The research question

When contemplating my first clinical research project, I met with a local hematologist/oncologist with expertise in clinical research methodology. I explained the issue that I wanted to investigate and he responded—“What is your research question?” I reexplained the issue one more time, and again he responded—“But, what is your research question?” During our one-hour session, he asked me to articulate my research question at least six times. I was beginning to think he was either deaf or just not listening carefully to my responses. However, I did leave his office with a well-defined question and as time went by, I came to realize that he had taught me the most important aspect of clinical research— developing a good research question! —N. Heddle