Assingment

Running head: RESEARCH TOPIC AND QUESTION

1

Research Topic and Question

Sara Lance

GEN103: Information Literacy

Instructor Smoak

April 5, 2018

Fill in the your

name, your

instructor’s

name and the

date.

RESEARCH TOPIC AND QUESTION 2

Refer to Module 1.3 of your textbook as you complete this assignment.

In the box below, provide a 2-3 sentence description of your research topic and how it is related

to your major. You may refer to the GEN103 Possible Topics for Research handout in the

classroom for research topic ideas.

Important: “Prayer in school” is not an acceptable topic for your annotated bibliography

because it is used for the assignment examples throughout this class.

Research Topic and its Relation to Your Major:

I chose prayer in school as my research topic. I am in the Social Sciences program and I am

particularly interested in the role the religion plays in society. Because prayer in school is

such a controversial topic, there should be a lot of material. In addition, I am hoping to go to

law school after I finish my bachelor’s degree so I am interested in the many court cases that

this issue has generated.

To help you explore your topic, fill in the KWHL chart below.

1. Write at least three specific things you know about your topic in the first column, K (K =

know).

2. Write at least three specific questions about your topic that you would like to know the

answers to in the second column, W (W = what do I want to know).

3. Write at least three specific tools you might use to find out more about your topic in the

third column, H (H = how do I find out).

4. At this point, you need to do background research before you can fill out the fourth

column. Use the tools you wrote down in H to find out more about your topic. Focus on

the questions you wrote in W:

a. When you do background research, it’s fine to do a Google search or to use

Wikipedia or other encyclopedias or general reference works; you will not use

these sources in your annotated bibliography.

b. The 4 Easy Steps to Using the Ashford Library for Background Research provides

directions for using the references sources in the Ashford Library

5. After doing your background research, write at least three specific things you have

learned about your topic in the fourth column, L (L = what have I learned).

You must have at least three distinct items listed in each column to get full credit for this portion

of the assignment.

Please note

the “prayer

in school” is

not an

acceptable

topic choice

for your

annotated

bibliography.

Describe your research topic here and explain

how it is connected to your major. Be sure to

provide at least a 2-3 sentence description.

RESEARCH TOPIC AND QUESTION 3

K

What do I know?

W

What do I want to

know?

H

How do I find out?

L

What have I

learned?

Prayer in school is a

controversial issue,

with some groups

pushing to put prayer

back in school.

When and why was

prayer taken out of

public schools?

World Book

Encyclopedia

(Ashford

Library)

Prayer in public

school was ruled

unconstitutional in

1962 in the Engel v.

Vitale case.

It seems like it is

mostly Christian

groups that are

pushing for prayer

(and other religious

activities like reading

the Bible) to be

included in school

activities.

Are there times when

prayer and/or other

religious activities

can be performed in

public schools?

Wikipedia Prayer and religious

activity is allowed in

school as long as it is

led by students and

not by teachers or

other school

authorities. Some

examples of national

organizations that

participate in

religious activities in

public schools are

Fellowship of

Christian Athletes

and See You at the

Pole.

In this chart, be sure to fill in three distinct items for each column. You

do not have to make the information relate by row. For example, in

Column W, I said that I wanted to find out “When and why was prayer

taken out of public schools?”. That information does not have to be

found in the World Book Encyclopedia.

RESEARCH TOPIC AND QUESTION 4

It seems like the

arguments for prayer

to be put back in

school are based on

the idea that teaching

religious principles

would improve

student behavior.

Is the removal of

prayer in public

schools

discriminatory to

Christians?

Encyclopedia

Britannica

In the Engel v. Vitale

case, the Supreme

Court Justices were

trying to protect the

rights of all

Americans to believe

(or not) as they

choose and to not be

forced to participate

in religious activity

that might go against

their beliefs. The

Justices did not think

that any prayer could

be written that would

not offend someone

so no prayer should

be said in schools.

Now that you have done some simple background research, it’s time to write a formal research

question. Your research question will help you focus your research by defining the information

you are looking for as you research your topic for your annotated bibliography.

A quality formal research question must be:

● Open-ended (Review the How to Ask Open-Ended Questions handout)

● Clear

● Concise

● Detailed

Remember that research questions should generate the kind of research that is suitable for an

academic paper. Avoid questions that:

● Are yes/no questions (Often begin with “are” or “do”.)

● Ask for number or date (Often begin with “how many” or “when”.)

● Ask for a list

● Ask for an opinion (Often begin with “what do you think”.)

● Can be answered with a brief explanation or by referring to a single source.

Tip: Open-ended questions usually start with “what,” “why” and “how.”

Develop a research question that will allow you room to investigate your topic. Some examples

of successful research questions are:

RESEARCH TOPIC AND QUESTION 5

What can we do in the United States to prevent acid rain?

How do oil spills impact the fishing and tourism businesses in affected areas?

What evidence shows that pesticides are significantly harming the bee population?

Why is the Clean Water Act an important law for the welfare of urban populations?

Type the first draft of your research question in the first row of the table below and fill in all of

the shaded areas. Write your final, revised question in the last box.

Type the first draft of

your research question in

the box to the right.

What factors have the courts considered to be important when

determining the legality of prayer in American public schools?

Does the first draft ask a yes/no question?

If the answer is yes, you need to revise your research question.

yes/no

Does the first draft ask for a number, date, or a list?

If the answer is yes, you need to revise your research question.

yes/no

Does the first draft ask for an opinion?

If the answer is yes, you need to revise your research question.

yes/no

Can the first draft be answered with a brief explanation or by consulting

a single source?

If the answer is yes, you need to revise your research question.

yes/no

Type the final version of

your research question in

the box to the right.

How have the courts weighed factors regarding the legality of

prayer in American public schools?

When you have completed this worksheet, save the document and submit to Waypoint.

Type your first draft of your research question in the box below. Be sure to read the information

above before you begin writing your research question.

Think

Carefully

about

your

research

question

as you go

through

these

questions.

After answering the questions above, make any necessary changes to your research question and

type it in the box above. Be sure to make your question open-ended.