Free guide

You've already decided to do an EPQ, so it might seem a little odd to start this resource by asking you to consider why you want to do a piece of research. 

People do an EPQ for all sorts of reasons. It might be because you have a personal interest in a topic that you want to take a bit further. It might be that you want to develop skills that you will use if you move on to university or higher education, such as independent study, research literacy, communication, self-management and motivation. It might be for the very real pleasure of finding things out, of asking a question no one has asked before and in finding answers that no one has found.

Clarifying why you want to do a research project will help you create a strong question that works for you and enables you to achieve your goals.

The first step in the research cycle is to define a good research question.

A good research question is:

• novel
• focussed
• answerable
• has room for development
• contains a range of perspectives
• interesting!

Doing something novel; asking a question that no one has asked before and finding answers that no one else has found lies at the heart of research. 

Vague questions are very tricky to answer, especially if your time is limited, so keeping your question focussed helps it to be answerable. 

Leaving room for development helps ensure you will stay interested through the process of planning, research, development and review. 

Questions that are open to a range of answers and perspectives will give you much more opportunities to develop your skills in presenting arguments and discussing their strengths and weaknesses.

You will also need to be sure there is a range of readily available material that you can draw on to research the answer to the question.

Finally, the question should be interesting - for you, of course but also thought-provoking for those who will read your dissertation or watch your presentation.

Alessandra, a Senior Research Fellow in AstrobiologyOU, offers her thoughts on what makes a good research question.

It's important that the topic of your EPQ is something you are interested in or something you think is important. This will help you sustain the project over several months.

Take a moment to think ... what are you interested in? What do you really care about? At this stage, don't try to be too focussed; let your  mind wander over all your interests.

When you  have settled on your research question, you're ready to move on to the next step: gathering data.

My colleague Julia, whose research explores the possibilities for habitable environments in the Solar System, describes how she uncovers a topic and takes the first steps in gathering evidence.