A research paper must have a research question. The research question narrows the focus of the paper to a specific issue. The research question is a real question--a real problem--that the research paper must answer.

In the sample student paper, we saw that the last paragraph of the introduction is the plan of the essay. The plan of the essay states the research question and it breaks the research question into smaller parts, subtopics or subquestions. These are listed as follows:

The topic of this research paper is: do remittances spur development in social services? There are many aspects to this controversial topic; this paper will address the following questions:
1. How large is the problem?
2 How many tertiary-educated individuals are emigrating?
3. What is the role of remittances in developing countries?
4. What are the roles of diaspora communities and developing countries?
5. What are the effects of absent skilled workers?
6. What is the price of lost labor?
7. Do remittances spur development in social services?

The student has analyzed her topic carefully. The problem of remittances involves several issues--the role of those educated individuals who immigrate to the United States or Europe, the role of the overseas community, the absence of skilled workers, lost labor, etc. She has addressed each of these issues with a subtopic or a subquestion. Look at her research paper. Each subtopic listed in her plan of the essay is a separate section in her paper. And in each section, a subtopic listed in the plan of the essay reappears as a subtitle for that section.

While this student has 7 subtopics, you should have 4-5.

Notice that this student uses the research question as the title of the paper and also as the final subtopic. The research question can also be the final subtopic because in the final section the student gives her answer to the research question.

A good research question
1. cannot be answered with a simple “yes” or “no”
2. does not elicit facts as answers
3. poses a serious problem that can be answered by research
4. often addresses a controversial issue
5. is very specific—appropriate for an 10-page paper
6. is based on knowledge of the topic