Is your research question ready?
Rate your question on each of the eight criteria below. Be honest — the fixes are only as useful as your answers. Then press Score my question.
Targeted fixes
Looking strong
Every criterion scored well. Pressure-test it once more against your data sources and your timeline, then start drafting your proposal.
Get the free Research Question & Gap Builder
A fill-in sequence from a broad topic to a narrowed angle, a written gap statement, a FINER-scored question, and a check that problem, purpose, and question line up. We’ll email you the download link.
How to evaluate a research question
A research question carries the whole study: get it right and the design, methods, and analysis follow; get it wrong and no amount of statistics will save the project. Two complementary frameworks help you appraise one. FINER asks whether the question is Feasible, Interesting, Novel, Ethical, and Relevant. PICO (or PECO for observational work) forces the question to be specific by naming each moving part.
- P — Population: who, exactly, are you studying? Name the setting, age range, condition, or sampling frame.
- I / E — Intervention or Exposure: what are you doing, giving, or observing? A drug, a program, a risk factor.
- C — Comparison: compared to what? A placebo, usual care, an unexposed group, or a benchmark.
- O — Outcome: what will you measure, and how? A defined, observable endpoint, not a vague concept.
- Specific & measurable: if you cannot point to how each concept is measured, the question is still a topic, not a question.
- Feasible & ethical: answerable inside your real timeline, sample, and resources — and approvable by an ethics board.
Run your question through both lenses. If it scores well on FINER and every PICO element is named and measurable, you are ready to draft. If not, the fixes above tell you which element to sharpen first.
Frequently asked questions
What makes a good research question?
A good research question is specific, answerable, and measurable. It names the population, the variable or exposure, and the outcome; it is framed as a focused question rather than a broad topic; and the key concepts can actually be measured or observed. It should also be feasible with your time and resources, novel, significant to your field, ethical, and appropriately narrow — not double-barrelled or sprawling.
What is the FINER criteria?
FINER is a checklist for appraising a research question: Feasible (answerable with realistic time, sample, and resources), Interesting (worth pursuing), Novel (adds something beyond what is already established), Ethical (can be studied ethically), and Relevant (significant to your field, practice, or future research). A strong question satisfies all five.
What is PICO / PECO?
PICO structures a clinical or comparative question into Population, Intervention, Comparison, and Outcome. PECO swaps Intervention for Exposure and is common in observational and epidemiological research. Naming each element forces the question to become specific and measurable — which is exactly what this validator checks.
Does this store my question?
No. The validator asks you to self-assess your question against eight criteria and computes a score entirely in your browser. It never uploads or stores your question or your answers — everything runs locally on your device.
The Research Question & Problem Statement Workbook
You have a topic you care about. You do not yet have a study. This workbook takes you from one to the other.
57 fill-in templates. Paperback $27.00 on Amazon
See inside the workbookJust want the templates? The Research Question & Problem Statement Kit: every template as a fillable PDF, $19.