How to Develop your Research Question: Examples from Webinars

By Martin Gertler

Without a determined problem no objective, without an objective no research question – without a research question no achievement of the objective and no solution to the problem!

 

Each semester it becomes clear how difficult it is for students to design clear formulations for these basic elements of a scientific paper and to develop a logical, comprehensible approach.

 

Therefore, this guide uses examples from mentoring in webinars to show how to develop a goal-oriented research question and what role the basic elements preceding it play: the problem and the objective.

 

In addition to each example, a sketch is given of what the further structure of the research project could look like.

 

The e-book links directly to suitable places for further information, e.g. to FAQ pages and instructional videos at learn2research.net.

 

 

Martin Gertler earned his doctorate in 1999 from the University of Nijmegen (Netherlands) because of an interdisciplinary study on the reception of a TV series.

 

In 2002, he became professor for media design (especially audio visual and interactive media), media production, media theories and reception research in the media department of the Rheinische Fachhochschule Köln.

 

In 2008 he was appointed founding rector of a new continuing education university in Berlin and as a university professor of Communication Sciences.

 

Since 2011 he is visiting professor for doctoral supervision and promotor in the part-time graduate college of the University of Humanistic Studies / Universiteit voor Humanistiek, Utrecht (Netherlands).

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookRix
• Release date: Nov 9, 2018
• ISBN: 9783743876644

Book preview

Introduction

The following circle is important for the targeted development of the research question.

The topic or the formulation of the topic is the determining guideline, everything that follows depends on it: the problem definition, without which no investigation would be necessary; the objective for solving the problem posed; it is followed by the research question in order to shape the path to achieving the goal and to be answered at the end of the whole.

You will also find these connections in this short Video - an excerpt from one of our webinars:

Link

(Note: all links - including those to such videos - always lead you from the e-book to your device's browser. Your e-book will be waiting for you at the same place afterwards.)

In this way, the procedure and choice of methodology can also be defined. One produces results, so to speak, which in turn are measured by the extent to which they have made the topic or the formulation of the topic true.

We also discussed which structural elements an investigation requires, in a webinar on the development of a research question. This was about how one could also prepare oneself for a written exam if there are tasks that concern the sketching of a research project. See the cutout here:

Six topic suggestions from different courses of study are now to serve as examples for actually experiencing the above circle in motion. They were introduced and discussed by the author in one of his webinars. This is followed by an example from an exam, combined with suggestions for optimization.

May the following considerations and tips help you to plan a coherent scientific procedure for your own project!

Berlin, August 2018

Prof. Dr. Martin Gertler

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