Question
A question is ready for research when it names the decision it serves, the system boundary, the time horizon and the criteria a decision-maker will use to judge the answer.
- Institution
- The Global Centre for Risk and Innovation (GCRI)
- Service level
- R0: information and enquiries
- 01QuestionNational, regional or institutional priority
- 02EvidenceSTEM foundation of the platform
- 03BuildNexus Foundry
- 04OrganizeNexus Ecosystem
- 05TestNexus Universe (independent site)
- 06PublishNexus Reports
- 07DecideCompetent authorities and institutions, through Nexus Rails
- 08RenewCorrections and the next annual agenda
The short answer.
Question is step one of the eight-step Nexus cycle: the step at which a national, regional or institutional priority is turned into a question that evidence can answer. It is owned by the national, regional or institutional body whose priority it is. At this step GCRI turns national and institutional priorities into researchable questions, and the decision at the end of the cycle stays with the competent authority.
Systemic exposure in East Asia.
Where people and networks concentrate, the exposure through which shocks travel between systems, shown for East Asia as an example geography for this subject.
From a priority to a researchable question.
National and institutional priorities arrive as broad concerns: water security in a drought-prone basin, the exposure of a grid to heat, the readiness of a health system for a novel pathogen. ISO 31000 calls the first move establishing the scope, context and criteria; in systemic work it also means drawing the system boundary wide enough to catch the dependencies that turn a local shock into a national one.
| Element | Question it answers | Typical failure if skipped |
|---|---|---|
| Decision served | Who will act on the answer, under which mandate? | Research that no competent body can use |
| System boundary | Which sectors and networks are inside the analysis? | Cascades through excluded systems go unseen |
| Horizon | Seasonal, decadal or end of century? | Methods mismatched to the timescale |
| Risk criteria | What level of loss or disruption is tolerable, to whom? | Results with no threshold to read against |
| Evidence bar | What would change the decision? | Endless analysis without a stopping rule |
Programmes, national formation and the annual agenda.
- National questions come through government enquiries and the national formation model, where a country's own bodies set the priority.
- Cross-cutting questions are set in the annual cycle and the research programme.
- Questions with a systemic angle are often first visible in the challenge areas: a hazard in one system with consequences in another.
A question can be declined. Reasons are recorded: no competent decision-holder, data that cannot be obtained lawfully, or a question that belongs to another body's mandate.
Then: evidence.
Terms used on this page.
Each term as this page uses it. Where a standard-setting body defines the term, the wording follows that body.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Research agenda | A stated set of priority questions, usually adopted by a funder, agency or network, that guides what research is commissioned. |
| Priority-setting exercise | A structured process that ranks research questions, often with the participation of users and affected communities. |
| Decision framing | Defining the options, objectives and uncertainties of a decision before analysis. |
Where this page's references lead.
The bodies and documents this page is read against. Status and editions change; each link goes to the issuing body.
Around GCRI.
Start with an enquiry.
The current service level is R0: information and enquiries. An enquiry receives a reference and names the next step; applications, payments, compute allocations and registrations open only when their team, terms and review capacity exist.