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How to Generate Research Questions

Developing meaningful research questions is the cornerstone of doctoral scholarship. This interactive guide presents eight systematic approaches to question generation, practical implementation strategies, and quality assessment tools to help you craft questions that advance leadership theory and practice.

Eight Approaches to Generating Research Questions

1
Theoretical Elaboration

Extend well-established models by probing boundary conditions and causal pathways.

Example: Under what external legitimacy threats does transformational rhetoric erode, rather than enhance, follower trust?
2
Abductive Case-Driven Discovery

Start with puzzling phenomena and allow theory to emerge iteratively from field evidence.

Example: How do leaderless teams negotiate decision authority when formal hierarchy is removed?
3
Phenomenon-Driven Inquiry

Locate puzzling real-world events and work backward to conceptual puzzles.

Example: What role do social-media legitimacy shocks play in accelerating executive turnover in higher education leadership?
4
Anomaly Hunting

Treat empirical findings that contradict dominant expectations as seeds for questions.

Example: Why does demographic diversity dampen idea generation in highly time-pressured healthcare teams?
5
Interdisciplinary Importation

Import theories, constructs, or methods from adjacent fields to recast leadership puzzles.

Example: How do superintendents make real-time decisions when faced with overlapping political demands, regulatory deadlines, and community crises?
6
Problematization

Deliberately interrogate and overturn the field's taken-for-granted assumptions to uncover alternative perspectives.

Example: How do distributed teams enact shared leadership practices when the assumption of a single heroic leader is replaced by a relational view?
7
Design-Thinking Approach

Iteratively co-design interventions with stakeholders to discover new questions from prototype outcomes.

Example: What psychological contracts are violated when algorithmic decision aids expose previously opaque judgments?
8
Data-Intensive Natural Experiments

Leverage granular administrative and sensor data for quasi-experimental questions.

Example: Do real-time stress biomarkers predict subsequent discretionary-decision errors more accurately than self-report fatigue scales among leaders?

Best Practices for Research Question Development

Research Strategies

  • Read archeologically by treating seminal texts as artifacts revealing buried assumptions
  • Juxtapose paradigms to see where each falters
  • Use negative cases to violate cherished assumptions
  • Triangulate routes for richer questions
  • Document your intellectual journey with reflective memos

Implementation Considerations

  • Evaluate contribution early using Whetten's criteria (what, how, why, when)
  • Iterate rigorously and document methodological transparency
  • Consider audience tolerance for challenging assumptions
  • Pilot reframed questions in seminars and conferences
  • Engage with practitioners to test real-world relevance

Quality Checklist for Research Questions

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Common Pitfalls in Dissertation Research Questions

Critical Warning: Formulating an incisive research question is deceptively difficult. The following pitfalls can significantly weaken a dissertation's contribution.

Pitfall 1: Settled Questions

Asking questions the literature has already settled

Pitfall 2: Lack of Anchoring

Failing to anchor in specific leadership phenomena

Pitfall 3: Static Perception

Treating leadership as static perception rather than dynamic process

Pitfall 4: Over-Bounding

Over-bounding the question to one program and one performance indicator

Pitfall 5: Data Availability Bias

Confusing data availability with theoretical importance

Pitfall 6: Method-Driven

Over-narrowing to fit a single method rather than the research question

Pitfall 7: Hidden Assumptions

Ignoring underlying assumptions that limit theoretical contribution

Pitfall 8: Practice vs Research

Confounding practice problems with research problems

Pitfall 9: Binary Questions

Phrasing questions as simple yes/no propositions

Key References

  • Alvesson, M., & Sandberg, J. (2011). Generating research questions through problematization. Academy of Management Review, 36(2), 247–271.
  • Eisenhardt, K. M. (1989). Building theories from case study research. Academy of Management Review, 14(4), 532–550.
  • Whetten, D. A. (1989). What constitutes a theoretical contribution? Academy of Management Review, 14(4), 490–495.
  • Davis, M. S. (1971). That's interesting! Philosophy of the Social Sciences, 1(2), 309–344.
  • Schwarz, G. M., & Stensaker, I. G. (2024). A roadmap for navigating phenomenon-based research in management. Journal of Management, 50(2), 443–463.
  • Banks, G. C., McCauley, K. D., Gardner, W. L., & Guler, C. E. (2016). A meta-analytic review of authentic and transformational leadership: A test for redundancy. Leadership Quarterly, 27(4), 634–652.
  • Edmondson, A. C., & McManus, S. E. (2007). Methodological fit in management field research. Academy of Management Review, 32(4), 1155–1179.
  • Yin, R. K. (2017). Case study research and applications (6th ed.). Sage.