2. Essential Questions
Why is it important to create questions to
guide my research?
How can I create strong research questions?
3. What are Research Questions?
Research questions map out or guide the
direction you are heading with your research.
4. An Effective Research Question
● Needs information from sources other than yourself
● Must have done background research for
issues/vocabulary related to topic
● Not too broad - So general hard to answer
● Not too narrow - So specific doesn’t lead to more
exploration (yes/no or a couple words only)
Two different types of research questions?
5. THIN Research Questions
Who? What? When?
Where?
These type of questions can typically be
answered with short answers and are good for
BACKGROUND information.
6. Example of THIN Research Questions
● What is the Cotton Gin?
● Who invented the Cotton Gin?
● Who used the Cotton Gin?
● Where was it developed?
● When was it developed?
● When was it used?
7. Your Turn!
Look at the background information you
collected, can you answer these questions?
● Who
● What
● When
● Where
8. Example of THIN Research Questions
● What is the Cotton Gin?
● Who invented the Cotton Gin?
● Who used the Cotton Gin?
● Where was it developed?
● When was it developed?
● When was it used?
9. Not only Background info, but ...
Thin research questions can help us get to
Deeper, Stronger Research Questions.
10. Thick Research Questions
Thick research questions typically start with
HOW and WHY or a combination of your basic
questions. They may deal with big ideas,
changes of over time, different points of view or
impact or effect.
How? Why?
11. Know the End Goal!
Form questions that will help you answer the
ULTIMATE question:
How was ______________ important in
creating the identity of the United States?
12. Examples of THICK Research Questions
1. Why was the Cotton Gin a success?
2. How did the Cotton Gin impact the textile
industry?
3. How did the Cotton Gin impact other industries?
4. How did the Cotton Gin impact groups of people?
5. How did Eli Whitney get his idea for the C.G.?
13. Your Turn!
Use what you know and have learned to create
THICK research questions for your topic!
● How?
● Why?
8th Grade American HIstory prior to research for project with the class essential question of What created the identity of America during the 1800-1850s?
Ask: What do you know about this project? Your job in history and ELA?
A: Research occurs during history, 5 paragraph essay in ELA. Important to get as much information as possible, as to be able to write at length in ELA.
Ask: What are the two types of research questions you learned about in ELA?
A: Thick and Thin
Ask: Describe each or what are some characteristics of each?
A: Thin (yes, no or one word answer), start with who, what, where, when, or the answer is general knowledge, known to an educated person.
Tell: To review and see if you can identify thin and thick questions we are going to look at some questions.
These are the essential questions for the day.
I like to think of research questions as a map to my final product. It’s like a map because, if I want to drive from St. Louis is San Francisco, I need to know the roads to take to get there and where it would be good to stop along the way. Research is the same we need to know the final product, rubric etc. to be sure we are researching the correct things that will get us there.
Ask: What is the final product again? What is the essential question for the project? So our research questions need to leave us there.
We know these are the characteristics of effective research questions. What are the types of questions again? Thin and Thick. There is a place for both of these types of questions in research, but for different reasons. Let’s look at both.
Thin questions are great for learning background information. On Step 3 of your research plan you have answered most of these question already. You have Who? and What? You may not have When? or Where? Both of those are important for certain topics. If you have Lewis and Clark, Gold Rush, Oregon Trail, etc. WHERE is important and needs to be part of your background information that will in turn be your Introduction paragraph. If you have an invention, a president, a war WHEN is important and needs to be part of your background information that will in turn be your introduction paragraph.
Here is an example my Thin Qs for the Cotton Gin.
Take a look at your Step 3 sheet and decide if you can answer all of the Thin Question words. If you can’t, that’s work that needs to be done.
Ask: Do these “take” me to the project essential question? NO, but…
they help us build big, thicker questions.
Read and Explain slide. For this research task, big ideas POV and effect are important to getting you to the project EQ.
This is where the real thinking comes in … Keep in mind the previous slide, but remember where you are going too… to the EQ.
Read Cotton Gin examples and explain…. what other industries could be affected (transportation, factories), groups of people (slaves), textiles?
Which questions is a think question, but doesn’t get me to the EQ of the project.
Hold up with fingers which one does NOT get us there. A: #5, great for curiousity sake, but not really important to the EQ.
Flip your sheet over and create FIVE questions that will get you to the EQ. Set timer for 5 minutes.
If struggling with question creation, use the chart to create question stems. Use the chart like a multiplication chart. You can change the verb tenses at the top if you like.
Wrap up by asking students if they see any connections between the topics. Explain tomorrow research begins. All papers in folder.
