questions to ask while doing research

Research Question 101 📖

Everything you need to know to write a high-quality research question

By: Derek Jansen (MBA) | Reviewed By: Dr. Eunice Rautenbach | October 2023

If you’ve landed on this page, you’re probably asking yourself, “ What is a research question? ”. Well, you’ve come to the right place. In this post, we’ll explain what a research question is , how it’s differen t from a research aim, and how to craft a high-quality research question that sets you up for success.

Research Question 101

What is a research question.

• Research questions vs research aims
• The 4 types of research questions
• How to write a research question
• Frequently asked questions
• Examples of research questions

As the name suggests, the research question is the core question (or set of questions) that your study will (attempt to) answer .

In many ways, a research question is akin to a target in archery . Without a clear target, you won’t know where to concentrate your efforts and focus. Essentially, your research question acts as the guiding light throughout your project and informs every choice you make along the way.

Let’s look at some examples:

What impact does social media usage have on the mental health of teenagers in New York?

How does the introduction of a minimum wage affect employment levels in small businesses in outer London?

How does the portrayal of women in 19th-century American literature reflect the societal attitudes of the time?

What are the long-term effects of intermittent fasting on heart health in adults?

As you can see in these examples, research questions are clear, specific questions that can be feasibly answered within a study. These are important attributes and we’ll discuss each of them in more detail a little later . If you’d like to see more examples of research questions, you can find our RQ mega-list here .

Research Questions vs Research Aims

At this point, you might be asking yourself, “ How is a research question different from a research aim? ”. Within any given study, the research aim and research question (or questions) are tightly intertwined , but they are separate things . Let’s unpack that a little.

A research aim is typically broader in nature and outlines what you hope to achieve with your research. It doesn’t ask a specific question but rather gives a summary of what you intend to explore.

The research question, on the other hand, is much more focused . It’s the specific query you’re setting out to answer. It narrows down the research aim into a detailed, researchable question that will guide your study’s methods and analysis.

Let’s look at an example:

Research Aim: To explore the effects of climate change on marine life in Southern Africa.

Research Question: How does ocean acidification caused by climate change affect the reproduction rates of coral reefs?

As you can see, the research aim gives you a general focus , while the research question details exactly what you want to find out.

Need a helping hand?

Types of research questions

Now that we’ve defined what a research question is, let’s look at the different types of research questions that you might come across. Broadly speaking, there are (at least) four different types of research questions – descriptive , comparative , relational , and explanatory . 

Descriptive questions ask what is happening. In other words, they seek to describe a phenomena or situation . An example of a descriptive research question could be something like “What types of exercise do high-performing UK executives engage in?”. This would likely be a bit too basic to form an interesting study, but as you can see, the research question is just focused on the what – in other words, it just describes the situation.

Comparative research questions , on the other hand, look to understand the way in which two or more things differ , or how they’re similar. An example of a comparative research question might be something like “How do exercise preferences vary between middle-aged men across three American cities?”. As you can see, this question seeks to compare the differences (or similarities) in behaviour between different groups.

Next up, we’ve got exploratory research questions , which ask why or how is something happening. While the other types of questions we looked at focused on the what, exploratory research questions are interested in the why and how . As an example, an exploratory research question might ask something like “Why have bee populations declined in Germany over the last 5 years?”. As you can, this question is aimed squarely at the why, rather than the what.

Last but not least, we have relational research questions . As the name suggests, these types of research questions seek to explore the relationships between variables . Here, an example could be something like “What is the relationship between X and Y” or “Does A have an impact on B”. As you can see, these types of research questions are interested in understanding how constructs or variables are connected , and perhaps, whether one thing causes another.

Of course, depending on how fine-grained you want to get, you can argue that there are many more types of research questions , but these four categories give you a broad idea of the different flavours that exist out there. It’s also worth pointing out that a research question doesn’t need to fit perfectly into one category – in many cases, a research question might overlap into more than just one category and that’s okay.

The key takeaway here is that research questions can take many different forms , and it’s useful to understand the nature of your research question so that you can align your research methodology accordingly.

How To Write A Research Question

As we alluded earlier, a well-crafted research question needs to possess very specific attributes, including focus , clarity and feasibility . But that’s not all – a rock-solid research question also needs to be rooted and aligned . Let’s look at each of these.

A strong research question typically has a single focus. So, don’t try to cram multiple questions into one research question; rather split them up into separate questions (or even subquestions), each with their own specific focus. As a rule of thumb, narrow beats broad when it comes to research questions.

Clear and specific

A good research question is clear and specific, not vague and broad. State clearly exactly what you want to find out so that any reader can quickly understand what you’re looking to achieve with your study. Along the same vein, try to avoid using bulky language and jargon – aim for clarity.

Unfortunately, even a super tantalising and thought-provoking research question has little value if you cannot feasibly answer it. So, think about the methodological implications of your research question while you’re crafting it. Most importantly, make sure that you know exactly what data you’ll need (primary or secondary) and how you’ll analyse that data.

A good research question (and a research topic, more broadly) should be rooted in a clear research gap and research problem . Without a well-defined research gap, you risk wasting your effort pursuing a question that’s already been adequately answered (and agreed upon) by the research community. A well-argued research gap lays at the heart of a valuable study, so make sure you have your gap clearly articulated and that your research question directly links to it.

As we mentioned earlier, your research aim and research question are (or at least, should be) tightly linked. So, make sure that your research question (or set of questions) aligns with your research aim . If not, you’ll need to revise one of the two to achieve this.

FAQ: Research Questions

Research question faqs, how many research questions should i have, what should i avoid when writing a research question, can a research question be a statement.

Typically, a research question is phrased as a question, not a statement. A question clearly indicates what you’re setting out to discover.

Can a research question be too broad or too narrow?

Yes. A question that’s too broad makes your research unfocused, while a question that’s too narrow limits the scope of your study.

Here’s an example of a research question that’s too broad:

“Why is mental health important?”

Conversely, here’s an example of a research question that’s likely too narrow:

“What is the impact of sleep deprivation on the exam scores of 19-year-old males in London studying maths at The Open University?”

Can I change my research question during the research process?

How do i know if my research question is good.

A good research question is focused, specific, practical, rooted in a research gap, and aligned with the research aim. If your question meets these criteria, it’s likely a strong question.

Is a research question similar to a hypothesis?

Not quite. A hypothesis is a testable statement that predicts an outcome, while a research question is a query that you’re trying to answer through your study. Naturally, there can be linkages between a study’s research questions and hypothesis, but they serve different functions.

How are research questions and research objectives related?

The research question is a focused and specific query that your study aims to answer. It’s the central issue you’re investigating. The research objective, on the other hand, outlines the steps you’ll take to answer your research question. Research objectives are often more action-oriented and can be broken down into smaller tasks that guide your research process. In a sense, they’re something of a roadmap that helps you answer your research question.

Need some inspiration?

If you’d like to see more examples of research questions, check out our research question mega list here .  Alternatively, if you’d like 1-on-1 help developing a high-quality research question, consider our private coaching service .

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This post was based on one of our popular Research Bootcamps . If you're working on a research project, you'll definitely want to check this out ...

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How to Write a Good Research Question (w/ Examples)

What is a Research Question?

A research question is the main question that your study sought or is seeking to answer. A clear research question guides your research paper or thesis and states exactly what you want to find out, giving your work a focus and objective. Learning  how to write a hypothesis or research question is the start to composing any thesis, dissertation, or research paper. It is also one of the most important sections of a research proposal . 

A good research question not only clarifies the writing in your study; it provides your readers with a clear focus and facilitates their understanding of your research topic, as well as outlining your study’s objectives. Before drafting the paper and receiving research paper editing (and usually before performing your study), you should write a concise statement of what this study intends to accomplish or reveal.

Research Question Writing Tips

Listed below are the important characteristics of a good research question:

A good research question should:

• Be clear and provide specific information so readers can easily understand the purpose.
• Be focused in its scope and narrow enough to be addressed in the space allowed by your paper
• Be relevant and concise and express your main ideas in as few words as possible, like a hypothesis.
• Be precise and complex enough that it does not simply answer a closed “yes or no” question, but requires an analysis of arguments and literature prior to its being considered acceptable. 
• Be arguable or testable so that answers to the research question are open to scrutiny and specific questions and counterarguments.

Some of these characteristics might be difficult to understand in the form of a list. Let’s go into more detail about what a research question must do and look at some examples of research questions.

The research question should be specific and focused 

Research questions that are too broad are not suitable to be addressed in a single study. One reason for this can be if there are many factors or variables to consider. In addition, a sample data set that is too large or an experimental timeline that is too long may suggest that the research question is not focused enough.

A specific research question means that the collective data and observations come together to either confirm or deny the chosen hypothesis in a clear manner. If a research question is too vague, then the data might end up creating an alternate research problem or hypothesis that you haven’t addressed in your Introduction section .

The research question should be based on the literature 

An effective research question should be answerable and verifiable based on prior research because an effective scientific study must be placed in the context of a wider academic consensus. This means that conspiracy or fringe theories are not good research paper topics.

Instead, a good research question must extend, examine, and verify the context of your research field. It should fit naturally within the literature and be searchable by other research authors.

References to the literature can be in different citation styles and must be properly formatted according to the guidelines set forth by the publishing journal, university, or academic institution. This includes in-text citations as well as the Reference section . 

The research question should be realistic in time, scope, and budget

There are two main constraints to the research process: timeframe and budget.

A proper research question will include study or experimental procedures that can be executed within a feasible time frame, typically by a graduate doctoral or master’s student or lab technician. Research that requires future technology, expensive resources, or follow-up procedures is problematic.

A researcher’s budget is also a major constraint to performing timely research. Research at many large universities or institutions is publicly funded and is thus accountable to funding restrictions. 

The research question should be in-depth

Research papers, dissertations and theses , and academic journal articles are usually dozens if not hundreds of pages in length.

A good research question or thesis statement must be sufficiently complex to warrant such a length, as it must stand up to the scrutiny of peer review and be reproducible by other scientists and researchers.

Research Question Types

Qualitative and quantitative research are the two major types of research, and it is essential to develop research questions for each type of study. 

Quantitative Research Questions

Quantitative research questions are specific. A typical research question involves the population to be studied, dependent and independent variables, and the research design.

In addition, quantitative research questions connect the research question and the research design. In addition, it is not possible to answer these questions definitively with a “yes” or “no” response. For example, scientific fields such as biology, physics, and chemistry often deal with “states,” in which different quantities, amounts, or velocities drastically alter the relevance of the research.

As a consequence, quantitative research questions do not contain qualitative, categorical, or ordinal qualifiers such as “is,” “are,” “does,” or “does not.”

Categories of quantitative research questions

Qualitative research questions.

In quantitative research, research questions have the potential to relate to broad research areas as well as more specific areas of study. Qualitative research questions are less directional, more flexible, and adaptable compared with their quantitative counterparts. Thus, studies based on these questions tend to focus on “discovering,” “explaining,” “elucidating,” and “exploring.”

Categories of qualitative research questions

Quantitative and qualitative research question examples.

Good and Bad Research Question Examples

Below are some good (and not-so-good) examples of research questions that researchers can use to guide them in crafting their own research questions.

Research Question Example 1

The first research question is too vague in both its independent and dependent variables. There is no specific information on what “exposure” means. Does this refer to comments, likes, engagement, or just how much time is spent on the social media platform?

