It is normal in a research project to do some scoping of the available literature to see whether the project is feasible, for example is there enough literature and evidence to support what I want to do? Are there existing methods I can use, build upon, or adapt? Importantly this initial investigation helps you pinpoint the gap in the existing research that your project will (hopefully) fill.
See the other pages in this section for more guidance analysing the literature and referencing:
It is always a little daunting to start a larger research project, but a good place to start is to ask yourself:
For more on this see the short video tutorial on starting research for your dissertation:
As you read more, you will hopefully start to identify more specific areas or angles within your topic that are interesting and that you want to follow up; one of these may turn into your eventual research question.
Finding a research question may take some trial and error, so don’t panic if you don’t hit on the question straight away. Take some time to read and explore.
A top tip for finding a research question is to ask yourself questions about what you have found out. The kinds of questions to ask yourself, once you have done some initial reading, may include:
For more on this watch this short video tutorial on defining a research question:
There is also a section on going from a topic to a research question in the following study guide: