Formulating+a+Research+Question


 * 1) Identify Your Topic -** Reflect on the things you have observed and experienced as a teacher up to this point. Use them, in conjunction with the questions below, to help you identify a topic that you would like to know more about:


 * What concerns or frustrations surrounding issues of literacy trouble you? Try to identify as many of the key factors below as you can:
 * Who? - Administrators, colleagues, students, parents, yourself
 * What? - Assessment, classroom management, curriculum, homework, instructional strategies, social issues, standardized testing
 * When? – Before school, during class, after lunch, after school
 * Where? - Cafeteria, classroom, hallways, main office, school grounds


 * What contradictions or paradoxes bother you?
 * What curiosities capture your attention?
 * What do you feel deeply passionate about?
 * What have you observed or experienced that puzzles you?
 * What kinds of things do you find yourself taking notes about?
 * What recurring topics do other teachers in your building discuss?
 * What school-related things do you find yourself talking a lot about?
 * What questions or unresolved “issues” nag you the most?
 * What tensions do you see between school policies and your experiences in the classroom?


 * 2) Narrow Your Topic -** Once you have decided on a topic of inquiry, try to define more precisely what it is you want to know. Although it may seem counterintuitive, one technique for narrowing a topic is to first “explode the topic” by brainstorming as many different connections to it as you can on a blank concept map. Next, look at each bubble on the map and try to brainstorm as many connections to each one as you can. Now review your concept map, looking for commonalities, contradictions, inconsistencies, missing information, and/or unclear relationships. They will help you to decide what really matters to you. Now you are ready to "prune" your map. Cross out bubbles that seem unhelpful. Spend some time drawing links between bubbles that seem related. You may even wish to group them using lines. If you did your concept map using Post-it notes, it will be easy to move things around. Try to identify "rich possibilities" for your work by looking at which clusters of bubbles seem most elaborated.


 * 3) Frame Your Research Topic -** Once you have decided what you think you want to know, you are ready to frame your research topic. One way to do this is to think about the kinds of conversations to which you hope your study will allow you to make a contribution. What do you like to talk about? What do you hope to change? What do you want to learn more about? When you think about different communities of people who are talking about those topics, what problems do their conversations tend to address? When you think about those problems, what important things do you think the people in these communities are failing to consider? In other words, when you frame your research topic, what you are really doing is determining what conversations you'd like to be a part of, what problems you want to work on, and you are identifying gaps in the work that is already being done on those problems. The problem that will form the foundation of your study will emerge from those gaps, and the results of your study will be your contribution to the conversation--your attempt to fill those gaps!

All of that can be overwhelming to think about, though, so try starting by simply completing this sentence: //What I want to learn more about is. . .// Typically, the first draft of a research topic tends to be very vague and somewhat wordy. Tighten up your topic by looking at the sentence you have just generated and crossing out all the words that, by themselves, do not provide you with critical information about the topic. This should give you a list of key ideas. Take the list of key ideas and try to eliminate unnecessary words by collapsing ideas together. Your goal is to end up with a one- to three-word phrase that encapsulates your topic. //This study will deepen my understanding of (insert your one- to three-word phrase here).//


 * 4) Frame Your Research Question -** Once you have decided on a research topic, you are ready to frame your research question. One way to approach this task is to revisit your concept map using the following questions to guide you:


 * What do the ideas that you have captured in the various bubbles have in common? (The answer can point your research question in a particular direction)


 * Which bubbles seem to belong with more than one cluster? (These are probably important ideas that you need to make sure are included as an element of your research question)


 * What are the relationships between the bubbles and which relationships are not entirely clear to you? (It might help to jot a few key words that describe each relationship on the lines that connect the bubbles. Relationships that are not clear usually signal that there is something you do not understand that needs further investigation.)


 * Are there any clusters that do not seem well-developed? (These are generally either areas that aren’t relevant to your main topic in any significant way, or areas that will be fruitful for exploration because you don’t know enough about them)

Another way to do this is to complete this sentence: //The purpose of my research is to explore/investigate. . . .//Now, take that statement and turn it into a question. Evaluate whether your question will provide you with a sufficient understanding of your topic by asking yourself, "Does it give me an opportunity to think about the WHAT, the WHY, and the HOW of my topic?"


 * 5) Refine Your Question** – Meaningful inquiry is all about asking questions that help you cut away unimportant details and get under the surface of the issue you have chosen. Consequently, you need to sharpen your research question. One way to do this is to think carefully about the key terms embedded in your question. Are any of the words you have used vague or unclear? If so, substitute a more precise word. Is pursuing this topic likely to allow you to contribute something new to related professional conversations? Is the scope of the topic manageable?

Another way to do this is to search existing research and scholarship to find out how others have approached your topic, what they have learned about it, and what they still don’t know about it. I have posted a list of search tips and tricks here http://rcwp2006.wikispaces.com/+Resources that will help you do this more quickly and effectively.