Second, there is no useful information on what exactly “affected” means. Does the subject’s behavior change in some measurable way? Or does this term refer to another factor such as the user’s emotions?

Research Question Example 2

In this research question, the first example is too simple and not sufficiently complex, making it difficult to assess whether the study answered the question. The author could really only answer this question with a simple “yes” or “no.” Further, the presence of data would not help answer this question more deeply, which is a sure sign of a poorly constructed research topic.

The second research question is specific, complex, and empirically verifiable. One can measure program effectiveness based on metrics such as attendance or grades. Further, “bullying” is made into an empirical, quantitative measurement in the form of recorded disciplinary actions.

Steps for Writing a Research Question

Good research questions are relevant, focused, and meaningful. It can be difficult to come up with a good research question, but there are a few steps you can follow to make it a bit easier.

1. Start with an interesting and relevant topic

Choose a research topic that is interesting but also relevant and aligned with your own country’s culture or your university’s capabilities. Popular academic topics include healthcare and medical-related research. However, if you are attending an engineering school or humanities program, you should obviously choose a research question that pertains to your specific study and major.

Below is an embedded graph of the most popular research fields of study based on publication output according to region. As you can see, healthcare and the basic sciences receive the most funding and earn the highest number of publications. 

2. Do preliminary research  

You can begin doing preliminary research once you have chosen a research topic. Two objectives should be accomplished during this first phase of research. First, you should undertake a preliminary review of related literature to discover issues that scholars and peers are currently discussing. With this method, you show that you are informed about the latest developments in the field.

Secondly, identify knowledge gaps or limitations in your topic by conducting a preliminary literature review . It is possible to later use these gaps to focus your research question after a certain amount of fine-tuning.

3. Narrow your research to determine specific research questions

You can focus on a more specific area of study once you have a good handle on the topic you want to explore. Focusing on recent literature or knowledge gaps is one good option. 

By identifying study limitations in the literature and overlooked areas of study, an author can carve out a good research question. The same is true for choosing research questions that extend or complement existing literature.

4. Evaluate your research question

Make sure you evaluate the research question by asking the following questions:

Is my research question clear?

The resulting data and observations that your study produces should be clear. For quantitative studies, data must be empirical and measurable. For qualitative, the observations should be clearly delineable across categories.

Is my research question focused and specific?

A strong research question should be specific enough that your methodology or testing procedure produces an objective result, not one left to subjective interpretation. Open-ended research questions or those relating to general topics can create ambiguous connections between the results and the aims of the study. 

Is my research question sufficiently complex?

The result of your research should be consequential and substantial (and fall sufficiently within the context of your field) to warrant an academic study. Simply reinforcing or supporting a scientific consensus is superfluous and will likely not be well received by most journal editors.  

Editing Your Research Question

Your research question should be fully formulated well before you begin drafting your research paper. However, you can receive English paper editing and proofreading services at any point in the drafting process. Language editors with expertise in your academic field can assist you with the content and language in your Introduction section or other manuscript sections. And if you need further assistance or information regarding paper compositions, in the meantime, check out our academic resources , which provide dozens of articles and videos on a variety of academic writing and publication topics.

How to Develop a Good Research Question? — Types & Examples

Cecilia is living through a tough situation in her research life. Figuring out where to begin, how to start her research study, and how to pose the right question for her research quest, is driving her insane. Well, questions, if not asked correctly, have a tendency to spiral us!

Image Source: https://phdcomics.com/

Questions lead everyone to answers. Research is a quest to find answers. Not the vague questions that Cecilia means to answer, but definitely more focused questions that define your research. Therefore, asking appropriate question becomes an important matter of discussion.

A well begun research process requires a strong research question. It directs the research investigation and provides a clear goal to focus on. Understanding the characteristics of comprising a good research question will generate new ideas and help you discover new methods in research.

In this article, we are aiming to help researchers understand what is a research question and how to write one with examples.

Table of Contents

What Is a Research Question?

A good research question defines your study and helps you seek an answer to your research. Moreover, a clear research question guides the research paper or thesis to define exactly what you want to find out, giving your work its objective. Learning to write a research question is the beginning to any thesis, dissertation , or research paper. Furthermore, the question addresses issues or problems which is answered through analysis and interpretation of data.

Why Is a Research Question Important?

A strong research question guides the design of a study. Moreover, it helps determine the type of research and identify specific objectives. Research questions state the specific issue you are addressing and focus on outcomes of the research for individuals to learn. Therefore, it helps break up the study into easy steps to complete the objectives and answer the initial question.

Types of Research Questions

Research questions can be categorized into different types, depending on the type of research you want to undergo. Furthermore, knowing the type of research will help a researcher determine the best type of research question to use.

1. Qualitative Research Question

Qualitative questions concern broad areas or more specific areas of research. However, unlike quantitative questions, qualitative research questions are adaptable, non-directional and more flexible. Qualitative research question focus on discovering, explaining, elucidating, and exploring.

i. Exploratory Questions

This form of question looks to understand something without influencing the results. The objective of exploratory questions is to learn more about a topic without attributing bias or preconceived notions to it.

Research Question Example: Asking how a chemical is used or perceptions around a certain topic.

ii. Predictive Questions

Predictive research questions are defined as survey questions that automatically predict the best possible response options based on text of the question. Moreover, these questions seek to understand the intent or future outcome surrounding a topic.

Research Question Example: Asking why a consumer behaves in a certain way or chooses a certain option over other.

iii. Interpretive Questions

This type of research question allows the study of people in the natural setting. The questions help understand how a group makes sense of shared experiences with regards to various phenomena. These studies gather feedback on a group’s behavior without affecting the outcome.

Research Question Example: How do you feel about AI assisting publishing process in your research?

2. Quantitative Research Question

Quantitative questions prove or disprove a researcher’s hypothesis through descriptions, comparisons, and relationships. These questions are beneficial when choosing a research topic or when posing follow-up questions that garner more information.

i. Descriptive Questions

It is the most basic type of quantitative research question and it seeks to explain when, where, why, or how something occurred. Moreover, they use data and statistics to describe an event or phenomenon.

Research Question Example: How many generations of genes influence a future generation?

ii. Comparative Questions

Sometimes it’s beneficial to compare one occurrence with another. Therefore, comparative questions are helpful when studying groups with dependent variables.

Example: Do men and women have comparable metabolisms?

iii. Relationship-Based Questions

This type of research question answers influence of one variable on another. Therefore, experimental studies use this type of research questions are majorly.

Example: How is drought condition affect a region’s probability for wildfires.  

How to Write a Good Research Question?

1. Select a Topic

The first step towards writing a good research question is to choose a broad topic of research. You could choose a research topic that interests you, because the complete research will progress further from the research question. Therefore, make sure to choose a topic that you are passionate about, to make your research study more enjoyable.

2. Conduct Preliminary Research

After finalizing the topic, read and know about what research studies are conducted in the field so far. Furthermore, this will help you find articles that talk about the topics that are yet to be explored. You could explore the topics that the earlier research has not studied.

3. Consider Your Audience

The most important aspect of writing a good research question is to find out if there is audience interested to know the answer to the question you are proposing. Moreover, determining your audience will assist you in refining your research question, and focus on aspects that relate to defined groups.

4. Generate Potential Questions

The best way to generate potential questions is to ask open ended questions. Questioning broader topics will allow you to narrow down to specific questions. Identifying the gaps in literature could also give you topics to write the research question. Moreover, you could also challenge the existing assumptions or use personal experiences to redefine issues in research.

5. Review Your Questions

Once you have listed few of your questions, evaluate them to find out if they are effective research questions. Moreover while reviewing, go through the finer details of the question and its probable outcome, and find out if the question meets the research question criteria.

6. Construct Your Research Question

There are two frameworks to construct your research question. The first one being PICOT framework , which stands for:

• Population or problem
• Intervention or indicator being studied
• Comparison group
• Outcome of interest
• Time frame of the study.

The second framework is PEO , which stands for:

• Population being studied
• Exposure to preexisting conditions
• Outcome of interest.

Research Question Examples

• How might the discovery of a genetic basis for alcoholism impact triage processes in medical facilities?
• How do ecological systems respond to chronic anthropological disturbance?
• What are demographic consequences of ecological interactions?
• What roles do fungi play in wildfire recovery?
• How do feedbacks reinforce patterns of genetic divergence on the landscape?
• What educational strategies help encourage safe driving in young adults?
• What makes a grocery store easy for shoppers to navigate?
• What genetic factors predict if someone will develop hypothyroidism?
• Does contemporary evolution along the gradients of global change alter ecosystems function?

How did you write your first research question ? What were the steps you followed to create a strong research question? Do write to us or comment below.

Frequently Asked Questions

Research questions guide the focus and direction of a research study. Here are common types of research questions: 1. Qualitative research question: Qualitative questions concern broad areas or more specific areas of research. However, unlike quantitative questions, qualitative research questions are adaptable, non-directional and more flexible. Different types of qualitative research questions are: i. Exploratory questions ii. Predictive questions iii. Interpretive questions 2. Quantitative Research Question: Quantitative questions prove or disprove a researcher’s hypothesis through descriptions, comparisons, and relationships. These questions are beneficial when choosing a research topic or when posing follow-up questions that garner more information. Different types of quantitative research questions are: i. Descriptive questions ii. Comparative questions iii. Relationship-based questions

Qualitative research questions aim to explore the richness and depth of participants' experiences and perspectives. They should guide your research and allow for in-depth exploration of the phenomenon under investigation. After identifying the research topic and the purpose of your research: • Begin with Broad Inquiry: Start with a general research question that captures the main focus of your study. This question should be open-ended and allow for exploration. • Break Down the Main Question: Identify specific aspects or dimensions related to the main research question that you want to investigate. • Formulate Sub-questions: Create sub-questions that delve deeper into each specific aspect or dimension identified in the previous step. • Ensure Open-endedness: Make sure your research questions are open-ended and allow for varied responses and perspectives. Avoid questions that can be answered with a simple "yes" or "no." Encourage participants to share their experiences, opinions, and perceptions in their own words. • Refine and Review: Review your research questions to ensure they align with your research purpose, topic, and objectives. Seek feedback from your research advisor or peers to refine and improve your research questions.

Developing research questions requires careful consideration of the research topic, objectives, and the type of study you intend to conduct. Here are the steps to help you develop effective research questions: 1. Select a Topic 2. Conduct Preliminary Research 3. Consider Your Audience 4. Generate Potential Questions 5. Review Your Questions 6. Construct Your Research Question Based on PICOT or PEO Framework

There are two frameworks to construct your research question. The first one being PICOT framework, which stands for: • Population or problem • Intervention or indicator being studied • Comparison group • Outcome of interest • Time frame of the study The second framework is PEO, which stands for: • Population being studied • Exposure to preexisting conditions • Outcome of interest

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Writing Strong Research Questions | Criteria & Examples

Published on 30 October 2022 by Shona McCombes . Revised on 12 December 2023.

A research question pinpoints exactly what you want to find out in your work. A good research question is essential to guide your research paper , dissertation , or thesis .

