Primary Research Question– Easy Explanation with the Help of Effective Examples
If you want a complete in-depth view of primary research questions for your thesis or dissertation, then you’ve come to the right place.
Since we know that you will never be able to understand what primary investigative questions are without examples, we’ll first tell you what the two different types of study questions are and then we’ll try to elaborate further with examples of primary research.
There are two basic types of research questions:
Secondary research question:
When the researcher takes already existing data for his own study, it is known as secondary research. The question that describes the main specific objective of this type of research is known as a secondary research question. Types of data collection methods include governmental statistics, focus group transcripts, journals, etc.
Primary research question:
When a researcher carries out an investigation to collect original and first-hand data, it is called primary research. The question that describes the main specific objective of this type of research is known as the primary study question. Types of data collection methods include personal observation, interviews, questionnaires, focus groups, mystery shopping, etc.
For primary research, it is extremely important to formulate a good research question as the more effectively the question describes the objectives of the research, the better direction it will give the study. These types of research questions have two approaches:
Qualitative research questions:
These are research questions formed to gather personal opinions and subjective views instead of statistics and mathematics. They include personal interviews and personal observations.
Quantitative research questions:
These are research questions formed to gather statistical data instead of subjective opinions. They include field experiments, surveys, and questionnaires.
Primary Study Question Example:
Quite often the primary study questions are vague and indistinct due to which they are not easily researchable. Primary questions need to be broken down into specific sub-problems that reflect the explicit objective of the topic and then formulated into the structure of a question so that the primary study question is relevant and provides a direction for the entire thesis or dissertation.
Primary Research Question Example No.1:
Topic: You are trying to conduct a study on substance abuse patterns of teenagers in the area
Correct Research Questions: Some correct primary study questions that will reflect the specific objective of the research is:
- What is the relationship between substance abuse in teenagers and their level of education?
- What is the relationship between substance abuse in teenagers and their early childhood experiences?
- What is the relationship between substance abuse in teenagers and the crime rate in the locality?
- Are teenage boys are more inclined towards substance abuse than teenage girls?
Primary Research Question Example No.2:
Topic: You are trying to conduct a study on the rising divorce rate in western countries
Correct Research Questions:
- What is the relationship between divorce and the couple’s previous relationships?
- What is the relationship between divorce and the couple’s level of education?
- What is the relationship between divorce and domestic violence?
- What is the relationship between divorce and a female’s career goals?
