For a research project of any kind, it's best to start with a question that will help focus your search for information. Without a research question, you're likely to waste time looking at sources that will not necessarily help you finish the project.
Typically, a research report in an advanced course requires you to focus on a particular subject. The assignment may even include one or more questions that you'll need to answer or a problem that you need to solve. For these assignments, your research question may emerge naturally from the assignment itself.
As you read or re-read the assignments below, try to think of a question that would help you find the information you'll need to draw some original conclusions about the topic. Then click the assignment to compare your question idea to ours.
| Assignment | Research Question |
| Explain how a particular technology has changed the American way of life. | How has the invention of television impacted Americans' ideas about childhood? |
| Analyze a change in the federal government's approach to protecting public health. | How does the federal government represent its role in preventing disease, compared to earlier decades? |
| Describe how Americans' ideas about space travel have changed since 1900. | How did American writers, artists, and politicians represent space travel in different decades of the 20th century? |
| Identify an object, word, or phrase that is used to symbolize what it means to be an American. Analyze the meaning of the symbol throughout the country's history. | What role has the phrase "founding fathers" played in Americans' ideas about themselves as a nation? |
You may have noticed that each research question includes more specific information than the assignment itself, such as which invention (television) or which symbolic phrase ("founding fathers"). What effect does this additional information have on the research topic?
It narrows the focus of the topic.
Question
Once you identify a research question to guide your exploration of the topic, can you change it all?
