AP Seminar: Finding Evidence for Your Topic and Moving to a Research Question
Summary
TLDRIn Lesson Five of the AP Seminar Virtual Series, Gerardo Gonzales from Lane Tech College Prep in Chicago guides students on developing effective research questions. He outlines the revised AP exam format for 2020, emphasizing the increased weight of the Individual Written Argument (IWA). Gonzales stresses the importance of starting with a solid research question, differentiating between solutions-based and positions-based papers. He offers strategies for formulating research questions, ensuring they are specific, debatable, and researchable. Gonzales also highlights the necessity of thorough research and engagement with alternative perspectives to create a well-reasoned argument.
Takeaways
- 📚 The instructor, Gerardo Gonzales, teaches at Lane Tech College Prep in Chicago, Illinois, and is leading a lesson on developing effective research questions for AP Seminar.
- 🔍 The lesson focuses on the importance of forming well-reasoned research questions that reflect multiple perspectives and lead to a complex argument considering the issue at hand.
- ⚠️ Due to changes in the 2020 AP exam format, the individual research report now accounts for 38.5% of the AP Seminar score, while the Integrated Writing Assignment (IWA) is weighted more heavily at 61.5%.
- 🎓 The skills developed in presentations, such as the Team Multimedia Presentation (TMP) and Individual Multimedia Presentation and Oral Defense (InP), are valuable for future academic and professional settings, even though they are not counted in the 2020 exam.
- 🔄 The research question is subject to change as research is often a recursive process, allowing for adjustments as new information is discovered.
- 📈 The goal is to transition from a general topic to a more focused research question, ensuring it is neither too broad nor too narrow to be effectively addressed within the constraints of the assignment.
- 🤔 Students are encouraged to determine the type of research paper they want to write: one that solves a problem (solutions-based) or one that takes a position on a debatable issue (position-based).
- 📝 Effective research questions have five components: requiring judgment or evaluation, being researchable, involving genuine points of debate, engaging with alternative perspectives, and being simple without containing multiple questions.
- 🧐 The phrasing of the research question is crucial to ensure it leads to an argumentative paper rather than a report, avoiding loaded terms and leading questions.
- 🔍 Students are advised to conduct thorough research, including reading academic journals in full, to identify a debate within their field and to refine their research question accordingly.
- ✍️ The process of developing a research question involves initial drafting, consultation with teachers, further research, and eventual refinement to align with the requirements of the assignment.
Q & A
What is the main focus of the lesson presented by Gerardo Gonzales?
-The main focus of the lesson is developing effective research question questions for the AP Seminar course.
What changes were made to the AP exam as per the 2020 exam window?
-The changes include the removal of the team multimedia presentation (TMP), individual multimedia presentation and oral defense (InP), and the end-of-course exam from the components that make up the score.
How much of the AP Seminar score is now attributed to the individual research report according to the 2020 changes?
-The individual research report is now worth about thirty-eight point five percent of the AP Seminar score.
What percentage of the AP Seminar score is attributed to the Investigative Writing Assignment (IWA) after the changes?
-The IWA is now worth 61.5% of the AP Seminar score.
Why is it important to start with a good topic and its connections to stimulus materials in the IWA?
-It is important because the increased weight of the IWA requires a strong foundation to ensure a well-reasoned argument and effective research.
What is the general goal for students when transitioning from a general topic to a research question?
-The general goal is to develop a focused research question that leads to a well-reasoned argument and takes the complexity of the issue into consideration.
What are the two types of papers that students can write according to the lesson?
-Students can write a solutions-based paper that attempts to solve a problem, or a position-based paper that takes a stance on a debatable issue.
What is an example of a solutions-based research question format?
-An example format for a solutions-based research question is 'What is the best way to [solve the problem]?' or 'How should we [solve the problem]?'.
What is an example of a position-based research question format?
-An example format for a position-based research question is 'Should [action/solution] be implemented to [desired outcome]?' or 'To what extent [debatable issue]?'.
What are the five components of a research question according to the lesson?
-The five components are: requiring a judgment or evaluation to be made, being researchable, involving genuine points of ongoing debate, engaging with alternative perspectives, and being simple without containing multiple nested questions.
How should students approach the development of their research question?
-Students should first do enough research to identify a debate within their field, determine whether they want to solve a problem or take a position on an issue, choose an appropriate question stem, draft their research question with all components in mind, and be open to making adjustments throughout the research process.
What is the importance of keeping the research question localized?
-Localizing the research question by providing a specific place, population, or event helps to narrow the parameters of the research, making it more manageable and focused.
What is the role of the seminar teacher in helping students with their research questions?
-The seminar teacher can provide feedback, ask probing questions to ensure the student is on the right track, and guide them in refining their research questions.
What is the significance of using academic peer-reviewed work in the research process?
-Academic peer-reviewed work is a requirement of the assessment and ensures that the research is based on credible and validated sources.
Outlines
📚 Introduction to Lesson 5: Developing Research Questions
In this segment, Gerardo Gonzales, a teacher from Lane Tech College Prep in Chicago, introduces the fifth lesson of the AP Seminar virtual course. He emphasizes the importance of developing effective research questions and encourages students to review previous videos for a comprehensive understanding. Gonzales also discusses changes to the AP exam format for the year, noting that the multimedia presentation and individual presentation components have been removed. The individual research report and the Integrated Writing Assignment (IWA) now hold increased weight in the scoring. He stresses the significance of starting with a strong topic and research question, as they form the foundation for the IWA. The lesson aims to guide students from a general topic to a more focused research question, which may evolve as research progresses.
🔍 Focusing on Research Question Development and Context
This paragraph delves into the specifics of developing a research question. It highlights the need to integrate stimulus materials into the overall response, either by providing context for the research question or as evidence to support claims. Gonzales warns against making the research question too broad or too narrow, as this can affect the ability to adequately answer it within the word limit or find sufficient research to support it. He emphasizes the importance of ensuring that the research question is aligned with the paper's thesis and that it allows for the exploration of why the research matters. The paragraph also introduces the concept of annotated bibliographies as a tool for keeping track of research and its relevance to the overall topic.
📈 Understanding the Types of Research Papers: Solutions vs. Positions
Gonzales explains the two types of research papers students can write: solutions-based and position-based. A solutions-based paper aims to solve a problem, with the thesis being the proposed solution and the claims providing reasons why this solution is the best. Conversely, a position-based paper takes a stance on a debatable issue, leading to a conclusion rather than a solution. The type of paper chosen will influence the research question developed and the position taken in the paper. Gonzales provides examples of question stems for both types of papers and discusses the importance of framing the research question around a problem or a debate.
🤔 Crafting Research Questions with Specific Stems
The paragraph provides examples of research questions formatted around specific question stems for solutions-based and position-based papers. It illustrates how to phrase questions to address problems or debates effectively. Gonzales also discusses the importance of specificity in research questions, advising against overly broad or too specific questions that may lack sufficient research support. He suggests that students consider the scope and relevance of their questions, ensuring they are grounded in existing research and can be explored within the constraints of the assignment.
📘 Examples of Position-Based and 'To What Extent' Research Questions
This segment presents examples of position-based research questions and those framed around 'to what extent,' which allow for a more nuanced exploration of a topic. Gonzales discusses the importance of these types of questions in facilitating a debate and providing multiple angles for discussion. He also touches on the flexibility offered by 'to what extent' questions, which can lead to a range of possible responses and a deeper analysis of the topic at hand.
📝 Key Components of an Effective Research Question
Gonzales outlines the five key components of an effective research question. These include requiring judgment or evaluation, being researchable within a proper scope, involving genuine points of ongoing debate, engaging with alternative perspectives, and being simple without containing multiple questions. He provides examples of questions that need revision and explains how to adjust them to meet these criteria, emphasizing the importance of objectivity and specificity in crafting a research question.
🛠️ Refining Research Questions and Aligning with Assessment Requirements
The final paragraph focuses on the process of refining research questions and ensuring they align with the requirements of the assessment. Gonzales advises students to conduct sufficient research to identify a debate within their field, determine whether they are solving a problem or taking a position, and choose an appropriate question stem. He also encourages students to discuss their research questions with their teachers and to begin looking for academic, peer-reviewed work to support their arguments.
📌 Conclusion and Next Steps for Research Question Development
In conclusion, Gonzales recaps the importance of developing a solid research question and outlines the next steps for students. These include determining the type of paper to write, discussing the research question with the seminar teacher, conducting further research, and looking for academic peer-reviewed work. He also reminds students about the resources available through the College Board for those who may need mobile tools or connectivity.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Research Question
💡AP Exam
💡IWA (Individual Written Assignment)
💡Argumentative Essay
💡Stimulus Materials
💡Presentation Skills
💡Annotated Bibliography
💡Position-Based Paper
💡Solutions-Based Paper
💡Debatable Issue
Highlights
Today's lesson will be developing effective research questions.
Changes to the AP exam include the removal of the team multimedia presentation, individual multimedia presentation and oral defense, and the end-of-course exam for the 2020 exam window.
The individual research report now accounts for 38.5% of the AP seminar score, while the individual written argument (IWA) is worth 61.5%.
It's important to develop a strong research question to align with the increased weight of the IWA.
Presentations, though not counted toward the score this year, are valuable for developing public speaking skills useful in college and beyond.
Teachers can provide more feedback on the team multimedia presentation (TMP), which can be helpful for the IWA.
The goal is to transition from a general topic to a more focused research question.
Effective research questions should reflect multiple perspectives and lead to a well-reasoned argument.
Annotated bibliographies can help keep track of research sources and their relevance to the overall topic.
Types of research papers include solutions-based and positions-based papers.
Solutions-based papers propose solutions to problems, while positions-based papers take a stance on debatable issues.
Effective research questions should require judgment or evaluation, be researchable, involve genuine points of debate, invite engagement with alternative perspectives, and be simple without multiple nested questions.
Examples of research question stems include 'What is the best way to...' for solutions-based questions and 'Should...' or 'To what extent...' for positions-based questions.
Research questions need to be specific enough to be adequately answered within the 2,000-word limit but not too narrow to lack sufficient research material.
Students should read about five sources, including academic journals, to clearly identify a debate within their desired field before finalizing their research question.
Transcripts
okay welcome back to lesson five of AP
seminar virtual lesson my name is
Gerardo Gonzales and I teach at Lane
tech college prep in Chicago Illinois
today's lesson will be developing
effective research question questions if
you haven't done so already please go
ahead and definitely take a look at
video four but I also encourage you to
take a look at all of the videos if you
haven't done so already before we get
started on today's lesson I wanted to
give you an update on the changes that
were made to your AP exam so on the left
hand side you're gonna see the original
breakdown of the exam you can see that
there were a variety of different
assessments within each of the
performance tasks so we had the
individual research report the team
multimedia presentation the IWA iymp and
then we had our and of course exam and
you can see each of the breakdowns the
percentage breakdowns on for each of the
specific components there this on the
right-hand side is gonna be the
breakdown for the 20/20 exam window so
you're gonna notice that the t
multimedia presentation which is known
as also known as a TMP and the
individual multimedia presentation and
oral defense which is the InP
and the end-of-course exam have been in
removed from the components that will
make up the score for this year so the
individual research report which you
wrote while you're working on pt.1 will
now be worth about thirty eight point
five percent of your AP seminar score
why that liya waa which is what we're
focusing on right now will be worth
61.5%
given the increased weight of the IWA
it's important to it's important that we
make sure that we start off in a good
place with our topic and it's
connections
stimulus materials so that's really what
we focused on in the previous video and
today we're gonna focus on the next part
of that which is developing your
research question so I know and I've
heard this from my students as well you
might be a little disheartened to hear
that your presentations won't count
toward your score for this year but
please remember that the work that you
put in for those presentations all of
that hard work that you put in on
developing your public presentation
skills will not only help you in AP
research where you're gonna be asked to
give a 15 to 20 minute presentation but
