Generating Research Questions

English Composition II – Week 4 Assignment
Generating Research Questions
Purpose of assignment: To practice generating and narrowing down research questions for your argumentative rough draft.
Procedure: In previous assignments, you summarized and analyzed the work of others. Now you will begin steps toward selecting your own topic to write about for your final paper of this course. A good essay often begins with a thesis statement. An exceptional essay begins with a Research Question.
To begin with a Research Question, means you don’t know the answer (yet), but you are open to exploring the issue through research. The narrower your research question can be, the more you can save time and effort in finding sources. This assignment contains two parts to help you practice narrowing Research Questions.
Part A: Narrowing Topics.
Read the following topics and notice how each successive question narrows the focus of the Research Question:
Example 1: Violence in schools
· What causes violence in high schools?
· Is there a developing trend in frequency or type of school violence?
· How should violent school children be punished?
· What can be done to prevent school violence?
Example 2: Drug use
· Which drugs should be illegal?
· What kinds of drugs are the most dangerous?
· Is there a correlation between childhood exposure to drugs and use of drugs in adulthood?
· What kind of penalties should there be for the various kinds of illegal drug offenses?
Example 3: Immigration
· What are the effects of illegal immigration?
· What are the effects of legal immigration?
· How should immigration laws be enforced?
· What’s the driving force behind illegal immigration?
After reviewing the three examples, write three narrowing questions for each of the four topics listed below in the following format.
Education
1. Is it necessary to go to college in order to be successful?
2. (Your turn – narrow this topic)
3. (keepgoing – narrow this topic further)
4. (onemore time – keep narrowing the topic)
Sports
1. Are professional athletes paid too much?
2. (Your turn – narrow this topic)
3. (keepgoing – narrow this topic further)
4. (onemore time – keep narrowing the topic)
Health insurance
1. Should health insurance companies be able to charge higher rates depending on a person’s age?
2. (Your turn – narrow this topic)
3. (keepgoing – narrow this topic further)
4. (onemore time – keep narrowing the topic)
Technology
1. Are people spending too much money in order to keep up with the latest gadgets?
2. (Your turn – narrow this topic)
3. (keepgoing – narrow this topic further)
4. (onemore time – keep narrowing the topic)
Part B: Narrowing Your Own Topics
Now, pick three topics of your own and generate narrowing topics, as you did above. (Note: Please check with you instructor or the course announcements prior to see if any topics are not allowed for this course. You should make sure your topics are allowed prior to 11:59 p.m. Sunday.)
Topic #1
1. (Your initial question)
2. (Your turn – narrow this topic)
3. (keepgoing – narrow this topic further)
4. (onemore time – keep narrowing the topic)
Topic #2
1. (Your initial question)
2. (Your turn – narrow this topic)
3. (keepgoing – narrow this topic further)
4. (onemore time – keep narrowing the topic)
Topic #3
1. (Your initial question)
2. (Your turn – narrow this topic)
3. (keepgoing – narrow this topic further)
4. (onemore time – keep narrowing the topic)
Format: This assignment does not have to be written in essay format. Merely copy the topics and questions above and add your own questions. APA Style is not required for this assignment.
Submitting the assignment: Attach your outline as a single file Word document or .pdf file and submit to the W4 assignment drop box.
View your assignment rubric.