Question generating process
- 1. RESEARCH QUESTION GENERATION Focus – What is the topic? Describe your topic here
- 2. Thing we Know and Want to Know Brainstorm under the two columns as much as you can about the topic already and ideas about what you could or want to find out about it. You can use this tool to help with your question generation. DON’T JUDGE ANYTHING AT THIS STAGE!! • Think we know • Want to know • 40% of the world‟s population lives • What causes poverty? • • • • • • on under US$1 a day. Nottingham is the UK‟s poorest city 10 million children died from poverty before the age of 5 in 2003 HK experiences a huge wealth gap Over a billion of the world‟s children live in poverty The world has the resources available to feed twice the world‟s population The cost of living continues to increase across the world • How can we help those in poverty? • What could make it easier for • • • • people to escape poverty? What could end poverty? Are there any solutions? Why are some counties more developed than others? Why are poor people treated differently from rich people? If the wealthy gave to the poor, could we eradicate poverty?
- 3. 10 of the Best! 1. 2. 3. • Is the eradication of poverty as simple as the • Copy the best 10 statements/ questions from the last exercise. • Change any statements to questions at this point. • Identify any closed question by highlighting them. • • rich giving to the poor? What is the stigma surrounding people in poverty and why does it exist? What effects (e.g. psychological) does living in poverty have on those who have escaped it? How efficient is the minimum wage in reducing poverty? What is the relationship between the poverty rate and the unemployment rate? How does the definition of „poverty‟ change in different cultures?
- 4. Closed to Open For genuine effective enquiry it is better to have a series of open questions. These are questions that cannot be answered simply but instead, need research and analysis to be addressed. If any of the questions in your list are closed, then now is the time to try and make them open. Closed Open e.g. “How can climate change be stopped?” This is a relatively closed question because the answer is simply to stop putting CO2 into the atmosphere. An improved version of this question might be…”To what extent can the effects of climate change be off set?”. This question requires investigation and analysis of the conflicting information that will be out there. Closed Open Write any closed questions here Write the open versions of your questions here Is the eradication of poverty as simple as the rich giving to the poor? What effects does living in poverty have on those who have escaped it? How will the rich giving to the poor affect poverty rates and the wealth gap? What effects does living in poverty have on those who have escaped it, and how does this affect other aspects of their life?
- 5. Review and Improve Question stems are a good way of helping to improve your questions. The stems below are useful in constructing good research questions. Use these to modify your questions and see if you can improve them. To what extent…? How far…? Whose responsibility is it…? Should…? Do the benefits of… outweigh the disadvantages? What is more important…? • What scientifically historical factors • • • • contribute to the primitive state of certain developing countries today? To what extent is the minimum wage an effective way to reduce poverty? Compare and contrast the way poverty is experienced in different countries Analyze aspects of various political ideologies that contribute to an increase in poverty Is the eradication of poverty as simple as the rich giving to the poor?
- 6. Review and Improve Question stems are a good way of helping to improve your questions. The stems below are useful in constructing good research questions. Use these to modify your questions and see if you can improve them. To what extent…? How far…? Whose responsibility is it…? Should…? Do the benefits of… outweigh the disadvantages? What is more important…? • To what extent is the minimum wage an effective way to reduce poverty? • Compare and contrast the way poverty is experienced in different countries • What is the stigma surrounding those in poverty, and why does it exist? • To what extent does living in poverty affect the lives of those who have escaped it?
- 7. Your questions here Your questions here Words Your questions here Actions Your questions here Numbers Nature Your questions here Your questions here Your questions here Your questions here
- 8. Evaluate Your Final Question This tool might help you take a final critical look at your question. How does it score on the scales? A “good” question will score highly in all areas.