Once we have considered philosophy and theory, the next step is to decide what we actually want to know. This is the role of the research question.
A research question turns a broad interest or research problem into a specific question that can be investigated systematically. It provides direction to the research and helps determine what evidence is needed, which concepts are important, and which methods are appropriate.
Developing a research question
Developing a good research question is often a process rather than a single decision. It can be understood as a series of steps:
Identify an area of interest — Begin with a broad subject that interests you, such as nuclear weapons, public opinion, diplomacy, or foreign policy.
Identify something interesting or puzzling — Look for a pattern, difference, change, contradiction, or something that existing explanations do not adequately address.
Ask an initial question — Turn the puzzle into a simple question: Why does this happen? How has this changed? What explains this difference?
Conduct preliminary research — Examine the existing literature to determine what is already known and how other researchers have approached the issue.
Narrow the scope — Define the population, cases, period, location, or body of evidence that you will actually study.
Identify the key concepts — Decide exactly what you are examining and clarify what the important terms in the question mean.
Consider the evidence — Ask whether you can realistically obtain the data needed to answer the question.
Refine the question — Rewrite it so that it is specific, researchable, theoretically meaningful, and answerable with the available evidence.
As previously noted, this course provides for guided research focused on (a) the discipline; (b) the individual; or (c) the nation. Here’s how to develop a research question in each of these areas:
The discipline
Assuming your broad interest to be in middle powers and how they are studied in International Relations. As you read the literature, you notice something interesting: research on middle powers appears to have increased, but it is not immediately clear how much it has increased, which countries receive the most attention, or what questions researchers are asking. This observation provides the puzzle that motivates the research.
The next step is to turn this puzzle into an initial question, such as: How has research on middle powers changed over time? Preliminary reading can then establish what is already known about the development of middle-power scholarship and whether similar studies have already been conducted. This reading also helps determine how middle-power research might be identified and classified.
The question can then be narrowed and defined. Rather than examining all middle-power research, the study might focus on peer-reviewed journal articles published over the last twenty years. The key concepts also need to be identified. In this case, the study is interested in three characteristics: the number of articles published, the countries examined, and the research questions addressed by those articles.
The researcher must then consider whether the necessary evidence is available. Academic databases can be used to identify relevant articles, which can then be systematically coded according to year, country focus, and research question. Once the scope, concepts, and evidence have been established, the initial question can be refined into a researchable question: What trends can be identified in middle-power research over the last twenty years in the number of publications, their country focus, and the questions scholars have asked?
The individual
Imagine that you begin with a broad interest in how individuals understand international relations, particularly how Korean university students view China and the United States. As you think about the subject, you notice something interesting: students may have very different attitudes towards the two countries, and these attitudes may also vary considerably between individuals. This provides the puzzle that motivates the research: what explains these differences?
The next step is to turn this puzzle into an initial question, such as: Why do Korean university students have different attitudes towards China and the United States? Preliminary reading can then establish what is already known about South Korean public opinion towards the two countries and identify possible explanations for differences in attitudes. Previous research might suggest factors such as political orientation, perceptions of security threats, knowledge, personal contact, travel experience, or attitudes towards the US–ROK alliance.
The question can then be narrowed and defined. Rather than examining the entire South Korean population, the study might focus on students at a particular university or universities. The key concepts also need to be identified. The researcher must decide what is meant by a positive or negative attitude towards China and the United States and identify the individual characteristics that might explain differences between respondents. These concepts can then be translated into questions that can be included in a survey.
The researcher must then consider whether the necessary evidence is available. A survey could ask students about their attitudes towards China and the United States while also collecting information about characteristics that might explain those attitudes. The responses can then be compared to identify patterns and relationships. Once the population, concepts, and evidence have been established, the initial question can be refined into a researchable question: What factors explain differences in Korean university students’ attitudes towards China and the United States?
