Simple and complex questions

You may encounter different types of questions, ranging from simple look-up questions to complex research questions. Roughly speaking, you can distinguish between three types of questions.

 

Factual (research) question

This is a focused, simple question; you are looking for an unambiguous factual answer. Simple does not always mean that the answer is easy to find. It is important to get the facts right. Choosing a good reliable source of information is therefore essential.

Example:

What percentage of the Dutch population is unemployed?

Orientation question

With a question for orientation on your topic you do not search very specifically. You explore your subject in a broad sense to get a clearer idea of what you really want to investigate. You want to get a global picture, the question is general in nature. You will also explore some partial aspects.

Example:

You want to investigate the influence of media. You do feel that the topic is very broad. Your orientation questions will be, for example:

As your picture becomes clearer, your orientation questions will also become somewhat more specific.  

Research question

A research question is more complex. You are doing more in-depth research and the question is more specific. To answer the question properly, you will need to formulate sub-questions.

For a research question, use a step-by-step plan; a structured approach is important to achieve good results.

Example:

How does media affect youth socialization?