research question due tonight

GEN 103: Information Literacy

Creating Your Research Question Worksheet

The portions you must complete are presented in the shaded boxes below.

Purpose

Use this worksheet to develop your res earch question, which will be used for your annotated bibliography in Week Five. Refer to this week’s textbook readings for more information on the elements and purpose of a research question. Hover over the blue underlined words to read a definition in the Glossary located at the end of this document.

Link to Concept Map (from Part 1):

Example of Research Question Development

The table below illustrates how a research question develops from a broad topic to a focused question. Follow the four examples down each column to see how the questions develop.

BROAD TOPIC	RESTRICTED TOPIC	NARROWED TOPIC	RESEARCH QUESTION
Pollution	Acid Rain	Acid Rain in the United States	What can we do in the United States to prevent acid rain?
Fishing	Commercial Fishing	Fishing regulations and New England	What impact do fishing regulations have on commercial fishing in New England?
Censorship	Internet	Internet and China	How will China’s effort to censor the Internet affect its citizens?
Education	Distance Education	Distance Education and High School Students	How does distance education impact the social skills of high school students?

Develop Your Research Question

Now try out your topic ideas below using the information from your concept map. Try out several variations of your topic idea to see how it could be improved or amended.

Research Question Development Table

The table will expand as you enter content into the columns.

BROAD TOPIC	RESTRICTED TOPIC	NARROWED TOPIC	RESEARCH QUESTION

Research Question

Of the possible research questions you came up with above, which question are you planning to use for your annotated bibliography?

Check to be sure that the research question meets these criteria:

· It is open-ended (cannot be answered with simple yes or no).

· It addresses an issue or controversy and/or solves a problem.

· It is something on which you can take a stand.

Reflection (200-300 words)

In the space below, explain what you learned about this process as you conducted background research and refined your topic. What was the most difficult part of the process? What might you do differently next time? How does the process you just used relate to the information literacy concepts we have explored in your textbook and discussions this week?

Once complete, save your completed worksheet and return to the online classroom to submit this document through the “Assignment Submission” button below the assignment instructions.

Glossary Ret u rn to top

Annotated bibliography: A list of references with descriptions and a brief summary or critical statement about each one. Return

Research question: The question that you plan to answer by researching your topic. A good research question is objective, open-ended (not a yes or no question), clearly-defined but not too narrow to explore in a paper. The answer must not be an opinion. A research question often evolves as you advance through the research process (van Winklemann, 2015). Return