AUC Libraries | Intro to Library Research | Topics -- Using A Topic to Generate Questions

site map |

plug-ins

	Introduction/Objectives
	Basic Pointers
	Asking a Question
	Broadening
	Narrowing
	Selecting KeyWords & Concepts
	Broadening/Narrowing Vocabulary
	Review Quiz

Topics
Using A Topic to Generate Questions	<<previous pg. \| next pg.>>

Research requires a question for which no ready answer is available. What do you want to know about a topic? Asking a topic as a question (or series of related questions) has several advantages:

1. Questions require answers. A topic is hard to cover completely because it typically encompasses too many related issues; but a question has an answer, even if it is ambiguous or controversial.

*TOPIC*	*QUESTION*
Drugs and crime	Could liberalization of drug laws reduce crime in Egypt?

2. Questions help you evaluate answers. Clearly stated questions help you decide which information will be useful. Broad topics may tempt you to stash away information that may be helpful, but you're not sure how. Question also make it easier to know when you have enough information to stop your research.

3. Clear open-ended questions call for real research and critical thinking. Asking a question with no direct answer makes research and writing more meaningful. Assuming that your research may solve significant problems or expand the knowledge base of a discipline involves you in more meaningful activity of community and scholarship.

There are many ways to turn a broad topic into a question, two common ways are brainstorming and concept mapping.

brain·storm·ing noun: 1. A method of shared problem solving in which all members of a group spontaneously contribute ideas. 2. A similar process undertaken by a person to solve a problem by rapidly generating a variety of possible solutions.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000

Brainstorming is a free-association technique of spontaneously listing all words, concepts, ideas, questions, and knowledge about a topic. After making a lengthy list, sort the ideas into categories. This allows you to inventory your current awareness of a topic, decide what perspectives are most interesting and/or relevant, and decide in which direction to steer your research.

con·cept map·ping noun phrase: 1. A process, focused on a topic, in which group or individual brainstorming produces a visual graphic that represents how the creator(s) thinks about a subject, topic, etc. It illustrates how knowledge is organized for the group or individual.

Concept maps can be elaborate or simple and are designed to help you organize your thinking about a topic, recognize where you have gaps in your knowledge, and help to generate specific questions that may guide your research.

Combining brainstorming and concept mapping (brainmapping, if you will) can be a productive way to begin your thinking about a topic area. Try to establish as your goal the drafting of a topic definition statement which outlines the area you will be researching and about which you will present your findings.

Follow these directions to make your own concept map

<<previous pg. | next pg.>>

Research questions are open-ended and require a variety of accumulated data to develop an answer. ("Could liberalization of drug laws reduce crime in the Egypt?")

Review or report questions are typically answered with what is generally known about a fairly narrow topic. ("What is the rationale for California's "3 strikes" sentencing policy?")

Reference questions are typically answered with single known facts or statistics. ("What percentage of drug-related crime in 1999 was committed by dealers, not users?")