Developing a Research Project: Moving from Research Questions to a
Working Thesis
One of the first steps in developing a research project is formulating a working thesis statement—a sentence or group of sentences that express the dominant idea or ideas of the essay. After a writer has decided on a general topic, he or she may move to the thesis statement in several ways. The writer may choose to do some preliminary research or use some prewriting techniques to focus the topic. Alternatively, the writer may develop a set of research questions and objectives. Research questions themselves are helpful to many writers who are in the early stages of the research writing process. Since people are naturally driven to provide answers to questions, the research process can be invigorated if you push yourself to find sources that provide answers to questions at your project’s heart. These questions can be either general or specific, and can also be used to further focus the topic and develop a working thesis for your research essay.
Whether conducting preliminary research or developing a set of research questions, the writer’s primary goal early on in the research writing process is to establish aworking thesis. Without a sense of the essay’s controlling idea as it is expressed in the thesis statement, the writer’s research usually lacks the focus and direction to be effective in finding, evaluating, and selecting sources and their information. (Remember, though, that your essay’s controlling idea may be modified later on in the writing process, which is why it is sometimes referred to as a “working thesis”).
Activity:
This activity has two parts. First, review the sample material below. Second, develop a set of research questions (at least five) and a working thesis for a topic of your choice. Finally, don’t forget to save or e-mail your work so that you can return to this list throughout your writing process.
Here is a sample of how you can progress from research questions to a working thesis. The following is a set of research questions and a working thesis for a student essay on racial profiling. Please keep in mind that the student likely conducted some research and did some prewriting before coming up with the working thesis given here:
Research Questions:
1) Why would the United States government, the land of the free, be interested in
profiling different races of people?
2) How does racial profiling fit with the ideas of the US Constitution?
3) What other countries/governments have used or currently use racial profiling?
4) What do average Americans think about racial profiling?
5) If the government started racial profiling, then what would our country be like?
Working’Thesis: The idea of “racial profiling” is the most un-American idea to have surfaced in recent American history.