Research questions: how to ask them, and examples

Research questions are the first step to take before starting the study of something that intrigues us. In science, knowing how to specify the objective of an investigation is necessary to know in which direction the investigation must be designed and with what kind of methodologies can be counted on.

In Psychology and other similar disciplines, such as Biology or Sociology, there are still many research questions that have not been answered. Below we will see some of them and how it is possible to propose new studies thanks to which we increase our level of knowledge about the subject in question.

• You may be interested: "50 questions to get to know a person better"

Research questions: the starting point of any study

The function of the research questions is to specify the unknown to be revealed (or partially unveil, in most cases). Knowing how to identify the problem well is as important as specifying what is not part of it, to avoid confusing similar concepts.

For example, if we want to know what influence the fact of having lived in the same household with his biological father and mother during childhood, we cannot ask the following question of investigation:

How does living with the family during the first years of life affect intelligence in adulthood?

In this case the concept "family" it's too ambiguous, and working with it can completely distort the research results. In addition, "the first years of life" is not an enlightening concept, it is much more convenient to specify by proposing, for example, a period of the 11 years that go from birth until puberty, approximately.

The operationalization of the initial doubt

Since scientific research always has a necessarily reductionist point (we are interested in knowing a very specific plot well reality, and not others), the research questions give way to other sub-questions that specify even more what is wanted answer. A) Yes, you go from a general question to more specific ones which, together, help to answer the first.

In the present case, these research questions of a hierarchy lower than the initial one could be:

• How does living with biological fathers and mothers during the first 11 years of life affect the crystallized intelligence?

• How does living with biological parents during the first 11 years of life affect fluid intelligence?

• How does living with biological fathers and mothers affect IC during the first 11 years of life?

Examples of research questions to be developed

Given the logic and purpose of the research questions, let's look at some examples of scientific mysteries that may surprise us in the future.

Of course, it is about unknowns posed in a general and abstract way, so that each person who wants to investigate must specify them more so that they adapt to what arouses the most interest.

1. Are memory mechanisms based on synapses or on the storage of molecules in neurons?

Although the first theory is the most accepted, some researchers believe that our memories they are not patterns of joint activation of neuronsRather, they are individual elements that can be found in each nerve cell separately.

• Related article: "Synapses may not be the basis of memory"

2. Is there a single intelligence, or several?

This is a doubt that lasts for decades, or even centuries, if we take into account the work of philosophers. There are several proposals according to which there is no single biological element that determines who is more intelligent than another, but a set of these that work in a relatively Independent. An example is found in the proposal of the Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligences or in the Sternberg theory.

3. What causes gender dysphoria?

Many transgender people suffer greatly from the perception that their gender identity does not match the observable characteristics of their body. It is not known if the root of this problem is biological or cultural, or to what extent both components are combined.

• Related article: "Gender dysphoria: being born in the wrong body"

4. Does decision making occur unconsciously?

Although we usually link the decision-making process to rationality and careful reflection of the expected consequences, there are evidence that we make many important decisions unconsciously, and then justify that decision through rationality.

5. Is male aggressiveness something cultural?

Around the planet, men are more likely to engage in acts of physical violence. This seems to suggest that it is a differentiated fact based on genes, but it is also possible that a universal characteristic is cultural.

• You may be interested: "The 11 types of violence (and the different types of aggression)"

6. How do human pheromones influence our behavior?

What we perceive through smell usually has a powerful impact on our mind, but in the case of pheromones it is not very clear how they act on us.

7. What causes autism?

The Autism Spectrum Disorders they are partly a mystery, and their cause is not well understood. Of course, it is ruled out that they are produced by vaccines, as is sometimes still defended today.

8. How do great apes think?

The group of primates made up of chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas and orangutans they are the most intelligent non-human animals that exist today, and much remains to be learned about their way of thinking.

9. Can psychopathy be eliminated?

There are people for whom psychopathy is not a problem, but in some cases it can be a psychological factor that predisposes them to harm others. In these cases, how to go about eliminating this psychological attribute?

• Related article: "Psychopathy: what happens in the psychopath's mind?"

10. What causes falling in love?

It has been said that falling in love with someone is something that depends on the contexts that they live together, and not on the personality and stable characteristics of the people. Which of the two explanations prevails?