Writing a Research Question
This is a VERY IMPORTANT step in the project.
You have done the background research to become familiar with your topic, now it is time to focus on a specific aspect of your topic. Now it is time to formulate a research question- a question that will
help you focus your research.
After your research question is written, your task will be to find information and historical materials that will allow you to answer the question.
Your research question (and your thesis) will be displayed and explained in your final product.
All of the information, pictures, and historical material you use in your final product will need to help you answer this question and defend your thesis.
Things to think about when trying to come up with a good research question:
1)On what aspect of your project do you want to focus ?
2)What about your topic do you think do you think is the most important?
3)What about your topic is the most interesting to you?
4) Your research question also needs to be connected this year’s theme of “Exploration, Encounter, Exchange in History"
Examples from 2012... when the theme was "Turning Points in History":
Topic: Lunch Counter Sit-in Protests- fighting racial segregation in the 1960s
Research Question: “How were the lunch counter sit-in protests of the 1960s a turning point in the fight to end racial segregation in the United States?”
Topic: Andrew Jackson and the Election of 1828
Research Question: “What impact did the election of 1828 have on presidential campaigns and party politics in the United States?”
Topic: Teddy Roosevelt and the early conservation movement
Research Question: “How was Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency a turning point regarding the conservation of lands, habitats, and forests in the United States? “
You have done the background research to become familiar with your topic, now it is time to focus on a specific aspect of your topic. Now it is time to formulate a research question- a question that will
help you focus your research.
After your research question is written, your task will be to find information and historical materials that will allow you to answer the question.
Your research question (and your thesis) will be displayed and explained in your final product.
All of the information, pictures, and historical material you use in your final product will need to help you answer this question and defend your thesis.
Things to think about when trying to come up with a good research question:
1)On what aspect of your project do you want to focus ?
2)What about your topic do you think do you think is the most important?
3)What about your topic is the most interesting to you?
4) Your research question also needs to be connected this year’s theme of “Exploration, Encounter, Exchange in History"
Examples from 2012... when the theme was "Turning Points in History":
Topic: Lunch Counter Sit-in Protests- fighting racial segregation in the 1960s
Research Question: “How were the lunch counter sit-in protests of the 1960s a turning point in the fight to end racial segregation in the United States?”
Topic: Andrew Jackson and the Election of 1828
Research Question: “What impact did the election of 1828 have on presidential campaigns and party politics in the United States?”
Topic: Teddy Roosevelt and the early conservation movement
Research Question: “How was Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency a turning point regarding the conservation of lands, habitats, and forests in the United States? “
researchqform.doc | |
File Size: | 27 kb |
File Type: | doc |