All research questions should be:

• Focused on a single problem or issue
• Researchable using primary and/or secondary sources
• Feasible to answer within the timeframe and practical constraints
• Specific enough to answer thoroughly
• Complex enough to develop the answer over the space of a paper or thesis
• Relevant to your field of study and/or society more broadly

Table of contents

How to write a research question, what makes a strong research question, research questions quiz, frequently asked questions.

You can follow these steps to develop a strong research question:

• Choose your topic
• Do some preliminary reading about the current state of the field
• Narrow your focus to a specific niche
• Identify the research problem that you will address

The way you frame your question depends on what your research aims to achieve. The table below shows some examples of how you might formulate questions for different purposes.

Using your research problem to develop your research question

Note that while most research questions can be answered with various types of research , the way you frame your question should help determine your choices.

Prevent plagiarism, run a free check.

Research questions anchor your whole project, so it’s important to spend some time refining them. The criteria below can help you evaluate the strength of your research question.

Focused and researchable

Feasible and specific, complex and arguable, relevant and original.

The way you present your research problem in your introduction varies depending on the nature of your research paper . A research paper that presents a sustained argument will usually encapsulate this argument in a thesis statement .

A research paper designed to present the results of empirical research tends to present a research question that it seeks to answer. It may also include a hypothesis – a prediction that will be confirmed or disproved by your research.

As you cannot possibly read every source related to your topic, it’s important to evaluate sources to assess their relevance. Use preliminary evaluation to determine whether a source is worth examining in more depth.

This involves:

• Reading abstracts , prefaces, introductions , and conclusions
• Looking at the table of contents to determine the scope of the work
• Consulting the index for key terms or the names of important scholars

An essay isn’t just a loose collection of facts and ideas. Instead, it should be centered on an overarching argument (summarised in your thesis statement ) that every part of the essay relates to.

The way you structure your essay is crucial to presenting your argument coherently. A well-structured essay helps your reader follow the logic of your ideas and understand your overall point.

A research hypothesis is your proposed answer to your research question. The research hypothesis usually includes an explanation (‘ x affects y because …’).

A statistical hypothesis, on the other hand, is a mathematical statement about a population parameter. Statistical hypotheses always come in pairs: the null and alternative hypotheses. In a well-designed study , the statistical hypotheses correspond logically to the research hypothesis.

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McCombes, S. (2023, December 12). Writing Strong Research Questions | Criteria & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved 6 May 2024, from https://www.scribbr.co.uk/the-research-process/research-question/

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Key questions to ask.

This section outlines key questions to ask in assessing the quality of research and describes internal validity, external validity, and construct validity.

Was the research peer reviewed?

Peer reviewed research studies have already been evaluated by experienced researchers with relevant expertise. Most journal articles, books and government reports have gone through a peer review process. Keep in mind that there are many types of peer reviews. Reports issued by the federal government have been subject to many levels of internal review and approval before being issued. Articles published in professional journals with peer review have been evaluated by researchers that are experts in the field and who can vouch for the soundness of the methodology and the analysis applied. As a result, peer-reviewed research is usually of high quality. A research consumer, however, should still critically evaluate the study's methodology and conclusions.

Can a study's quality be evaluated with the information provided?

Every study should include a description of the population of interest, an explanation of the process used to select and gather data on study subjects, definitions of key variables and concepts, descriptive statistics for main variables, and a description of the analytic techniques. Research consumers should be cautious when drawing conclusions from studies that do not provide sufficient information about these key research components.

Are there any potential threats to the study's validity?

A valid study answers research questions in a scientifically rigorous manner. Threats to a study's validity are found in three areas: 

Internal Validity

External validity, construct validity.

Internal Validity refers to whether the outcomes observed in a study are due to the independent variables or experimental manipulations investigated in the study and not to some other factor or set of factors. To determine whether a research study has internal validity, a research consumer should ask whether changes in the outcome could be attributed to alternative explanations that are not explored in the study. For example, a study may show that a new curriculum had a significant positive effect on children's reading comprehension.

The study must rule out alternative explanations for the increase in reading comprehension, such as a new teacher, in order to attribute the increase in reading comprehension to the new curriculum. Studies that specifically explain how alternative explanations were ruled out are more likely to have internal validity. Threats to a study's internal validity can compromise the confidence consumers have in the findings from a study and include:

• The introduction of events while the study is being conducted that may affect the outcome or dependent variable of the study. For example, while studying the effectiveness of children's participation in an early childhood program, the program was closed for an extended period of time due to damage from a hurricane.
• Changes in the dependent variable due to normal developmental processes in study participants. For example, young children's performance on a battery of outcome measures (e.g., reading and math assessments) may decline during the testing or observation period due to fatigue or other factors.
• The circumstances around the testing that is used to assess the dependent variable. For example, preschool children's performance on a standardized test may be questionable if test items are presented to children in unfamiliar ways or in group settings.
• Participants leaving or dropping out of the study before it is completed. This can be especially problematic if those who leave the study are different from those who stay. For example, in a longitudinal study of the effects of a school lunch program on children's academic achievement, the validity of the findings could be problematic if the most disadvantaged children in the program left the study at a higher rate than other children.
• Changes to or inconsistencies in how the dependent and independent variables were measured. For example, changing the way in which children's math skills are measured at two time points could introduce error if the two measures were developed using different assessment frameworks (i.e., they were developed to assess different math content and processes). Inconsistencies are also introduced when different staff follow different procedures when administering the same measure. For example, when administering an assessment to bilingual children, some staff give children credit for answering correctly in English or Spanish, and other staff only give credit for answering correctly in English.
• Statistical regression or regression to the mean can affect the outcome of a study. It is the movement of test scores (post-test scores) toward the mean (average score), independent of any effect of an independent variable. It is especially a concern when assessing the skills of low performing individuals and comparing their skills to those with average or above average performance. For example, kindergarten children with the weakest reading skills at the start of the school year may show the greatest gains in their skills over the school year (e.g., between fall and spring assessments) independent of the instruction they received from their teachers.

External Validity refers to the extent to which the results of a study can be generalized to other settings (ecological validity), other people (population validity) and over time (historical validity). To assess whether a study has external validity, a research consumer should ask whether the findings apply to individuals whose place and circumstances differ from those of study participants. For example, a research study shows that a new curriculum improved reading comprehension of third-grade children in Iowa. As a research consumer, you want to ask whether this new curriculum may also be effective with third graders in New York or with children in other elementary grades. Studies that randomly select participants from the most diverse and representative populations and that are conducted in natural settings are more likely to have external validity. Threats to a study's external validity come from several sources, including:

• The list of all those in the population who are eligible to be sampled is incomplete or contains duplicates. For example, in a household survey, the list of housing units from which the sample will be drawn may be missing housing units (e.g., one or the two housing units in a duplex home). Or, an address list that will be used to drawn a sample may have some households listed twice.
• Some members of the population or members of certain groups may not be adequately represented in the sample (undercoverage). For example, a survey of adult education that relies on a published list of telephone numbers to select its sample may not get an accurate estimate of the participation of adults in different education programs because young adults who have higher rates of participation are less likely to have landlines and to have numbers published.
• Not all individuals who are sampled agree to participate in the study. When those who participate are different in meaningful ways from those who do not, there is the potential for the findings from the study to be biased (nonresponse bias). That is, the findings may not represent an accurate picture of the total population.
• Selecting samples using non-probability methods (e.g., purposive sample, volunteer samples), which tend to over- or under-represent certain groups in the population. For example, volunteer surveys on controversial topics such as school vouchers and sex education are more likely to overrepresent individuals with strong opinions. And, shopping mall surveys in general only represent the small group of individuals who are shopping at a particular location and at specific times.
• The findings from one study are difficult to replicate across locations, groups, and time. Despite the best efforts, it is extremely difficult to introduce and implement a program (treatment) exactly the same way in different locations. Similarly, it is difficult to conduct a study the same way each time. While researchers have control over many features of their studies, there are factors that are beyond their control (e.g., willingness of potential subjects to participate, scheduling conflicts that could lead to cancellations of data collection activities, data collection being suspended due to natural disasters). For example, the ability to carry out a study of school-age children's reading and math achievement in one school or in one school district may be affected by teachers' willingness to surrender instructional time for students to participate in a series of standardized assessments. In some cases, modifications to the study design (e.g., shorten the assessment, limit sensitive questions on a teacher or parent survey) must be made to accommodate the concerns of school and district leaders.
• Changes in the behaviors and reported attitudes of study participants as a result of being included in a research study (Hawthorne effect). For example, parents participating in a research study on children's early development may change the ways in which they support their child's learning at home.

Construct Validity refers to the degree to which a variable, test, questionnaire or instrument measures the theoretical concept that the researcher hopes to measure. To assess whether a study has construct validity, a research consumer should ask whether the study has adequately measured the key concepts in the study. For example, a study of reading comprehension should present convincing evidence that reading tests do indeed measure reading comprehension. Studies that use measures that have been independently validated in prior studies are more likely to have construct validity.

There are many threats to construct validity. These can arise during: the planning and design stage, assessment or survey administration, and data processing and analysis. Some are attributed to researchers and others to the subjects of the research. Here are some of the more common threats:

• Poorly defined constructs are perhaps the largest threat to construct validity. This applies to constructs that are too narrowly defined as well as those that are defined too broadly.
• Validity can also be affected by the measures a researcher chooses to measure a construct. Measures that include too few items to adequately represent the construct pose a threat as do measures that include items that tap other constructs. For example, a math assessment administered to four- and five-year old children that only includes items that require children to count would not be adequate to represent their math skills. A math assessment administered to this same group of children that was made up mostly of word problems would be tapping both their math and language skills. A valid measure should cover all aspects of the theoretical construct and only aspects of the theoretical construct.
• Assessment items or survey questions that are poorly written are threats to validity. Such items would include double-barreled questions that ask multiple questions within a single item (e.g., are you happily married and do you and your spouse argue?). Other examples of poorly written questions include those that use language that is above the reading level of most respondents, use professional jargon or are written in such a way as to trigger a socially desirable response.
• The validity of an assessment is threatened if there are too many items that are outside the ability of the individual being assessed (e.g., too many very easy items and too many very difficult items). For example, an early literacy assessment that only included passages that children were asked to read and answer questions about would not result in a valid assessment of children's early literacy.
• Threats that are introduced by interviewers and assessment staff. Actions by these individuals that can affect the reliability and thus the validity of the assessment occur when they deviate from the research protocol and when they signal a correct answer to the study participant through their actions. For example, an assessment of young children's English language vocabulary may specify that only responses in English are acceptable. However, when assessing bilingual children, some assessors comply with this rule while others accept responses in English or in the child's home language (e.g., Spanish). Assessors may unintentionally signal to children the correct responses on an assessment by 'staring' at the correct response to a multiple-choice item or by smiling and giving praise only when the child answers correctly.
• Threats to validity can also be introduced by the research participants. These would include participant apprehension or anxiety that could result in poorer performance on an assessment or to incorrect or ambiguous responses to a series of interview items. These threats must be taken seriously and addressed when administering standardized assessments to young children, many of whom will have limited experience with these types of tests. The language used when administering an assessment can also threaten its validity, if subjects do not have the language skills to understand what they are being asked to do and the language skills needed to respond.
• Coding errors - Coding errors that are systematic as compared to those that are random are especially problematic.
• Poor inter-coder or inter-rater reliability - When coding responses to open-ended survey items or assigning scores to behaviors observed during a video interaction, it is important that different coders or raters assign the same code or score for the same response or behavior. That is, the goal is high inter-coder or inter-rater reliability. When inter-coder or inter-rater reliability is poor, it can have an adverse effect on the validity of a measure. For example, the construct validity of an observation measure of the quality of parent-child interactions could be compromised should individual members of a group coding a set of videotaped mother-child interactions apply different standards as to what they deem as intrusive parenting practices.
• Inconsistencies in how data are analyzed and missing data handled - Missing data may be handled in a number of different ways, and the approach that is chosen could prove to be problematic for a construct, especially when the data are not missing at random. For example, if items tapping certain math skills are missing disproportionately, the validity of the measure could be jeopardized if a researcher assigns the mean score for those items or if he simply averages the scores for the non-missing items.

