Research Question

What makes a good research question?

Characteristics of a good research question

• A clearly defined scope - narrow is better

• It should be focused in terms of the timeframe, geography, and event

• It should be debatable

• It must focus on something that happened at least 10 years ago

• Sources are accessible and relevant for the topic you pick. If they are primary sources, the better.

Let's practice !

Read the following questions and determine which one is the best research question

1. To what extent was Mao's launching of Cultural Revolution ideologically driven?

2. What happened during the Cold War?

3. To what extent did the Abyssinian Crisis (1935-6) influence Hitler's remilitarization of the Rhineland in Germany (1936)?

Multiple Choice

Best research question is option:

1. To what extent was Mao's launching of Cultural Revolution ideologically driven?

2. What happened during the Cold War?

3. To what extent did the Abyssinian Crisis (1935-6) influence Hitler's remilitarization of the Rhineland in Germany (1936)?

• 1

• 2

• 3

• none

Multiple Select

The Research Question should be

• Clear in scope: time, place and event

• Sources should be available

• The event should have happened within the last 10 years

• a debatable question

Multiple Select

These questions are good starter to create a research question:

• To what extent were the political changes and/or leftist movements led by university students in Latin American countries influenced by their fight for political rights?

• Why did civil rights not work well in Latin America?

• Why was Latin America so unstable during the 20th century?

• To what extent did youth culture challenge existing governance systems in Latin America during the 1970s?

• How did the policies of Latin American governments during the 1970s impact the civil rights of marginalized groups?

Open Ended

To what extent were the political changes and/or leftist movements led by university students in Latin American countries influenced by their fight for political rights? To what extent did youth culture challenge existing governance systems in Latin America during the 1970s? How did the policies of Latin American governments during the 1970s impact the civil rights of marginalized groups?

These questions are good starters. What do you need to add in order that they become good research questions?

Poll

For our summative project we need to create a research question. Let's start by choosing which country you are going to explore about:

• Ecuador

• Argentina

• Chile

Poll

Which of the following questions would you like to explore (therefore edit the question for the country you chose)

• Up to what extent were the political changes and/or the left movements led by university students of the Latin American countries influenced over their political rights?

• To what extent did youth culture challenge existing governance systems in Latin America during the 1970s?

• How did the policies of Latin American governments during the 1970s impact the civil rights of marginalized groups?

Let's see an example of how to edit the question:

Open Ended

Write your final Research Question