Most assignment briefs give you a topic, not a question. “Discuss customer service in hospitality” or “Explore health inequalities in the UK” are huge areas, and if you try to cover everything, your work ends up broad, descriptive and hard to mark well. A strong research question gives your assignment a clear direction and tells your reader exactly what you are going to find out.
What makes a research question “strong”?
A good research question is:
- Focused: it looks at one issue, not five.
- Answerable: you can answer it with the time, word count and sources you have.
- Arguable: there is more than one possible answer, so you need evidence to reach a conclusion.
- Relevant: it clearly links to your assignment brief and marking criteria.
Step 1: Start with the brief and marking criteria
Before you choose anything, read the brief twice and highlight the key instruction words, such as analyse, evaluate or compare. Then look at the marking criteria. If the top band asks for “critical evaluation of evidence”, your question must allow you to weigh up different sources, not just describe them.
Step 2: Narrow the topic
Take your broad topic and narrow it down using one or more of these filters:
- Who? A specific group, such as first-time care workers or small independent hotels.
- Where? A country, region or type of organisation.
- When? A time period, such as since 2020.
- Which aspect? One factor, such as training, cost or staff retention.
For example, “customer service in hospitality” could become “staff training and customer satisfaction in small UK hotels”.
Step 3: Turn it into a question
Questions that begin with how, why or to what extent usually lead to more analytical answers than questions that begin with what.
Before: What is customer service in hotels?
After: To what extent does staff training affect customer satisfaction in small independent UK hotels?
Step 4: Test your question
Ask yourself these four questions before you commit:
- Can I find enough credible sources on this?
- Can I answer it properly within my word count?
- Does it match what the brief and marking criteria ask for?
- Could two people reasonably disagree about the answer?
If the answer to any of these is “no”, adjust the scope. It is completely normal to refine your question several times as you read.
Step 5: Check it with your tutor
Many tutors are happy to look at a draft research question. A quick check early on can save you hours of reading in the wrong direction.
Quick summary
- Start from the brief and marking criteria.
- Narrow your topic by who, where, when and which aspect.
- Use “how”, “why” or “to what extent”.
- Test that it is focused, answerable and arguable.
Once you have a strong question, choosing sources, planning your structure and writing your conclusion all become much easier, because you always know what you are trying to answer.