MECHENG 4901.01 Capstone Design I - General Projects

Research questions are essential to the research process. Students, researchers, and professionals alike use the research question to define the scope of their projects. The research question can help you figure out what you are interested in researching, what is feasible for you to research, what research methods or information sources might be relevant, and what conclusions you can draw from your research.

The following steps for developing a research question can help you organize your thoughts:

1. Pick a topic (or consider the one assigned to you).
2. Write a narrower/smaller topic that is related to the first.
3. List some potential questions that could logically be asked in relation to the narrow topic.
4. Pick the question that you are most interested in.
5. Change the question you are interested in so that it is more focused and specific.