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Market research questions: what to ask and how.

9 min read Whether you’re looking for customer feedback, product suggestions or brand perception in the market, the right market research questions can help you get the best insights. Learn how you can use them correctly and where to begin.

What is market research?

Market research (also called marketing research) is the action or activity of gathering information about market needs and preferences. This helps companies understand their target market — how the audience feels and behaves.

For example, this could be an online questionnaire , shared by email, which has a set of questions that ask an audience about their views. For an audience of target customers, your questions may explore their reaction to a new product that can be used as feedback into the design.

Why do market research?

When you have tangible insights on the audience’s needs, you can then take steps to meet those needs and solve problems. This mitigates the risk of an experience gap – which is what your audience expects you deliver versus what you actually deliver.

In doing this work, you can gain:

• Improved purchase levels – Sales will improve if your product or service is ticking all the right buttons for your customers.
• Improved decision making – You can avoid the risk of losing capital or time by using what your research tells you and acting with insights.
• Real connection with your target market – If you’re investing in understanding your target audience, your product and service will more likely to make an impact.
• Understand new opportunities – it might be that your research indicates a new area for your product to play within, or you find potential for a new service that wasn’t considered before.

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Who do you ask your questions to?

Who to target in your market research is crucial to getting the right insights and data back. If you don’t have a firm idea on who your target audiences are, then here are some questions that you can ask before you begin writing your market research questions:

• Who is our customer currently and who do we want to attract in the future?
• How do they behave with your brand?
• What do they say, do and think?
• What are their pain points, needs and wants?
• Where do they live? What is the size of our market?
• Why do they use us? Why do they use other brands?

We’ve put together some questions below (Market research questions for your demographics) if you wanted to reach out to your market for this.

With the answers, you can help you segment your customer market, understand key consumer trends , create customer personas and discover the right way to target them.

Market research goals

Give yourself the right direction to work towards.There are different kinds of market research that can happen, but to choose the right market research questions, figure out your market research goals first.

Set a SMART goal that thinks about what you want to achieve and keeps you on track. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Timely. For example, a good SMART business goal would be to increase website sales for a top product by 10% over a period of 6 months.

You may need to review some strategic business information, like customer personas and historical sales data, which can give you the foundation of knowledge (the ‘baseline’) to grow from. This, combined with your business objectives, will help you form the right SMART targets tailored to your teams.

Types of market research questions

Now that you have your SMART target, you can look at which type of market research questions will help you reach your goal. They can be split into these types:

• For demographics
• For customers
• For product

Market research questions for your demographics

Demographic information about your customers is data about gender, age, ethnicity, annual income, education and marital status. It also gives key information about their shopping habits.

Here are some questions you can ask in your market research survey:

• What is your age / gender / ethnicity / marital status?
• What is the highest level of education you have achieved?
• What is your monthly income range?
• What methods of shopping do you use?
• What amount do you spend on [product/brand/shopping] each month?
• How regular do you shop for [product/brand]?

Learn more about the demographic survey questions that yield valuable insights .

Market research questions for your customer

These questions are aimed at your customer to understand the voice of the customer — the customer marketing landscape is not an one-way dialogue for engaging prospects and your customer’s feedback is needed for the development of your products or services.

• How did we do / would you rate us?
• Why did you decide to use [product or service]?
• How does that fit your needs?
• Would you recommend us to your friends?
• Would you buy from us again?
• What could we do better?
• Why did you decide to shop elsewhere?
• In your opinion, why should customers choose us?
• How would you rate our customer experience?

Learn more about why the voice of the customer matters or try running a customer experience survey.

Market research questions for your product

These questions will help you understand how your customers perceive your product, their reactions to it and whether changes need to be made in the development cycle.

• What does our [product or service] do that you like or dislike?
• What do you think about [feature or benefit]?
• How does the product help you solve your problems?
• Which of these features will be the most valuable / useful for you?
• Is our product competitive with other similar products out there? How?
• How does the product score on [cost / service / ease of use, etc.]?
• What changes will customers likely want in the future that technology can provide?

There are also a set of questions you can ask to find out if your product pricing is set at the right mark:

• Does the product value justify the price it’s marketed at?
• Is the pricing set at the right mark?
• How much would you pay for this product?
• Is this similar to what competitors are charging?
• Do you believe the price is fair?
• Do you believe the pricing is right based on the amount of usage you’d get?

Have you tried a pricing and value research survey to see how much your target customers would be willing to pay?

Market research questions for your brand

How does the impact of your products, services and experiences impact your brand’s image? You can find out using these questions:

• What do you think about our brand?
• Have you seen any reviews about us online? What do they say?
• Have you heard about our brand from friends or family? What do they say?
• How likely are you to recommend our brand to a friend?
• Have you read the testimonials on our own channels? Did they have an impact on your decision to purchase? How?
• When you think of our brand, what do you think/ feel / want?
• How did you hear about us?
• Do you feel confident you know what our brand stands for?
• Are you aware of our [channel] account?

Learn more about brand perception surveys and how to carry them out successfully.

How to use market research questions in a survey

For the best research questionnaires, tailoring your market research questions to the goal you want will help you focus the direction of the data received.

You can get started now on your own market research questionnaire, using one of our free survey templates, when you sign up to a free Qualtrics account.

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Related resources

Market intelligence 10 min read, marketing insights 11 min read, ethnographic research 11 min read, qualitative vs quantitative research 13 min read, qualitative research questions 11 min read, qualitative research design 12 min read, primary vs secondary research 14 min read, request demo.

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Expert Commentary

Eight questions to ask when interpreting academic studies: A primer for media

Scholarly research is a great source for rigorous, unbiased information, but making judgments about its quality can be difficult. Here are some important questions to ask when reading studies.

Republish this article

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License .

by Justin Feldman and John Wihbey, The Journalist's Resource March 26, 2015

This <a target="_blank" href="https://journalistsresource.org/home/interpreting-academic-studies-primer-media/">article</a> first appeared on <a target="_blank" href="https://journalistsresource.org">The Journalist's Resource</a> and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.<img src="https://journalistsresource.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/cropped-jr-favicon-150x150.png" style="width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;">

Reading scholarly studies can help journalists integrate rigorous, unbiased sources of information into their reporting. These studies are typically carried out by professors and professional researchers — at universities, think tanks and government institutions — and are published through a peer-review process in which those familiar with the study area ensure that there are no major flaws.

Even for people who carry out research, however, interpreting scientific (and social science) studies and making judgments about their quality can be difficult tasks. In a now-famous article, Stanford professor John Ioannidis argues that “ most published research findings are false ” due to inherent limitations in how researchers design studies. (Health and medical studies can be particularly attractive to media, but be aware that there is a long history of faulty findings .) Occasionally, too, studies can be the product of outright fraud: A 1998 study falsely linking vaccines and autism is now perhaps the canonical example, as it spurred widespread and long-lasting societal damage . Journalists should also always examine the funding sources behind the study, which are frequently declared at the study’s conclusion.

Before journalists write about research and speak with authors, they should be able to both interpret a study’s results generally and understand the appropriate degree of skepticism that a given study’s findings warrant. This requires data literacy , some familiarity with statistical terms and a basic knowledge of hypothesis testing and construction of theories .

Journalists should also be well aware that most academic research contains careful qualifications about findings. The common complaint from scientists and social scientists is that news media tend to pump up findings and hype studies through catchy headlines, distorting public understanding. But landmark studies sometimes do no more than tighten the margin of error around a given measurement — not inherently flashy, but intriguing to an audience if explained with rich context and clear presentation.

Here are some important questions to ask when reading a scientific study:

1. What are the researchers’ hypotheses?

A hypothesis is a research question that a study seeks to answer. Sometimes researchers state their hypotheses explicitly, but more often their research questions are implicit. Hypotheses are testable assertions usually involving the relationship between two variables. In a study of smoking and lung cancer, the hypothesis might be that smokers develop lung cancer at a higher rate than non-smokers over a five-year period.

It is also important to note that there are formal definitions of null and alternative hypotheses for use with statistical analysis.

2. What are the independent and dependent variables?

Independent variables are factors that influence particular outcomes. Dependent variables are measures of the outcomes themselves. In the study assessing the relationship between smoking and lung cancer, smoking is the independent variable because the researcher assumes it predicts lung cancer, the dependent variable. (Some fields use related terms such as “exposure” and “outcome.”)

Pay particular attention to how the researchers define all of the variables — there can be quite a bit of nuance in the definitions. Also look at the methods by which the researchers measure the variables. Generally speaking, a variable measured using a subject’s response to a survey question is less trustworthy than one measured through more objective means — reviewing laboratory findings in their medical records, for example.

3. What is the unit of analysis?

For most studies involving human subjects, the individual person is the unit of analysis. However, studies are sometimes interested in a different level of analysis that makes comparisons between classrooms, hospitals, schools or states, for example, rather than between individuals.

4. How well does the study design address causation?

Most studies identify correlations or associations between variables, but typically the ultimate goal is to determine causation . Certain study designs are more useful than others for the purpose of determining causation.

At the most basic level, studies can be placed into one of two categories: experimental and observational . In experimental studies, the researchers decide who is exposed to the independent variable and who is not. In observational studies, the researchers do not have any control over who is exposed to the independent variable — instead they make comparisons between groups that are already different from one another. In nearly all cases, experimental studies provide stronger evidence than observational studies.

