Research Question Examples – 100 Questions by Type, Method, and Subject

A research question is a clear, focused question that a study aims to answer. For example, “What is the relationship between weekly exercise hours and perceived stress among hospital administrative staff?” identifies the population and the variables being studied. A strong research question is relevant, researchable, and aligned with the study’s goals and methods.

The 100 research question examples below cover different research methods, academic levels, and subjects. Each example includes a brief design or scope note to help explain how the question could be investigated. Use these examples as starting points, adapting them to your research topic, available data, existing literature, institutional requirements, and ethical considerations.

Table of Contents

• What Is a Research Question?
• What Makes a Good Research Question?
• Research Question Format and Structure
• 100 Research Questions Examples by Research Method
• Qualitative Research Questions Examples
• Research Questions Examples by Subject
• Weak vs Strong Research Question Examples
• How to Turn a Research Topic Into a Research Question
• How Many Research Questions Should You Have?
• Research Question vs Research Objective vs Hypothesis
• Final Takeaway
• Frequently Asked Questions

Section	Question IDs	Count
Quantitative questions	Q01 to Q25	25
Qualitative questions	Q26 to Q45	20
Mixed-methods questions	Q46 to Q55	10
Interview-based questions	Q56 to Q60	5
Questions for students, by level	Q61 to Q80	20
Questions by subject	Q81 to Q100	20
Total core examples	Q01 to Q100	100

What Is a Research Question?

A research question is a clear, focused question that defines what a study will investigate. It names the topic, the people or setting, and the kind of answer you need. Everything else follows from it, including your design, your data, and your analysis. In short, what are research questions? They are the questions your whole study exists to answer.

For additional university guidance on developing a focused question, consult the University of Waterloo Writing and Communication Centre and the San José State University Writing Center research-question handout. Use these sources to check your wording against your institution’s requirements.

Two university sources agree on the core idea. The San José State University Writing Center describes a research question as clear, concise, open-ended, and central to the research. ATLAS.ti adds that the question guides design, data collection, analysis, and interpretation.

However, do not confuse it with an interview prompt. A research question defines the study, while a prompt draws out participant data. The interview section below shows the difference side by side.

What Makes a Good Research Question?

Specific research questions are easier to answer, easier to defend, and easier to examine. First, use the table as a quick test. If your question fails two or more rows, revise it before you collect any data. Then apply the same test to any of the research questions examples below.

Quality	Practical test
Clear	Could a classmate restate it without asking what you mean?
Focused	Does it tackle one problem rather than several?
Specific	Does it name a population, context, or timeframe?
Researchable	Can you collect evidence that answers it?
Feasible	Can you reach the people or data within your time, budget, and skills?
Relevant	Does it matter to your field, course, or community?
Neutral	Does it avoid assuming the answer, as “Why is the policy failing?” does?
Concise	Can you say it in one sentence without losing meaning?

The Naval Postgraduate School Graduate Writing Center adds three checks worth keeping in mind. Ask whether evidence exists, whether the topic is significant, and whether you can finish within your time and page limits.

Here is one example of research question wording that passes every test: “How do part-time evening MBA students in one city describe the ways they balance coursework and family duties?” It names the group and the setting. It is open to exploration, and it assumes no outcome.

Two myths are worth dropping. First, open-ended wording suits exploratory work, but a narrow test can use a closed question. Second, “how” and “why” openers are common, not compulsory. Neutral, specific, and answerable wording matters more than the first word.

Research Question Format and Structure

For a deeper explanation of how a question connects to a study’s design, see our guide to What Is Research Methodology?.

A simple research question format stops you from forgetting a key element. Most types of research questions name an inquiry, a population or context, and a variable or phenomenon. Many add a timeframe or an outcome. However, treat each template below as a starting point, not a formula. The research question examples that follow show each template in use.

The table summarizes the main types of research questions with examples of what each one needs. The library further down gives you many more.

