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How to Start a Social Sciences Research Project: Topics and Research Questions

This guide suggests some ways to start a research project.

Turning Topics into Research Questions

A research question is the point of your research project. Your research question defines what you will and will not include in your research project. You will likely need to do some preliminary research before committing to a research question.

Here are some requirements of a good research question:

  • Research questions cannot be answered with "yes" or "no".
  • Research questions can be researched.
  • Research questions have an appropriate "scope" for the size of the research project.
    • A small research paper shouldn't have a research question with a giant scope: How does preventative healthcare get planned?
    • A small research paper should have a research question with a manageable scope: How should preventative care programs for type II diabetes get advertised?

Choosing Topics Video

Mind Map or Free Association

You can build a research topic through a mind map. You can use pieces or paper or textboxes to arrange your ideas.

  1. Place your initial idea in the center of your workspace. 
  2. Write out every related concept separately. 
  3. Put similar ideas together.
  4. Use the grouped ideas to create a question. 

In free association, you allow your thoughts to flow freely without interruption. You later review your thoughts and select what is useful/interesting.

  • Speaking and listening. Use a recording device like your phone. Talk freely about your topic to yourself or to another person. Later, review your recording and create a research question out of your chat.
  • Writing and reading. Write freely without any revisions or editing. Later, review your text and create a research question.

Structured Questions

You can create a research question by answering structured questions related to your topic. These questions can also help you if you need to adjust your research question in the future. 

Questions are: 

  • Who? What groups of people are involved in this concept?
  • Where? Where does this event happen? Do you want to limit your research to a state or a type of institution?
  • When? When does this event happen? Do you want to study a specific time frame? Do you have a decade you want to focus on? Is there a season or a time of day?
  • Why? Why does this event happen? What effect or result do you want to focus on? Why does this topic matter to the population you are studying?
  • How? How does your topic happen? What factor do you want to focus on? How does your topic affect the world?