AP Seminar: Finding Evidence for Your Topic and Moving to a Research Question

Summary

In 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

00:00

📚 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.

05:01

🔍 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.

10:03

📈 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.

15:04

🤔 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.

20:05

📘 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.

25:08

📝 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.

30:09

🛠️ 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.

35:10

📌 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.

Keywords

💡Research Question

A research question is a query formulated to guide an investigation or research project. It is pivotal in academic work as it defines the scope and direction of the study. In the video, developing an effective research question is central to the seminar, as it determines the focus of the students' inquiry and subsequent argumentative essay. The script emphasizes the importance of creating a question that is not too broad or too narrow, ensuring it allows for a well-reasoned argument and reflects multiple perspectives.

💡AP Exam

The AP Exam refers to the Advanced Placement tests administered by the College Board. These standardized exams allow high school students to earn college credit or advanced placement for their college-level courses. In the context of the video, the speaker, Gerardo Gonzales, discusses changes made to the AP Exam, particularly the removal of certain components like the team multimedia presentation and the individual multimedia presentation and oral defense for the year 2020.

💡IWA (Individual Written Assignment)

The Individual Written Assignment, or IWA, is a component of the AP Seminar course where students demonstrate their ability to research, analyze, and argue a position on a given issue. The video emphasizes the increased weight of the IWA in the students' AP Seminar score for the year 2020, highlighting the importance of starting with a strong research question and developing a well-reasoned argument.

💡Argumentative Essay

An argumentative essay is a type of academic writing where the author presents a claim and supports it with evidence, engaging with counterarguments and persuading the reader to accept the claim. The video script discusses the process of writing an argumentative essay as part of the IWA, where students are expected to argue for something, using research to support their claims and to consider alternative perspectives.

💡Stimulus Materials

In the context of the AP Seminar course, stimulus materials are texts, articles, or other sources provided to students to analyze and discuss. The video script mentions the importance of integrating these materials into the students' overall response, providing relevant context for the research question or serving as evidence to support claims.

💡Presentation Skills

Presentation skills refer to the ability to effectively communicate information to an audience, often in a public speaking context. The script mentions that even though presentations won't count toward the score for the year, the skills developed in creating and delivering presentations will be beneficial for future courses and beyond, particularly in AP Research and college public speaking courses.

💡Annotated Bibliography

An annotated bibliography is a list of citations for various sources, accompanied by a brief descriptive and evaluative paragraph for each source, known as an annotation. In the video, the speaker suggests using annotated bibliographies to keep track of the research conducted, ensuring that the sources are connected to the overall research topic and are purposeful.

💡Position-Based Paper

A position-based paper is a type of academic writing where the author takes a stance on a debatable issue and argues for the validity of that position. The script differentiates between solutions-based and position-based papers, explaining that the type of paper one chooses to write will influence the kind of research question developed and the overall approach to the argument.

💡Solutions-Based Paper

A solutions-based paper focuses on proposing and arguing for a solution to a problem. The script explains that in a solutions-based paper, the argument is the proposed solution, and the claims provide the reasons why that solution is considered the best, contrasting with a position-based paper that takes a stance on an issue rather than solving a problem.

💡Debatable Issue

A debatable issue is a topic or question that is open to discussion and argument, with multiple perspectives that can be reasonably defended. The video emphasizes the importance of basing the research question on a debatable issue to ensure that there is sufficient material for research and that the argument can engage with alternative viewpoints.

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