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Some Specific Examples

16 February, 2016 - 12:58

Throughout this chapter, you have seen a number of examples of research questions, and you’ve read about features that distinguish good sociological research questions from not-so-good questions. Putting all this advice together, let’s take a look at a few more examples of possible sociological research questions and consider the relative strengths and weaknesses of each. "Table 4.2" does just that. While reading the table, keep in mind that I have only noted what I view to be the most relevant strengths and weaknesses of each question. Certainly each question may have additional strengths and weaknesses not noted in the table. Also, it may interest you to know that the questions in "Table 4.2" all come from undergraduate sociology student projects that I have either advised in the course of teaching sociological research methods or have become familiar with from sitting on undergraduate thesis committees. The work by thesis students is cited.

Table 4.2 Sample Sociological Research Questions: Strengths and Weaknesses

Sample question

Question's strengths

Question's weaknesses

Proposed alternative

Do children's books teach us about gender norms in our society?

Written as a question

Written as a yes/no

What (or how) do children's books teach us about gender norms in our society?

Focused

Why are some men such jerks?

Written as a question

Lacks theoretical grounding

Who supports sexist attitudes and why?

Focused

Biased

Does sexual maturity change depending on where you're from?

Written as a question

Unclear phrasing

How does knowledge about sex vary across different geographical regions?

Written as a yes/no

What is sex?

Written as a question

Too broadly focused

How do students' definitions of sex change as they age?

Not clear whether question is sociological

Does not consider relationships among concepts

Do social settings and peers and where you live influence a college student's exercise and eating habits?

Written as a question

Lacks clarity

How does social setting influence a person's engagement in healthy behaviors?

Considers relationships among multiple concepts

Unfocused

Written as a yes/no

What causes people to ignore someone in need of assistance?

Written as a question

   

Socially relevant

How do older workers cope with unemployment? (Steenburgh, 2010) 1

Written as a question

   

Focused

More than one plausible answer

Why do so few college-aged men volunteer? (Bernstein, 2010) 2

Written as a question

   

Socially relevant

More than one plausible answer

How have representations of race and gender in horror films changed over time? (Potvin, 2007) 3

Written as a question

   

Considers relationships among multiple concepts

 

KEY TAKEAWAYS

  • Most strong sociological research questions have five key features: written in the form of a question, clearly focused, beyond yes/no, more than one plausible answer, and consider relationships among concepts.
  • A poorly focused research question can lead to the demise of an otherwise well-executed study.

EXERCISES

  1. Name a topic that interests you. Now keeping the features of a good research question in mind, come up with three possible research questions you could ask about that topic.
  2. Discuss your topic with a friend or with a peer in your class. Ask that person what sorts of questions come to mind when he or she thinks about the topic. Also ask that person for advice on how you might better focus one or all the possible research questions you came up with on your own.