Research Questions
Junior History
Skills
Year 10
Year 9
Year 8
 |
HOW DO I .... form research questions? |
When researchers set out to investigate, they begin by determining what they would like to find out. When you research you will need to decide what will be:
1. the FOCUS QUESTION and
2. the SUBQUESTIONS and
3. the HYPOTHESIS
The Focus Question
is the main subject, theme or topic of your research.
- It must be specific
- It needs to be limited by time
- It needs to be limited by place
All this means you need to have some background knowledge, or have read generally about your research theme first before deciding on a focus question
EXAMPLE
DROUGHTS Not a good focus question - too broad
DROUGHTS IN AUSTRALIA Improving, but still too wide a theme to research
DROUGHTS IN SOUTH EAST QUEENSLAND A more limited title. Workable, but could be improved.
THE 1993 DROUGHT IN SOUTH EAST QUEENSLAND Title is quite specific. It will make research a lot easier as it narrows down the field by both time and place. It could in fact be made more specific by relating it to a particular group - eg. farmers, graziers, investors, etc.
Subquestions
These often vary according to the major theme. Here are some examples of very generalised subquestions which you could find useful to begin with.
Handy words to start subquestions are:
WHO WHERE WHY HOW WHEN WHAT
TO WHAT EXTENT
EXAMPLE QUESTIONS
WHO was involved/started this/was the cause of this?
WHAT were the changes/ problems /effects/ results?
WHAT were the short term/long term causes?
WHAT were the main events?
WHAT were the main/ some of the significant reasons for this?
HOW was this caused/did people organise themselves/rule/make laws/did this change take place/ did this affect other groups?
HOW do these people live/work/obtain food/did this change happen/event come about?
WHEN did this begin/take place/end?
WHY did this happen/people do this/change occur?
TO WHAT EXTENT was this a success/a failure/have an impact on people/government/economy/social structure/lifestyle/industry or other things?
HOW successful/effective/useful/important/significant was all this ?
WHAT were the long term effects/results/consequences of all this?
WHAT were the short term effects/results/consequences of all this?
WHAT were the overall term effects/results/consequences of all this?
Now to your Hypothesis!
Like your Research Question, your Hypothesis needs to be:
- specific
- limited by time
- limited by place
It also needs to be:
- an educated opinion based on fact
- able to be argued with supporting information
Your hypothesis may be one or two sentences in length.
EXAMPLES
DROUGHTS IN AUSTRALIA CAUSE HARDSHIP TO FARMERS Not a good hypothesis - it is a fact, rather than an educated opinion and it is far too broad
DROUGHTS IN AUSTRALIA DURING THE 1980'S CAUSED HARDSHIP TO FARMERS Improving, but still too wide a theme to research. Besides, it's still a fact rather than an educated opinion.
THE HARDSHIP OF THE DROUGHTS IN THE 1980'S CAUSED SOUTH EAST QUEENSLAND FARMERS TO REASSESS THEIR SITUATION A more limited title. Workable, but could be improved."Their situation" could mean anything!
THE HARDSHIP OF THE DROUGHTS IN THE 1980'S CAUSED MANY SOUTH EAST QUEENSLAND FARMERS TO REASSESS THE VIABILITY OF MONOCULTURAL AGRICULTURE. Title is quite specific. It will make research a lot easier as it narrows down the field by both time and place. It has defined the viability of monocultural agriculture as the theme which has narrowed down your research even more. A reasonable hypothesis.
