A common misconception I come across with introductory research modules is that students often think that the research question should be answered by the literature review. Some research questions can be answered by reading published literature, but the type of studies we are aiming to work with in these modules involve the need to go beyond the literature (secondary research) to find the answers. So, to the contrary, the literature review gives background information about studies that other researchers have done and have published, so the literature review leads to, rather than answers the research questions.
Once a full proposal has been prepared, the data collected by the researcher (the primary data) is what answers the research question.
The study starts by identifying what others have found in their research, builds up to a problem which is essentially summarised in a research question. The rest of the study (population, sampling, data collection, data analysis and interpretation) answers the research question.
A helpful question to ask yourself about your own research question is:
Do I already know the answer to this? If you do, or you think you do, you might plan a quantitative study to prove (or disprove) what you think to be true (hypothesis).
However, if you are doing a qualitative study (as well as some quantitative studies) you should not know the answer to the research question. If you know the answer - why are you asking the question?
In summary, the key research question guides the whole study and it is the data collected in the study that answers that question, in the form of the findings, interpretation and conclusion of your project.
# NOTE: For those who are doing a module that only requires you to write a proposal, you will therefore NOT answer the question in your project.
