ResearchMethods/Introduction/ResearchProcess2

DIY research question
You also can generate your own research questions. How can you do this? First, if you have a particular phenomenon in mind, you can simply conceptualize it as a variable and ask what causes may lead to it, or how it affects other things:
 * How many politicians are needed in a state to address its needs?
 * How does history curriculum in school affect the political behaviour of school graduates?
 * What percentage of people votes in different regimes?

If the question has never been studied scientifically — which is something that you will learn in your literature review — then it might be interesting and worth pursuing. If scientific research has already answered the question you came up with, then you can consider refining the question. Examples:
 * If the question was descriptive ("what is the ratio" or "what percentage"), you can look into "why".  What are some of the causes which make that happen?
 * If the question was addressed in one culture, you can examine it in a different culture, and also compare the results.
 * If the question provided a description of some cause and effect, what other effects may be present? How do they differ across cultures?  How do they depend on political context (such as war, terrorism, peace)?

If you generate a question that has never been studied scientifically through this process (again, use the literature review process to find out), then it may be interesting and worth pursuing.

A word of warning: assumptions and definitions in international studies
As you go through literature, you will probably notice different ways of making sense of reality. Some research tells you how it is. Other research tells you how it should be. To work out what kind of research yours is (and what kind of researcher you are), let's have a look at the different types of theory that international studies produces.

Credits
Paul Price, (2013, Updated version), Section 2.2 Generating good research questions