Asking questions

Abstract

This apparently simple activity merits a chapter of its own for two reasons. First, it represents the initial step in the research process; without a good question useful research will not develop. Many doctors who would like to try a piece of research fail to get started, not because they lack the ability to ask questions but because they do not know how to translate the problems and frustrations or the successes and pleasures of their working lives into the kind of questions which will lead to worthwhile research. Second, and in contrast, it is possible to make the mistake of asking questions which are too difficult to answer or not important enough to merit the necessary outlays of time and resources. I want to look briefly at these complementary problems.