WRITING A RESEARCH QUESTION

1. WRITING A RESEARCH QUESTION Adapted from 11th grade PLC

2. What is a research question? • a clear, focused, concise, complex and arguable question around which you center your research

3. Why is it important? • It helps writers focus their research by providing a path for research • a well-developed research question helps writers avoidthe plot summary/narrative/biography/book report paper • work toward supporting a specific, arguable thesis

4. characteristics • works best if it’s not“yes/no” • most cases: begins with “how” • should NOT begin with “which,” “how much” or “how many”

5. step 1 • Choose an interesting general topic. • An example of a general topic might be “Slavery in the American South” or “Films of the 1930s.”

6. step 2 • Do some preliminary research on your general topic. • Do a few quick searches in databases • Infotrac and SIRS Researcher are great • What’s already been done and to help you narrow your focus. What questions does this early research raise?

7. step 3 • Start asking questions. • ask yourself open-ended “how” and “why” questions about your general topic. • For example, “How did the slave trade evolve in the 1850s in the American South?” or “Why were slave narratives effective tools in working toward the abolishment of slavery?”

8. How is your question? • Is it clear? • Is it focused? • Is it complex? It should NOT be answerable with a simple “yes” or “no” or easily found facts. It should require both research and analysis.

9. How is this question? • Why are social networking sites harmful? • How are online users experiencing or addressing privacy issues on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter?

10. How is this question? • What is the effect of global warming on the environment? • How does glacial warming affect penguins in Antarctica?

11. example of world history question • Did the Allies commit a war crime by firebombing Dresden or was the bombing a justified military tactic in terms of planning, choice of targets, and military significance of Dresden?

12. Example of a world history question • Why did the Ottoman Empire collapse?

13. Example (NHD) #1 • Broad Topic: Rights and Responsibilities • Narrowed Topic: Europeans’ Extraterritoriality Rights and its Impact on 19th Century China • Research Question: “How did the extraterritoriality rights of Europeans affect 19th Century China?”

14. Example #2 • Broad Topic: Rights and Responsibilities • Narrowed Topic: Parental and Children rights in China (19.. • Research Question: “How have the rights and obligations of parents and children changed overtime in China?”

15. Example #3 • Broad Topic: Rights and Responsibilities • Narrowed Topic: Child labor-----using children as soldiers in civil wars in selected developing countries • Research question: In what ways have the utilization of children as soldiers during armed conflicts violate their rights as guaranteed in documents such as the UDHR and the International Convention on the Rights of the Child?

16. Practice! • Write a research question using your topic

17. sources: • The Writing Center, George Mason University, 2009 • Vanessa Fong, Introduction to Qualitative Research, Harvard Graduate School of Education, 2011 • NHD, Rights and Responsibilities in History, 2013