Your research question is the single most important decision in your Extended Investigation. A weak question leads to a meandering investigation; a strong question focuses your efforts and makes every subsequent decision — methodology, literature search, data collection — clearer.
The research question:
- Defines the scope of your investigation
- Determines what methods are appropriate
- Sets the standard against which your conclusions are judged
- Is the lens through which your reader understands your work
KEY TAKEAWAY: A good research question is not a topic — it is a specific, answerable inquiry. “Social media” is a topic. “Does daily social media use of more than two hours correlate with increased anxiety in Year 12 students?” is a research question.
A widely used tool for evaluating research questions:
| Letter | Quality | What to Ask |
|---|---|---|
| F | Feasible | Can you actually answer this with available resources, time and data? |
| I | Interesting | Is it worth investigating? Does it matter? |
| N | Novel | Does it add something new — a new population, context, method or angle? |
| E | Ethical | Can it be answered without harming participants or violating privacy? |
| R | Relevant | Does it connect to existing literature and real-world significance? |
A good research question is specific enough to be answerable. Avoid questions so broad that no single investigation could address them.
The question must be answerable using realistic data collection methods. Questions requiring access you cannot obtain (classified records, clinical populations, multi-year longitudinal data) are not feasible for a VCE project.
Effective research questions begin with how, what, why, to what extent, or in what ways. Yes/no questions limit your analysis and close off nuanced findings.
Your question should emerge from a gap or tension in existing research. This demonstrates research literacy and makes your work intellectually significant.
Too narrow = trivial findings. Too broad = unfocused investigation. The scope should match the time and resources available for a VCE student project.
EXAM TIP: VCAA tasks may ask you to compare two research questions and explain which is stronger, or to identify weaknesses in a given question. Use the FINER criteria or the qualities above as your evaluative framework — they give you structured language for your response.
| Weakness | Example | Problem |
|---|---|---|
| Too vague | “What are teenagers like?” | No clear inquiry or method possible |
| Too broad | “Is climate change bad?” | Unanswerable at student level |
| Biased framing | “Why is social media ruining teenage mental health?” | Assumes the answer; not open inquiry |
| Value-laden without operationalisation | “Is Instagram evil?” | “Evil” cannot be measured |
| Not original | Exactly replicating a well-known study | Does not add to knowledge |
Expect your question to evolve. The process typically looks like:
1. Choose a broad area of interest
2. Read initial literature to identify what is known and what is debated
3. Identify a specific gap or angle
4. Draft a question and test it against FINER criteria
5. Refine based on available methods and data
COMMON MISTAKE: Finalising the research question before doing any preliminary reading. The literature review and question development are iterative — each informs the other. Your Journal should document how your question evolved.
APPLICATION: Write three drafts of your research question — one too broad, one too narrow, one “just right” — and explain the differences. This exercise builds your ability to recognise quality, which helps in both the SAC and exam.
