Using a spider diagram to make research questions

Download the spider diagram worksheet here

You can do some heavy thinking about your thesis with a diagram. Ideas are much easier to move around and the ‘helicopter view’ a diagram affords helps you see how different pieces of writing and information might fit together. My favourite type is a spider diagram. It’s a particularly good technique for thinking about and forming research questions. I find a whiteboard the best place to make these diagrams because you can move things around much more easily.

Here is the process I use:

1) Start with a question in the centre. This might be your main research question, but sometimes it works better when you use a sub-question because main research questions can be unwieldy, especially at the beginning of your project.

2) Draw three ‘legs’ out from the circle. Limiting it to three is important. Humans tend to think in binary opposites (like yes/no); by expanding the possibilities to three you are forced to think in an unfamiliar way. The small number of legs is crucial because it helps you start to establish which questions are more important than others.

3) Draw bubbles at the end of the three legs and put three more questions in them. Make sure these questions are logically related to the primary question.

4) Finally, draw out more ‘legs’ and start to make notes about things you already know, or things you need to find out / establish, like so:

If you find it hard to put notes or questions in the outer bubbles, the questions you are asking might be too hard to answer. Alternatively, you might have the wrong questions there. Try redrawing the diagram with another question at the centre. Take a photo for your records when you are done.

Note: This handout is released under the creative commons share a-like attribution license. You may circulate and change it, but be cool – acknowledge Dr Inger Mewburn as the original author.