Step 2: From Topic to Research Question
MatchesDissertation proposal stage · IB Extended Essay research question · A-level NEA and EPQ title approval
In 30 seconds
- A topic is an area (“part-time jobs”); a research question is a single, focused question you can answer with evidence.
- Narrow a topic by fixing who, what, where and when.
- Test the question with FINER: Feasible, Interesting, Novel, Ethical, Relevant.
- For questions about an intervention, PICO (Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome) makes every element explicit.
- The aim states the overall purpose; objectives are the concrete steps; a hypothesis is a testable prediction, used mainly in quantitative work.
Video lesson coming soonA short animated lesson for this step will appear here.
Why the question matters most
Supervisors say it again and again: most weak dissertations fail at the question, not the analysis. A vague question makes it impossible to choose a sample, a method or a test, because you do not know what you are trying to find out. A sharp question tells you almost everything else.
Key termA research question is a clear, focused, answerable question that states what your study will find out, and about whom, where and when.
Narrowing a topic: the funnel
Start broad and narrow in stages. Each stage adds one limit.
| Stage | Example | Problem |
|---|---|---|
| Topic | Part-time jobs | Far too wide: whose jobs? which effect? |
| Focus | Part-time jobs and students’ studies | Which students? Which part of “studies”? |
| Population | …of full-time undergraduates | Where? When? |
| Outcome | …and their end-of-year marks | Measurable now |
| Question | How are weekly hours of paid work related to end-of-year marks among full-time undergraduates at one UK university in 2026? | Focused and answerable |
Chapter 2 of Research Methods Made Simple covers this in full, with a research-question worksheet and proposal template.Get the textbook · $15
Testing your question: FINER
| Letter | Ask yourself |
|---|---|
| Feasible | Can I get the data, participants, time and skills within my deadline? |
| Interesting | Will I stay motivated for months? Will a reader care? |
| Novel | Does it add something: a new setting, group, period or method? |
| Ethical | Can it be done without harming participants (Step 4)? |
| Relevant | Does it matter to theory, policy or practice? |
“Novel” worries students most, but it rarely means “never studied”. Testing a well-known relationship in a new country, a new year or a new group of students is novel enough for an undergraduate dissertation.
PICO for intervention questions
When your question is about whether something works, name all four parts.
Worked example
Turn “Do study-skills workshops help?” into a PICO question.
PPopulation: first-year undergraduates who work at least 10 hours a week.
IIntervention: a four-week time-management workshop.
CComparison: similar students who did not attend.
OOutcome: average mark at the end of the first semester.
Result“Among first-year undergraduates working 10+ hours a week, does attending a four-week time-management workshop, compared with not attending, raise average first-semester marks?”
Aims, objectives and hypotheses
Key termsThe aim is one sentence stating the overall purpose. Objectives are the concrete, achievable steps that together meet the aim, best written with action verbs (measure, compare, identify, explain). A hypothesis is a testable prediction; in statistics it is written as a null hypothesis \( H_0 \) (no effect) and an alternative \( H_1 \).
Worked example
Write an aim, three objectives and a hypothesis for the part-time jobs question.
AimTo examine how paid work affects the academic performance of full-time undergraduates.
Obj. 1To measure the share of students in paid work and their weekly hours.
Obj. 2To compare end-of-year marks of students working different hours.
Obj. 3To explore, through interviews, how working students manage study time.
Hyp.\( H_0 \): weekly hours of work are not related to marks. \( H_1 \): students working more hours have lower average marks.
Objective 3 has no hypothesis because it is exploratory and qualitative. That is normal: qualitative questions are usually open (“how”, “what”, “why”) and are not tested as predictions.
In your dissertationMake your objectives map one-to-one onto your results chapter. If objective 2 is “compare marks across working hours”, your results should contain a section that does exactly that. Examiners check this alignment.
Common mistakeWriting a question that already contains its answer or a value judgement: “Why are part-time jobs harmful to students?” assumes harm. Ask “How are part-time jobs related to…?” and let the evidence decide.
Good and bad questions
| Weak | Why | Better |
|---|---|---|
| What is the impact of social media? | No population, no outcome | How is daily time on social media related to sleep hours among Year 12 students at my school? |
| Is the minimum wage good? | Value judgement, too broad | How did the April 2024 UK minimum wage rise affect hours worked by 18–20-year-olds? |
| Do students like online learning? | Yes/no, vague | What do final-year students see as the main benefits and drawbacks of recorded lectures? |
Practise until it sticks: Research Methods Made Simple Practice Questions has 1,004 questions, each with a worked answer.Get the practice book · $9
Practise: 6 questions
Try each one on paper first, then check the worked answer.
EasyQ1. What do the letters FINER stand for? Show worked answer
Feasible, Interesting, Novel, Ethical, Relevant.
EasyQ2. Is this an aim or an objective? “To survey 200 students about their commuting time.” Show worked answer
An objective: it is a concrete, measurable step. An aim would state the overall purpose, such as “to examine how commuting affects student wellbeing”.
MediumQ3. Narrow “climate change and young people” into a focused research question. Show worked answer
One good answer: “How does climate anxiety, measured on a standard scale, differ between sixth-form students who do and do not study geography at three schools in Leeds in 2026?” It fixes the population, outcome, comparison, place and time. Many other answers are acceptable if they do the same.
MediumQ4. Write \( H_0 \) and \( H_1 \) for: “Do students who live on campus attend more lectures than students who commute?” Show worked answer
\( H_0 \): there is no difference in mean attendance between on-campus and commuting students. \( H_1 \): on-campus students have higher mean attendance than commuting students (one-sided), or simply “the means differ” (two-sided).
MediumQ5. A student proposes: “What do all university students worldwide think about AI tools?” Use FINER to criticise it. Show worked answer
Not feasible: “all students worldwide” cannot be sampled by one student. It may be interesting and relevant, but it is too broad to be novel in a focused way. Narrow the population (one university, one subject) and the outcome (for example, how often and for what tasks students use AI tools).
ExamQ6. Using PICO, write a research question to evaluate a free bus pass for students, and give one objective. [5] Show worked answer
P: undergraduates living more than 5 km from campus [1]. I: a free term-time bus pass [1]. C: similar students without the pass [1]. O: lecture attendance rate [1]. Question: “Among undergraduates living more than 5 km from campus, does a free bus pass, compared with no pass, raise lecture attendance?” Objective: “To compare attendance rates of pass holders and non-holders over one semester” [1].
Check yourself
1. The best research question is
It names the population, the variables and the setting, and assumes no answer.
2. In PICO, the C stands for
Comparison: what the intervention group is compared against.
3. A hypothesis is most typical of
Hypotheses are testable predictions from theory, used in deductive, mostly quantitative work.
Your score: 0 out of 3
The textbook and the practice book together: the Research Methods Made Simple bundle for $19 (was $24).Both books · $19
The short version
- Narrow a topic by fixing who, what, where and when.
- Check the question with FINER; use PICO for intervention questions.
- One aim, a few action-verb objectives, and hypotheses for the quantitative parts.
- Avoid built-in answers and value judgements.
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Research Proposal Kit · $5Turn this step into a one-page proposal: fill-in templates and a worked example. Free sample on the product page. Or get all 7 research kits for $19.
Want more questions like these, with worked answers?
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