Research Guides: Business Research Library Guide for Graduate Students: How to Write a Research Question

Steps for Developing Your Research Question

Step 1: Start with the basics: Conduct a general search on your topic.

Investigate what sources are available.
What are you interested in analyzing?
What do you want or need to know about your topic?
What are the requirements of your assignment? What kinds of sources does your professor require?

Step 2: Create a query.

List the keywords in your own words. This includes creating a list of synonyms for your topic.
Use general search techniques such as phrase searching (e.g., "corporate social responsibility"), Boolean Operators (AND, OR, NOT), truncation (rac*=race, races, racism, racial).
Employ business search techniques such as the ticker symbol, industry classification codes.

Step 3: Conduct background research

Encyclopedias, newspapers, magazines, Google Scholar can be very useful for learning about your topic and help you decide what questions or themes you want to include in your paper.
Consult Bibliographies - utilize the work that has already been done

Step 4: Write your research question

Questions to consider when writing your research question. They will help you organize your thoughts about your topic and help you pick specific themes or subtopics related to your main. Answering the following questions will help:

Who: Is there a specific group or person you want to investigate or understand their experiences? Consider race or ethnicity, social or economic groups, gender or sexuality, age, or other human experiences.
What: What issue or problem are you researching or trying to solve? Why is your research question important? How are you adding your voice to the conversation about this topic?
Where: Is your research going to analyze a local (e.g., neighborhood in San Diego), regional (e.g., San Diego or Orange County), or national issue (e.g., United States or another country)?
When: Is your research current or historical?

Example of a research question:

What action should social networking sites like Instagram and Facebook take to protect users’ personal information and privacy?

Background research

Below are links to library databases that contain:

Dictionaries
Encyclopedias
Handbooks
Biographies

Credo Reference
A digital library containing high-quality reference books from the world's leading publishers. Offers access to millions of entries and contains all types of reference books including dictionaries and encyclopedias, covering science to Shakespeare.
CQ Researcher
Provides reports on current issues including an introduction, chronology, opposing positions, statistical data, and bibliography.
Britannica Academic

Online access to the academic version of the Encyclopedia Britannica. Britannica Academic contains over 100,000 articles and historical Britannica Year in Review supplemental articles, plus an expansive collection of multimedia including images, videos, audio, interactives, and infographics. Academic access also includes reference dictionary definitions from Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate® Dictionary, journal and periodical content provided by EBSCO, hand-picked Web’s Best Sites links, and primary sources & e-books from multiple sources including the Lillian Goldman Law Library at Yale Law School.
Biography in Context

Combines Gale biographies with related full-text articles from magazines and newspapers, thousands of images, and links to vetted websites. Search for current or historic figures based on name, occupation, nationality, ethnicity, birth/death dates and places, or gender, as well as keyword and full text.