B is true

• Sub-thesis C– Findings that show C is true

The overall shape of a paper

• Analysis and Discussion– Restate, in a synthesized way, how the findings

conclusively show that the thesis statement is true and answers the broader research question

– Address alternate explanations, and explain why yours is best

• Conclusion: Tell us what you told us– Restate relevance factor and importance of findings– Acknowledge limitations of data, findings– Suggest directions for future research