chapter 3

Chapter three discusses how to develop a research question, and how to create a research proposal. An effective research question needs to focus on a specific issue that reflects the topic, at a narrow level. The first step of coming up with a research question is to reflect on the writing situation, by asking yourself questions about what understandings might have changed, what you would want to learn next, and how strong the understanding of the topic and issue is. After coming up with self-reflective questions, the next step is to come up with potential research questions. They can focus on information known, history, assumptions, outcomes, etc. These questions would then lead to different kinds of thinking processes such as evaluation, comparing and contrast, wanting to inquire new information, etc. Early research questions are usually broad, so it is important to narrow the questions down. You can test how narrow your research questions are by typing them in and searching them on an online library catalog. If the amount of information received is too much, the research question is too broad. A research proposal is a formal presentation to an instructor or supervisor that generally includes a title page, introduction, working bibliography, project timeline, etc. The title page and introduction give the readers a general view of what will be addressed in the paper. The research proposal will also include a review of the literature and sources, and how the information will be collected.