Types Of Questions In Research
There are several types of questions in research but three basic ones will always come to mind when talking about research projects. They are presented below:
1. Descriptive research questions
These types of questions in research are asked and designed to provide answers to things that exists or what is going on. A very good example of a descriptive research question is an opinion poll to know what people think about the fairness of a judgment or about the qualification of a political candidate during elections. For example, is we are interested in finding out the percentage of people that will place their vote on a Republican or a Democratic in a presidential election, the interest is on giving descriptions.
2. Relational research questions
Research questions that are intended to establish relationships between variables are known as rational research questions. Questions can be asked to find out the proportion of people that will be willing to vote for a candidate against another candidate can be termed as rational questions. In these types of questions in research, there must be two or more variables before the study can be effectively conducted. A rational research question is used in organizations and research students to compare related variables and find of whether similarities exist between or among them.
3. Casual research questions
These types of questions in research are designed to find out if a variable is interrelated to another variable such that a change in the variable may influence a change in the other variable.
An example of these types of questions in research is when finding out whether an advertisement or promotional campaign will lead to an increase in profitability of an organization. Other direct examples include: ‘Does employee motivation lead to a considerable increase in workers’ productivity? Are there any significant relationships between benchmarking and corporate effectiveness? Will product development lead to increase profitability in an organization?
The above three types of questions in research can be seen as cumulative research questions. On the other hand, the rational study deals with the observation and measurement of variables in order to relate them with what is on ground. The casual approach takes the position of describing the cause and effect of the variables and trying to link them together. The descriptive research deals with a single variable and tries to ask questions that will provide in-depth descriptions or explanations on the nature and causes of events. Of all these types of questions in research, the most challenging one is the casual research question.
Selecting a research question is the focal point of both qualitative and quantitative research and they might provide avenue for the construction of the preceding conceptual framework. In a lot of situations, the research questions make the theoretical assumption of the conceptual framework clearer. Above all, the research questions serve as a guide towards the main intentions of the researcher and why they have decided to embark on such research. A study will then be carried with te intention of providing answered to the questions asked in the research question.
