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

The purpose of this guide is to provide links to databases and websites to support the business curriculum in the Knauss School of Business.

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:

  1. 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.
  2. 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?
  3. 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)?
  4. 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:

  1. Dictionaries
  2. Encyclopedias
  3. Handbooks 
  4. Biographies