Type	What it asks	Typical data	Watch out for
Descriptive	What exists, how often, or how much	Surveys, records, observation	Implying cause
Comparative	How groups or cases differ	Group measures	Unclear comparison units
Correlational	Whether variables move together	Two or more measured variables	Causal wording
Experimental	Whether an intervention changes an outcome	Controlled or quasi-experimental data	Causal claims without a design
Qualitative	How people experience or interpret something	Interviews, observation, documents	Fixed variables, loaded wording
Mixed methods	How numbers and accounts explain each other	Both kinds, linked on purpose	Two unrelated strands

Descriptive Research Question Format

Template: What [characteristic] do [population] show or report in [context]?

Use these descriptive research question examples as models. They describe, so they avoid words such as cause or effect. Name the exact thing you will describe, because “What is happening in schools?” gives you nothing to measure.

•  What types of social media accounts do Year 9 students in one school follow most often?
• What proportion of village clinics in one district stock all essential vaccines?

Comparative Research Question Format

Template: How does [outcome] differ between [group A] and [group B] in [context]?

Comparative research questions examples need three things. Name the groups, the criterion, and the setting. A difference between groups does not prove that one group’s condition caused it.

• How does daily commuting time differ between employees in two city districts?
• How do exam anxiety scores differ between first-year and final-year pharmacy students?

Correlational Research Question Format

Template: What is the relationship between [variable 1] and [variable 2] among [population]?

These correlational research question examples name two measured variables and one population. For instance, “What is the relationship between weekly reading hours and vocabulary scores among Grade 5 students?” fits the pattern. So does “How are daily step counts associated with self-rated mood among office workers?”

Association is not causation. Use relationship, association, or correlation unless your design supports causal language.

Experimental and Causal Research Question Format

Template: Does [intervention] change [outcome] among [population], compared with [comparator], over [timeframe]?

Reserve cause, effect, and impact for experimental, quasi-experimental, longitudinal, or otherwise carefully justified designs. “What is the impact of social media on grades?” sounds causal, yet it names no design that could show it. These experimental research question examples name a comparator and a timeframe:

• Does a weekly peer-feedback routine improve essay revision quality among Year 12 students, compared with teacher-only feedback, over one term?
• Does a text-message reminder increase on-time vaccination among parents, compared with no reminder, in a randomized trial?

Qualitative Question Format

Template: How do [participants] describe, experience, or make sense of [phenomenon] in [context]?

Qualitative questions explore experience, perception, process, meaning, and interpretation. They avoid fixed variables. Also, they avoid assuming that an experience was good or bad. For example, “How do new fathers describe their first month back at work?” stays open, while “Why is returning to work so stressful for fathers?” does not.

Mixed-Methods Question Format

However, a mixed-methods study needs a stated link between its strands. Placing a quantitative and a qualitative question side by side is not enough. The examples of mixed-methods research questions in this guide name the integration point for each design.

Design	Sequence	Question pattern
Explanatory sequential	Numbers first, then accounts that explain them	What patterns appear in [data], and how do [participants] explain them?
Exploratory sequential	Accounts first, then numbers that test them	How do [participants] describe [phenomenon], and how widely do those themes appear in [population]?
Convergent	Both strands together, then compared	To what extent do [numeric results] and [accounts] agree about [issue]?

Other Common Question Types

Three more types appear often in student work. These action research question examples and phenomenological research question examples sit outside the core 100.

Type	Core idea	Sample wording
Action research	Change your own practice and study the result	How can our department change its Year 9 feedback routine so students act on written comments?
Basic research	Build knowledge without a direct application	What mechanisms explain how sleep deprivation alters short-term memory in adults?
Phenomenological	Capture lived experience and its meaning	What is the lived experience of starting a business after migration?

Phenomenology targets lived experience and meaning. In contrast, a question that only gathers opinions or satisfaction scores does not qualify.

100 Research Questions Examples by Research Method

Browse the research questions examples by method first. Each research question example has one primary home, so the count stays exact. Some could sit in two places, such as a comparative question that is also quantitative. The design note marks those overlaps, so no question appears twice.

Quantitative Research Questions Examples

Use these quantitative research question examples when your answer will be numeric. Before you pick one, check three things. Can you measure every variable? Does the wording match your design? Can you reach enough participants? However, only the experimental questions use effect or improve wording, because only those designs support it.