Here are descriptions of some of the most common study designs, presented along with their respective values for inferring causation:

• Randomized controlled trials (RCTs), also known as clinical trials, are experimental studies that are considered the “gold standard” in research. Out of all study designs, they have the most value for determining causation although they do have limitations. In an RCT, researchers randomly divide subjects into at least two groups: One that receives a treatment, and the other — the control group — that receives either no treatment or a simulated version of the treatment called a placebo . The independent variable in these experiments is whether or not the subject receives the real treatment. Ideally an RCT should be double-blind — the participants should not know to which treatment group they have been assigned, nor should the study staff know. This arrangement helps to avoid bias. Researchers commonly use RCTs to meet regulatory requirements, such as evaluating pharmaceuticals for the Food and Drug Administration. Due to issues of cost, logistics and ethics, RCTs are fairly uncommon for other purposes. Example: “ Short-Term Soy Isoflavone Intervention in Patients with Localized Prostate Cancer ”
• Longitudinal studies , like RCTs, follow the same subjects over a given time period. Unlike in RCTs, they are observational. Researchers do not assign the independent variable in longitudinal studies — they instead observe what happens in the real world. A longitudinal study might compare the risk for heart disease among one group of people who are exposed to high levels of air pollution to the risk of heart disease among another group exposed to low levels of air pollution. The problem is that, because there is no random assignment, the groups may differ from one another in other important ways and, as a result, we cannot completely isolate the effects of air pollution. These differences result in confounding and other forms of bias. For that reason, longitudinal studies have less validity for inferring causation than RCTs and other experimental study designs. Longitudinal studies have more validity than other kinds of observational studies, however. Example: “ Mood after Moderate and Severe Traumatic Brain Injury: A Prospective Cohort Study ”
• Case-control studies are technically a type of longitudinal study, but they are unique enough to discuss separately. Common in public health and medical research, case-control studies begin with a group of people who have already developed a particular disease and compare them to a similar but disease-free group recruited by the researchers. These studies are more likely to suffer from bias than other longitudinal studies for two reasons. First, they are always retrospective , meaning they collect data about independent variables years after the exposures of interest occurred — sometimes even after the subject has died. Second, the group of disease-free people is very likely to differ from the group that developed the disease, creating a substantial risk for confounding. Example: “ Risk Factors for Preeclampsia in Women from Colombia ”.
• Cross-sectional studies are a kind of observational study that measure both dependent and independent variables at a single point in time. Although researchers may administer the same cross-sectional survey every few years, they do not follow the same subjects over time. An important part of determining causation is establishing that the independent variable occurred for a given subject before the dependent variable occurred. But because they do not measure the variables over time, cross-sectional studies cannot determine that a hypothesized cause precedes its effect, so the design is limited to making inferences about correlations rather than causation. Example : “ Physical Predictors of Cognitive Performance in Healthy Older Adults ”
• Ecological studies are observational studies that are similar to cross-sectional studies except that they measure at least one variable on the group-level rather that the subject-level. For example, an ecological study may look at the relationship between individuals’ meat consumption and their incidence of colon cancer. But rather than using individual-level data, the study relies on national cancer rates and national averages for meat consumption. While it might seem that higher meat consumption is linked to a higher risk of cancer, there is no way to know if the individuals eating more meat within a country are the same people who are more likely to develop cancer. This means that ecological studies are not only inadequate for inferring causation, they are also inadequate for establishing a correlation. As a consequence, they should be regarded with strong skepticism. Example: “ A Multi-country Ecological Study of Cancer Incidence Rates in 2008 with Respect to Various Risk-Modifying Factors ”
• Systematic reviews are surveys of existing studies on a given topic. Investigators specify inclusion and exclusion criteria to weed out studies that are either irrelevant to their research question or poorly designed. Using keywords, they systematically search research databases, present the findings of the studies they include and draw conclusions based on their consideration of the findings. Assuming that the review includes only well-designed studies, systematic reviews are more useful for inferring causation than any single well-designed study. Example: “ Enablers and Barriers to Large-Scale Uptake of Improved Solid Fuel Stoves. ” For a sense of how systematic reviews are interpreted and used by researchers in the field, see “How to Read a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis and Apply the Results to Patient Care,” published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA.)
• Meta-analyses are similar to systematic reviews but use the original data from all included studies to create a new analysis. As a result, a meta-analysis is able to draw conclusions that are more meaningful than a systematic review. Again, a meta-analysis is more useful for inferring causation than any single study, assuming that all studies are well-designed. Example: “ Occupational Exposure to Asbestos and Ovarian Cancer ”

5. What are the study’s results?

There are several aspects involved in understanding a study’s results:

• Understand whether or not the study found statistically significant relationships between the dependent and independent variables. If the relationship is statistically significant, it means that any difference observed between groups is unlikely to be due to random chance. P-values help researchers to decide whether observed differences are simply due to chance or represent a true difference between groups.
• If the relationship is statistically significant, it is then important to determine the effect size , which is the size of the difference observed between the groups. Subjects enrolled in a weight loss program may have experienced a statistically significant reduction in weight compared to those in a control group, but is that difference one ounce, one pound or ten pounds? There are myriad ways in which studies present effect sizes — such obscure terms as regression coefficients, odds ratios, and population attributable fractions may come into play. Unfortunately, research articles sometimes fail to interpret effect sizes in words. In these cases, it may be best to consult an expert to help develop a plain-English interpretation.
• Even if there is a statistically significant difference between comparison groups, this does not mean the effect size is meaningful. A weight loss program that leads to a total weight reduction of one ounce on average or a policy that saves one life out of a billion may not be meaningful. Again, consulting an expert in the field can help to determine how meaningful an effect size is, a determination that is ultimately a subjective judgment call.

6. How generalizable are the results?

Study results are useful because they help us make inferences about the relationship between independent and dependent variables among a larger population. The subjects enrolled in the study must be similar to those in the larger population, however, in order to generalize the findings. Even a perfectly designed study may be of limited value when its results cannot be generalized. It is important to pay attention to the composition of the study sample. If the unit of analysis is the individual, important factors to consider regarding the group’s composition include age, race/ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, and geographic location. While some samples are deliberately constructed to be representative of a country or region, most are not.

7. What limitations do the authors note?

Within a research article, authors often state some of the study’s limitations explicitly. This information can be very helpful in determining the strength of the evidence presented in the study.

8. What conclusions do similar studies draw?

With some notable exceptions, a single study is unlikely to fundamentally change what is already known about the research question it addresses. It is important to compare a new study’s findings to existing studies that address similar research questions, particularly systematic reviews or meta-analyses if available.

Further: One hidden form of bias that is easily missed is what’s called “selecting on the dependent variable,” which is the research practice of focusing on only those areas where there are effects and ignoring ones where there are not. This can lead to exaggerated conclusions (and thereby false media narratives). For example, it is tempting to say that “science has become polarized,” as survey data suggest significant differences in public opinion on issues such as climate change, vaccinations and nuclear power. However, on most scientific issues, there is almost no public debate or controversy . Additionally, the reality of “publication bias” — academic journals have traditionally been more interested in publishing studies that show effects, rather than no effects — can create a biased incentive structure that distorts larger truths.

For an updated overview, see a 2014 paper by Stanford’s John Ioannidis, “How to Make More Published Research True.”

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John Wihbey

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Sep 1, 2022

The best user research questions and how to ask them

To get the right insights, you need to ask the right questions. Here’s the best user research questions to start gathering feedback right away.

Lorelei Bowman

Content Editor at Maze

Knowing the right user research questions to ask is vital to the success of your UX research. Research is an invaluable source of input for product development, but before you can get started, you need to make sure the questions lined up will get the insights you need, without influencing the data.

Think of this article as your guide to all-things user research questions: what to ask, how to ask it, and how to create your own questions. Let’s get started.

What kind of user research questions are there?

The kind of questions you ask will depend on your research goals—are you looking to gather user feedback, or find out if a particular feature is (or would be) useful? Are you trying to discover what problems bother your user, or whether they’d prefer one solution over another?

Before planning your questions and diving head-first into research, look at your overarching research plan and objectives. Consider this on a project-by-project basis, as your end questions will be drastically different depending on where you are in the product development process . For instance, if you’re in early product discovery , you may want to discover user intent and pain points. Or, if you’re working on a high-fidelity prototype, you might want to see how users interact with the prototype, and how easy it is to use. Asking questions at different stages of your process is a big part of continuous product discovery and ensuring your product remains the best it can be.

💡 If you’re looking to understand the types of question format used in surveys or user questionnaires, take a look at our guide on how to write survey questions .

User research questions can be categorized in many ways—by objective, research scenario, or point in the product journey, to name a few. Since different questions may apply in multiple situations, we’re going to consider questions organized by their research focus.

Questions for user research can typically be categorized three ways:

• Questions about the problem e.g., what are users’ pain points, what task are they trying to complete, what solution do they want
• Questions about the people e.g., who they are, how they use products, what they want to accomplish, how likely are they to use the product
• Questions about the product e.g., how users’ feel about content or design, can they navigate the product, how usable is it, what features do they like or dislike

Now we know what kinds of questions there are, let’s delve into the value of pre-made questions, and some examples of each question type.

Using pre-made user research questions

To elevate your research, you can opt to use pre-existing questions from a question bank. As with all research tools , there are many benefits to this, including saving time and effort, and having many questions to choose from. Using a question bank also ensures questions are always carefully considered, easily understandable for users, and unbiased.

Meet the Maze question bank

An open-source question repository for product teams, our question bank is aimed at helping you ask the best user research questions to gather insight that will help build truly user-centered products.

A good question bank will be multifunctional, with questions you can use when running moderated to unmoderated testing, conducting generative or evaluative research, or gathering quantitative or qualitative data. So you can have one place to go for all your user research question needs.

🚀 Boost your research with Maze templates

If you’re a Maze user, you can also use the question bank as a handy companion to fuel your team’s research with Maze—check out the templates column and question block suggestions for maximum efficiency when building mazes.

Ultimately, a pre-made question bank can help save you a lot of time, and allow you to focus on conducting the research and processing analysis.

If you’d like to create your own questions, let’s get into the different user research question types, what questions they include, and how to ask them.

Click on the image to head straight to the question bank 👆

Questions about the problem

To support product and design decisions behind any solution, you need to be familiar with the problem you (and your users) are trying to solve. Whether you’re starting product discovery and want to understand user pain points, or you’re testing new features and want to gauge which will be most popular— you can’t begin working on a solution until you’ve honed in on what the problem is.

What’s bothering your users? How can you make their lives easier? What’s their key challenge, and what are they trying to achieve that’s being blocked by that problem?

Only once you’ve narrowed down a key problem statement can you translate solutions into the user experience, and identify opportunities for product development .

Questions focusing on the problem you’re trying to solve are key in product discovery stages and concept validation . The reason for using a particular product or feature may vary between users—consider Instagram’s Explore tab: it could be used to find friends, connect with like-minded people, or find inspiration.

Questions that can help hone into the problem at hand include:

• What problems do you face when you do [task]?
• Please complete this sentence: "The most frustrating part of trying to complete [task] is…”
• What is your main goal when trying to complete [task]?
• What is your personal measure of success when it comes to [goal]?
• How are you currently solving [problem]?
• Describe your ideal solution to [problem]

Questions about the people

Understanding the problem you’re trying to solve goes hand in hand with the people who are facing this problem—who they are and how they think, how they adopt and use products, their wants, needs and dislikes.

Put simply, there’s no point building a product if it solves the problem your user is having—but not in the way they wanted it to.

To really understand how your users think, and the way they approach a product, you need to understand their mental models. Broadly speaking, a mental model determines how someone forms their thinking process—it might impact the way they approach a problem, the kind of solution they’d like, and how they expect certain features to work.

UX research methods like card sorting are a good way to understand people’s mental models, but you can also gather this insight through thoughtful user interviews or research questions.

User-focused questions also cover understanding attitudes towards product adoption, use habits and circumstances, pricing models, and demographics.

Some example questions you could ask to learn more about your target users include:

• Are there any products that you prefer to use to do [task]?
• What does your job look like in your company?
• How do you prefer to be trained on new products?
• How much would you pay for [product]?
• Please describe who you might collaborate with when [task]?
• How often do you do [task]?

Questions about the product

Once you understand the problem your product will solve, and the people who’ll be using it, it’s time to circle back to the product itself. Questions about the product may be about its usability, what features you’re including, how users feel about content or design, and whether it does what they need it to.