it's also gonna pay huge dividends in
your public speaking courses in college
and also further than that as well
so for this year only I hope your
teacher is also able to give you
feedback on your TMP which I encourage
you to seek out you can use this in your
planning or in your review for the IWA
since both tasks are asking you to argue
for something so if there's a silver
lining there it's that we can give a
little we as teachers can give you a
little bit more feedback on stuff that
we previously have not been able to for
that TMP so if you want a little bit
more guidance with that you can seek
that out from your teacher one thing to
note then is no end of course exam t
multimedia presentation will not count
and then also the individual multimedia
presentation will not be counting as
well for this year okay next year we're
gonna hopefully return to their previous
to the to the normal format there so
let's take a look at our objectives for
today you'll notice that many of the
objectives are similar to the previous
lesson in this case we are looking to
pose questions to seek out answers that
reflect multiple divergent or
contradictory perspectives we want to
identify compare and interpret multiple
perspectives on arguments about an issue
and then we also want to form we want to
develop research questions that lead us
into a well reasoned argument that take
the complex
the problem or issue into consideration
so the big picture goal for us today is
to transition from a general topic to a
little bit more focused research
question this research question is
subject to change depending on the type
of research that you do sometimes
research is a recursive process so it's
okay for you to make adjustments as you
go along provided that you remember that
you're making these changes okay so once
again just to reiterate our goal with
the stimulus materials is to integrate
our stimulus materials as part of the
overall response okay and so one example
of this is to provide relevant context
for the research question or as evidence
to support relevant claims does not need
to be part of the actual research
question so the the sources do not need
to be inside of the question so we
talked about this a little bit
previously in the other lesson if you
want more information on that in this
case what I want you to take a look at
is to remember if your research question
fails your paper is gonna fail and so we
really want to make sure that your
research question allows for it to be
situated within a larger context
sometimes so you have to really walk a
fine line here where it's not too broad
so as to like not allow you to
adequately answer it within your 2,000
word limit and that it's not too narrow
or too specific where there's not actual
research out there to support what or to
answer what your research question
actually is so we want to make sure that
your research question as part of your
research question you're able to
research and provide context for why
that matters why does your research
question matter and we want to make sure
that there is alignment between your
research questions and so whatever
question you're asking and the context
that you're providing in the paper so
don't forget don't lose sight of what
your research question is your paper
needs to answer what your research
question is so as I'm reading my student
work and as I'm reading my student
papers I always ask them what is your
research question if their thesis
doesn't answer the research question
then there's misalignment okay and so
that misalignment will end up hurting
the possible score of the paper based on
the rubric so I want to show you this
chart again this pathway to a successful
paper up up to this point hopefully by
now you have your clear understanding of
the stimulus materials you have made
your legitimate connection between these
two stimulus materials and the share
theme right the share theme of happiness
so we're feeling good there and
hopefully you have you've been able to
bridge this connection between the
stimulus sources and your research topic
okay so hopefully by now you have your
research topic you have begun the the
starting stage of researching the topic
specifically and now today what we're
gonna do we're gonna work on conducting
research on this topic to create a
debatable research question okay so
that's what this yellow box is first
yellow box and then second yellow box
we're gonna conduct further research to
establish an actual position an actual
answer on the claim to be able to
provide claims on your question and then
further down the line which will be
further future videos from now is actual
to right actually the writing part of
this essay so writing the argumentative
essay so make sure throughout this
process that you're keeping track and
keeping a record of the research that
you're actually reading one of the ways
in which we've done this in my classroom
and maybe you've done this as well is by
using annotated bibliographies to keep
summaries of what the research that you
have read about like to keep that on one
centralized location
keeping in mind not only what the
sources are about but also how those
sources are connecting to your overall
topic you want to make sure that the
research that you're conducting
it's purposeful so always keep in mind
why am I reading this what is the
purpose how am I gonna connect this to
my overall research topic and if it
doesn't then that's really where you
need to ask yourself is this a source
that I should be reading is this a
source that I should be spending this
much time on because some of these
academic journals that you're gonna be
reading and trying to incorporate into
your paper they're gonna be pretty
lengthy okay so you don't want to
necessarily spend an hour reading a
source if you know by reading the
abstract that it's not gonna fit into
your paper using this using this chart
again we can see that by now hopefully
you have connected your two sources into
your general research topic and now
we're gonna move from that research
topic into the last box your research
question which is what we're gonna focus
on now so before we go into the actual
components of a research question the
first major question that you should ask
yourself after you've developed your
firm research topic is to ask yourself
what type of research paper do you want
to write claim so the way that I explain
to my students there are many many more
ways to do this so if your teacher has
provided you with other means to come up
with research questions by all means
continue to do so what I ask my students
to do is that what I advise them is that
you can essentially have two types of
papers that you can write you can write
a paper that attempts to solve a problem
or you can write a paper that takes a
position on a debatable issue so we have
solutions based papers or we have
positions based papers the type of paper
that you want to write will determine
the type of research question that you
develop and ultimately the type of
position that you should take so I have
two examples here so in this case if I
look at the what type of paper do you
want to write let's say you want to
write a paper that's attempts to solve a
problem
I reference that paper as a
solutions-based paper and generally
speaking your thesis your argument the
art the what your paper is about the
position that you take is the solution
that you propose claim and your claims
which are your reasons they're the
reasons for why that solution is best
okay so solutions based paper your
argument is your chosen solution kind of
like the TMP and then your claims are
the reasons for why that solution is
best okay so this solution is best
because XY & z XY and Z are your three
different claims your second option is
to write a paper in which you're taking
a position on an issue so this will be
our positions based paper our position
based paper leads us to a conclusion not
necessarily a solution in this case your
thesis ends up being a position Yes No
maybe so depending on the way that we
phrase our question your claims are the
reasons for why your argument is most
valid okay so notice here that and I'm
going to show you some examples of sort
of what that ends up looking like so on
this screen I have a few different
question stems so ways in which you can
start the way that you ask you a
question okay and you'll you'll notice
that I have on the left hand side my
question stems for solutions based
question and on the right we have my
question stamp for position based
questions okay and there are many other
many more options in this and these can
be tweaked and revives to fit the nature
of your research but generally speaking
what I advise my students for solutions
based questions they should begin their
question with either what is the best
way to or how should okay now give you
some quite give you some examples in a
bit so what is the best way to and then
the next thing after that is to
whatever problem the actual problem so
the question is based around the problem
or how should we and then once again
solve whatever that problem or on the
right hand side we have is should do to
what extent and then whatever follows
after that is the debate okay what so
instead of freeze framing your question
around the problem you are framing your
question around the actual debate okay
so two different strategies I want to
turn your attention to the to what
extent question so sometimes questions
are a little bit more complex there they
have a lot more gray area than just
being easily restored with yes or no
many of our questions require us to take
sort of a gray area a middle ground
approach so if you have a curve at Opik
or if you have a debate that has a wider
spectrum a wider variety of possible
responses or if your goal is to evaluate
overall strength or weakness of an
effect or of an impact then in this case
you should be attempting to structure
your question around a to what extent
question to what extent question is
still going to lead us to a position
based paper okay because we're
evaluating something and we're not
necessarily solving something okay so
let's take a look at some let's take a
look at some examples here so on this
slide I have examples of solutions based
questions that are formatted around the
two question stands that I provided for
you so I'll start with the house should
questions for house should we have house
and these are questions that my students
used last year and they're iaws using
the stimulus sources from 2019 so we
have how should organizing cities
in Latin America mitigate their
environmental impact how should the
ready-made garment industry be changed
to be made more ethical what is the best
way to mitigate the negative effects on
the environment of rapid urbanization in
Asia what is the best way to counter the
spread of false information on social
media so for each of these questions we
can see that the question is dealing
with the specific problem so for the
first question we have the problem of
the negative environmental impact of
urbanizing cities in Latin America the
second one the the problem is the ethics
behind the ready-made garment industry
the third one is the problem is the
