2.2 Asking good questions
Asking questions can spark curiosity and new ways of thinking about something. A good question tends to be one that is phrased in a manner that will help you deepen your understanding and enhance critical reflection.
‘Good’ questions tend to be clear, concise, and linked to the topic which you are asking about. Unclear questions tend to be too open-ended, leaving too much room for multiple lines of inquiry and may lead to confusion rather than clarity.
For social scientists, good questions tend to be those that ask ‘how’, ’why’, ’what’, or ‘what if’. ‘What if’ questions in social science are a bit different to the others. ‘What if’ questions are, in general, more about using your imagination to think about possibilities of what ‘could be’. ‘How’, ‘why’ and ‘what’ questions, by contrast, usually focus more on the present or the past. In general, ‘good’ questions are more precise questions. Unclear questions tend to be unfocused – they still might begin with ‘how’, ‘why’ and so on, but they often lack clarity and precision.
Activity 1: What makes a question clear or unclear?
Are the following social science questions clear or unclear? Select the correct answer for each question below.
a.
Clear
b.
Unclear
The correct answer is b.
a.
Clear
b.
Unclear
The correct answer is a.
a.
Clear
b.
Unclear
The correct answer is a.
a.
Clear
b.
Unclear
The correct answer is b.
Discussion
The two unclear questions above both lack precision. In one, the word ‘work’ is ambiguous and there’s nothing to indicate what situation the question is referring to. In the other question (about why people care about their social media profile), it is not clear who the question is referring to – ‘people’ is too broad a category. It also assumes that social media profiles are a universal concern of everyone in a given society, which might not be the case.