RESEARCH QUESTION GENERATION Focus – What is the topic? Describe your topic here

Thing we Know and Want to KnowBrainstorm under the two columns as much as you can about the topic already and ideas about what you could or want to find out about it. You can use this tool to help with your question generation. DON’T JUDGE ANYTHING AT THIS STAGE!!

• Think we know • Want to know

10 of the Best!

1 •  2 •  3 •  4 •  5 •  6 •  7 •  8 •  9 •  10

1.  Copy the best 10 statements/ questions from the last exercise.

2.  Change any

statements to questions at this point.

3.  Identify any

closed question by highlighting them.

Closed to OpenFor genuine effective enquiry it is better to have a series of open questions. These are questions that cannot be answered simply but instead, need research and analysis to be addressed. If any of the questions in your list are closed, then now is the time to try and make them open.

Closed e.g. “How can climate change be stopped?” This is a relatively closed question because the answer is simply to stop putting CO2 into the atmosphere.

Open An improved version of this question might be…”To what extent can the effects of climate change be off set?”. This question requires investigation and analysis of the conflicting information that will be out there.

Closed Write any closed questions here

Open Write the open versions of your questions here

Review and

Improve

Your improved questions here

Question stems are a good way of helping to improve your questions. The stems below are useful in constructing good research questions. Use these to modify your questions and see if you can improve them.

To what extent…? How far…? Whose responsibility is it…? Should…? Do the benefits of… outweigh the disadvantages? What is more important…?

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Evaluate Your Final QuestionThis tool might help you take a final critical look at your question. How does it score on the scales? A “good” question will score highly in all areas.