Your research paper will be more interesting to both you and your audience if you base it on an intellectually challenging line of inquiry. Avoid bland questions that fail to provoke thought or engage readers in a debate.
Too bland
What is obsessive-compulsive disorder?
How does DNA testing work?
Challenging
What treatments for obsessive-compulsive disorder show the most promise?
How reliable is DNA testing?
You may need to address a bland question in the course of answering a more challenging one. For example, if you were writing about promising treatments for obsessive-compulsive disorder, you would no doubt answer the question “What is obsessive-compulsive disorder?” at some point in your paper. It would be a mistake, however, to use the bland question as the focus for the whole paper.
Exercise: Research questions