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9 - Identifying a Research Question

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 September 2019

Joanna M. Setchell
Joanna M. Setchell
Affiliation:
Durham University
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Summary

A clearly formulated research question is vital in science because it determines the data we need to collect, the methods we use, and, ultimately, the success of a project. Developing a research question is an iterative process of reading and thinking, as we define a problem and specify the contribution we hope to make to resolving it. This is not easy, and we learn through experience, and (if we’re lucky) from our mentors. In this chapter I first explain research questions and the case studies we use to address them, then look at where questions come from. I examine what makes a good research question and end with why reading is essential to the development of research ideas

Keywords

research questionscase studiesmodel systems
Type
Chapter
Information
Studying Primates
How to Design, Conduct and Report Primatological Research
 , pp. 127 - 136
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

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References

9.8 Further Reading

Arnold, C, Nunn, CL. 2010. Phylogenetic targeting of research effort in evolutionary biology. The American Naturalist 176: 601–612. https://doi.org/10.1086/656490. Explains how to select target species for comparative study.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hailman, JP, Strier, KB. 2006. Planning, Proposing, and Presenting Science Effectively. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Chapter 1 covers finding a problem.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Karban, R, Huntzonger, M, Pearse, IS. 2014. How to Do Ecology: A Concise Handbook. 2nd edn. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University. Chapter 3 covers picking and developing a research question.Google Scholar
Stamp, Dawkins M. 2007. Observing Animal Behaviour: Design and Analysis of Quantitative Data. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Chapter 2 covers asking the right question, with a specific focus on observational studies of animal behaviour.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

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