1. Prepared by Jasmine Maklad

2.  Develops from your research  Relevant  Up-to-date  Feasible  Unanswered  Guides your research  Is answered in your thesis & throughout your paper

3. Do:  Analytical  Highly focused Don’t:  Fact / Yes / No  Easily answerable

4. Look at keywords for clues  E.g. Aid to Egypt  Donor  Sector  Aspect of focus (look at focusing topics Writing Center website)

5. USAID to Egypt for agriculture

6. Look at question markers for clues, and Consider how you would answer the question  Does Egypt receive USAID for agriculture?  How does Egypt receive USAID for agriculture?  What does Egypt use US agricultural AID for?

7. Why is USAID to Egypt for agriculture ineffective?

8. Yes / No questions can be easily transformed into good research questions  Answer the question  Ask Why

9. 1. Has the government taken action against Israel for its treatment of POWs during the 1967 war? Or 2.Has the government de-mined Sinai and the area around Al Alamein?  No.  Why?  Why didn’t the government pursue legal action against the Israeli government for its treatment of Egyptian POWs?  Why hasn’t the government de-mined Sinai and Al-Alamein?

10. Whenever a yes / no question lies behind a research question, an assumption has been made.  Identify the assumption  Support it in your paper (introduction)

11.  Laws regarding divorce in Egypt  Political participation in Egypt  Human rights in Egypt

12. Laws regarding divorce in Egypt: Why is the new Khul’ law having negative effects on women? Political participation in Egypt: To what extent does the education system promote political apathy? AIDS in Egypt: How effective was the recent AIDS awareness campaign held in Egypt?