Start Your Engines, Part 2
Getting Started
Now that you have a possible topic chosen, it's time to create a main research question to guide you.
Write down a big question about your topic. "Big" means that it is a question that isn't easy to answer right away. It is a question that might take some searching to find answers (and often, there are many possible answers to it). You may wish to write down more than one big question and then choose the one that seems best.
[Sample: How do violent video games affect the players? Why do video game companies make violent games?]
As with your topic, you will be able to check your question with your instructor before you get to writing.
Choosing a strong Main Discovery Question will determine the type of organization you will select for your presentation. Remember from previous sections that each type of writing has its own organizational method. For review, look at each of the questions below and see if you can identify the organizational pattern that each question suggests. Click on the different questions to reveal their organizational patterns.
Question | Organizational Pattern |
How is something done? [How is a violin tuned?] |
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How did/does one thing affect another? [How do violent video games affect children?] |
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What happened? [What really happened to JFK?] |
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What are the similarities or differences of two things? [Which alternative fuel will shape the future] |
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What are the components or parts of something? [What types of jobs are there in the space program?] |
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What decision should be made? [Can Obama's health care bill help America's people?] |
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What is something? [What is Attention Deficit Disorder?] |
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What is something made of? [What is an autopsy] |
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Why should something be done? [Why should minimum wage be raised to a living wage?] |
It is important to know what organizational pattern you are implying in your research question because it will guide the types of sources you use and the research you do. For example, if I am asking whether the United States has the strongest army in the world, then I know that my organizational structure is Compare-Contrast, so I must research the United States army's strengths, AND the rest of the worlds' armies' strengths. That might be more research than I want to do, so I know I must narrow my focus to compare the US army with China's army. In addition, identifying the organizational structure will prepare you for writing the thesis.
After you determine what your main discovery question is, decide which of these organizational patterns it most likely fits. Then, send an email to you instructor to make sure your topic, your research question, and your process pattern are heading in the right direction. Once you get an "OK", you can continue with the Getting Started step of the writing discovery process.