negative effects on the environment due
to rapid urbanization in Asia and then
the fourth one the problem is the spread
of false information on social media so
if your goal is to solve a problem you
need to make sure that you're able to
[Music]
state what that problem is so you need
to know what the problem is that problem
is determined is and is figured out by
you through research so other
researchers not you other researchers
need to state need to address the
problem you are not necessarily in
charge of making up a problem that
doesn't exist in this case in AP seminar
other researchers should point to the
existence of this problem ok there are
some issues with these questions these
questions are not necessarily perfect
and if I could recommend some
suggestions if you look at under the
what is the best way questions this
first question what is the best way to
mitigate the negative effects on the
environment of rapid urbanization in
Asia Asia
is a massive continent and the continent
of Asia
deels has a lot of a lot of different
types of populations it's not unique in
its in its in its urbanization plan so
had I been able to I would have liked to
have this student maybe localize this
question a little bit more and pick a
specific place within Asia a specific
country or even just a specific region
ok so South Asia is different than East
Asia ok so we want to make sure that
your question is specific enough where
you can find relevant details that
actually apply to that place
ok so avoid coming up with the research
question that's a little bit too general
now at the same time you don't want to
go you don't necessarily want to go too
specific to go to a specific country
because there may not be enough research
on that specific country if there is by
all means choose a specific country but
if you find that there is only one or
two sources on a specific country it's
not necessarily gonna be the best route
for you to continue in that direction
unless you would like to continue
applying the other research or research
from other countries into that into that
topic okay so these are solutions based
questions and I want to go into my
position based questions so for this for
my position based questions I have many
many more stems that I encourage my
students to use so I begin with my
shirred question
so for should-should New Urbanism
be implemented to combat the
environmental effects of urban sprawl in
the United States should the use of
gamification be implemented in education
settings
for do-do the advantages of regulating
speech online outweigh the disadvantages
for is it's fast fashion more
detrimental than it is beneficial and
then to what extent which were these
gray areas or the questions to what
extent does the ease of access to
technology impact the communication
skills of youth and then to what extent
should the national governments of
developing countries contribute to the
global effort to combat climate change
so let me let me go into a few of these
questions more specifically for the
shirt question for my first should
question sometimes it's okay for you to
like to write a position paper on a
specific solution so if you find that
there is a debate that exists around the
specific solution and people are
debating whether or not we should
implement this solution for example if
there was a question around
medicare-for-all there's a debate around
many people have a debate around whether
or not that solution should be
implemented into the United States to
combat the to combat the healthcare
crisis that people say there is you
could write a position based paper
around whether or not we should
implement that solution so in this case
your positions could be around Medicare
for all yes and no right or yes with
revision no with revision whatever that
may be that is an example seen in the
first question here about New Urbanism
so should New Urbanism
be implemented to combat the
environmental effects of urban sprawl in
the United States so in this case the
question is not addressing a problem so
there is a problem addressed in the
question but that's not what the
question is
about the question is about whether or
not New Urbanism should be implemented
okay that is what the research question
should we do this or not and then the
the rest of the question is should we do
this in order to combat right so the
reso the majority of the research that
the student would conduct would be about
this concept of New Urbanism okay and
then the same thing goes with the with
the second question here should get
gamification be implemented okay so we
might be missing a little bit of context
based off of the way that this question
is phrased about the gamification right
so but that context can be provided in
the research paper in the introduction
of the research paper my I do question
I'm gonna get into that a little bit
later about the advantages like do the
advantages of regulating speech online
outweigh the disadvantages I'll go into
that a little bit more specifically in a
bit and then you can see for our to what
extent question that this to what extent
question allows us to to take a middle
ground stance to what extent is the ease
of access to technology impact the
communication skills you can say that it
greatly impacts it it doesn't impact it
it has limited impacts it the to what
extent option for you as a student
provides you with many different routes
that you can take okay so now that we've
taken a look at the different stems of
the research question let's take a look
at the components of a research question
so there are five different components
