If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there. Lewis Carroll
Your research question very much defines where you are going, or the scope of your investigation.
First up, get out your research question.
The scope of an investigation determines how large or small your investigation will be. Determining the scope of an investigation is the critical first step in the research process because you will know how far and how deep to look for answers. This part of our session will teach you how to develop a research question as a way to determine the scope of an investigation.
Definitions: Many people use the terms research topic and research question interchangeably. But there is an important difference:
A research topic is a subject you are interested in investigating. For instance, flu shots or vaccines are topics.
A research question drives your investigation. It is something that you want to know about your topic; something you will explore and try to answer. For example, "Does a delayed distribution timeline for childhood vaccines increase the likelihood a child will contract a vaccine-preventable illness in the United States?" is a research question.
Have you ever Googled a topic and been overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information available? A Google search for the topic vaccines returns over 40 million results. Even if your task is to write a complete history of vaccines, 40 million results are too many to sift through. Refining your investigation through a research question can help you get the information you want faster and with less frustration.
[Re-write – it is the same as the previous slide]
Most investigations start out with a broad topic, like flu shots.
If you don't first determine the scope of your investigation, you risk wasting time sifting through search results.
Additionally, what you find may not fit your project. For example, there is too much information about flu shots to fit into a five-page research paper.
