How to Develop a Research Question

Step One: Do Some Background Research

Collecting a little background information on your topic idea can help you define and focus your interest into an appropriate topic for a research essay.

• Jot down a few keywords (terms) related to your topic, then perform some basic searches.
• Try out your keywords in a search engine, such as Google, but don’t go too deep. Remember, you’re just getting a feel for your topic, not doing the actual research yet.

Step Two: Focus Your Topic

Once you have a topic that you like, you’ll probably need to narrow it down. If your topic is too broad, your research will be much more difficult, and you’ll waste time looking for information that you won’t use.

Step Three: Turn Your Topic Into a Research Question

Once you’ve narrowed your topic to something workable, you need to restate it as a question. A question requires an answer, and research is all about the search for answers.