How do I turn my topic into a research question?
Answer
A research topic is the broad area or subject to be investigated, while a research question is the focus on a specific component of that research topic. Thus, the research paper and all the investigative research involved is the attempt to answer that question. Here are some tips for developing a research question:
- You should start researching before you have a solid thesis/question, because noodling around online and in the journal databases will help you understand what's already been written about, and which questions haven't really been answered. Start by searching for very broad keywords about the general topic.
- As you read background sources (following Wikipedia trails, skimming books, reading article abstracts) try to keep an open mind, so that your mind can wonder: who... how... when... where...could...
- Consider different angles on the same topic
- What are the different perspectives? Whose perspective hasn't been written about as much?
- What are the problems that still need to be solved?
- Come up with a loose idea for a question, and as you research, you can make the question more and more specific, see examples here