Best examples of research question examples in proposals (with tips for 2024–2025)

Strong examples of research question examples in proposals (by field)

Let’s start where most people want to start: with real examples. You’ll notice that the best examples of research question examples in proposals are specific, measurable, and clearly tied to a method.

Education research: from vague ideas to focused questions

A lot of education proposals start with something like:

“How can we improve student learning?”

That sounds noble, but it’s far too broad. Here are stronger examples of research question examples in proposals for education topics:

• K–12 reading intervention
  “How does a structured phonics-based reading program, compared with a balanced literacy approach, affect reading fluency among 2nd-grade students in urban public schools over one academic year?”

  Why it works: It names the intervention, comparison, population (2nd-grade students in urban public schools), and time frame.

• Online vs. in-person learning (post-2020 trend)
  “To what extent does participation in fully online high school courses, compared with traditional in-person courses, influence math achievement and course completion rates among 10th-grade students in U.S. public schools?”

  This fits nicely into a quantitative proposal using administrative data or test scores.

For more education-focused proposal ideas, the Harvard Graduate School of Education often shares sample projects and topics: https://www.gse.harvard.edu/

Public health and mental health: current 2024–2025 themes

Public health proposals frequently tap into current issues like long COVID, adolescent mental health, and health misinformation. Here are real examples of research question examples in proposals in this area:

• Social media and adolescent mental health
  “What is the relationship between daily time spent on TikTok and symptoms of anxiety and depression among U.S. adolescents aged 13–17?”

• Long COVID in working adults
  “How does self-reported long COVID affect work productivity and absenteeism among adults aged 25–55 in the United States?”

• Vaccine communication and trust
  “How do different message frames (risk-focused vs. benefit-focused) in COVID-19 vaccine communication campaigns affect vaccine confidence among adults who are initially hesitant?”

These questions are grounded enough that you could realistically design surveys, experiments, or secondary data analyses around them. For up-to-date public health data to inform your own question, check the CDC’s data and statistics pages: https://www.cdc.gov/datastatistics/index.html

Business, management, and remote work

With remote and hybrid work still evolving, many 2024–2025 proposals in business and organizational psychology focus on flexibility, burnout, and productivity.

Some examples of research question examples in proposals for business and management include:

• Hybrid work and productivity
  “How does a hybrid work schedule (3 days in-office, 2 days remote) affect self-reported productivity and job satisfaction among software engineers at mid-sized U.S. tech companies?”

• Burnout and flexible scheduling
  “In what ways does flexible scheduling influence burnout levels among nurses working in large urban hospitals?”

• AI tools in the workplace
  “How does the adoption of AI-assisted writing tools influence the quality and turnaround time of internal reports among marketing professionals?”

These are the kind of focused, practical questions that make a business proposal feel timely and grounded in real workplace issues.

Technology and AI: research questions that feel current

If your topic touches AI, data privacy, or automation, you’ll want your question to show that you understand current debates and limitations.

Here are some of the best examples of research question examples in proposals for tech and AI topics:

• AI in higher education
  “How does the use of generative AI tools for drafting essays affect undergraduate students’ writing quality and perceptions of academic integrity in U.S. universities?”

• Algorithmic bias
  “To what extent do facial recognition algorithms used by U.S. law enforcement agencies show differential error rates across racial and gender groups?”

• Data privacy attitudes
  “What factors predict college students’ willingness to share personal data with mobile health apps?”

Proposals in this space tend to benefit from clear operational definitions: what counts as “writing quality,” how you measure “error rates,” and which “factors” you’ll consider.

For background on AI ethics and policy discussions, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) provides useful frameworks: https://www.nist.gov/artificial-intelligence

How to turn a topic into a sharp research question

Seeing examples of research question examples in proposals is helpful, but the real skill is learning how to move from a broad topic to something you can actually study.

Think of it as a funnel:

• Start with a broad topic: “social media and teenagers”
• Narrow to a specific angle: “TikTok use and sleep quality in high school students”
• Choose a population: “10th–12th graders in public schools in California”
• Decide on a time frame or context: “during the 2024–2025 school year”
• Add a relationship or effect to study: “relationship between daily TikTok use and sleep duration”

You might end up with something like:

“What is the relationship between daily time spent on TikTok and sleep duration among 10th–12th grade students in California public high schools during the 2024–2025 school year?”

That’s now a clear, measurable research question that belongs in a proposal.

Matching your research question to your method

One reason many proposals get pushback is that the question doesn’t match the method. Some examples of research question examples in proposals are clearly quantitative, while others are better suited to qualitative or mixed methods.

Quantitative-style research questions

Quantitative questions usually include words like effect, relationship, difference, or predict. They’re often about variables you can measure with numbers.

Examples include:

• “What is the relationship between daily screen time and GPA among first-year college students?”
• “How does a 6-week mindfulness program affect perceived stress scores among graduate students?”
• “To what extent does household income predict access to high-speed internet in rural counties?”

These questions pair well with surveys, experiments, or existing datasets.

Qualitative-style research questions

Qualitative questions often use words like how, why, or in what ways, and they focus on experiences, meanings, or processes.

