Developing a Research Question 4- steps

You may be noticing that I toggle between the philosophical self-critique to the practical.  This I do in my day to day life too.  Maybe it is part of doctoral training, or maybe it is just me.  I am hoping it will serve me well in the future as I work to bridge theory to practice and break down the ivory tower, but right now I may just look schizophrenic.  Oh well.

I found a great list of how to develop a meaningful research question and I just have to document it- for your own good and my own (probably more me than you since most people reading this are my non-researcher friends- I love you all)!

 I am working to know more about ethnographic and critical ethnographic studies and therefore am reading, reading, reading, and reading more on the topic.  My latest read, Critical Ethnography: Method, Ethics, and Performance by D. Soyini Madison (2005) is where I stumbled upon great advice. Her introduction writes generally about what critical ethnography is and how it differs from traditional ethnography, but ch.2, oh ch.2, this gets to the heart of how to develop a research question.  It is general enough for all types of research- something I appreciate and hope you will too, so I have to share it publicly. Soyini, if you're out there, THANK YOU!  I've been searching for this for years!!!! 


Here is what she says:


STEP 1     Ask yourself "what is the work my soul must have" (Alice Walker) and develop a topic from there.


STEP 2     Read past literature on the topic to familiarize yourself with the current discourse, methods and "findings".


STEP 3     Jot down titles, quotes, phrases, names, etc... from the literature that interested you.


STEP 4      Using the list and your own intuition WRITE questions- A LOT OF THEM.  In her words "write, write, and keep writing. Take a break, and then write more questions" (p.21).


STEP 5     Find overarching themes that run through the list- making connection and building "clusters of ideas... that surface" (p.21).


STEP 6     Write a topic/sub-heading question for each theme/cluster- this becomes your summary of topic questions


STEP 7      Consolidate your questions to determine what you want to study and why. "This is a process of prioritizing certain questions over others, eliminating overlaps, and blending questions together" (p.21).


TADA!  There it is.  Now if only I had found this a month ago.  Thank you D.Soyini Madison.




Madison, D.S. (2005). Critical Ethnography: Method, Ethics and Performance. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications