In the previous lesson, you became acquainted with the main characteristics of a research paper and started thinking about possible topic ideas for your paper. In this lesson, you will choose your final topic and you will form research questions to narrow the focus of your research.
When you identify the topic for a research paper, you may be tempted to gather all kinds of information related to it. A great way of finding your focus is to write down a few important questions to guide your research.
Think about research questions as items in a well-planned shopping list. If you go to the supermarket without a shopping list, it will take you more time to do your shopping, and you will probably end up buying more than you need. A shopping list, however, will help you get what you need and save time, too. In the same way, forming specific research questions will help you gather all the right information for your paper without wasting time and energy on irrelevant details.
Objectives
Conduct preliminary research to identify potential areas of focus
Develop a list of major questions to guide research
Identify the differences between primary and secondary sources and examples of each source type
Understand writing conventions for capitalization
1. What are the potential areas of focus for your research paper?
2. What are some major questions that could guide your research?
3. What is the difference between primary and secondary sources? Can you give examples of each source type?
4. What are the conventions for capitalization in academic writing?