The first step for any writing assignment is to decide what you are going to write about. The more you know about a topic, the more focused your research question can be. It's important to remember when you first start exploring a topic, that not only is it ok, but it's expected that you will revise your research question as you begin to learn more. Ask yourself the following questions:
- What's my assignment? Try to restate your assignment in one sentence, this can help you focus on the heart of the assignment.
- What type of resources are required? Do you need peer reviewed journal articles? Books? Primary resources?
- What topic, that fits the assignment, are you willing to spend several hours exploring? Even if the assignment isn't about something you care about, the more interested you are in the topic, the easier it is to write about, and the more you will personally get out of it. Don't be afraid to choose a topic that is a little more challenging if you are truly interested in it. You will get infinitely more out of writing a paper that is personally gratifying than writing the "easy" paper.
- How long does your paper need to be? keeping in mind how long your paper needs to be can help you decide how focused you want your research question to be. It might make sense to choose something very specific if you only need to write three pages, but if you need to write fifteen, you might need to expand your topic to include related issues.
Now that you've oriented yourself to the assignment it's time to brainstorm for your initial research question. Go back to your restated assignment, with that fresh in your mind, what is one question you want answered? For example, if my assignment is to write a three page paper about how social media is used by students in college what is it about that topic you really want to know? Is it about how they use twitter to stay up on the latest research in their field? Maybe it's about how they use facebook groups for peer tutoring. Now that we know what we are looking for, it's time to decide where to look for it.