Any topic (writer’s choice)

Step 1: Revise your Research Topic: (attached last post)

Now that you have submitted a preliminary research topic and received feedback from your peers in the Identifying a Research Topic discussion board, you should submit a revised research topic. This research topic should be revised according to the peer feedback you received. Your revised research topic should be direct and concise. In about 4-5 sentences, state what your topic is and what aspect of that issue you are most interested in studying and why. If it is helpful in explaining your research topic, you can also indicate what aspect of the issue you are less interested in. Explain what diverse perspectives or ideas you think you will encounter in your research, and tell why you think this issue/problem is important to research.

Remember, your research topic should have multiple perspectives or ideas. This means that you need to be thinking about your topic beyond two clearly defined sides for or against. Most real-world situations are more complicated than that because they impact peoples lives in various ways based on age, gender, culture, geographic location, race, occupation, religion, income level, education level, etc. The goal of your research project is to help you to more fully understand the multiple, diverse aspects to a specific issue or present possible solutions to a specific problem. Ultimately, you need to be able to answer this question: Why is it important for society to solve this problem or understand this issue?

Step 2: List at least six Research Questions

Ideally, you came up with some questions in Identifying a Research Topic.  Consider your feedback and see if you want to make any changes or additions.  List at least six questions. Consider the following advice to ensure that your research questions are as effective as possible:

You have two goals in your exploration:

To enhance your knowledge These questions should be designed to help you gain some mastery over the facts of the problem or puzzle that interests you. You will be required to demonstrate that you are learning new things about your topic, so you do not want to ask questions that you know the answers to.
To enhance your understanding: These questions should be designed to help you gain a better understanding of the complexity of the situation. You will want to be looking for sources that will challenge your preconceptions and make you think about the issue in new ways. You will be required to demonstrate that you have a more nuanced and sophisticated understanding of the complexity of your issue.