Asking a good research question
Research starts with curiosity. Choose a topic you care about, then narrow it into one research question.
- Focused: not "pollution" but "How does traffic change air quality near our school between 8 am and 10 am?"
- Answerable with the time, tools and data you can get.
- Open: it starts with how, why, what or to what extent, not a simple yes/no fact you can look up.
In science you may also write a hypothesis: a testable prediction with a reason ("Quiet music will raise word recall because it lowers stress").
Finding information and checking sources
Primary sources are first-hand: your own survey, an experiment, an interview, a diary or original data. Secondary sources explain or discuss primary ones: textbooks, encyclopedias, review articles, documentaries.
Search smartly: use 2–4 keywords, try synonyms, use quotation marks for exact phrases, and look beyond the first result (library catalogues, science journals, government statistics sites, museum archives).
Is this source reliable?
- Who wrote it? Are they an expert? Is there a named author or organisation?
- When? Is it recent enough for your topic?
- Evidence: does it give data, references and methods?
- Purpose and bias: is it trying to inform, or to sell, or to push one side?
- Cross-check: do other good sources agree?
Be careful with social-media posts, forwarded messages and AI-generated text: check them against trusted sources before using them.
Collecting and analysing data
Choose a method that fits the question: survey or questionnaire, interview, observation, experiment, or using existing data.
- Quantitative data are numbers (marks, temperatures, counts). Show them in tables and graphs; use mean, range and percentages.
- Qualitative data are words and descriptions (opinions, interview answers). Look for repeated themes.
- Make it a fair test: change one thing, keep the rest the same, and use enough people or repeats (a bigger sample is more reliable).
- Ethics: ask permission, keep names private, never invent or change data.
When you analyse, look for patterns, compare groups and be careful: two things happening together does not prove one caused the other.
Concluding, citing and presenting
A conclusion answers the question using your evidence only. Also write an evaluation: what went well, what was weak (small sample, one school only) and what you would do next.
Citing means giving credit to every source you used, in the text and in a reference list, for example: Author (Year). Title. Publisher or website. Styles such as APA or Harvard are common. Using someone else's words or ideas without credit is plagiarism. Put ideas in your own words (paraphrase) and use quotation marks for exact words.
A typical report has: title, introduction and question, method, results (tables and graphs), discussion, conclusion, evaluation and references. You may also present it as a poster, slides or a talk.
Try it
Pick a question about your class, like "How many hours of sleep do we get?" Ask 10 classmates, make a bar chart, and write a 3-line conclusion with one weakness.
Key formulas and definitions
- Research cycle: Question → Plan → Check sources → Collect & analyse → Conclude → Share & cite
- Primary source = first-hand; secondary source = explains first-hand material
- Source check: Who? When? Evidence? Purpose/bias? Do others agree?
- Quantitative = numbers; qualitative = words
- Reference: Author (Year). Title. Source.
- Plagiarism = using others' work without credit
Worked examples
1. Improve the question "Plastic" into a research question.
"How much single-use plastic does one family in our street throw away in a week, and which items are most common?" It is focused, measurable and answerable.
2. Classify: (a) your class survey, (b) a school textbook, (c) a letter written in 1947, (d) an encyclopedia article.
(a) primary, (b) secondary, (c) primary, (d) secondary.
3. A website on the health benefits of a drink has no author and is run by the drink company. Is it reliable?
Weak. No named author and a clear reason to sell. Cross-check with independent health sources.
4. 10 students with music remembered on average 12 words; 10 in silence remembered 9. Can you say music causes better memory?
It suggests a link, but the sample is small and other things may differ between the groups. Repeat with more students and similar groups before claiming a cause.
5. Write a reference for a 2021 book called "Clean Rivers" by R. Mehta, published by Green Press.
Mehta, R. (2021). Clean Rivers. Green Press.
6. Survey results: 18 of 30 students walk to school. What percentage is that?
18 ÷ 30 × 100 = 60%.
Common mistakes
- Choosing a topic so wide that it cannot be answered, like "Space".
- Trusting the first search result without checking who wrote it and why.
- Copying sentences without quotation marks or a reference (plagiarism).
- Claiming one thing caused another just because they happened together.