Developing a Research Strategy

Once you have a well defined and narrow topic that will work within the guidelines of your assignment, pose a few questions that seem worth researching.

As you are posing questions, remember to think of questions that are interesting to both you and your audience and are appropriate for your research project and assignment.

In posing potential research questions, choose questions that are:

• narrow -- the question cannot be too broad;
• challenging -- the question should not be too bland, it should be intellectually stimulating; and
• grounded -- the question should not be too speculative or based entirely on beliefs, it should be grounded in facts.

Test Your Understanding of "Research Questions"

To test your understanding of a good research question, complete the following research exercises:

• The online Bedford/St. Martin's A Pocket Style Manual Research Questions Exercise. Note: drag your mouse over "Researching (General)" and choose "Research questions."

Note: You will be asked to sign on to the site by providing a user name. If your professor requests that your scores be made available to him or her, be sure to include your professor's email address in the sign-in form.

After posing a couple of questions, consider each question in terms of your interests, the audience's interests, and the assignment guidelines. Choose the one question that you want to become the focus of your research -- remember, the answer to this research question will become the thesis of your paper.