All social science begins with questions: Why did the Rwandan genocide occur? How do people make decisions about voting? Are presidential systems more effective than parliamentary ones? … and so on. Questions not only form the basis of our study of politics and institutions, but they also shape the way we look for answers, and the evidence we use to support these answers. So, asking a good research question is important – and challenging. Start by taking a look at this question guide from the university of Manchester.
Information you need to define a good research question:
Much of the information you need to formulate a good question comes from your previous reading. But just reading and knowing information about a topic doesn’t guarantee good questions. Good questions take time and repeated practice. You’ll get this practice in many of your classes as you articulate research proposals and projects.
Once we know the question, we can start figuring out how to use data to answer the question. Watch the following video for more information about how to connect a research question to the data needed to answer it.