ID	Research question	Type and design note
Q01	What study-time patterns do first-year engineering students report during their first semester?	Descriptive, single group, survey
Q02	What is the relationship between sleep duration and self-reported concentration among first-year university students?	Correlational, two variables, no causal claim
Q03	How do assessment scores differ between students using synchronous and asynchronous revision sessions in an introductory statistics course?	Comparative, two groups, one outcome
Q04	What proportion of secondary school teachers in one public district report using AI tools for lesson planning at least weekly?	Descriptive, proportion, survey
Q05	How often do owners of small retail shops in one city revise their prices over a 12-month period?	Descriptive, frequency, owner survey
Q06	What are the most common reasons patients give for missing outpatient appointments at one regional hospital?	Descriptive, frequency of reasons, records and survey
Q07	What is the average daily screen time reported by children aged 8 to 12 in urban primary schools?	Descriptive, mean, parent-reported survey
Q08	What levels of job satisfaction do remote customer-service agents at one telecommunications company report?	Descriptive, scale scores, single organization
Q09	How do monthly food expenditures differ between households in urban and rural districts of one province?	Comparative, two groups, household survey
Q10	How do patient-reported pain scores differ between day-surgery and overnight-stay patients one week after knee arthroscopy?	Comparative, two groups, validated pain scale
Q11	How does employee turnover differ between software firms offering hybrid work and firms requiring full-time office attendance?	Comparative, two firm types, HR data
Q12	How do reading comprehension scores differ between bilingual and monolingual fourth-grade students in one school district?	Comparative, two groups, standardized test
Q13	How does customer retention differ between subscription-based and pay-per-use customers of a regional fitness chain?	Comparative, two customer types, sales records
Q14	What is the association between commuting time and punctuality among full-time office employees in one city?	Correlational, two variables, observational
Q15	Is there an association between weekly exercise hours and perceived stress among hospital administrative staff?	Correlational, two variables, survey
Q16	What is the correlation between social media use before bedtime and sleep quality among adolescents aged 15 to 17?	Correlational, two variables, self-report
Q17	How are employee engagement scores related to supervisor feedback frequency in mid-sized manufacturing firms?	Correlational, two variables, firm-level data
Q18	What is the association between household income level and fruit and vegetable intake among adults in one city?	Correlational, two variables, dietary survey
Q19	How is lecture attendance related to final grade point average among undergraduate business students?	Correlational, two variables, institutional records
Q20	Does a four-week spaced-repetition program improve vocabulary retention among adult English learners, compared with massed study, when learners are randomly assigned to each condition?	Experimental, randomized, two conditions
Q21	What is the effect of a 10-minute daily mindfulness exercise on test anxiety scores among Year 10 students, compared with a waitlist control group?	Experimental, randomized, waitlist control
Q22	Does a structured peer-tutoring program raise mathematics scores among Grade 8 students, compared with matched classes that receive standard teaching?	Experimental, quasi-experimental, matched comparison
Q23	Does a nurse-led telephone follow-up reduce 30-day readmission among heart failure patients, compared with standard discharge care?	Experimental, randomized trial
Q24	What is the effect of two newsletter subject-line styles on open rates in a randomized A/B test for one retailer?	Experimental, a/B test, random assignment
Q25	Does standing-desk provision reduce self-reported lower back discomfort among office workers over 12 weeks, compared with standard desks?	Experimental, controlled, repeated measures

Qualitative Research Questions Examples

These qualitative research question examples ask how people experience, interpret, and act. None assumes a positive or negative result. Each is a study-level question, not a prompt you would read aloud to a participant.

