In writing a research paper question, you must highlight the purpose of the paper. When developing a research paper, you should start with the vital steps. Begin by defining the research paper question. In an experiment-based project, a research paper question leads to the hypothesis. A research paper question in a review-based paper like an essay leads to a thesis statement. When you define the purpose of a research paper, you should work on a few concepts. These concepts then help in building a research question. The question should be interesting, relevant, and novel. The ideas that aid to achieve all this include:
- The essential research questions in your discipline. Are there any other concrete areas that need extra exploration?
- Will your research improve the understanding of readers? Will it fill the gaps present in the current knowledge?
- Is your literature review turning up rich content in this subject?
- Are you replicating an existing study? If yes, in which ways will you refine and improve the research?
- Is your research question going to have a positive impact in the field?
If you are writing a short-term research paper, there is no need to answer yes to all these questions. A thesis or a dissertation, the above are possible questions. For a research scientist, even affirmative answers to the questions may not win a grant.
The general research question usually bases on how or why certain phenomena happen. A viable example for a general research statement can be:
what are the reasons behind deforestation in the rainforest of the Amazon?
The statement bases on the literature review of the research. It shows that the surface area of the Amazon Forest is reducing at a fast rate. Only this fact can serve as a basic assumption and a starting point for building a research project.
Researchers have postulated many reasons for this phenomenon. There is no explicit agreement on which factors contribute to these environmental damages. You have to narrow down on these broad questions to make your thesis question or hypothesis.
Let’s look at these examples derived from the previous question:
- Is exhaustive agriculture the leading cause of Amazon deforestation?
- Is the timber industry the leading cause of Amazon deforestation?
- Is global warming a significant cause of amazon forest deforestation?
When you develop a research paper question, you can generate a research question. After this, you are now free to develop a research paper on this subject.
When the research ends, refer your discussion and results to your research question. You will add more data to the previous knowledge developed in that subject.
After formulating your research paper question, you now have to get facts. You will need these facts in your paper about the subject. Collect the vital points that will make your research paper unique. After this, it’s very vital to make a research paper structure. It will guide you through the writing process. In your structure, make sure you have the following sections:
- Title
- Abstract
- Introduction
- Methodology
- Results
- Discussion
- Conclusion
- References
Conclusion
In conclusion, you need to have a good research paper question. You will have an easy ground to derive points for your paper.