What can I learn on this page?
You can learn to:
- Pose a research question that interests you and others.
- Understand research as a creative and dynamic interplay of questions and answers.
- Claim a personal stake in your research and join your interests to those of others.
Questions
The point of most college research paper assignments is NOT to report a collection of facts, quotes and other bits of information on a topic that you happened across in your reading:
RATHER, the point is to raise a question about a topic, and to use what you learn about the topic to answer that question.
As you move from a broad topic to a narrowed topic, to a research question and to a refined thesis statement you will be able to more easily search for useful expert sources and to write a better paper.
Guides for Exploring and Questioning
Background Sources
Use the following resources to get valuable background information for exploring your topic.
- Research StartersA basic guide to sources for background and context information on a wide range of subjects.