ID	Research question	Focus and design note
Q26	How do first-generation doctoral students describe the process of seeking supervisory feedback during proposal development?	Experience, process, interviews
Q27	What meanings do community health workers attach to trust when supporting patients through telehealth?	Meaning, meaning, interviews
Q28	How do rural secondary school teachers experience the shift to blended teaching after years of in-person instruction?	Experience, experience, interviews
Q29	How do small-business owners perceive the role of informal networks in winning their first customers?	Perception, perception, interviews
Q30	What is the lived experience of building academic confidence for international students in their first year at a UK university?	Phenomenological, lived experience, phenomenology
Q31	How do newly promoted team leaders make sense of their changing relationships with former peers?	Process, sense-making, interviews
Q32	How do mothers returning to full-time work describe the decisions they make about childcare arrangements?	Experience, decision process, interviews
Q33	How do hospital pharmacists perceive their role in medication safety discussions with physicians?	Perception, perception, interviews
Q34	How do refugee-background students describe their sense of belonging in a mainstream secondary school?	Experience, experience, interviews and observation
Q35	What strategies do freelance writers describe for managing irregular income and client relationships?	Process, strategies, interviews
Q36	How do software engineers describe the process of deciding to adopt a new programming framework within their team?	Process, decision process, case study
Q37	What is the lived experience of caring for a parent with dementia while working full time?	Phenomenological, lived experience, phenomenology
Q38	How do first-time entrepreneurs interpret the closure of their first business?	Meaning, interpretation, narrative interviews
Q39	How do school counselors describe the process of supporting students through the move to secondary school?	Process, process, interviews
Q40	What meanings do older adults give to learning digital skills after retirement?	Meaning, meaning, interviews
Q41	How do volunteers in a disaster-response organization make sense of their role during an extended emergency?	Experience, sense-making, interviews
Q42	How do female engineers in male-dominated workplaces describe their pathways to senior technical roles?	Process, career pathways, life-history interviews
Q43	How do university lecturers experience assessment design when generative AI tools are widely available to students?	Experience, experience, interviews
Q44	What does professional identity mean to second-career teachers during their first three years in the classroom?	Meaning, identity, longitudinal interviews
Q45	How do residents of a coastal community interpret and respond to changes in local fishing practices?	Perception, interpretation, ethnographic interviews

Mixed-Methods Research Questions Examples

Each of these research question examples joins a numeric strand to a qualitative strand. The last column states how the two connect, because that link is what makes the design mixed.

ID	Research question	Design	How the strands connect
Q46	What factors are associated with online-course withdrawal among adult learners, and how do withdrawing learners explain the decisions identified in the survey findings?	Explanatory sequential	A survey identifies factors, then interviews explain the survey results.
Q47	How do community pharmacists describe barriers to offering vaccination services, and how widely are those barriers reported across pharmacies in one region?	Exploratory sequential	Interview themes shape a survey that measures how common each barrier is.
Q48	To what extent do patient satisfaction scores and patient interview accounts agree about the quality of discharge communication in one hospital?	Convergent	Both strands run together, then results are compared for agreement.
Q49	How does a new teacher-mentoring program relate to retention among beginning teachers, and how do mentees describe the mentoring relationship?	Embedded	Interviews sit inside a quantitative retention study to explain the mechanism.
Q50	What changes in employee absence rates follow a workplace wellbeing program, and how do participants and managers explain those changes?	Evaluation	Pre-post absence data are explained by interviews with both groups.
Q51	Which small-business owners in a regional survey report the greatest difficulty accessing credit, and how do they explain those difficulties in follow-up interviews?	Explanatory sequential	Survey results select interviewees, and interviews explain the pattern.
Q52	What aspects of trust do online shoppers describe in focus groups, and how well does a scale built from those themes predict repeat purchases?	Exploratory sequential	Focus-group themes become scale items, then a survey tests prediction.
Q53	How do first-year chemistry exam results and students’ descriptions of their study habits together explain differences in performance?	Convergent	Grades and study-habit accounts are merged to build one explanation.
Q54	How does adoption of a mobile banking app vary across age groups in one city, and how do older users describe the support they need?	Embedded	Interviews with older users add depth to a usage analysis.
Q55	What changes in household waste volumes follow a community recycling initiative, and how do residents describe the features that encouraged or discouraged participation?	Evaluation	Waste data show change, and resident accounts explain participation.

