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Spark 1 (Jenkins)

National Parks and Landscapes

Research Process

stages of research process

Research Questions

Ask a question of interest.

By asking a research question, you are keeping an open mind about what the research may reveal.  See if your question is TRUE for these five criteria.  If so, then your research question is probably workable. 

Research questions: 

  1. Cannot simply be answered with a yes/no or a list.
  2. Have a problem associated with it/ have social significance.
  3. There is reliable evidence available to address it.
  4. It has appropriate scope.

Together: You will have to do some preliminary research to really discover if all of these statements are TRUE for your proposed research question.

5 W & 1 H(ow) Questions for Refining Your Topic

5 W questions: who, what, when, where, why, and 1 H question: how