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A tall wall of pale concrete in a hall at dusk. Four slim silver lamps stand on the dark floor before it: two throw white pools of light on the wall, the third a yellow pool, and the fourth is unlit, with the wall in front of it dark. A tall window at the far right looks on to the sea.

Research question generator

Find the questions your data can answer.

Try the generator

The film: the generator in 25 seconds, on an illustrative example. You write the question.

What the film shows, in words
  1. What could you ask, with the data you can reach?
  2. Mobile money use. Market traders. Kumasi. Transaction fees.
  3. A survey and interviews: 4 of 5 questions fit.
  4. Without the survey: 1 of 5.
  5. An existing dataset: 5 of 5.
  6. Five ways to ask. You choose, with your supervisor.

When one kind of data falls out of reach

A survey and interviews: four of five questions stand in the light.

The survey lights Describe, Explain and Compare; the interviews light Explore. Evaluate stands dark: the tool says “needs data you have not listed”.

ExampleWorked example: a master’s student interested in mobile money and small traders. Nothing is saved or sent.

Step 1 of 4

An existing datasetOff · would light 4
A survey I can runOn · lights 3 questions
InterviewsOn · lights 1 question
Documents or archivesOff · would light 1
Not sure yetLights nothing
  1. 01Describe1 lampWhat are the patterns of mobile money use among market traders in Kumasi?Needs: A survey or existing data covering enough people.fits the data you can reach
  2. 02Explain1 lampWhat factors are associated with mobile money use among market traders in Kumasi, and what role do transaction fees play?Needs: Measured factors for many cases; a survey or dataset.fits the data you can reach
  3. 03Explore1 lampHow do market traders in Kumasi experience mobile money use, particularly transaction fees?Needs: Interviews or observation with a purposive sample.fits the data you can reach
  4. 04EvaluateHow has a specific change affected mobile money use among market traders in Kumasi?Needs: A clear before-and-after or comparison group.needs data you have not listed
  5. 05Compare1 lampHow does mobile money use differ between market traders and another group in Kumasi?Needs: Comparable data for both groups.fits the data you can reach

4of 5 fit your data

The researcher writes every word. This tool gives questions, structure and checks, not assessed text. No literature is invented here.

Now your interest, and your data.

Write your interest in your own words and switch on the kinds of data you can really reach. The five questions rebuild as you type. They are starting points to refine with your supervisor, not an assessed proposal.

Time for the research

Changes the scope prompt below.

4of 5 fit your data

LiveThe researcher writes every word. This tool gives questions, structure and checks, not assessed text. No literature is invented here.

5question framings
4fit your data access
6 monthstime available

Ways to frame the question

  1. 01
    What are the patterns of mobile money use among market traders in Kumasi?Describe · fits the data you can reachNeeds: A survey or existing data covering enough people.
  2. 02
    What factors are associated with mobile money use among market traders in Kumasi, and what role do transaction fees play?Explain · fits the data you can reachNeeds: Measured factors for many cases; a survey or dataset.
  3. 03
    How do market traders in Kumasi experience mobile money use, particularly transaction fees?Explore · fits the data you can reachNeeds: Interviews or observation with a purposive sample.
  4. 04
    How has a specific change affected mobile money use among market traders in Kumasi?Evaluate · needs data you have not listedNeeds: A clear before-and-after or comparison group.
  5. 05
    How does mobile money use differ between market traders and another group in Kumasi?Compare · fits the data you can reachNeeds: Comparable data for both groups.

Feasibility prompts to discuss with your supervisor

Access

  • Who will give you access, and have they agreed?
  • Can you reach enough people in the time you have?

Ethics

  • Does the research need ethics approval, and how long does it take at your institution?
  • Could anyone be put at risk by taking part?

Scope

  • With six months or less, narrow the question to one population, one place and one main factor.
  • What would you have to leave out? Say so explicitly.

Literature

  • Search what is already known before settling on the question; the gap you find shapes it.

The researcher writes every word. This tool gives questions, structure and checks, not assessed text. No literature is invented here.

Your full reportShortlist of research-question options with feasibility promptsTry this form

Practice 11: Research supervision, academic coaching & publication supportFree · instant results on this pageTool owner: Prof. Wisdom Gagakuma and Michael GagakumaVersion 1.0 ·

Your questions, as they standYour organisation

  1. DescribeWhat are the patterns of mobile money use among market traders in Kumasi?fits the data you can reach
  2. ExplainWhat factors are associated with mobile money use among market traders in Kumasi, and what role do transaction fees play?fits the data you can reach
  3. ExploreHow do market traders in Kumasi experience mobile money use, particularly transaction fees?fits the data you can reach
  4. EvaluateHow has a specific change affected mobile money use among market traders in Kumasi?needs data you have not listed
  5. CompareHow does mobile money use differ between market traders and another group in Kumasi?fits the data you can reach
Topic
mobile money use
Framings
5
Fit your data
4

All five are listed: the tool shortlists nothing. Choosing between them is yours, with your supervisor.

Your full report

Shortlist of research-question options with feasibility prompts, by email once delivery is connected.

Your shortlist of research-question options with feasibility prompts (not an assessed proposal)

Preview only. No email will be sent. Your results are available above.

Nothing you enter here is sent anywhere. Privacy notice

· a free brief, or book the Professor · from USD 150

How it works, and its limits.

One rule does the matching: each way of asking is checked against the kind of data it needs. “Fits” speaks only of the kind of data. It does not say a study is feasible, approved or worth doing.

Method

  1. 01

    Five standard framings (describe, explain, explore, evaluate, compare) are built from your own words.

  2. 02

    Each framing is matched to the data it needs and checked against the data you can reach.

  3. 03

    Feasibility prompts cover access, ethics, scope and literature.

What it cannot tell you

  • Starting points, not an assessed proposal: refine the question with your supervisor.
  • No literature or sources are generated.
  • Your institution’s rules on originality apply.

Quality ruleNo fabricated literature or ready-to-submit assessed writing.

A board-marked concrete wall, square on: two pools of light overlap where the concrete is brighter, one of them citrine, with a strip of sea at the right.
Each way of asking is matched to the data it needs. Some are reached twice; some are not reached at all.

When a question needs a person

What you cannot reach yet is what to talk through.

A question that stands in the dark is not a poor question. It asks for data you have not listed, and access is something to work out with your supervisor or a coach. Coaching is not supervision, and nothing is written for you.

A dark triangular concrete pocket opening onto a bright glazed room and the sea beyond, with one small patch of citrine light on the far wall.

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What needs to move forward?

Tell us the decision, the challenge or the opportunity. We reply with a scoped approach, a named principal and a fee before any work begins.

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