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For students choosing and shaping a thesis topic

You have a topic. Turn it into a study.

The Research Question & Problem Statement Workbook

The distance between "I'm interested in this" and "here is my answerable, significant study" is where months disappear. This workbook closes it one decision at a time: 57 fill-in templates, with one study worked from a vague interest to an aligned design beside the blanks.

  • Narrow a broad interest into one workable angle
  • Name your gap and write a problem statement that holds
  • Prove that problem, purpose, questions and method line up
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By Dr. Rafiq Muhammad, MD, PhD · 167 pages · Examples from nursing, pharmacy, psychology, business and social work · Paperback $27.00 · ★★★★★ 2 reader reviews

What readers say

Reader reviews

★★★★★ 2 reader reviews from Amazon

E. Thompson
Reviewed November 2026

“Great guide to start planning your scientific questions and determining if the question is worth investigating. … This helped me immensely with developing future directions for my work.”

Read on Amazon →
Emily
Reviewed November 2026

“This is a great resource for someone who has research to conduct. It covers a variety of different research paths.”

Read on Amazon →

Sound familiar?

Where early proposals stall

“I have a topic I care about. I don't have a study.”
“My supervisor keeps saying it's too broad.”
“I can't say what the gap is in one sentence.”
“My problem, purpose and questions don't quite line up, and I can't see why.”

Almost every graduate student hits this wall. It isn't a lack of ideas; it is a missing process: a set of decisions taken in order, each one on its own page, so the study holds together when your committee reads it.

How it works

Narrow. Name the gap. Align.

Three moves, each built on the one before.

Step 1

Narrow

Take a broad interest down a five-level funnel to one workable angle.

Step 2

Name the gap

Scan the literature, say what is missing, and show why it matters.

Step 3

Align

Tie problem, purpose, questions, variables and analysis together in one matrix.

What you will have

What you will have by the last page

  • One workable angle, narrowed from a broad interest
  • A documented literature scan of the conversation you are joining
  • Your gap, its type, and why it matters
  • A problem statement in five moves, with evidence behind every claim
  • A purpose statement for a quantitative, qualitative or mixed-methods study
  • Research questions, screened for quality, and hypotheses where you need them
  • Every variable defined twice: what it means and how you will measure it
  • One alignment matrix, a one-page summary and a thirty-second pitch

Look inside

Every template comes with a worked example

One decision per page, with one fictional study worked beside the blanks so you see each step done before you do your own. These are real pages. Tap to enlarge.

Template 1.2, the topic-narrowing funnel, with a worked study
1.2 Topic-narrowing funnel. From a broad field to a focused topic in five levels.
Template 4.2, the problem statement builder with worked slots
4.2 Problem statement builder. Five moves, one slot at a time.
Template 9.1, the FINER scorer with a worked score
9.1 The FINER scorer. Feasible, interesting, novel, ethical, relevant: scored before you commit.
Template 10.1, the problem-purpose-question alignment matrix
10.1 Alignment matrix. The page committees check first.

Is it for you?

Built for the start of a thesis

It is for you if

  • You are a master's or doctoral student choosing and shaping a topic
  • You are a professional-doctorate candidate (EdD, DNP, DBA) preparing a proposal
  • You supervise and want a structured process to hand to your students

It is not

  • A guarantee that a topic or proposal will be approved
  • A replacement for your supervisor, committee or ethics board
  • Another textbook about research. It is a working surface.
Dr. Rafiq Muhammad
Dr. Rafiq Muhammad, MD, PhD

Clinician-researcher, PhD from Karolinska Institutet, and author of the Mastering Research books and workbooks, used by graduate students from the research question to the viva. This volume is where the Mastering Research Series begins.

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Ways to get it

Paperback

$27.00 on Amazon
  • The same 167 pages in print
  • Write in it by hand
  • Shipped by Amazon
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Research Question & Problem Statement Kit

$19 instant download
  • Every fill-in template, as a fillable PDF
  • Type, save and print; US Letter and A4
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Not ready to buy? Get the free toolkit for finding the question and planning by email and start today. Get it free

Questions

Before you buy

My field isn't education. Will it fit?

Yes. The worked study runs through the book, and examples from nursing, pharmacy, psychology, business and social work show the same process in other fields.

Is it for quantitative or qualitative studies?

Both. You draft a purpose statement and research questions for a quantitative, qualitative or mixed-methods study, and test hypotheses only where you need them.

Can I use it with my supervisor?

Yes. Every template has a supervisor sign-off line, and every chapter ends with a checkpoint naming what to bring to your advisor.

Will my proposal be approved?

No book can promise that. This one gives you the structure to arrive at those conversations prepared.

What comes after this one?

The design: The Sample Size & Power Analysis Workbook for a quantitative study, or the methods workbooks in the shop.

Don't just know what a good research question is

Write one, test it, and align a study around it.

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More for this stage: everything for finding the question and planning · the free toolkits

The Research Question & Problem Statement WorkbookPaperback $27.00 · kit $19
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