Irish Leaving Certificate Business

Investigating a business issue starts with a question, and the quality of the question decides how useful the research will be. A question that is too broad produces a pile of loosely related facts, and one that cannot be answered with the information available produces nothing. The same habits apply whether the issue is a local shop's falling sales, a news story about a company closing a plant, or a project a student carries out on a topic in any of the other strands. ## Developing a research question A research question is refined until it is clear and until enough good-quality information or data can be found to answer it. The refining is done with **SMART** objectives, where each letter sets a test the question must pass. | Test | What it asks of the question | Weak version | Stronger version | |---|---|---|---| | Specific | It names the business, the group of people and the issue | How is business doing? | How have rising energy costs affected the profit of small bakeries in one county? | | Measurable | The answer can be shown with figures, counts or clear evidence | Do customers like the app? | What percentage of customers rate the app 4 out of 5 or higher? | | Achievable | The time, money and access to information are enough | What is every Irish company's spending on training? | How much do five local employers spend on training per employee? | | Relevant | It connects to the topic being investigated | A question on bus fares in a project on staff motivation | A…