Just like all research, it’s a good idea to ask product-related questions multiple time during the research phase, as both questions and answer will vary depending on what development stage you’re at—from prioritizing which feature to focus on developing first, to assessing how navigable a certain product section is, or reviewing the appeal of specific design aspects.

To gain a well-rounded understanding of how users find using your product or feature, usability testing is imperative. And, if you’re trying to nail down product navigation and identify any bumps in the user journey, tree testing is the research method of choice.

Whatever your focus, questions relating to the product are useful in both evaluative and generative research , and critical for creating a user-centered, solution-focused product.

Sample questions you can use to learn more about the product and features could include:

• How did you find the language (including but not limited to copy, phrasing, tone) used on the website?
• What’s the single most important thing we could do to make [product] better?
• On a scale of 1-10, how was your experience when [task]?
• Was the product navigation as expected?
• If you could change one thing about the design what would it be and why?
• Thinking about what [product] offers, which of the following best describes your feelings about it?

🤔 To dive into the questions you should be asking during usability testing, check out how to ask effective usability testing questions .

Regardless of what questions you ask, it’s worth bearing in mind that this information should be considered a guide, not a rule—as sometimes what people think they’ll do is not what they always do in practice . This is why it’s so important to continue research and testing in all stages of product development, so you can always be working off the most reliable and up-to-date insight.

Guidelines for crafting the right user research questions

Research questions set the standard of the data you’ll gather with them, so it’s crucial to properly craft each question to maximize insight and ensure accurate results.

Using a pre-made question bank is one way to keep questions effective, but if you’re writing your own questions, bear in mind that everything from the language you use to the structure or format of questions can influence the user’s answer.

The best questions for user interviews and research are clear , precise , and unbiased . Let’s go over some ultimate tips for crafting questions that fulfill this.

Stay neutral: avoid leading questions

One of the most important points when it comes to any research is being a neutral party, which means removing cognitive bias from your work. Research isn’t helpful if it’s biased, so ensure your questions are as impartial as possible—after all, just because you like Concept A over Concept B, doesn’t mean everyone will.

The key to staying neutral is avoiding leading questions where you subconsciously favor one thing over another, or plant an opinion or idea in the user’s mind, such as “How would you use concept A?”—this assumes they preferred concept A, which they may not have. Instead, try asking which concept they would use, followed by how they would use it.

Take it one question at a time

The majority of us think best when our minds are clear and able to focus on one thing, so avoid bombarding research participants with multiple questions phrased together.

Rather than asking a question like “What did you think about the design, copy and layout of the page?”, ask individually about the design, copy, and layout. Otherwise, you risk users merging their thoughts into one answer, when in fact they may feel very differently about each element.

Of course some questions lend themselves to being combined (e.g., “Which concept did you prefer and why?”), but it’s best to keep things separate when possible, and ask “Why?” in follow up questions, to allow users space to think and form individual answers for each question.

Ask open-ended questions

Similar to ensuring questions are unbiased, it’s also a good idea to ask open-ended questions—that is, to avoid questions which result in simply a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer.

The benefit of open-ended questions is that they give participants an opportunity to expand on their answer, work through their experience, and share details with you that may otherwise be missed. Consider that, while asking “Did you like the product?” may answer whether a user liked it, you’ll be left wondering what it is they like about it. Instead, try framing questions in a way that provides space for additional information, e.g. “What did you think about the product?”.

Pro tip ✨ If you do ask closed-ended questions, always keep follow up questions aside to dig deeper gather and extra insight from your participants.

Help users find their own voice

The language we use is incredibly powerful. Used well, words can move us, sway our opinions, educate us, and more.

By helping your research participants to find their own voice, you can unlock powerful statements and user insights which will truly impact your product. Formatting questions with the user at the center—using ‘you’ and asking emotive questions—builds empathy with the user and encourages them to find and share their own opinions through honest answers.

Ask questions you think you know the answer to

Our final question-crafting tip is to use research questions to test and validate your own assumptions and opinions. Ask questions you think you know the answer to—if you believe all users will prefer one new feature over the other, see if you’re right. If you think a certain design element works better on a different page, ask research participants to determine where they prefer it.

As with any research, while you may be user-adjacent, you are not your users. You are the expert in your product; they are the expert in using your product. Trust their opinions, and use their knowledge and experience to confirm your suspicions, or disprove them. Either way, you gain valuable insights.

User research is as effective as the questions you ask

Whether you’re investigating user preferences or conducting usability testing, research is only as effective as the questions you ask—and how you ask them.

Focus on questions that fit your research objectives, phrase your questions in the best way possible, and work to build empathy with your user; you’ll be able to gather valuable insights in no time.

Frequently asked questions and user research questions

What makes a good user research question?

A good research question is open-ended , unbiased , clear , and precise . It helps research participants share their thoughts, feedback, and opinions with researchers, without influencing or limiting their responses.

What type of user research questions are there?

User research questions can broadly be broken down into three categories:

How do you create a user research question?

There are several ways to create a user research question: you can either write your own question, or select premade questions from an existing research question bank.

If you choose to write your own research questions, it’s important to keep them clear and precise above all else—focus on asking questions that encourage users to open up, share additional information, and speak honestly.

Continue Reading

How to avoid leading questions in UX research (+ examples)

UX research best practices: Building and researching products with ethics in mind

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68 market research questions to ask (and how to ask them)

Example market research questions, market research questions to ask customers, market research questions for product development, market research questions for brand tracking, pricing survey questions for market research, how to write your own market research questions.

No two market research projects are alike, but happily there are some tried-and-tested questions you can use for inspiration to get the consumer insights you’re looking for.

It’s all about asking questions that are most relevant to the goals of your research. Every so often the best questions are actually quite straightforward, like asking consumers where they do their grocery shopping.

If you’re creating a customer profile, you’ll ask different questions than when you’re running creative testing with your target audience, or getting insights on key consumer trends in your market.

The right market research questions are the ones that will lead you to actionable insights, and give you a competitive advantage in your target market.

Let’s kick this off and get straight into some questions, shall we?

Where do we even begin with this?! There are so many types of research and we’ll get into which questions work for each below, but here are some classic example market research questions to get you started.

These particular questions are good for surveys that you might run when you’re running some essential consumer profiling research.

• Which of these products have you purchased in the last 3 months?
• Which of the following types of >INSERT YOUR PRODUCT/SERVICE CATEGORY< do you buy at least once a month?
• Approximately, how much would you say you spend on >INSERT YOUR PRODUCT/SERVICE CATEGORY< per month?
• What is stopping you from buying more of >INSERT YOUR PRODUCT/SERVICE CATEGORY<?
• When was the last time you tried a new >INSERT YOUR PRODUCT/SERVICE CATEGORY<?
• Please rank the following on how important or unimportant they are when deciding which >INSERT PRODUCT CATEGORY< to buy?
• Which of these brands are you aware of?
• Which of these brands have you purchased from in the last 3 months?
• How do you prefer to shop for >INSERT YOUR PRODUCT/SERVICE CATEGORY<?
• Why do you prefer to shop online?
• Why do you prefer to shop in-store?
• Thinking about the following, how often do you use/listen/watch each of these media?
• Where do you go to keep up to date with the news?
• Which social media platforms do you use daily?
• What mobile phone do you currently own?

Surely you want to talk to your current customers to understand why they buy from you and what they think about your products?

Correct! But your consumer research should definitely not end with current customers!

Here’s why you should think about broadening your research to include other groups and different market research methods :

• Current customers: This is a must! Running research to your current customers will help you understand how you can make your product or service better. These are the people who’ve spent their hard-earned cash on your products so they have a unique perspective on what kind of value you offer. In addition, understanding why your existing customer base chose your brand over others can help you create messaging that resonates with people who are still on the fence.
• Previous customers: People who used to buy your products but don’t anymore can give you valuable insight into areas you might need to improve. Perhaps your brand perception has shifted making some customers buy elsewhere, or maybe your competitors offer customers better value for money than you currently do. These are the kinds of areas you can learn about by running research to previous customers.
• Non-customers: You should also ask people who haven’t bought your products why they haven’t. That way you’ll learn what you need to improve to bring new customers in. You should ideally ask the same kinds of questions, so that you can learn about what product features you need to work on but also things like the messaging you should be putting out there to win people over.

Here are some questions that are perfect for competitive market analysis research. Some of these questions might sound similar to some from our previous section on consumer profiling—that’s because there’s often some crossover between these types of research. Consumer profiling often refers to a more general type of research that covers similar ground to market analysis. If you’re wondering how to calculate market size , questions like these would be a great starting point.

• How often do you usually purchase >INSERT YOUR PRODUCT/SERVICE CATEGORY<?
• Why do you buy >INSERT YOUR PRODUCT/SERVICE CATEGORY<?
• What types of >INSERT YOUR PRODUCT/SERVICE CATEGORY< do you buy?
• How often do you buy the following types of >INSERT YOUR PRODUCT/SERVICE CATEGORY<?
• Where do you buy your >INSERT YOUR PRODUCT/SERVICE CATEGORY<?
• Where do you find out about >INSERT YOUR PRODUCT/SERVICE CATEGORY<?
• Which of these brands have your purchased in the last 12 months?
• How would you feel if you could no longer buy >INSERT YOUR PRODUCT/SERVICE CATEGORY<?
• How important or unimportant do you find the following topics? (e.g. sustainability, diversity and inclusion, ethical supply chain)
• What could be improved about the products you currently use?

By involving consumers in the product development process, you can make sure that your products are designed to meet—and ideally exceed—their needs.

Product market research can be done at several points in the product development process, by asking potential customers in your target market questions about existing products (yours or competitors’), prototypes, or just your own early-stage product ideas.

You can dive into the customer experience, specific product features or simply find out if the product quality matches the value proposition you’re putting out there.

Sometimes you even get a surprising answer to the question: how does our product or service help people?

You might learn from the survey responses that customers are using your product in a different way than you intended, opening you up to new target markets and different product types in the future.

Asking these questions also allows you to get feedback on your designs, so that you can make necessary changes before the product is released. Here’s some inspiration for when you’re conducting product market research.

There are different types of new product development research. A key type is Jobs to be done research. This research digs into the practical reasons people buy products—the jobs they need to get done with a specific product. You use these insights to help you create products that will genuinely help consumers, and that they’ll ultimately want to buy.

• How many times have you carried out [INSERT ACTIVITY] in the last 12 months?
• How much time would you typically spend on this [INSERT ACTIVITY]?
• How important or unimportant is carrying out this [INSERT ACTIVITY]?
• How satisfied or unsatisfied do you feel when carrying out this [INSERT ACTIVITY]?
• What is the best thing about carrying out [INSERT ACTIVITY]?
• How does carrying out [INSERT ACTIVITY] make you feel? Please select all that apply
• What particular problems or challenges do you run into while carrying out [INSERT ACTIVITY]?

When you’re cooking up your brand’s next product, you’ll want to go through a concept testing phase. This is where you ask consumers what they think about your idea and find out whether it’s likely to be a success. Here are some of the questions you could ask in your concept testing research.

