The Research Question

Refining Your Topic

Once you have a narrowed topic idea, you will want to begin to refine it into a question that can be successfully researched. Often you will be going back and re-working your Research Question, based on the information you find and the direction you take!  Remember--decide on what is the most interesting aspect for you!

The Research Question

(well-spent 1:56)

What makes a good Research Question?

It is Critical, not Simple

A Critical question.....

• leads to more questions
• provokes discussion
• comes from a critical or careful reading of the text or understanding of a topic
• addresses wider issues

A Simple question....... 

• can be answered with a "yes" or "no"
• can contain the answers within the question
• can be answered by a fact, or a series of facts
• can easily be found by "Googling"

Re-evaluate your Question if:

• You can answer it too easily . . .
  
• by looking it up
• by summarizing a source
• if the answer seems self-evident because the evidence overwhelmingly favors one answer

• You cannot find enough good evidence and authoritative sources to support an answer because . . .
  
• no relevant facts exist
• not enough research exists to be considered
• the question is based on preference

• You have too much information . . .
• your topic is too broad