Asking the Right Focus Question Critical Thinking Asking the Right Focus Question

What is a FOCUS QUESTION Your Focus Question should be a broad (but not too broad), open ended question about a specific aspect of your topic. It should not have a clear cut answer, or be something that has been done before.

Example: Topic: Psychological Effects of Divorce Question: What are the long lasting effects of divorce on children? This is a GOOD example of a question, it is open ended and specific. There are many resources on the topic and it is original! The topic has personal interest for the student and is relatable for others.

Example: Topic: Female Body Image Question: How do females view their bodies? This is a BAD example of a question. This topic has been very over done in the past few years. Unless a student has a very different take on the topic, then they should push themselves to think outside the box. The question is also too broad- the student needs to narrow the scope of their question.

Example: Topic: Biology Question: How does the human heart work? This is a BAD example of a question. This question is something that is answered in a regular biology class and does not push the student to do independent research.

Example: Topic: Global Finance Question: How has the world’s dependence on fossil fuels affected the global economy? This is a GOOD example of a question, it is open ended and specific and original! There is a lot of current information about this topic and it is of interest to the student as well as relatable to all humans!

What to think about when asking a question: Does this question interest YOU? Would this question interest others? Has this question been asked before? Can this question be answered in 1 week? Is the question specific enough? Can you spend 8 months working on this question?

Don’t worry about a project idea yet… Your Project should be a REACTION to your research. You will start brainstorming about projects in Research and Writing!

Brainstorming 3 Example Topic: Social Justice Question 1: How has the Judicial system changed from Ancient Rome to the US supreme Court? Question 2: How do different countries around the world punish similar crimes?

Stuck? If you are having trouble coming up with questions for your topic of interest- TALK IT OUT! Go to talk to your advisor, a different teacher in the subject, Ms. Coleridge, Ms. Bailey, Ms. Leimsider, or Ms. Dodd. The more you talk about it the easier it will be to come up with a question!

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