• To what extent do you like or dislike this idea/product? [ATTACH IMAGE]
• What do you like about this idea/product?
• What do you dislike about this idea/product?
• Is easy to use
• Sounds tasty
• Is good quality
• Is Innovative
• Is different from others
• Purchase this product
• Replace the product I currently own with this
• What other products this idea/product reminds you of? Please provide as much detail as possible including the product name.
• What feature(s), if any, do you feel are missing from this product?
• How would you improve this idea/product? Be as descriptive as possible!
• What issues do you solve through the use of this product?
• When can you see yourself using this product? Please select all that apply.
• The price for this product is $25.00 per item. How likely or unlikely would you be to buy this product at this price?

Get inspired with NPD survey templates

Our in-house research experts have created New Product Development (NPD) survey templates to give you the perfect starting point for your product research!

Does the perspective of new customers change over time? How do you compare to other brands, and how do you become the preferred brand in your market and increase that market share?

Brand perception and brand awareness are super important metrics to track. These insights can be used to improve customer experience and satisfaction on a higher level than just product: the relationship you have with your customers.

This research can also help you understand how to reach the holy grail of branding: turning loyal customers into brand ambassadors.

You should also remember to ask marketing research questions about your brand to existing and potential customers.

Existing customers might have a different view after having interacted with your team and products, and you can use that to manage the expectations of your target customers down the line. And potential customers can help you understand what’s holding them back from joining your customer base.

Top tip: it’s completely fine (and super beneficial!) to run brand tracking into your competitors’ brands as well as your own. Replicating research for different brands will give you a tailored benchmark for your category and position.

Here are some key questions to ask in your brand tracking research.

• Which of the following, if any, have you purchased in the past 12 months?
• Thinking about >INSERT YOUR CATEGORY<, what brands, if any, are you aware of? Please type in all that you can think of.
• Which of these brands of facial wipes, if any, are you aware of?
• Which of these facial wipe brands, if any, have you ever purchased?
• Which of these facial wipe brands, if any, would you consider purchasing in the next 6 months?
• e.g. Innovative
• Easy to use
• Traditional
• We’d now like to ask you some specific questions about >INSERT YOUR BRAND<.
• When did you last use >INSERT YOUR BRAND<?
• What do you like most about >INSERT YOUR BRAND<?
• What do you like least about >INSERT YOUR BRAND<?
• How likely would you be to recommend >INSERT YOUR BRAND< to a friend, family or colleague?
• Why did you give that score? Include as much detail as possible
• In newspapers/magazines
• On Instagram
• On Facebook
• On the radio
• Through friends/family/colleagues
• When did you last use >INSERT MAIN COMPETITOR BRAND<?
• How likely would you be to recommend >INSERT MAIN COMPETITOR BRAND< to a friend, family or colleague?

Kick off your brand tracking with templates

Track your brand to spot—and act on!—how your brand’s perception and awareness affects how people buy. Our survey templates give you the ideal starting point!

When it comes to pricing your product, there’s no need to wing it—a pricing survey can give you the insights you need to arrive at the perfect price point.

By asking customers questions about their willingness to pay for your product, you can get a realistic sense of what price point will be most attractive to them and, not unimportant, why.

Top tip: good pricing research can be tough to get right. Asking how much people would theoretically be willing to pay for a product is very different from them actually choosing it in a shop, on a shelf next to competitors’ products, and with a whole load of other economic context that you can’t possibly test for. Price testing is useful, but should sometimes be taken with a pinch of salt.

Here are some questions you could use in your pricing research.

• Which of the following product categories have you bought in the last 12 months?
• How often do you currently purchase >INSERT YOUR CATEGORY<?
• At what price would you consider this >INSERT PRODUCT CATEGORY< to be so expensive that you would not consider buying it? (Too expensive)
• At what price would you consider this >INSERT PRODUCT CATEGORY< to be starting to get expensive, so that it is not out of the question, but you have to give some thought to buying it? (e.g. Expensive)
• At what price would you consider this >INSERT PRODUCT CATEGORY< to be a bargain—a great buy for the money? (e.g. cheap)
• At what price would you consider this >INSERT PRODUCT CATEGORY< to be priced so low that you would feel the quality couldn’t be very good? (Too cheap)
• How much do you currently pay for >INSERT PRODUCT CATEGORY<? Please type in below
• Thinking about this product, please rank the following aspects based on how much value they add, where 1 = adds the most value 10 = adds the least value.
• Thinking about the product category as a whole, please rank the following brands in order of value, where 1 is the most expensive and 10 is the least.

Formulating market research questions can be tricky. On the one hand, you want to be specific enough that you can get tangible, useful answers. But on the other hand, you don’t want to ask questions that are so difficult or unclear that respondents will get frustrated and give up halfway through.

Think about what answers you need and what actions you are hoping to take based on those answers.

We’ll help you get started with a list of steps to take when formulating your own market research questions, and putting them together in a survey that makes sense.

1. Define your research goals and link them to actions you can take

Before you can write great market research questions, you need to know what you want to learn from your research.

What are your goals? What do you want to find out? Once you have a clear understanding of your goals, you can start brainstorming questions that will help you achieve them.

2. Know your target market and the language they use

Who are you conducting market research for? It’s important to know your audience before you start writing questions, as this will help you determine the best way to phrase them.

For example, if you’re conducting market research for a new product aimed at teenagers, you’ll want to use different language than if you were conducting research for a new financial planning service aimed at retirees.

3. Keep it simple, and break things into smaller pieces

Don’t make your questions too complicated. Stick to simple, straightforward questions that can be easily understood by your target audience.

The more complex your questions are, the more likely it is that respondents will get confused and provide inaccurate answers.

If you feel a question is too difficult, see if you can break it up into smaller pieces and add follow-up questions on top.

And don’t ever load two questions into one! This falls into Consumer Research 101, but it’s amazing how often it happens. Instead of ‘What’s your favorite chocolate bar, and why?’ ask two questions: ‘What’s your favorite chocolate bar?’ and ‘Why is this your favorite chocolate bar?’

4. Be super specific

Make sure your questions are specific enough to get the information you need. Vague questions will only lead to vague answers.

For example, instead of asking ‘What do you think of this product?’, ask ‘What did you think of the taste of this product?’ or ‘What did you think of the packaging of this product?’.

5. Avoid leading questions

Leading questions are those that suggest a particular answer or course of action. For example, instead of asking ‘Do you like our new product?’, which suggests that the respondent should like the product, try asking ‘What are your thoughts on this product?

This question is neutral and allows the respondent to answer freely without feeling pressured in any particular direction. It’s also brand-neutral: people answering this question will have no idea who’s asking, and their opinion won’t be biased as a result.

6. Make sure your question is clear

It’s important that your question is clear and concise so that respondents understand exactly what they’re being asked. If there is any ambiguity in your question, respondents may interpret it in different ways and provide inaccurate answers.

Always test your questions on a few people before sending them to a larger group to make sure they understand what they’re being asked.

7. Avoid loaded words

Loaded words are those with positive or negative connotations that could influence the way respondents answer the question. For example, instead of asking ‘Do you love this product?’, which has a positive connotation, try asking ‘What are your thoughts on this product?’

This question is neutral and allows the respondent to answer freely without feeling pressured in any particular direction

8. Make sure the question is answerable

Before you include a question in your market research survey, make sure it’s actually answerable. There’s no point in asking a question if there’s no way for respondents to answer it properly. If a question isn’t answerable, either revise the question or remove it from your survey altogether.

9. Use an appropriate question type

When designing your market research survey, be sure to use an appropriate question type for each question you include. Using the wrong question type can lead to inaccurate or unusable results, so it’s important to choose wisely. Some common question types used in market research surveys include multiple choice, rating scale, and open-ended questions.

10. Pay attention to question order

The order of the questions in your survey can also impact the results you get from your research. In general, it’s best to start with more general questions and then move on to more specific ones later on in the survey. This will help ensure that respondents are properly warmed up and able to provide detailed answers by the time they reach the end of the survey.

Make smart decisions with the reliable insights

To make sure you make smart decisions that have real impact on your business, get consumer insights you can rely on. Here’s our rundown of the top market research tools.

Survey questions for market research are designed to collect information about a target market or audience. They can be used to gather data about consumer preferences, opinions, and behavior. Some common types of market research survey questions include demographic questions, behavioral questions and attitudinal questions.

There are many different types of market research questions that companies can use to gather information about consumer preferences and buying habits. They can be divided into different categories, like a competitive analysis, customer satisfaction or market trends, after which you can make them more specific and turn them into survey questions. These are some of the things your research questions can help you answer: – What is the target market for our product? – Who is our competition? – What do consumers think of our product? – How often do consumers purchase our product? – What is the typical customer profile for our product? – What motivates consumers to purchase our product?

When conducting market research, surveys are an invaluable tool for gathering insights about your target audience. But how do you write a market research questionnaire that will get you the information you need? First, determine the purpose of your survey and who your target respondents are. This will help you to write questions that are relevant and targeted. Next, craft clear and concise questions that can be easily understood. Be sure to avoid ambiguity, leading questions and loaded language. Finally, pilot your survey with a small group of people to make sure that it is effective. With these tips in mind, you can write a market research survey that will help you to gather the crucial insights you need.

Elliot Barnard

Customer Research Lead 

Elliot joined Attest in 2019 and has dedicated his career to working with brands carrying out market research. At Attest Elliot takes a leading role in the Customer Research Team, to support customers as they uncover insights and new areas for growth.

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• Questions You Should Ask

The following questions are intended for anyone in the process of deciding to join a research study at the University of Virginia. We hope the information will help you make the right decision for yourself about being in a research study at UVa.

Clinical research is done to find out:

• What new drugs, devices and other treatments work and don’t work
• What causes disease
• What prevents disease and improves health

Ideas for clinical trials come from researchers, pharmaceutical companies and/or medical device companies. After researchers test new therapies or procedures in the laboratory and in animal studies, the treatments with the most promising laboratory results are moved into clinical trials. During a trial, more and more information is gained about a new treatment, its risks and how well it may or may not work.

Clinical trials are sponsored or funded by a variety of organizations or individuals such as physicians, medical institutions, foundations, voluntary groups, and pharmaceutical companies, in addition to federal agencies such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Department of Defense (DOD), and the Department of Veteran’s Affairs (VA). Trials can take place in a variety of locations, such as hospitals, universities, doctors’ offices, or community clinics.

• Treatment trials test new treatments, new combinations of drugs, or new approaches to surgery or radiation therapy.
• Prevention trials look for better ways to prevent disease in people who have never had the disease or to prevent a disease from returning. These approaches may include medicines, vitamins, vaccines, minerals, or lifestyle changes.
• Diagnostic trials are conducted to find better tests or procedures for diagnosing a particular disease or condition.
• Screening trials test the best way to detect certain diseases or health conditions.
• Quality of Life trials (or Supportive Care trials) explore ways to improve comfort and the quality of life for individuals with a chronic illness.

It is important to test drugs and medical products in the people they are meant to help. It is also important to conduct research in a variety of people because different people may respond differently to treatments.

Some people participate in clinical trials because they have exhausted standard (approved) treatment options – which either did not work for them, or they were unable to tolerate certain side effects. Clinical trials may provide another option when standard therapy has failed.

Other people participate in trials because they want to contribute to the advancement of medical knowledge.

Not everyone who applies for a clinical trial will be accepted. Volunteers may be excluded based on the eligibility criteria and/or the number of participants needed by the researchers to collect enough information to determine the safety and effectiveness of a therapeutic agent.

