Research Questions, and Objectives
1. Research Questions are stated questions that seek to determine the relationship
between two or more variables or seek to compare the impact of two or more variables.
It arises from a research problem.
Is there a relationship between residence and school performance among
community school students in peri-urban areas of Copperbelt Province?
Is there a relationship between mother’s educational level and her child’s
nutritional status among mothers that attend the Maternal and Child Health
clinics in Lusaka Province?
How does civic education affect voter participation in Kabwe District?
What factors influence voter participation in the Southern Province of Zambia
1. Research Objectives: Statement of goals of a research study. e.g.
To determine the relationship between residence and school performance among
community school students in peri-urban areas of Copperbelt Province.
To establish the relationship between mother’s educational level and her child’s
nutritional status among mothers that attend the Maternal and Child Health
clinics in Lusaka Province?
To examine how civic education affects voter participation in Kabwe District
To explore the factors that influence voter participation in Southern Province of
Zambia
Research question examples
Example 1:
Date published April 18, 2019 by Shona McCombes. Date updated: November 7, 2019
The research question is one of the most important parts of your research project, thesis or
dissertation. It’s important to spend some time assessing and refining your question before you
get started.
The exact form of your question will depend on the length of your project, the type of research
the topic and the research problem. But all research questions should be focused, specific,
appropriately complex, and relevant to a social or scholarly issue.
Research question Explanation
What effect does social media have on
people’s minds? (wrong question) The first question is not specific enough: what
What effect does daily use of Twitter type of social media? Which people? What kind
have on the attention span of under-16s? of effects? The second question defines its
(Right question) concepts more clearly. It is researchable
through data collection.
Why is there a housing crisis in the Starting with “why” often means that your
Netherlands? (Wrong question) question is not focused enough: there are too
What impact have university many possible answers and no clear starting
internationalisation policies had on the point for research. By targeting just one aspect
availability and affordability of housing of the problem and using more specific terms,
in the Netherlands? (Right question) the second question offers a clear path to
finding an answer.
Example 2
Research objective examples
Research title: Effects of organizational culture on business profitability: a case study of Virgin
Atlantic
Research aim: To assess the effects of Virgin Atlantic organizational culture on business
profitability
Following research objectives would facilitate the achievement of this aim:
1. To analyze the nature of organizational culture at Virgin Atlantic by September 1, 2018
2. To identify factors impacting Virgin Atlantic organizational culture by September 16,
2018
3. To examine impacts of Virgin Atlantic organizational culture on employee performances
by September 30, 2018
4. To provide recommendations to Virgin Atlantic strategic level management in terms of
increasing the level of effectiveness of organizational culture by October 5, 2018
Here is a list of common Research Questions to stimulate your thinking.
Make use of the following selection of dissertation questions in different fields of education to
create your own narrow and focused research question:
1. Should disabled children be provided with the mainstream educational opportunities or
does this strategy only boost discrimination?
2. Should teachers whose classes perform well be rewarded proportionally to their students’
achievements?
3. Are the students who attend preschools better prepared for the challenges of primary
education in comparison with the students who aren’t covered by preschool education?
4. What are the major goals of preschool education in different cultures?
5. What is the role of play in early literacy development?
6. What innovative technologies can be used to teach literacy and math? How can they be
applied?
7. What are the most effective methods of teaching English as a second language?
8. How can the practice of problem-based learning be applied in teaching methodology?
What goals can be accomplished by this implementation?
9. What learning styles are common for primary schoolchildren and how can this
information help teachers improve the effectiveness of the study process?
10. How do home-schooled students perform and socialize in the university?
11. Should modern education be more focused on character formation, money management,
and current environmental issues rather than on the standard subjects, like chemistry and
geometry?
12. Should diverse learners be differentiated depending on their achievements or should the
students who perform poorly be mixed with high achievers?
13. How can religious education help improve tolerance to other religions and ethnicities?
14. Should school curriculum depend on the students’ progress and how can the progress be
assessed?
15. How should teachers and parents cooperate to improve the achievements of early
learners?
Links on Formulating Research Objectives
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