Historical Research Questions What are they and how do you write them?

What is it? The central question that, through research, you will answer in your research paper. In what ways did the spread of Enlightenment Ideas cause the French Revolution?

Why do you need one? Though knowing this material is helpful, the best historians are those that ask good historical questions

4 characteristics of a good historical question Specific Arguable Open-Ended Considers cause and Effect

Specific Take a broad research topic Narrow it down into subtopics Choose the subtopic that is of greatest interest Limit it further by time period and/or location Terrorism Al Qaeda? IRA? Boko Haram? UK? Syria? Boko Haram! (keep the list of interests in case this one doesn’t work out) Boko Haram in Nigeria from 2013 to the present.

Arguable The answer to this question must be an opinion not a simple statement of fact! You are writing an argumentative essay after all. Can terrorist groups such as Boko Haram have a good side?

Open-ended If you can answer your research question with a “yes” or “no”, a name, a date, or a place, your question is not open- ended. The answer to your research question should require 4-6 pages of explanation. Who founded Boko Haram? Mohammed Yusuf… next question?... Vs. In what ways has Mohammed Yusuf’s vision for Boko Haram been fulfilled?

Considers Cause and Effect These questions uncover the central issues and motives that shaped events, ideas, and peoples’ actions. How and Why become the focus rather than Who, What, Where, and When. How did Mohammed Yusuf’s vision of Boko Haram effect the development of modern Nigerian Politics?

Practice: Developing a Historical Question Complete the worksheet as directed

What were some of your new and improved Historical Questions?

Your turn Take your topic List out several subtopics you could write about based on the research you have done so far Pick your favorite Create your research questions and provide its context. See Worksheet.

Peer Evaluation

Context This is a summary of the subtopic you chose For example: The Maya were people who lived in Central America from about 1500 BCE to about 1000 CE. They lived in city-states ruled by dynasties. They grew corn and had sophisticated irrigation systems. They built temples, pyramids, and palaces. They also knew how to work with copper, how to write in their own hieroglyphs, and how to create calendars using sophisticated astronomy. However, the civilization collapsed so completely that the Spanish found very few people remaining in the region when the Spanish arrived. Historical question: Why did the Maya civilization collapse?