How can you ensure your research question is relevant to current debates in your field?

Acceleration needed in implementing ESG Shipping, and with it fishing and maritime tourism, lags behind other industries in terms of commitment to the implementation of ESG. Only some leading operator companies have taken steps to bring their operations closer to ESG requirements. It is mainly large, global shipowners who set the directions for sustainable development. In Poland, an example is Stena Line, which introduced the most modern vessels on the Gdynia – Karlskrona connection. But practically, only part of the world’s fleet is ESG-compliant.

Creating scientific knowledge is increasingly complex. In my view, a good research question should be strong in at least one of three aspects: - It is aimed at covering a gap in the existing literature of a field and from a certain discipline - It is aimed to reduce a gap among different disciplines researching on the same field - It comes from a great societal challenge that may require the creation of new concepts, collecting new type of data, experimenting with methods, paying attention to new variables, etc.

Reading the best scientific journals ,attending different scientific conferences and meetings (relevant of research topic), presenting and giving a lecture by conferences as like as key presenter or contributer. Reading books old&new are very important.Networking of research relevant scientific groups all over the world via Linkedin or aother platforms helping to get currently new research results and to know new findings as well as new relevant innovative ideas on sccience and technology.Teaching and giving lectures for students based on my field globally helped me to update my self because I must prepare for students to give the new and innovative science and technology idea.Visiting the library and looking very old books helped too.

Formulating a narrowed research question can be challenging, especially at the beginning of one's research career. However, I find that taking a bit of time to construct a framework by breaking down bigger questions into smaller ones can be helpful in the narrowing process.

Narrowing your research topic is paramount for academic success and meaningful contributions to knowledge. A focused inquiry enables depth, clarity, and precision, fostering a deeper understanding of your subject. It saves time and resources, making research more manageable and effective. In a world inundated with information, a well-defined topic allows you to stand out, providing a clear direction for your study. In essence, the importance of narrowing your research topic lies in its ability to sharpen your focus and maximize the impact of your research.

Narrowing the topic follows from the literature. I always say a research question is to a research project what salt is to a dish: you can always add more salt if something is lacking but taking out salt is much harder than the other way round. Always keep in mind which particular debate you want to participate in and situate your question in that, or perhaps you want to connect different debates - so situating yourself in literature is important.

Link your research question directly to a specific point or stipulation of a relevant policy or Act in your area of expertise. This also assists when presenting the final answer to prove relevance of findings as new knowledge in your field of expertise.

I have always advised against such broadly defined questions. I jokingly remark that broad questions help one write an encyclopedia, while narrowly defined questions are quite useful for papers and books.

Develop your purpose statement and see how your research questions fit in. Your research question should be based on “how” and “why”.

One thing I've found helpful was reading introductions and summaries. These section often do mention questionable gaps within the research. Try to read those to see if your purpose could be tailored from that.

Formulating a research question primarily depends on the questions: 1. Who would you like to speak to? 2. What do you want to say to them? The research question has immense consequences for methodology as well - it determines how this question can be (or will be) answered. Narrowing it necessitates knowing what the problem is.

A well-defined research question instils focus and coherence into the research endeavour. It prevents the researcher from falling into the abyss of vagueness and ensures that every step is purposeful and aligned with the overarching goal. In essence, it saves precious intellectual energy that might otherwise be wasted on irrelevant pursuits.

consider to design a controlled overlap to neighbor concepts and rival viewpoints. our questions should not be insulated as an island far from the context knowledge. It should be new but in a meaningful relation to surrounding concepts.

Testing a research question serves multiple pivotal purposes. Firstly, it ensures the question is clear, concise, and unambiguous, preventing confusion and misinterpretation. Secondly, it gauges the feasibility of conducting the research within the available constraints, such as time, budget, and data availability. This, in turn, promotes efficient resource allocation. Moreover, testing helps ascertain the relevance and significance of the question within the broader academic or practical context.

Finally, ask yourself if your research question addresses a gap, challenge, or controversy in your field. Does it contribute to the existing knowledge base, and can it potentially impact policy, practice, or theory? If the answer is yes, your research question is likely relevant to current debates in your field.

Yes, making a questionnaire in research is core to making our research a product of a worthy value. More importantly enough that our questionnaire must be objectively related to our topic. While selecting the question, we must profoundly be concerned about the clarity, motive and purpose of the question. We must take a feedback of our questionnaire as it is the epicenter of making our research hypothesis. Moreover, we need to be pragmatic to choose those who will answer our questions. The choice to select the experts is key to a good research.

Testing a question is iconic of research as an iterative process. Once you have studied the literature, formulated a clear problem, and written a question, try and reverse-engineer the debate from the question. This will make obvious what the assumptions are, what perspectives you may be missing, what terms you may be borrowing from that may be unclear, and whether the question can lead to a novel contribution.

To test your research question, I'd ask myself: Whether my question is relevant to the topic; Whether my question is too broad/narrow; Whether wording used in my question is clear and focused; Whether my question is unique; Whether my question aims to explore innovative perspectives that can add value to the current literature.

When deciding on a research question, in the current times, it would be quite useful to follow tenets from design thinking - understand what your potential users desire and explore avenues of co-creating solutions. Every research will have some potential users and stakeholders. Learn to think from their point of view. The other important and ethical consideration is to examine how your research can contribute to UN Sustainable Development Goals. While the UNSDGs are by no means the last word in this matter, they are a good point to start and examine your research in context.

Drawing from my strength in improv, I've developed a unique approach to crafting research questions that explore untold stories and diverse perspectives. Much like in improv, where we ask 'what else is true?' to uncover unexpected narratives, my research questions often begin with, 'If this is true, what else is true?' This pushes me to delve beyond the obvious and embrace hidden layers of a topic. In research, this means considering diverse perspectives, often marginalized or overlooked, to bring forward untold stories and enrich the narrative. Empathy, a core aspect of improv, plays a pivotal role in my research. It enables me to connect deeply with subjects and colleagues, fostering a profound understanding of what answers they seek.

Literature review and survey in our field can certainly help in understanding the current status of research. Also, participation in conference and webinar can help in knowing the current debates in the field. Once, we formulate our research question then getting feedback from peers/experts can help in assessment of its relevance and it can be refined accordingly.

Always look for the contrast! Understanding concepts from more angles, including contrarian views, helps you become very clear on your story and why you support it.

Think about whom the research is intended to benefit. Talk to at least one person (preferably more) from that group , or talk to advocates for those folks, run your question by them, and find out if it resonates, how else it could be improved, or what other questions you could answer in the course of your research that would benefit them. Be prepared that perhaps nobody cares about the debates in your field, and maybe it’s something else entirely you should focus on. Some years ago I engaged a patient advocate in planning a conference research panel on health equity. She told me none of the panelists’ topics mattered much and we needed to focus on the high price of prescription medicines. She was right.