What a research question is

Name:

Date:

Class:

Quick Questions

Shade in the A or B circle for each question.

1. Which one is a research question?

A Do Year 11 students who sleep more than 8 hours score higher on Maths tests?

B Student sleep and school results

2. A research question is best described as...

A A broad subject area that a project is interested in

B One question that a data project sets out to answer using collected data

3. Which one can be answered using data a project collects?

A Is the canteen the best part of school life?

B How many students at our school buy lunch from the canteen each week?

4. Which statement about a topic and a research question is correct?

A A topic is broader than a research question

B A topic is narrower than a research question

5. How does a research question link to a data project?

A It gives the project a clear aim that decides which data to collect

B It is written after the data is analysed to explain the results

Match the Pairs

Draw a line connecting each item on the left to its match on the right.

Left column		Right column
1research question		ADo Year 11 students who sleep under 7 hours score lower on their Maths test?
2Topic: Student sleep		BProject aim: collect survey data to answer 'Which canteen item do students buy most often?'
3A research question can be answered using data the project collects, such as survey results		CThis cannot be answered with collected data because 'nice' is opinion-based and vague, with no clear data to gather.
4A research question guides a data project by linking the data collected to the final solution		DA broad subject area that is too general to be a research question on its own
5Research question: School canteens		EOne question that a data project sets out to answer using collected data
6Research question: Is the school canteen a nice place to be?		FThis is only a topic, not a question. It is too broad and gives no direction for what data to collect.

Definitions

research question

Fill in the Blanks

Complete each line of code by filling in the missing parts.

Topic: Student points _________________: Which house scores most?

_____: School canteen spending Research question: Which product sells most?

Topic: House points Research question: Which house scores most_

Research question: Which house scores most? SELECT house, ___(points) FROM students GROUP BY house;

Research question: Which house scores most? Data needed: students.house, students.______

Spot the Error

Shade in the letter of the line that contains an error.

Question 1

A Topic: School canteen

B RQ: Which snack sells most?

C Data: none, answer from memory

Question 2

A Topic: Phone use

B RQ: Do teens use phones more?

C Data: daily screen time survey

D Use: skip data, guess answer

Question 3

A Project: Library usage

B Topic: Books and borrowing

C RQ: Libraries and reading

Question 4

A Project: Bike safety

B Topic: Cycling to school

C RQ: Who rides, and is it safe?

Question 5

A Topic: Healthy eating

B RQ: Fruit is healthy

C Data: fruit eaten per day

D Collect: survey of 50 students

Answer Key

What a research question is

Section A: Quick Questions

A — Do Year 11 students who sleep more than 8 hours score higher on Maths tests?

B — One question that a data project sets out to answer using collected data

B — How many students at our school buy lunch from the canteen each week?

A — A topic is broader than a research question

A — It gives the project a clear aim that decides which data to collect

Section B: Match the Pairs

research question → One question that a data project sets out to answer using collected data

Topic: Student sleep → A broad subject area that is too general to be a research question on its own

A research question can be answered using data the project collects, such as survey results → Do Year 11 students who sleep under 7 hours score lower on their Maths test?

A research question guides a data project by linking the data collected to the final solution → Project aim: collect survey data to answer 'Which canteen item do students buy most often?'

Research question: School canteens → This is only a topic, not a question. It is too broad and gives no direction for what data to collect.

Research question: Is the school canteen a nice place to be? → This cannot be answered with collected data because 'nice' is opinion-based and vague, with no clear data to gather.

Section C: Definitions

research question — One question that a data project sets out to answer using collected data. It is narrower than a topic and must be answerable with data the project can collect.

Section D: Fill in the Blanks

Topic: Student points
Research question: Which house scores most?

Topic: School canteen spending
Research question: Which product sells most?

Topic: House points
Research question: Which house scores most?

Research question: Which house scores most?
SELECT house, SUM(points) FROM students
GROUP BY house;

Research question: Which house scores most?
Data needed: students.house, students.points

Section E: Spot the Error

C — A research question must be answered using data the project collects. The data line should name collectable data, such as weekly sales by snack, not memory.

D — The project links to the research question by analysing the collected data to answer it. It should read: Use: analyse data to answer RQ.

C — This line is a topic, not a question. A research question is narrower, such as: Which day has most loans?

C — A research question is ONE question. This line asks two, so the project has no single focus. Keep one, such as: How many ride on Mondays?

B — A research question must be a question. This is a statement, so it sets nothing to answer. It should be like: How often is fruit eaten?