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What makes a research question testable

Verifiedbeginner6 min

The four properties every fair-ready question has, with before-and-after rewrites.

A testable question has four properties. Check yours against all four.

Specific. Every noun is defined. "Does music affect plants?" fails; "Does 8 hours of daily 60 dB classical music change the mean height of Vigna radiata seedlings over 21 days?" passes.

Measurable. The outcome is a number or a category you can record with equipment you have. "Healthier" is not measurable; "chlorophyll concentration by SPAD meter" is.

Bounded. The scope fits your calendar. If answering it properly needs a year, you will answer it badly in ten weeks.

Falsifiable. There is a result that would show you were wrong. If no possible outcome would change your mind, it is not a scientific question.

Before: "How do fertilisers help plants grow?" After: "How does nitrogen concentration (0, 50, 100, 200 ppm) affect the 28-day dry biomass of Raphanus sativus grown under controlled light?"

The second is narrower, and it is the narrowness that makes it answerable.

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