The Research Question in Social Research: What is
its Role?
Alan Bryman
To cite this article: Alan Bryman (2007) The Research Question in Social Research:
What is its Role?, International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 10:1, 5-20, DOI:
10.1080/13645570600655282
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/13645570600655282
Published online: 26 Feb 2007.
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Int. J. Social Research Methodology
Vol. 10, No. 1, February 2007, pp. 5–20
ISSN 1364–5579 (print)/ISSN 1464–5300 (online) © 2007 Taylor & Francis
DOI: 10.1080/13645570600655282
The Research Question in Social
Research: What is its Role?
Alan Bryman
Taylor and Francis Ltd SRM_A_165502.sgm Received 11 January 2005; Accepted 23 May 2005
10.1080/13645570600655282 International Journal of Social Research Methodology 1364-5579 (print)/1464-5300 (online) Original Article 2007 Taylor & Francis 10 000000February 2007 AlanBryman? a.e.bryman@lboro.ac.uk This paper addresses the role of the research question in social research. It outlines what is
taken to be the conventional view in many methodological discussions, namely, that
research questions guide decisions about research design and research methods. This
position is taken to imply that social researchers typically take the view that research
methods need to be tailored to the research questions that guide an investigation. The
paper questions how far this position pertains to actual research practice. Drawing on
interviews with researchers about their practices in relation to mixed-method research,
two discourses were found in the transcripts. A particularistic discourse that reflects the
traditional view, whereby mixed-method research is viewed as only appropriate when
research questions warrant it, was uncovered. In addition, a universalistic discourse,
which sees mixed-method research as more generally superior, was also uncovered. The
implications of these viewpoints for understanding the role of research questions are then
discussed.
Introduction
For many writers on social research methodology and for practising social researchers,
the research question has an important status as the linchpin of the research process.
The research question is viewed as a crucial early step that provides a point of orientation for an investigation. It helps to link the researcher’s literature review to the kinds
of data that will be collected. As such, formulating a research question has an important
Alan Bryman is Professor of Organisational and Social Research, School of Management, University of Leicester,
England. His main research interests lie in research methodology, leadership studies, organizational analysis, the
process of Disneyization and theme parks. He is author or co-author of many books, and a co-editor of The
SAGE Encyclopedia of Social Science Research (Sage, 2003) and the Handbook of Data Analysis (Sage, 2004).
Correspondence to: Alan Bryman, School of Management, University of Lecicester LE1 7RH Leicestershire, UK.
Tel.: +44 (0) 116 2522790; Fax: 116 2525515; Email: a.bryman@le.ac.uk
6 A. Bryman
role in many accounts of the research process as a stage that helps to militate against
undisciplined data collection and analysis.
The research question is supposed to have a pivotal role because decisions about
research design and methods are supposed to be made in order to answer research
questions. Textbook writers have almost ritualistically extolled the significance and
importance of clear research questions (e.g. Bryman, 2004, pp. 30–33). According to
one writer:
In my view, formulating research questions is the most critical and, perhaps, the most difficult part of a research design …. Establishing research questions makes it possible to select
research strategies and methods with confidence. In other words, a research project is built
on the foundation of research questions. (Blaikie, 2000, p. 58, emphasis in original)
In a similar fashion, de Vaus argued: ‘The function of a research design is to ensure the
evidence obtained enables us to answer the initial question as unambiguously as possible’
(2001, p. 9, emphasis in original). It might be supposed that the rather open-ended
approach to investigations that is often associated with a qualitative strategy would
make research questions less important within that tradition than within quantitative
research. However, several writers have emphasized the importance of research questions in qualitative research (e.g. Creswell, 2003, p. 105; Flick, 1998, p. 47; Mason, 2002,
pp. 27–30). Mason, for example, wrote