Research Questions

Finding the Questions
(Adapted from The Curious Researcher by Bruce Ballenger)



• At the top of a word document, write the community and topic you are investigating.

• In a paragraph, describe why you chose that topic.

• In a paragraph or so, list what you know about your topic already, such as interesting or surprising facts or statistics, key people or institutions, problems faced by society, problems faced by the community, common misconceptions, observations you’ve made, major controversies, etc….

• Brainstorm a list of questions you’d like to answer through your research. Make this list as long as you can. Try to see your community and topic in as many ways as possible.

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• Once you’ve completed this, and when I say so, move around the room looking at other classmates’ lists. For each list, ask one question you would like answered about that topic that is not on the list, and put an X by the question on the list that you think would be the most interesting to have answered. Put your initials after the question you contribute.