All clinical trials have guidelines about who can participate. Using inclusion/exclusion criteria is an important principle of medical research that helps to produce reliable results. The factors that allow someone to participate in a clinical trial are called “inclusion criteria” and those that disallow someone from participating are called “exclusion criteria”. These criteria are based on such factors as age, gender, the type and stage of a disease, previous treatment history, and other medical conditions. Before joining a clinical trial, a participant must qualify for the study. Some research studies seek participants with illnesses or conditions to be studied in the clinical trial, while others need healthy participants. It is important to note that inclusion and exclusion criteria are not used to reject people personally. Instead, the criteria are used to identify appropriate participants and keep them safe. The criteria help ensure that researchers will be able to answer the questions they plan to study.

Informed consent is the process of learning the key facts about a clinical trial before deciding whether or not to participate. It is also a continuing process throughout the study to provide information for participants. To help someone decide whether or not to participate, the doctors and nurses involved in the trial explain the details of the study. If the participant’s native language is not English, translation assistance can be provided. Then the research team provides an informed consent document that includes details about the study, such as its purpose, duration, required procedures, and key contacts. Risks and potential benefits are explained in the informed consent document. The participant then decides whether or not to sign the document. Informed consent is not a contract, and the participant may withdraw from the trial at any time.

The clinical trial process depends on the kind of trial being conducted.  The clinical trial team includes doctors and nurses as well as social workers and other health care professionals. They check the health of the participant at the beginning of the trial, give specific instructions for participating in the trial, monitor the participant carefully during the trial, and stay in touch after the trial is completed.

Some clinical trials involve more tests and doctor visits than the participant would normally have for an illness or condition. For all types of trials, the participant works with a research team. Clinical trial participation is most successful when the protocol is carefully followed and there is frequent contact with the research staff.

Clinical trials that are well-designed and well-executed are the best approach for eligible participants to:

• Play an active role in your own health care.
• If the new treatment works, you may be one of the first people to benefit.
• Help others by contributing to medical research.
• Access to expert medical care for the condition being studied, since investigators are often specialists in the disease area being studied.
•  The trial sponsor may pay for some of your medical care or tests.

There are also risks to clinical trials:

• Side effects may be worse than those of the standard treatment.
• Side effects may occur that the doctor does not expect.
• New treatments do not always turn out to be better than, or even as good as, standard treatment.
• As with standard treatment, the new treatment may not work for you even if it works for other patients.
• The protocol may require more of your time and attention than would a non-protocol treatment, including trips to the study site, more treatments, hospital stays or complex dosage requirements.

Side effects are any undesired actions or effects of drug or treatment. Negative or adverse effects may include headache, nausea, hair loss, skin irritation, or other physical problems. Experimental treatments must be evaluated for both immediate and long-term side effects.

The ethical and legal codes that govern medical practice also apply to clinical trials. In addition, most clinical research is federally regulated with built in safeguards to protect the participants. The trial follows a carefully controlled protocol, a study plan which details what researchers will do in the study. As a clinical trial progresses, researchers report the results of the trial at scientific meetings, to medical journals, and to various government agencies. Individual participants’ names will remain secret and will not be mentioned in these reports.

Yes.  Most clinical trials provide short-term treatments related to a designated illness or condition, but do not provide extended or complete primary health care. In addition, by having the health care provider work with the research team, the participant can ensure that other medications or treatments will not conflict with the protocol.

All participants in clinical trials are volunteers. You can choose to quit a clinical trial at any time, but talk to your doctor first. Your doctor can tell you how quitting the trial might affect your health and if there are other treatment options. Your relationship with your health care providers will not be changed by your decision.

A protocol is a study plan on which all clinical trials are based. The plan is carefully designed to safeguard the health of the participants as well as answer specific research questions. A protocol describes what types of people may participate in the trial; the schedule of tests, procedures, medications, and dosages; and the length of the study. While in a clinical trial, participants following a protocol are seen regularly by the research staff to monitor their health and to determine the safety and effectiveness of their treatment.

A placebo is an inactive pill, liquid, or powder that has no treatment value. In clinical trials, experimental treatments are often compared with placebos to assess the treatment’s effectiveness. In some studies, the participants in the control group will receive a placebo instead of an active drug or treatment.

A control is the standard by which experimental observations are evaluated. In many clinical trials, one group of patients will be given an experimental drug or treatment, while the control group is given either a standard treatment for the illness or a placebo.

Clinical trials are conducted in phases. The trials at each phase have a different purpose and help researchers answer different questions:

• In Phase I trials, researchers test a new drug or treatment in a small group of people (20-80) for the first time to evaluate its safety, determine a safe dosage range, and identify side effects.
• In Phase II trials, the study drug or treatment is given to a larger group of people (100-300) to see if it is effective and to further evaluate its safety.
• In Phase III trials, the study drug or treatment is given to large groups of people (1,000-3,000) to confirm its effectiveness, monitor side effects, compare it to commonly used treatments, and collect information that will allow the drug or treatment to be used safely.
• In Phase IV trials, post marketing studies delineate additional information including the drug’s risks, benefits, and optimal use.

Most of the time, when you take part in a clinical trial, you will only be in that one phase of the study. Treatments move through the phases, but patients do not.

An Institutional Review Board (often abbreviated as “IRB”) is a committee or panel comprised of medical and non-medical members who study and properly consider all clinical protocols involving human subjects. The involvement of human subjects in research is not permitted until an appropriate IRB has reviewed and approved the research protocol and informed consent.  When reviewing a proposed clinical research trial, the IRB assesses such things as:

• the risks to the subjects
• the anticipated benefits to the subjects and others
• the importance of the knowledge that may reasonably be expected to result
• the informed consent process to be employed

There is an extensive FAQ on clinical trials on the  ClinicalTrials.gov  website.

If your doctor offers you a clinical trial, you will first go through a process called informed consent. The goal of informed consent is to make sure you understand the clinical trial’s plan. A member of the research team will review the informed consent form in detail with you. This form explains the clinical trial’s purpose, plan, risks and benefits.

This is a great time to ask questions. Try to bring a family member or friend to help you ask questions and write down answers. You may also want to bring a tape recorder so that later you can listen to what the doctor said. If you decide to join the clinical trial, you will be asked to sign the informed consent form. The research team member will also sign the form, and you will receive a copy.

Take time to make your decision. If you like, you may take the informed consent form home with you to review before signing it.

You should know as much as possible about the clinical trial and feel comfortable asking the members of the health care team questions about it, the care expected while in a trial, and the cost of the trial. The following questions might be helpful for you to discuss with the health care team. Some of the answers to these questions are found in the informed consent document.

• What is the main purpose of this study?
• Who is going to be in the study?
• Why do researchers believe the treatment being tested may be effective? Has it been tested before?
• Does the study involve a placebo or a treatment that is already on the market?
• How long will the study last?
• What will I be asked to do as a participant?
• What kinds of tests and treatments are involved?
• What has been learned about the study treatment and are any study results published?
• How do the possible risks, side effects, and benefits in the study compare with my current treatment?
• Do I have to pay for any part of the study? Will my insurance cover these costs?
• Is there any reimbursement for travel costs? Will I receive any compensation for being in the study?
• Will I be able to see my own doctor?
• Can anyone find out whether I’m participating in the clinical trial?
• Will I receive any follow-up care after the study has ended?
• What will happen to my medical care if I stop participating in the study?
• How will I know that the treatment is working? Will results of the trials be provided to me?
• If the treatment works for me, can I keep using it after the study?
• Who will be in charge of my care? Does the physician/investigator have any financial or special interest in the clinical study?
• What are the credentials and research experience of the physician and study staff?
• Clinical Trials Unit
• Diversity in Clinical Research
• Education and Mentoring
• Research Resources
• Study Management
• Search Clinical Trials at UVA
• Research Oversight at UVa
• Rights of a Research Participant

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How to Find a Real Estate Agent: Where to Look and What to Ask

Before putting your home on the market or setting out to buy a new one, you should identify real estate agents in your community who can assist with the sale. More than two million people nationwide have licenses to sell real estate , and it’s their job to be an expert on the properties in their community. They track real estate trends and are in the business of helping others buy and sell homes. If you’re in the market for a new home, it’s wise to know how to find a real estate agent.

Whether you’re a first-time seller or someone who is looking to buy your first home, there are several ways to find a local real estate agent:

• Use realtor.com’s how to find a real estate agent  tool to locate individuals who are active in your community.
• Get recommendations from friends and family members who have bought or sold their properties recently.
• Look for real estate agent signs in your community.
• Attend open houses and see if you connect with a real estate agent.
• Call your neighborhood real estate brokerages.

How to find a real estate agent: Ask these important questions

There are a number of questions you will want to ask a real estate agent before they start helping you with your home search:

1. What services do you offer?

Buyers and sellers have different needs, and certain real estate agents might specialize in selling over buying and vice versa.

2. What type of representation do you provide?

There are various forms of representation in different states. Some brokers represent buyers, some represent sellers, some facilitate transactions as a neutral party, and in some cases different salespeople in a single firm may represent different parties within a transaction.

3. What experience do you have in my immediate area?

Find out their success rate with buying and selling in your area.

4. How long are homes in this neighborhood typically on the market?

Be aware that because all homes are unique, some will sell faster than others. Several factors can impact the amount of time a home remains on the market, including list price, changing interest rates and local economic trends.

5. How would you price my home?

Ask about recent home sales and comparable properties currently on the market. If you speak with several real estate agents and their price estimates differ, that’s alright—but be sure to ask how their price opinions were determined and why they think your home would sell for a given value. Request a written Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) as well.

6. How will you market my home?

At listing presentations, brokers will provide a detailed summary of how they market homes, what marketing strategies have worked in the past and which marketing efforts may be effective for your home.

7. What is your fee?

Brokerage fees are established in the marketplace and not set by law or regulation. The commission is the agent’s rate for handling your transaction. Ask if there are other fees you will have to pay such as an early cancellation fee, marketing fee, MLS fee, or any other cost that isn’t included in the commission rate.

8. What disclosures should you (the consumer) receive?

State rules require brokers to provide extensive agency disclosure information, usually at the first sit-down meeting with an owner or buyer.

What to expect when working with a real estate agent

Once your home is listed with a real estate agent, they will immediately begin to market your home according to the most appropriate conventions for your community. A real estate agent keeps you informed as the marketing process unfolds and as expressions of interest are received.

Be sure to specify how you’d prefer to communicate. Some clients prefer email or texts. while others only want to be called or have in-person meetings. Whatever your preference, it’s best to outline those expectations upfront so everyone is working with clearly-defined objectives.

The same holds true for buyers. Because buyers are constantly meeting with their agent to see properties and give feedback on the properties they’ve already seen, communication is important. If you like to communicate via text message, let your agent know. All forms of communication are not acceptable to everyone. Make sure you have an agent who communicates with you in a way you find acceptable.

Every client should expect professionalism. That means a real estate agent will always expect you to be on-time, and you should expect the same from a real estate agent.

Remember, the real estate agent is your advocate in the transaction, whether you are buying or selling. Once you have signed up with an agent to represent you, he or she is your face, your voice, and your defense against all involved in the multi-layered home buying or home selling process.

Natalie Way covers news and advice stories about unique real estate, interior design, and celebrity homes. Natalie is the co-founder and co-host of Realtor.com's critically acclaimed podcast, "House Party." She can be reached at [email protected].

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