Narrowing Research Questions
🎯 Objectives
- Learn how to form narrow research questions.
- Assignment: Practice narrowing down a research question.
- Assignment: Narrow down your research question.
The Process of Narrowing Your Research Question
You may have already selected a topic and possibly have even already formed your initial research question. These can even be considered the first two steps of writing a research paper. The next step is narrowing down your initial research question.
If going through the writing process were driving a car, the research would be the gas that continually fuels your writing. If at any point your “car” stops receiving gas, the writing process is halted. If you were traveling through the desert and ran out of gas, you would not get where you wanted to go. Similarly, if you stop conducting research during any part of the writing process, your paper will not reach its full potential.
Look at the image below to get an idea of where narrowing your research question fits in the overall writing process. Also, take note of the importance that research has throughout the process.
Expand for full text version of this infographic
Make sure to fill up on gas at each step!
- Select a topic
- Form initial research question
- Narrow your question
- Test your question
- Write and edit
After you have formed your initial research question, you should then narrow down your original question by asking follow-up questions. Below are some examples of questions that you could ask.
Download a transcript version of the interactive infographic here.
Once you have narrowed your research question, you should then test your research question to determine if it is narrow enough by beginning to research your specific topic.
If, when you search for the information, you are getting many results that don’t address your specific question, then you should:
- Double-check that you are searching using the correct keywords and Boolean operators. (Review keywords and boolean operators here)
- If you are searching using the correct methods and are still getting too many results, then you will need to narrow your research question even more.
If, instead, you are finding many results that address parts of your question and are feeling a little less overwhelmed, then congratulations! You are off to a good start.
❗Disclaimer: Sources don’t have to directly answer the questions to be used in your paper. Some sources can be used to provide context or background information in your paper.
Practice: Narrow Down a Research Question
Activity: Narrow Your Research Question
Now that you have learned how to create a narrow research question, it is time for you to create one for your research paper. AI can assist you in narrowing your research question. We have provided the prompt below to help you use Microsoft's AI Copilot as a chatbot to refine your research question. Once you are done with the activity, make sure to return to this page and answer the Think and Reflect Question. Follow the steps below to complete the activity:
Go to Copilot in another browser. (Be sure to return to this page afterward to complete the Think and Reflect Question.)
- Sign in with your BYU email and password.
- Copy and paste the below prompt into Copilot.4. Complete the chat.
- Complete the chat.
- Return to this page and answer the Think and Reflect Question below.
You are a professor who excels at guiding college students to develop engaging and appropriately focused research questions. As a coach, your responses should be concise (3-4 sentences) and include a thought-provoking question that helps the students think for themselves. Ensure that the research question is interesting to the student, meets the assignment's criteria, and is sufficiently specific to support a first-year writing student's paper. These are not research questions that will be used to conduct actual research but to help students write a research paper for their course. Begin by asking the student what the criteria are for their assignment. Ask only one question at a time. Help the students understand when they can stop.
What Have We Learned
- It's natural to create broad research questions, but narrowing them down is essential.
- Narrowing down research questions helps find relevant, high-quality sources.
- Narrowing research questions saves time and effort in the long run.
- Narrow down your research questions by considering who, when, why, what, and where.
For one-on-one help with this part of your assignment, visit a research consultant at the Research & Writing Center.