From research topic to research question: a challenging process.
In this article, Rollanda Law reflects on personal experience of developing research questions for a PhD study. The research topic concerns palliative nursing care in the community; the initial research questions evolved from reflections on district nursing experiences and from the findings of a previous study. Observations of district nurse students in practice and discussions with district nurse colleagues raised questions about the term used to refer to their palliative care practice. This led to an exploration of these issues and subsequent pilot research activities to ensure that the research questions started from how district nurses themselves understand their role in palliative care in the community. The article illustrates the challenging process of developing a research question. This journey from research topic to refined research questions has been an important part of the study and is, according to Leininger (1985), an ongoing process.