Research Interview Questions Examples

Researchers often look for research interview questions examples and examples of qualitative research questions for interviews. Two different things hide behind those searches. The research question states what the whole study investigates. The interview prompt is one way to gather the data.

The table pairs five study-level questions with a sample prompt. Only the research questions count toward the 100.

ID	Study-level research question	Sample prompt (not counted)
Q56	How do early-career nurses describe the ways shift patterns shape their decisions to remain in hospital employment?	Can you describe a recent shift pattern that influenced your decision to stay or leave?
Q57	How do first-time homebuyers describe the process of choosing between renting and buying in a high-cost housing market?	Walk me through the point when you first compared renting with buying.
Q58	How do school principals describe their decision-making when budget cuts require staffing changes?	Tell me about a time you had to adjust staffing because of budget limits.
Q59	How do employees returning from long-term sick leave describe negotiating adjustments with their managers?	What happened when you first discussed your return to work with your manager?
Q60	How do app developers in small studios describe their approach to handling user feedback during product updates?	Describe how your team handled feedback after your last major release.

Research Questions Examples for Students

Level changes the scope of a question, not just its length. For example, a school project needs data you can collect in a week. A doctoral study must add something new to its field. Use this table to match a question to your level. Next, pick research question examples from the lists that follow and adapt them.

Level	Typical scope	Data access	Contribution expected
School	One class or school, one or two variables	Classmates, direct measurement	Skill practice
Undergraduate	One group, one setting, one outcome or phenomenon	Own institution or local sample	Sound method, clear scope
Master’s	Defined gap or applied problem, explicit method	Access agreed early	Evidence on a focused problem
Doctoral	Bounded but complex, theory-linked	Multiple sources or sites	Original contribution

High School Research Questions Examples

Keep the setting local and the variables few. Also avoid populations you cannot reach and causal claims you cannot test.

ID	Research question	Scope note
Q61	How many hours of sleep do students in one Grade 10 class report on school nights?	Descriptive, one class survey
Q62	Which type of music do classmates say helps them concentrate while studying, and how many choose each type?	Descriptive, short questionnaire
Q63	How does on-time arrival differ between students who walk to school and students who take the school bus?	Comparative, two groups, attendance records
Q64	What is the relationship between weekly homework hours and quiz scores in one science class?	Correlational, one class, two variables
Q65	How do plastic waste volumes in the school canteen differ between Monday and Friday?	Comparative, direct measurement, one site

Undergraduate Research Questions Examples

Choose one manageable population, one context, and one outcome or phenomenon. Small studies and course projects fit this level.

ID	Research question	Scope note
Q66	How do first-year students at one university use online study groups to prepare for examinations?	Descriptive survey with open comments
Q67	What is the relationship between part-time work hours and academic performance among final-year undergraduate students at one university?	Correlational, survey and records
Q68	How do customers of independent coffee shops in one town describe their reasons for choosing local businesses over chains?	Qualitative, short interviews
Q69	How do average response times to customer queries differ between two retail banks’ social media accounts over four weeks?	Comparative, observation of public posts
Q70	How do undergraduate nursing students describe their first clinical placement?	Qualitative, small interview set

Master’s and Thesis Research Questions Examples

Tie the question to a literature gap or an applied problem. Then state the method and check feasibility early. Do not make every question sound doctoral.

ID	Research question	Method note
Q71	To what extent does perceived organizational support predict turnover intention among mid-career nurses in private hospitals in one city?	Quantitative, regression, validated scales
Q72	How do secondary school teachers in public schools describe their use of formative assessment after a district-wide curriculum reform?	Qualitative, thematic analysis
Q73	What differences exist in digital-banking adoption between small business owners with and without formal financial training in one region?	Comparative, survey
Q74	Which barriers to adopting building information modeling do project managers in mid-sized construction firms rate as most significant?	Descriptive, ranking survey
Q75	What is the association between parental involvement and reading achievement among Grade 6 students in two public school districts, after accounting for socioeconomic status?	Correlational, multiple regression

Doctoral and Dissertation Research Questions Examples

Doctoral questions usually show a theoretical, methodological, contextual, or practical contribution. They are more complex but still bounded. Jargon alone does not make a question doctoral.

