CHAPTER 2:

THE RESEARCH QUESTION

This chapter explains how and why to break your research question
into its basic subjects and to develop a list of synonyms for those subjects.

 

Once you've developed a research question, the next step is to answer it. Usually a good answer will include the main REASONS, the important EVIDENCE, and the major ARGUMENTS that justify your answer. If you don't already know these reasons and arguments, you will need to do RESEARCH.

Because you know that research is something that scientists and scholars do, the word might be a little intimidating, even frightening. Don't worry. Research can be very time consuming but it really is not a mysterious or difficult activity.  "Doing research" really is nothing more than finding the information you need to answer your research question.  

Many students do get bogged down at this point, however. They know the information they need is "out there." But they don't know how to get started. So, where should you start?  With question analysis.

        This process has two basic steps:
                Step one: Identify the basic subjects in the research question. 
                Step two: Think of synonyms for these subjects.

An exercise will best show the importance of these two steps. Can you pick out the component subjects in the following question: What racial attitudes are common among high school students?

If racial attitudes and high school students were your choices, you're right. And since these subjects are the component subjects of the question, they also are the SUBJECT HEADINGS that can serve as the doorways (access points is what a librarian might call them) to the information that will answer your question. With these subject headings in mind, you are set to effectively use various information filing systems.

The importance identifying the component subjects of your question now may be obvious. But what about step two? Why make a list of synonyms for your main subject headings?

Remember, first, that a synonym is a word that means the same thing or nearly the same thing as another word. What you will discover as you do your research is that different information sources may use different words, or names, or terms for the same subject. For example, teenagers, adolescents, young adults, and teens all are synonyms for the concept high school students, so any of these terms might used be in an information source to identify your subject, instead of the term you originally had in mind. 

What if a research source you examine doesn't use the term high school student as a subject heading? Suppose that instead it uses terms like adolescents or teenagers? If you look only for the subject heading high school students, you would mistakenly conclude that the source contained no information on your topic, when in fact it may be filed under a different label.

Even if the source does use "high school students" as a subject heading, you might find additional information under the headings "adolescents" and "teenagers," information that you would have missed if you had not bothered to think of synonyms. 

When you are trying to think of synonyms, a thesaurus can be a very helpful ally. A thesaurus (pronounced the SORE us) is a dictionary of synonyms. That is, it lists commonly used words in alphabetical order, but instead of giving the meanings of those words, it lists other words in the language that mean the same thing or about the same thing. You will find several thesauri in the reference collection (ref PE 1591).  In Chapter 13, you will find a more detailed discussion of thesauri. In fact, you may come across a lot of "Library" terms that may be obscure or just plain confusing.  To that end, please refer to the "Library Jargon Defined" page at http://library.boisestate.edu/Reference/BBRIN/jargon.htm to help you find what some of these terms mean.

To sum up, once you have formulated a research question 

       1. Identify the research question’s component subjects.
       2. Think of synonyms for those subjects.

Click on link to go to the Assignments page and print Assignment TWO

http://library.boisestate.edu/skills/locate/assignments.htm