Building Consistency between Title, Problem Statement, Purpose, & Research Questions to Improve the Quality of Research Plans and Reports

Consistency in the title, problem, purpose, and research question improve the logic and transparency of research. When these components of research are aligned research design and planning are more coherent and research reports are more readable.This article reviews the process for checking for and improving consistency. Numerous examples of consistency among these four components of research are provided and ways to remove inconsistency are outlined. A graphic, rubric and worksheet are provided to help researchers evaluate their own work or give feedback to the research work of others.