You could jump in and start looking for sources of information as soon as you've written a good research question. However, most research questions, while narrow enough to work as the prompt for your report, may be too broad to provide as much direction as you'd like. To help you decide where to look first, consider exploring different aspects of your topic.
Think of some additional, slightly more specific questions that would help direct a researcher's hunt for information related to each of the topics below. Then click the research question and compare your ideas to the ones listed.
| Research Question | Specific Questions |
| How has the invention of television impacted the American way of life? | When was television invented, and what else was going on then?
How has the typical childhood in America changed since the invention of television? What kinds of things did Americans see on television in its early years? How does that programming compare to today's television programming? What role does television play in the average American's daily life? What did Americans do with their leisure time before television? What did Americans do for entertainment before television? |
| How does the federal government represent its role in preventing disease, compared to earlier centuries? | What federal agencies have the most direct impact on public health? What exactly do they do?
What is the history of each agency--what role has it played since it was created? How did each agency represent itself in its earliest years? How does it represent itself now? What kinds of communications does each agency share with the public, and what is the purpose of these texts? |
| What role has the phrase "founding fathers" played in Americans' ideas about themselves as a nation? | Who exactly were the founding fathers? Why were they called the founding fathers?
What information was known about them in the earliest years of the nation's history? How was this information shared or publicized? How are the founding fathers represented today--as a group and individually? What do they symbolize? How do most representations of America's founding fathers compare to the reality of who they were and how they lived? |
How exactly will these additional questions help you? When you begin looking for information, you'll work more efficiently if you've identified some search terms to use online or in a library's catalog. Questions like these can help you generate a longer and yet more focused list of search terms. What search terms might a researcher use to find information about the impact of television on Americans' way of life?
television history, television and children, television and childhood, history of television, Americans leisure time, American entertainment
