What are the key elements of a clear and concise research question?

1. **Topic**: Clearly state the subject of the research. 2. **Objective**: Define the purpose or aim of the study. 3. **Variables**: Identify the main variables being investigated. 4. **Context**: Provide background information or context relevant to the question. 5. **Feasibility**: Ensure the question is answerable within the scope of the study. 6. **Clarity**: Use clear and unambiguous language. 7. **Relevance**: Address a significant issue or gap in the existing literature. 8. **Conciseness**: Keep the question brief and focused, avoiding unnecessary complexity or detail.

One thing that I found to help me in this case is scoped curiosity and good luck (higher tries/iterations lead to more luck). Working on validating ideas while sticking within the field of interest and keeping a reasonable scope eventually seem to lead to better relevance. Having well-intentioned experienced researchers/supervisors to bounce these ideas can be a blessing in this regard. Collaborating with field experts can further help to solidify the relevance. To me, it is a gradual process.

A clear and concise research question must be relevant. It should address a significant problem or gap in the field, demonstrating its importance. Connecting the question to existing literature highlights how it advances knowledge or practice. This relevance can be established by phrases like "Despite extensive research on...", "However, little is known about...", or "This study aims to fill this gap by...". A relevant question ensures that the research contributes meaningfully to the field.

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A clear research question needs specificity to avoid ambiguity, relevance to contribute to the field, clarity for easy understanding, feasibility within resource limits, researchability for empirical analysis, and originality for new insights. These elements together guarantee a question that is manageable, meaningful, and leads to significant findings.

Specificity is crucial for a clear research question. The question should be focused and narrow enough to be answered within the scope of the study. Avoid vague or general terms; instead, define key concepts, variables, and terms explicitly. Specify the population, context, and timeframe of the study. Phrases like "This study examines...", "The main question is...", or "The key terms are..." help achieve specificity, making the research question clear and precise.

This is very important, especially in the context of reporting scientific findings and authoring scientific articles. Having one primary question and and focusing on answering that through the data/logic gathered during the course of the study makes it easy to communicate our work to others. Additional relevant information or focus on a secondary question can either be added into the appendix section or can be used to form another scientific article.

Narrow the Focus: Refine the research question to address a specific topic or issue. Avoid Ambiguity: Eliminate vague or general terms for a clear and precise inquiry. Define Components: Explicitly outline key concepts, variables, and terms used in the question. Specify Parameters: Clearly state the population, context, and timeframe of the study.

I think specificity is more achieved by focusing on how and why questions rather than what. Though various phrases like examine, evaluate etc can be used, ultimately the research question should meet the purpose of the work.

Specificity ensures that the research question is focused and precise, avoiding ambiguity. Leveraging my Harvard operational strategy training, a well-defined question guides the research process efficiently, ensuring clarity in methodology and analysis. My extensive consulting experience underscores the necessity of narrowing the scope to produce actionable insights, reducing the risk of diluting findings and enabling a more targeted exploration of the research problem.

We call this the quantity vs quality problem (especially in terms of publications / deliverables). There needs to be a balance. Ofcourse quality is important but it can be a rabbit hole and can hinder progress in research in terms of the time and other resources it requires. When one starts the study, one cannot probably have all the data required for a perfectly high quality scientific article / deliverable. Quality is achievable through a gradual process. So set a deadline and report the study made so far / submit the deliverables, with the maximum quality achievable within that deadline and try to build on top of that for the next submission. Strategic iteration of this process can be a powerful tool to achieve both progress and quality.

Feasibility ensures that the research question is realistic and achievable given the resources, time, and data available. Consider the ethical, practical, and methodological implications. Ensure the question can be addressed within the study's scope by using phrases like "This study uses...", "The data is collected from...", or "The limitations of this study are...". A feasible research question is crucial for successful project completion.

Feasibility is MUCH easier for experienced researchers and very difficult for those just starting out. This is because many junior research scientists often do not have the required experience to gauge the resources & time needed to complete a project that has so many unknows. One big uncertainty is whether or not the hypothesis is reasonable or will produce a positive outcome (the opposite of the null hypothesis). Setbacks are inevitable & can unsettle even experienced researchers. So, knowing how to navigate or pivot in the middle of your work, or how to modify the research question or even change your hypothesis is often very difficult to do. Feasibility is often guesswork for everyone, and some are much better at it than others.

Feasibility is critical for the practical execution of a research project. With my Harvard-based understanding of operational strategy, a feasible research question considers the availability of resources, time constraints, and access to necessary data. My consulting background has consistently shown that a question must be manageable within the given parameters, ensuring that the research can be conducted effectively and lead to actionable outcomes without overextending resources.

Research can be stuffy, so perhaps we can engage the heart and the mind of the reader, even use a little wry humour. Research is important but it does not have to be boring. Consider that a really good question may make it's way beyond the research and out into the wider world, so questions can unintentionally be tools for change too.

Please be careful, by trying to be original, overly enthusiastic people might not be aware of the hypotheses assumed when pursuing new knowledge. Make sure to understand and make explicit acknowledgement of the set of suppositions on which the work relies.

To develop concise scientific writing, focus on clarity, structure, brevity and revision. 1. Use plain language and avoid jargon. Ensure that each sentence conveys a single idea clearly. 2. Follow the canonical format of scientific papers (IMRaD: Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion) to organize your thoughts logically but do not try to fit every mold. some molds are not worth fitting. 3. Eliminate unnecessary words and phrases. Aim for straightforward sentences that convey your message effectively. 4. Revise multiple drafts, seek feedback to refine your writing and enhance readability. I have found laconic dialog is a tremendous help. And, that most scientific papers get nothing done even when published first in tier journals.

Originality in a research question means it should be novel and innovative, not simply repeating what has been done before. It should add value or insight to existing literature and challenge or extend current knowledge. Use phrases like "This study explores...", "The novelty of this study is...", or "This study offers a new perspective on...". Originality ensures that the research contributes new knowledge to the field.

While originality is achievable through due diligence and curiosity, the problem regarding novelty is how taxing it can be to identify if something is truly novel. To claim to be first of a kind (assuming that's a property of novelty in research) is probably best left on the hands of historians as even a systemmatic literature survey (10.1177/0739456X17723971) can require multiple people working on it for months. Hence, novelty can be daunting to identify as a beginner. While not foolproof, we tackled this issue by reading a few latest literature surveys and recent relevant papers (published within the past 5 years) to get the lay of the land, identified key labs/people/authors and discussed with them about the hypothesis. Requires trust.

Clear and concise research questions typically include: 1. **Specificity:** Clearly define the scope and boundaries of your research. 2. **Measurability:** Formulate questions that can be answered with observable data or evidence. 3. **Relevance:** Ensure your questions directly relate to the objectives of your research. 4. **Clarity:** Use straightforward language, avoiding unnecessary jargon or ambiguity. 5. **Feasibility:** Ensure the research questions are realistic and can be feasibly addressed within the available resources. 6. **Conciseness:** Keep questions concise and focused, avoiding unnecessary details or complexity. 7. **Purpose:** Clearly state the purpose or goal your research aims to achieve.

In research, identifying the risks at elarier stage and plan mitigation strategy is most important. 1.Risk may be delay in procurment due to limited vendors. 2. Surprises in scaling the reactions or untoward incidents 3. GTI formation 4. Racemization, structural rotamers, degradation etc. All the issues can be address, when we have clarity in desinging the ROS.

Una pregunta de investigación clara y concisa tiene que poder ser transformada en una o varias hipótesis, es decir, tienes que ser capaz de tener posibles respuestas para esa pregunta.