Building Research Questions: Home

Choose a subject. 

• The first step to developing a research question is to choose a general subject. Sometimes this can be overwhelming if you can choose anything (such as for curriculum fair). One of the best ways to choose a subject is to think about something you enjoy doing or thinking about for large amounts of time (video games? fashion? a specific tv show or movie? hunting? social media? snow mobiling? snack foods? sports? sleep? What do you like to do when you get to choose?)

• Another strategy is to think about what makes you curious. Pay attention to what makes you wonder! 

• Review what you already know about this subject. 
• Think about what you would like to know.
• Review what other people already know about this subject. One way to do this is to look online at the titles of articles and books out there. 

Develop your question. Your goal is to build an evaluation or creation question!

Read about the different types of questions below.

1. Knowledge questions:  
   • These tend to be questions you can find the answer to with a simple internet search. Facts that you can write down quickly in order to answer the question.
   • Who/what/where/when questions are usually short-answer questions.
   • These questions are helpful and you'll probably be asking and answering some along the way to stepping stones that will help you build your knowledge, but they should not be your research question itself.
   • Ex. Who wrote the United States Constitution?
2. Comprehension (Understanding) questions:
   • These types of questions help you describe and explain information in your own words, pulling together different points of information that you have learned through multiple knowledge questions.
   • Ex. What are some of the main ideas within the United States Constitution?
3. Application questions: 
   • These questions ask you to apply the information you've learned in new situations.
   • Ex. What part or parts of the U.S. Constitution could help lawmakers create voting laws?
4. Analysis questions: 
   • These types of questions require you to break down information into parts and compare and analyze the multiple parts.
   • Ex. How is the U.S. Constitution today different than the original U.S. Constitution?
5. Evaluation questions:
   • These types of questions ask you to use the information you find to make a judgment: to form a decision or argument that you can defend with evidence from your research.
   • Ex. Has the U.S. Constitution changed enough, too much, or not enough since it was first written, and why? 
6. Creation questions:
   • These questions encourage you to use your information, research, and skills to produce new ideas and information.
   • Ex. If you were forming a new government for a new country today, what would you include in its constitution and why?

As you're thinking through your topic and new information, using these critical thinking questions can be helpful to building your own research question!