Identifying Research Questions

Good research questions are essential for any kind of research. Interdisciplinary research questions are particularly challenging. In particular interdisciplinarians have noted the danger of framing a question in a way that privileges some disciplines over others. Repko, Interdisciplinary Research, chapter 3, has identified several criteria for a good question.

· The question must be complex and require insights from multiple disciplines. That is, no single discipline can answer the question or problem satisfactorily. (Note that research will sometimes address a set of related questions.)

· The question must be precise in scope

· It must be researchable

· It must be manageable by the researcher(s)

· It should be free of jargon and clearly expressed. Though communication is never perfect, others reading the question should have a good idea of what it means.

· It should be free of disciplinary or other bias. That is, the question should not presume a certain result, or (often inadvertently) assume that certain perspectives are more important]

· It should be important (and authors should devote some space to justifying its importance)

Several additional concerns become important when identifying Research Questions for Team Research