that you want to make sure that you're
thinking about before developing your
research question so the first the first
component is requiring a judgment or
evaluation to be made the second is that
effective research questions are
researchable the third is that they
involve genuine points of ongoing debate
the fourth component is that effective
research questions and by engagement
with alternative perspectives and then
finally effective research questions are
simple and don't contain multiple
message questions now go into each of
those more specifically so in this case
effective questions requiring the
judgment or valuation to be made we
really want to emphasize that the IWA is
it requires a different form of writing
than the individual research report so
the IWA is argumentative you should take
a position in this paper if you don't
you end up running the risk of writing a
report which is not necessarily what
this task is about the IWA is not just a
longer IRR okay so whereas in the IRR
you were evaluating perspectives in this
case you are taking a position your
position your argument is one
perspective and then the alternative the
counter-argument that is a different
perspective it's a different argument
that can be made on your research
question so here are here's an example
of a question that needs revision so in
this case what are the advantages and
disadvantages of social media this is a
question that does not lead to any
judgment being made on your part your
part as the researcher and leads to a
report so this question of what are the
advantages and disadvantages of social
media that that would be an appropriate
question for the individual research
report but it would not be an
appropriate question for the IWA
okay so different different type of
writing requires different types of
questions you could however revise that
question
to be made it to to force you to take a
position on this so in this case instead
of asking what are the advantages and
disadvantages of social media we can ask
do the advantages of social media
outweigh the disadvantages and so now
you're forced to take a position Yes No
maybe so and your position is the
argument okay so if you find yourself
starting if you find yourself looking at
a question that you feel might lead you
more to a report there are many
different ways that you can adjust that
to
to make it to force you to take an
argument we also want to make sure that
our research questions are researchable
and so there's a need for a proper scope
so I was touching on this a little bit
earlier questions that are too broad and
lack appropriate parameters are
difficult to research okay you only have
2,000 words you can't really go over
that word count so you need to make sure
that you're staying within the
parameters of an appropriate research
question to be able to actually answer
it fully within the word count so in
this case if I have the topic of disease
and my student wants to wants to wants
to ask what is the best way to reduce
the issues that result from chronic
disease okay and this sometimes this is
where students start in their research
process this is a first draft of a
research question for example there are
a few different undefined terms here so
the undefined terms are the word issues
and the word chronic diseases there are
many different issues that result from a
variety of different chronic diseases in
chronic conditions they are not all the
same so these undefined terms are
ultimately going to lead to a lack of
direction and it's gonna lead to a paper
that's just all over the place so we can
use this first draft of a question to
just make it more specific so in this
case I'm looking at what is the best way
to reduce the prevalence of irregular
heartbeats and babies that are born
premature so I have my issue has become
the prevalence of irregular heartbeats
and I have my chronic disease or my
chronic condition babies that are born
premature okay so by defining your terms
by making them a little bit more
specific now you can focus your research
you can go on EPS Co you can go on JSTOR
whatever databases you have access to
you can go and you can conduct research
specifically to these issues instead of
just doing
very general searches on these databases
that lead you in dozens of different
directions
the third point that I want you to take
a look at is that effective research
questions involve genuine points of
debate so you should ask yourself is the
answer to your question obviously
apparent and are you just like playing
devil devil's advocate with yourself
with your what about ISM so like are you
raising trivial points in the bigger
picture that aren't that are that are
basically like not relevant to the
actual debate that you're attempting to
have so remember your debate is
established your context your context is
really established in your introduction
and so in this case if I have a research
question on drug addiction or my topic
is on drug addiction and I want to ask
is drug addiction an issue that we
should attempt to solve this is not a
legitimate debate right like experts in
the field would never say that no we
shouldn't attempt to solve a drug
addiction so there is an obvious answer
here it is yes so the obvious answer is
yes so you shouldn't you shouldn't do
your research project on whether or not
we should attempt to solve it instead
you could just shift you should
transition once you have said like yes
obviously we should well what we don't
know is how we should do that so in this
case you can just shift to what is the
best way to treat heroin addiction in