ID	Research question	Design note
Q76	How does algorithmic scheduling shape the autonomy that gig drivers experience in two city contexts, and how can organizational justice theory explain the differences?	Comparative qualitative, theory-building
Q77	To what extent does the relationship between transformational leadership and team innovation vary across national cultures, and how does psychological safety mediate it?	Moderated mediation, multi-country data
Q78	How do clinicians and patients jointly construct shared decision-making in chronic care consultations, and which interaction patterns mark highly collaborative consultations?	Discourse analysis of recorded consultations
Q79	What mechanisms explain the persistence of gender pay gaps in firms with formal pay-transparency policies, and under what conditions do those mechanisms weaken?	Realist, multiple case study
Q80	How do ten-year career trajectories differ between first-generation and continuing-generation graduates, and which institutional supports are associated with smaller differences?	Longitudinal cohort

Research Questions Examples by Subject

Use these twenty new research question examples to see how method and discipline combine. Each heading holds two questions that do not repeat anything above.

Education

ID	Research question	Method note
Q81	How do teachers’ questioning techniques relate to student participation in upper-primary mathematics lessons?	Correlational, classroom observation
Q82	How do secondary teachers describe the challenges of giving feedback on writing to large classes?	Qualitative, interviews

Business and Management

ID	Research question	Method note
Q83	What is the relationship between employee training hours and customer complaint rates in mid-sized hotels in one city?	Correlational, operational data
Q84	How do family-business owners describe the process of choosing a successor?	Qualitative, interviews

Healthcare and Nursing

ID	Research question	Method note
Q85	What is the relationship between nurse-to-patient ratios and patient fall rates across surgical wards in one hospital network?	Correlational, hospital records
Q86	How do night-shift nurses describe their strategies for staying alert during long shifts?	Qualitative, interviews

Psychology

ID	Research question	Method note
Q87	What is the relationship between daily journaling frequency and self-reported emotional clarity among employed adults?	Correlational, diary and survey
Q88	How do adults who recently moved to a new country describe the process of forming friendships?	Qualitative, interviews

Computer Science and Technology

ID	Research question	Method note
Q89	How does response time differ among three open-source web frameworks under identical simulated traffic loads?	Comparative, benchmark experiment
Q90	How do developers describe the factors that shape their trust in AI code-completion suggestions?	Qualitative, interviews

Engineering

ID	Research question	Method note
Q91	How does the 28-day compressive strength of concrete with 10 percent and 20 percent fly-ash replacement compare with a standard cement mix?	Experimental, laboratory testing
Q92	What is the relationship between ambient temperature and the energy output of rooftop solar panels in one climate zone?	Correlational, sensor data

Marketing

ID	Research question	Method note
Q93	How do purchase intentions differ between consumers who see influencer endorsements and consumers who see brand-generated advertisements for the same product?	Experimental, between-subjects survey
Q94	How do loyalty-program members describe their reasons for staying with, or leaving, a grocery brand?	Qualitative, interviews

Economics and Sociology

ID	Research question	Method note
Q95	What is the relationship between remittance inflows and household education spending in rural districts of one country?	Correlational, household survey data
Q96	How do long-term residents of a gentrifying neighborhood describe their community ties?	Qualitative, interviews

Environmental Science

ID	Research question	Method note
Q97	How does bird species richness differ between urban parks of different sizes in one city?	Comparative, field survey
Q98	How do farmers in a drought-prone region describe their decisions about water use and crop choice?	Qualitative, interviews

Communication

ID	Research question	Method note
Q99	How do audiences interpret the credibility of health information shared by influencers on short-video platforms?	Qualitative, focus groups
Q100	How does the framing of climate news headlines relate to readers’ sharing intentions on social media?	correlational (association only) or experimental (only where an intervention and design support causal inference), survey

Weak vs Strong Research Question Examples

Most weak questions fail in predictable ways. For instance, they are too broad, they assume an answer, or they use causal words without a design. The table fixes six of them and names the exact revision, so you can compare weak and strong research question examples side by side.

