Download Developing a question

Scientific Inquiry: Developing Psychological Research Questions1
The scientific method starts with questions, but sometimes it might be difficult to take a broad interest
and translate it into a specific hypothesis.
Scientific inquiry can be divided into five types of questions. They are:
1. Questions of origin
2. Questions of function
3. Questions of interaction
4. Questions of application
5. Questions of extension
To understand how we might use these types of questions to develop specific hypotheses, I’ll use the
example of morality. Moral psychology includes issues related to justice, fairness, altruism, religion,
moral behavior, moral emotions, moral judgments, and moral disagreements. Obviously, this broad
concept has many facets.
Questions of origin are those questions directed at uncovering the beginning, source, starting point, or
cause of something. Looking for the origin of something can help us to understand its future behavior.
Morality example:
 What makes morality adaptive? At what point in our evolutionary past did morality develop? What types of
problems did morality solve in our evolutionary past?
 At what point in development do humans recognize others?
 When do children begin to think about choices in terms of morality? Does moral judgment become more
sophisticated over the life span?
 How do moral emotions develop over the life span?
 Is altruism adaptive?
Questions of function look at the purpose, role, or operation of something. When you look at the
function of something you understand more deeply the complex systems in which it operates or exists.
Morality example:
 What psychological function do moral principles and moral emotions serve?
 How does morality (justice, fairness, moral judgments, and altruism) help people to feel good about
themselves (self-esteem) and avoid feelings of loneliness?
 How do we justify our moral beliefs?
 Does punishing wrong-doers help people to maintain a positive self image?
 What function does organized religion serve?
 Does disgust and anger function to help people make moral judgments?
 Does empathy drive moral behavior?
 Do cognitive or motivational mechanism drive strong moral attitudes?
 What role do moral emotions play in moral judgments and behavior?
1
Adapted from Kerry Manzo’s “Questioning your world” activity.
Questions of interrelation expose the relationships, codependence, and bonds between and among
different things. Questions of interrelation take the natural world and show it as a complex system of
relationships.
Morality example:
 How does our desire to be accurate relate to moral disagreements?
 Are people who live in collective societies more likely to endorse utilitarian principles than those in
individualistic societies? Would collective primes increase utilitarian moral decisions?
 Do judgments about guilt depend on whether or not a person committed a crime on purpose?
 What types of moral problems are solved in terms of deontology (rule based morals) versus utilitarianism
(morality that maximizes positive outcomes for others)? What aspects of a situation make it amenable to
deontological moral judgments and what aspects of a situation make utilitarian judgments more likely?
Questions of application lead us to think about the practical uses of the science we uncover. Because it is
important to ultimately take science beyond the classroom or lab, we must constantly be thinking about
how to get it there.
Morality example:
 Do fair procedures in the workplace increase job satisfaction?
 How does fairness operate in romantic relationships? Does fairness in increase relationship longevity?
 Does praise increase academic success?
 How can people promote pro-social and altruistic behaviors in their neighborhoods?
 Does organized religion help people cope with stressors?
 Does punishment decrease aggression and violence?
Questions of extension help us build new work on previous work by spreading out, going beyond,
replicating, and reinforcing our previous ideas. With questions of extension you want to not only build,
but at the same time evaluate what you have already accomplished.
Morality example:
 Under what conditions does a large group sizes inspire altruism and helping behavior? Which factors
increase altruism in small group situations? [Extension of the bystander effect]
 Are there any conditions under which people will blame others even when they are not responsible for their
own fates? [Extension of research showing that people are unlikely to blame those who are not responsible
for their fate]
 What can be done to decrease victim blame? [Extension of research on victim blame]
 Are people willing to trust others who resemble their family members? [Extension of research showing that
altruism is more likely in one’s kin group]
Develop questions based on your reading
Another way to develop a research question is to first learn about your topic area by reading research reports and
determining what is missing from the literature. Become aware of the kinds of theoretical or methodological
gaps that exist in the literature. There are any number of gaps that you might consider






What questions have not been addressed?
In what settings is research lacking?
Are there any variables (or constructs) that have not been examined but may be related to the
issue?
Have all research methods (survey, experiments, observations) been used to examine the question
or set of questions?
o Are there alternative operational definitions for the constructs of interest that would help
to generalize the findings? For example, could you measure or manipulate one of the
variables in a different way?
Are there any populations that have been ignored with regard to this issue (e.g., East Asians,
mature adults, professionals, Buddhists)?
Theoretically or methodologically are there alternative explanations for the phenomena than that
proposed that could be tested?