Crafting Effective Research Questions

1. The Modified Research Paper Part Two: The Research Question and the Introduction

2. Once you’ve chosen your topic, • You have to decide what you want to know, which means; • You have to write a RESEARCH QUESTION

3. The Research Question is • A single question about your topic • Which will guide your research, helping you decide what information to look for and • Which will ultimately organize your essay

4. Let’s look at some topics and possible research questions • Let’s say, you’re interested in becoming a respiratory therapist, • Think about what you want to know— • What does it take to become a respiratory therapist? • What kind of life does a respiratory therapist have? • Would I be happy as a respiratory therapist? You’ll need to make the question fairly broad.

5. Let’s do another. . . • Ouija Boards— • Do they really work? • How do they work? • Have they really been doorways through which evil spirits have traveled? • Where did they come from anyway?

6. Or how about. . . • The Beatles • Why were they so influential? • How were they influential? • How did they form? • What is their history?

7. In formulating the research question • Don’t ask a “yes or no” question; • Make sure it’s a question whose answer really interests you.

8. Then in writing the introduction, • Open with a lead-in, something that gets the reader’s attention; • Then tell me why you chose this topic; • Then tell me what you knew about the topic before you began writing; • Then end with a statement of your research question.

9. Here are a couple of sample intros • One that’s over a serious subject; • One that’s over a sillier subject.