Formulating a Research Question and Thesis Statement
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What is a research questions and how do I formulate a Thesis Statement?
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Solution Summary
Here you will be provided guidance on how to formulate a research questions and thesis statement in order to write a well crafted research paper. How to narrow or broaden topics/questions and what questions to ask in order to "test" your thesis to ensure you have a broad enough topic to right about and find research yet a narrow enough focus that the question can be answered.
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What Is a Research Question?
A research question is the main question you propose to answer in your research paper. A specific question that guides the research process, it may change during the course of your research. Occasionally, you can follow your original query through to the final paper without revision. However, it is much more common to find that you must broaden or narrow your topic after conducting preliminary research. Formulating a research question or thesis statement is meant to be a preliminary step. In fact, you may find through your research that you must go in a completely different direction and change your research question altogether.
Formulating a research question may initially seem to be the easiest part of conducting research. However, having a general assignment does not mean that you should skip this step to save time. It may cost you valuable hours if you begin your research without a clear focus.
Thesis Statements
You may also be asked to provide a thesis statement. If you reword your research question as a statement, it becomes the basis for the thesis statement.
How Do I Create an Appropriate Research Question?
In creating a research question, use the following checklist to help determine the appropriateness ...
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