Evaluating+your+own+research+question

 Ask the following 8 questions to evaluate the quality of your research question and the ease with which you should be able to answer it: > e.g., The research question, "What impact has deregulation had on commercial airline safety?," will obviously require certain types of information:
 * 1) Does the question deal with a topic or issue that interests me enough to spark my own thoughts and opinions?
 * 2) Is the question easily and fully researchable?
 * 3) What type of information do I need to answer the research question?
 * statistics on airline crashes before and after
 * statistics on other safety problems before and after
 * information about maintenance practices before and after
 * information about government safety requirements before and after
 * 1) <span style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Is the scope of this information reasonable? (e.g., can I really research 30 on-line writing programs developed over a span of 10 years?)
 * 2) <span style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Given the type and scope of the information that I need, is my question too broad, too narrow, or o.k.?
 * 3) <span style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">What sources will have the type of information that I need to answer the research question (journals, books, internet resources, government documents, people)?
 * 4) <span style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Can I access these sources?
 * 5) <span style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Given my answers to the above questions, do I have a good quality research question that I actually will be able to answer by doing research?