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# Introduction

Research questions represent a key starting point when conducting research and they often vary according to the kinds of research inquiry chosen. One important distinction is between ‘positivist’ and ‘interpretivist’ approaches in the discipline. Positivist research focuses on explaining a phenomenon. They are often interested in establishing causal relationships – for instance, why did x happen? They incline towards using and analysing quantitative data and testing hypotheses to establish ‘facts’ through which we can understand, and perhaps predict, the social world.

Interpretivist (or ‘critical’, or ‘post-positivist’) research focuses on understanding social phenomena. Such questions ask how a certain understanding of the world, set of social relations or array of practices comes to be. Implicit here is the sense that other ways of understanding and arranging the social world are possible, and perhaps desirable, even if something appears to be fixed and timeless. Such work often utilises more qualitative data, exploring how meanings are produced and shared through discourses and practices.

This OpenLearn course will guide through the different types of research questions in international relations (IR), and it will help you develop the skills necessary to develop your own. Through a series of activities, including a bespoke Masterclass, you will have the opportunity to reflect on what makes a good research question and to consider the types of questions that one might ask when doing a research project in international relations.

This OpenLearn course is an adapted extract from the Open University course D828 MA International relations part 2. You might also be interested in studying the sister OpenLearn course International relations: exploring territorial divisions which is an adapted extract from the Open University course D818 MA International relations part 1

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OpenLearn - Developing a research question in International Relations
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