Weak version	Problem	Stronger version	Revision made
Is technology good for education?	Too broad, vague	How do Grade 7 science teachers in one district describe tablet use in group experiments?	Named users, setting, and focus
Why do people hate their jobs?	Loaded, vague	What workplace factors are associated with job satisfaction among call-center employees in one company?	Removed bias, named variables
Does exercise cause happiness?	Causal claim, no design	What is the relationship between weekly exercise minutes and self-reported wellbeing among adults aged 30 to 45?	Switched to relationship wording
Is the new fee policy a failure?	Loaded, unmeasurable	How have monthly enrollment figures changed in public primary schools since the fee policy began?	Replaced judgment with a measure
How can businesses use social media?	No population or outcome	Which social media features do owner-managed cafés in one city use to attract first-time customers?	Narrowed group and goal
What is the impact of stress?	Missing population and context	How do final-year pharmacy students at one university describe the sources of exam-period stress?	Added population and context

How to Turn a Research Topic Into a Research Question

If you are still narrowing your area of interest, our guide on How to Select a Research Topic can help you move from a broad subject to a workable problem.

Knowing how to write research questions starts with a narrower topic. If you are still choosing one, read this guide on selecting a research topic first. Then follow the sequence below to learn how to make a research question from a broad idea.

1.       Start with a broad topic that interests you.

2.       Identify a problem or gap within it.

3.       Choose an angle, such as description, comparison, relationship, or experience.

4.       Add a population and a context.

5.       Write the question and apply the quality test.

Stage	Worked example 1	Worked example 2	Worked example 3
Broad topic	Online learning	Remote work	Plastic waste
Problem	Students differ in how much they use recorded lectures	Teams lose informal contact	Recycling rates vary by housing type
Angle	Relationship	Experience	Comparison
Population and context	First-year economics students, one university	Software developers working remotely	Households in one municipality
Final question	What is the relationship between weekly video-lecture viewing time and final grades?	How do remote software developers describe the ways they keep informal contact with colleagues?	How do plastic bottle collection rates differ between households in apartment blocks and detached houses?

Every one of the research questions examples above began as a broad topic. Also, expect to revise. Your literature review will often sharpen the wording, and that is normal.

How Many Research Questions Should You Have?

There is no universal number. The right count depends on scope, design, complexity, data, and your institution’s rules. The table shows common practice, not a requirement.

Project	Common practice	Check first
Course paper	One focused question	Assignment brief
Undergraduate project	One main question, sometimes with a few supporting ones	Course guidelines
Master’s thesis	One main question with sub-questions, or a few linked questions	Program handbook, supervisor
Doctoral dissertation	One overarching question with sub-questions, or linked questions	Graduate school rules, committee

Some institutions ask how many questions in the statement of the problem you need. They often expect a general problem followed by numbered specific problems. The number comes from your institution’s thesis guide or your supervisor, not from a formula. More questions also mean more data, so keep the set small enough to answer well.

Research Question vs Research Objective vs Hypothesis

These terms overlap, but each does a different job. The table uses one topic so you can compare the wording directly.

Term	Purpose	Form	Aligned example
Research question	Defines what the study investigates	A question	What is the relationship between use of a written revision timetable and mock exam scores among Year 11 students?
Research objective	States what the study will achieve	An action statement	To measure the association between written revision timetable use and mock exam scores among Year 11 students.
Hypothesis	Predicts an answer you can test	A testable statement	Year 11 students who use a written revision timetable will score higher on mock exams than students who do not.
Interview prompt	Draws out participant data	A request to talk	Tell me how you plan your revision week.

Final Takeaway

Strong questions are focused, researchable, feasible, relevant, neutral, and matched to the design. Pick the research question examples closest to your method and level. Then swap in your own population, variables, and setting.

Need help refining a question or aligning it with your study design? Explore our research consultancy support for research planning, proposal development, and academic editing.

Once your question, design, and findings line up, journal publication support can help with manuscript preparation, journal selection, formatting, and submission readiness.

This guide offers general information. It does not replace advice from your supervisor, ethics board, or institution.

Frequently Asked Questions