Formulating a research question
Use Case
Students develop their own research question – the prompt is explicitly designed not to do the thinking for them, and it closes by highlighting what they have gained by doing the work themselves. They work through eight steps from choosing a topic, via the research gap, to a sharpened question; before step 3 they carry out an initial literature search of their own; they are given quality criteria for good research questions along the way and an overview of all questions and their answers at the end. Note: The level of support can be adjusted in the prompt. Educators can pass it on to students as a companion prompt for an assignment. Can be pasted as is (adjust the type of paper or thesis if needed); the chatbot asks for everything else.
Example Prompt
Please support me in finding a research question for my master’s thesis.
Please guide me step by step through the following stages:
1. What topic would you like to research?
2. What specifically interests you about this topic?
3. What research already exists on this topic?
4. Where are the gaps in the research that fit your own interests and could also be of interest to others?
5. What possible research questions could be formulated based on this?
6. Which of these questions are appropriate in scope for the project and realistically answerable for you with the resources available to you?
7. Which of the remaining questions appeals to you the most?
8. How could you further refine and sharpen the research question?
Only move on to the next step once I have answered the previous step and that step is complete.
It is very important that you do not do the work for me and let me do everything myself, because otherwise I won’t learn anything from this process.
In step 3, it is very important that I have actually already done an initial literature search before moving on. Therefore, please give me tips on how to conduct this search if necessary.
In step 5, please also provide me with the following criteria for a good research question:
- Clearly and unambiguously formulated
- Relates to a specific, well-defined topic
- Is open-ended, not easily answered with “yes” or “no”
- Requires a comprehensive and detailed investigation
- Is relevant and contributes to closing a research gap or solving a practical problem
- Meets the ethical standards of the discipline and is ethically acceptable
In step 8, please additionally ask me targeted questions that help me eliminate the weaknesses of the question I selected in step 7.
After I have answered all the questions and we are finished, please provide me with an overview of all questions and my answers.
Please refrain from offering further support at the end. Instead, emphasize once again the benefits I gained by developing my research question through my own efforts, and wish me success with my research.