the United States okay so the debate is
now about the solution the way to find a
solution
not necessarily whether or not the issue
is actually worth solving
fourth is inviting engagement with
alternative perspectives so if there's
only one answer to your question this is
not actually debatable so in terms and
so sometimes this is just the phrasing
so if your phrasing leads you to an
obvious answer then it's it's possible
for you to just work on on that with a
different stem so if our topic is
international politics why should the
immoral use of nuclear weapons be banned
this is a loaded question so the use of
the word immoral here is really like
forcing you to to take a certain
position it's also difficult to do so
it's a leading question okay so your
inclusion of the word immoral is gonna
be problematic here so instead if we
just kind of take a step back and just
make the question more objective the
question needs to be objective your you
are taking more of a subjective position
here so should the United Nations work
to ban the proliferation of nuclear
weapons by phrasing our question in a
more neutral or objective way it allows
for our alternative perspectives to
participate in this debate and we also
have to what extent is the United
Nations responsible for negotiating
treaties to reduce the nuclear
stockpiles of countries around the world
okay finally last thing effective
research questions do not contain
multiple nested questions so here's an
example and sometimes this happens with
students they just get very they're
overeager here so how should we
eliminate the privacy concerns people
have about using social media and also
punish companies who fail to abide by
these policies in this case you need to
recognize these are two different papers
that you could write each of these
research questions could be valid on its
own right so if we just separate them we
see what type of legislation would best
require social media companies to guard
the private data
users and then how should social media
companies be held accountable for
illegal use of user data notice I made
the second question a little bit more
objective by changing the phrase the
term punished - held accountable okay by
that that objectivity makes the question
a little bit easier to swallow here okay
so how do you do it so before you try to
go into your research question you want
to make sure that number one have you
done enough research to clearly identify
a debate within your desired field and
what I recommend for you is to read
enough sources about five including some
academic journals like in their entirety
before moving onto the next step of
having a research question identify
whether you want to take a position that
will lead you to conclusions or to solve
a problem that would lead you to
solutions and determine which of the
question stem is gonna work best for
your topic want you to write a draft of
your research question with all the
components in mind and please understand
that you you should sometimes you should
you can sometimes you will make changes
to this research question throughout the
research process and then always keep in
mind that you should try to localize
your research question by providing a
place a specific population or a
specific event to help to narrow the
parameters of your research using some
previous examples from the previous
lesson here's how my student got to
their example so we already went through
this in Lesson four so I'm just using my
my student example who wants to look at
activism and advocacy through art I
explained that in the previous video so
you can review it there so here were
their responses to the five questions on
the topic so here's how they got to
their topic and now here's how this
specific topic could lead to an actual
research question so based off of this
topic
about art and advocacy they wanted to
come up with some potential research
questions and these are the two research
questions that they came up with based
off of that topic they said to what
extent can protest art be an effective
form of demonstration and what is the
way best way to increase support for
public demonstrations okay in which art
could be a solution okay so that could
be the whole paper and why why they
think that protest art is the best way
to do that okay so it just sort of
depends on the way that the student
wanted to proceed in whatever direction
but you can see the topic can lead to
either type of question it's really up
to the student it's really up to you
here so to debrief hopefully you
hopefully I gave you a few tips a little
bit of insight on developing a solid
research question your next steps are to
determine the type of paper that you
need to write first and foremost
solution versus position-based develop
your preliminary research question if
you haven't done so already have a
conversation with your teacher about
your research question your seminar
teacher can pepper you with questions to
make sure that you are on the right
track conduct a little bit more research
on your topic and begin looking for
academic peer-reviewed work remember
that's a requirement of this assessment
so you really want to make sure that you
start looking for that now and we're
gonna look at more strategies on that in
the next videos once again just on
access to technology if you need mobile
tools or connectivity or if you know
someone who does please reach out to the
College Board at the following website
çb org slash tech mrs. Molloy we'll be
back on the next video so that's all for
me thanks for watching
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