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The research skills tutorial

Forming Your Research Question

Photo of a basketball

 

A good working thesis statement can often be converted into a question, which is typically called your research question. Consider these examples:

Working thesis statement: Younger basketball players "turning pro" continue to ruin the quality of the NBA.

Research question: How have younger professional basketball players ruined the quality of the NBA?

Working thesis statement: The rise in teenage obesity is directly related to the fast food industry.

Research question: What has the fast food industry done to contribute to the rise in teenage obesity?

Notice that neither of these questions can be answered with a simple "Yes" or "No". The "quest" of your research efforts is to find sources that answer your research question.