Here are real examples of research question examples in proposals that lean qualitative:

• “How do first-generation college students describe their experiences with academic advising at a large public university?”
• “In what ways do parents of children with autism describe barriers to accessing early intervention services?”
• “How do remote workers in multinational companies make sense of work–life boundaries?”

These fit interviews, focus groups, or document analysis.

Mixed-methods questions

Mixed-methods proposals combine both numbers and narratives. A strong mixed-methods question often has a main question plus sub-questions.

For example:

Main question:
“How does participation in a school-based mindfulness program influence middle school students’ stress levels and perceptions of school climate?”

Sub-questions:
“What changes occur in students’ perceived stress scores over 8 weeks?” (quantitative)
“How do students describe their experiences of the mindfulness sessions and their impact on classroom behavior?” (qualitative)

Your proposal can explicitly separate these, but they should all flow from one coherent research focus.

Good vs. weak questions: side-by-side examples

Sometimes the fastest way to learn is to see a weak question and how it can be fixed. Here are examples of research question examples in proposals that start off shaky and then get tightened up.

Example 1: Health behavior

• Weak: “Why don’t people exercise enough?”
• Better: “What factors are associated with meeting the CDC’s physical activity guidelines among adults aged 30–50 in urban areas?”

The improved version points to a specific guideline (you can reference CDC recommendations here: https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/basics/adults/index.htm), a defined age range, and a context.

Example 2: Higher education

• Weak: “Is college worth it?”
• Better: “How do first-generation college graduates describe the impact of their degree on their career opportunities and financial stability five years after graduation?”

Now it’s researchable, and it suggests qualitative interviews as a method.

Example 3: Technology in K–12

• Weak: “Is technology good or bad for kids?”
• Better: “How does daily use of school-issued tablets relate to reading comprehension scores among 4th-grade students in suburban public schools?”

The improved question is specific enough that a school district might actually approve it.

How to phrase research questions inside your proposal

Once you’ve drafted your question, where and how you present it inside the proposal matters.

In many formats, you’ll:

• Introduce the broad problem or gap in the introduction
• Narrow to your specific focus in the background/literature review
• State your main research question (and sub-questions or hypotheses) in the research questions or aims section

A clear way to present it is something like:

This study is guided by the following research question:
How does participation in a peer-mentoring program affect first-year retention rates among first-generation college students at a large public university?

If you have more than one, keep the list short and aligned. For instance, you might have one main question and two to three sub-questions that are all logical examples of research question examples in proposals for your topic.

Common mistakes to avoid when writing research questions

Even strong writers fall into a few predictable traps. When you look at other examples of research question examples in proposals, you’ll notice they tend to avoid:

• Overly broad or vague wording
  Questions like “How can we solve climate change?” are interesting but not researchable in a single study.

• Yes/no questions that stop at description
  “Does this program work?” is shallow. Instead, ask how well, for whom, or under what conditions.

• Jargon-heavy phrasing
  Committees want clarity. If a non-specialist on the panel would struggle to understand your question, simplify your language.

• Questions that don’t fit your timeline or resources
  A PhD dissertation can handle more complexity than a one-semester undergraduate project. Your question should match your time, skills, and access to participants or data.

When in doubt, compare your draft to the best examples you can find in your field—dissertations, thesis proposals, or grant applications from your department.

Quick checklist for your own research question

Use this as a last-minute filter when you think you’re close. Ask yourself:

• Is the population clearly defined?
• Can I realistically access the data or people I’m asking about?
• Does the question hint at the method (quantitative, qualitative, or mixed)?
• Is the time frame or context clear enough?
• Could someone else read this and understand exactly what I plan to study?

If you can answer yes to those, your question is likely to stand alongside the stronger examples of research question examples in proposals you’ve seen here.

FAQ: examples and practical questions about research questions

How many research questions should a proposal have?
Most proposals have one main research question and a small number of sub-questions (often two to four). When you look at any strong example of a successful proposal, you’ll see that too many questions make the project feel scattered.

Can you give a simple example of a good undergraduate research question?
Yes. Here is a straightforward example of a question that works well for a semester-long project:

“How do study group participation and use of office hours relate to exam scores in an introductory biology course at a large public university?”
It’s focused, measurable, and limited to one course.

Do all research questions need hypotheses?
Not always. Quantitative proposals often include hypotheses (for example, predicting the direction of a relationship), but qualitative proposals usually do not. Instead, they focus on exploratory examples of research question examples in proposals that aim to describe or interpret experiences.

Should I mention specific statistics or methods in the question itself?
Usually, no. The question should stay readable and conceptual, while the methods section explains details like regression, thematic analysis, or randomized assignment. When you review strong examples of funded proposals, you’ll notice the question is written in plain language, even if the method is technical.

Where can I find more real examples of research questions?
Look at recent theses and dissertations from your university’s library, sample proposals from your department, and research articles in your field. Many universities, like the University of Michigan, provide online research guides with sample questions and proposal structures: https://guides.lib.umich.edu/researchprocess

If you treat those as models—and compare your draft question against the examples of research question examples in proposals in this guide—you’ll be in a strong position to write a proposal that feels focused, current, and convincing.