The nation
Imagine that you begin with a broad interest in how states communicate with foreign audiences, particularly through foreign ministry websites. While examining the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs website, you notice something interesting: some Korean-language material is translated into English, while other material is available only in Korean. This provides the puzzle that motivates the research: why is some foreign policy information made available to international audiences while other information is not?
The next step is to turn this puzzle into an initial question, such as: What determines which South Korean foreign policy materials are translated into English? Preliminary research can then examine existing studies of public diplomacy, strategic communication, translation, and foreign ministry websites. This can help identify possible explanations for translation choices and establish what is already known about how governments communicate differently with domestic and international audiences.
The question can then be narrowed and defined. Rather than examining the entire Foreign Ministry website, the study might focus on a particular type of content, such as ministerial speeches, press releases, policy statements, or country information over a defined period. The researcher must also identify the characteristics that will be compared, such as subject, target country, policy area, political sensitivity, or intended audience, and determine whether each item has an English-language equivalent.
The researcher must then consider whether the necessary evidence is available. Korean and English versions of the Foreign Ministry website can be systematically compared, with individual items coded according to their characteristics and whether they have been translated. Patterns in what is translated and what remains available only in Korean can then be identified. The initial question can consequently be refined into a researchable question: What patterns explain which South Korean Foreign Ministry materials are translated into English and which remain available only in Korean?
Developing a hypothesis
Some research questions can be developed into a hypothesis. A hypothesis is a clear statement about what you expect the research to find. For example, you might predict that states facing a common external threat are more likely to maintain their alliance. The research can then examine whether the evidence supports this prediction.
Not all research needs a hypothesis. Hypotheses are most useful when research seeks to test relationships between different factors, particularly in positivist research. Interpretivist research may instead seek to understand meanings, identities, experiences, or processes without predicting the result in advance.
A hypothesis should therefore do more than repeat the research question. The research question asks what you want to find out; the hypothesis states what you expect the answer to be. This expectation should normally come from theory, previous research, or preliminary reading.
The discipline
The research question asks what trends have occurred in middle-power research. A hypothesis could predict both growth and concentration:
Hypothesis: Middle-power research has increased over the last twenty years, but this growth has been concentrated on a small number of countries and a limited range of research questions.
This can subsequently be broken into testable expectations: publications will increase over time; countries such as Australia, Canada, and South Korea will receive disproportionate attention; and particular themes, such as multilateralism and international institutions, will dominate.
The individual
Here the hypothesis should identify a factor expected to explain variation in attitudes. For example, perceptions of threat provide a clear independent variable:
Hypothesis: Korean university students who perceive China as a greater security threat will hold more negative attitudes towards China and more positive attitudes towards the United States.
This creates a straightforward relationship between concepts. Perceived threat is the explanatory variable, while attitudes towards China and the United States are the outcomes to be explained. Both can be measured through survey questions.
The nation
Here the hypothesis should predict which material the Foreign Ministry is more likely to translate. An intended-audience explanation provides a useful starting point:
Hypothesis: South Korean Foreign Ministry materials intended to communicate foreign policy positions to international audiences are more likely to be translated into English than materials primarily concerned with domestic political or administrative matters.
The researcher can then classify material according to its subject and likely audience and compare this with whether an English translation exists.
These three also demonstrate three different forms of hypothesis particularly well: a predicted trend (discipline), a relationship between variables (individual), and a predicted pattern in behaviour (nation).
The guided academic paper - research questions
For your guided academic paper, use your research diary to work through each of the eight steps for developing a research question. Do not simply write down your final question. Record how it develops.
Begin with your broad area of interest and identify something within it that you find interesting or puzzling. Write an initial question, undertake some preliminary reading, and use what you discover to narrow the scope and identify your key concepts. Then consider what evidence you can realistically collect before refining your question into its final form.
Keep each stage in your research diary, including questions that you later reject or change. This provides a record of how your thinking develops and will make it much easier to explain and justify your final research question.
