On Asking Productive Research Questions

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Dr. Stuart Blythe
Department of English & Linguistics
Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne

 

Why is asking the right questions so important?

It's important to ask good questions because they point you in a specific direction while blinding you to other options. Philosopher Martin Heidegger makes this point when he claims, "Questioning builds a way."

Consider the example of the technician who was asked to address worker complaints about excessive noise on a factory floor. When told that workers were complaining, the technician measured sound levels in the plant. When faced with an exigency--i.e. when faced with worker complaints about noise--the technician asked, "How loud is the noise?" This, of course, directed that person to measure noise levels.

By simply measuring decibel levels, however, the technician ignored many other avenues of inquiry. Asking a different question (such as "Why are workers complaining about noise?") could have lead the technician down a different path-- perhaps toward initial interviews with workers.

You want to make sure you ask questions that lead down productive paths.

How can you ask the most productive questions?

Consider the following strategies for asking productive questions:

• Learn to differentiate primary questions from secondary questions. Primary questions are the first things that need to be answered; secondary questions should arise once the primary questions have been answered. (Sometimes, secondary questions arise before primary questions get asked. This can be a problem.) Whereas primary questions seek for general answers to the situation at hand, secondary questions seek for specific alternatives and consequences.

  For the technician, "Why are workers complaining about noise?" should have been the primary question. If the technician were to have found that workers were consistently describing a new rattle that they'd been hearing for the past six months, the next question becomes a more specific sub-question, "What's causing the rattle?" If the technician were to find the source of the rattle, a series of sub-questions aimed at finding solutions come into play: "How can I fix the rattle?" "What are my alternatives for fixing it?" "How much will each alternative cost?" "How much time would each alternative take?"

• Learn to recognize bias in questions, especially primary questions. Every question carries with it certain assumptions about what should be examined and what should be done. For example, by asking, "How loud is the noise?" the technician looked for technical answers, i.e., ways to measure noise. This question masked other types of issues, such as worker satisfaction, etc.

  It's especially important to control the bias in your primary questions. For example, consider the difficulties you might experience if you used the following questions:

  • How can we improve the food service in the company cafeteria?
    
  • How can a new data entry system reduce clerical errors?
    
  • Why do the project managers refuse to use our new on-line appointment system?

  Each of these three questions might be a good secondary question; however, each assumes that something else is already known. The first question, for instance, assumes that the food service in fact needs improvement. The second assumes that a data entry system may be the cause of error.

• Use time-honored journalistic question words: how, what , why, where, when, with whom. Using such question words won't guarantee that you'll reduce bias; however, you should remember that each word typically prompts you to pursue certain types of answers.

This Word	Prompts . . .
How	procedural questions
What	a listing of relevant items
Why	cause/effect questions
Where	questions regarding location
When	questions of timing
With Whom	a listing of relevant participants, players

Questions?

Be sure to contact me at 219-481-6770 or blythes@ipfw.edu with your questions.