Writing Research Questions

Freshmen Career Fair

Research Questions

» Research Questions are clear and focused questions that are used to guide your research.

» The goal of writing research questions is to write questions about which you are genuinely interested.

» However, keep in mind that with our career fair essay, there is certain information that you will be required to provide. Research questions for this information have already been composed.

Select a Topic

» The first step to writing a good research question is selecting a topic.

» Pick a topic that is broad – if you choose something too specific, you may not find enough information.

» For instance, if you are trying to research a high school social studies teacher, odds are, you won’t find much specific information. However, you will find a lot more by researching teachers in general.

Conduct Preliminary Research

» It is often helpful to conduct preliminary research to see if any information can be found before you narrow your search.

» Keep preliminary searches broad.» Ask yourself:

˃ Am I getting too much information?˃ Am I getting too little information?

Consider the Audience

» In your career fair essay, your audience is easy to consider: it is you.

» You are writing your essay for your own benefit.» Because of this, when you are developing

questions, consider what information you want to know about your career choice.

» If it is information that you don’t find useful, then you should not include/research it.

Start Asking Questions

» For your career fair essay, you’ll be asking questions such as:˃ What kind of education do I need to pursue this career?˃ What classes will I need to take to excel in this career?˃ How much money will I make working this career?˃ What are the conditions under which I will work for this career?

» Be sure to evaluate your sources as you ask questions and gather information.

Evaluating Info

» As you’re asking questions and gathering information, you should evaluate the info.

» You might ask yourself:˃ What source gave you the information?˃ Is this source considered an expert in the field I’m researching?˃ Is the information biased in any way?˃ Was this source recent enough to provide relevant and accurate info?˃ Can I confirm this information using multiple sources?

» If you cannot meet the criteria specified in the questions above, you might try researching further into your topic.