ENGL 101/102

Forming a good research question is important before you begin

searching for resources because it can determine the difficulty of

finding information for your topic. There are several characteristics

that good research questions have:

• Clear: it provides enough specifics that one’s audience can understand it without a need for an additional explanation
• Focused: it’s narrow enough that it can be answered in the space the writing task allows 
• Concise: it’s expressed in the fewest possible words 
• Complex: it doesn’t have a ‘yes’ or ‘no answer, and requires a synthesis and analysis of ideas and sources prior to composing an answer
• Arguable: It’s potential answers are open to debate rather than accepted facts

Here are suggestions to create a more focused research topic:

• Demographic: Try limiting your search to a specific group based off an age range, gender, neurodivergent population, sexual orientation, mental illness, physical handicap, and/or ethnic population. A combination of these groups can further narrow down your topic. (i.e. LGBTQIA teenagers, women with autism, physical therapy among indigenous groups, etc.)

• Geographical: How does your topic impact a country in Africa? Central America? Maybe a specific city in the world, or a state in the USA?

• Animals: Is your topic related to a particular species?

• Society: Avoid using this word altogether and try to think of one aspect of society, such as employment, economy, education, communities, etc

• Technology: Also avoid this word and think of a particular technological device/software instead, such as smartphones, A.I., social media, etc.