What is a research question? What makes a good research question? How do I start writing one?

1. WASH
YOUR
HANDS

2. What is a Research Question?
• The first step in The Process.
• The research question is what guides your research
for your final paper.
• It can help you find sources
• It can also help you eliminate unhelpful sources.
• A research question will help you to later formulate a
thesis statement, or argument.

3. Your Research Question Should Be…
• Focused on a single problem or issue
• Researchable using primary and/or secondary sources
• Feasible to answer within the timeframe and practical constraints
• Specific enough to answer thoroughly
• Complex enough to develop the answer over the space of a paper or
thesis
• Relevant to your field of study and/or society more broadly
• Arguable and open to debate

4. Focused
• The final paper is to be 7-10 pages
long.
• Therefore, your research question
should be focused enough that you
can begin to answer it in that short
amount of time
• If you have other questions, they
should relate to the central focus.
Example of an unfocused
research question:
Why was baseball popular?
Example of a focused
research question:
How did the Civil War affect
the popularity of baseball in
the nineteenth century?

5. Researchable
• You need to be able to find both primary and
secondary sources* related to your question.
• That means the question shouldn’t be too
obscure that you can’t find enough sources.
• On the other hand, you also don’t want to
have to wade through too many sources.
*There will be a mini lesson on Blackboard
about this. It will be your quiz this week.
Primary Sources:
Sources from the time
period under consideration
Secondary Sources:
Sources from after the time
period under consideration

6. Feasible
• Some scholars spend a lifetime on their
research. We have until December 14 at
11:59 PM
• Given the constraints of the Covid-19
pandemic, research options will be
somewhat limited
• You should be able to gather (and read!)
enough sources before December.

7. Specific & Complex
• All the terms you use in the research question should have clear meanings.
• Avoid vague language and broad ideas, and be clear
about what, who, where and when your question addresses.
• A research question should not be a YES or NO question. That’s not going
to get you to 10 pages – or at least 10 quality pages.
• Similarly, a research question is not something that you can just Google
and answer. Example: “What was the ‘Miracle on Ice’?”
• A good research question requires original research, synthesis of multiple
sources, interpretation and/or argument to provide an answer.

8. Relevant & Arguable
• Your question should relate to the history of American sports. (duh)
• Your question should also investigate something original, or that
hasn’t been researched enough.
• Your question and paper aren’t going to be the FINAL SAY to a topic.
Remember, some people spend their entire careers on these topics
and subjects.
• BUT! This is your entry into the historical conversation.

9. How do I come up with a Research Question?
• Start by thinking of a broad topic (favorite sport, athlete, something
that will hold your interest)
• Do some preliminary research to find out what has already been
written on the topic
• Good places to start:
• MC Library Catalog/Ebsco Search: http://library.montgomerycollege.edu
• Journal of Sport History (Available on JSTOR, access via MC Library)
• Sports Illustrated Vault: http://vault.si.com/.
• Avoid most sports-related blogs (Deadspin, Barstool Sports, Outkick, etc.)

10. Narrow it Down
• Time period
• Place
• Individuals/Team involved
• Lens to examine/analyze (race, class, gender,
environment, politics)
SPECIFIC

11. Ask questions!
• Not interested in counter-factual history – “What ifs”
• “What if the team had gone for it on 4th-and-1?”
• “What if the 1919 World Series fix hadn’t been caught?”
• Mythbusting? Maybe.
• “Why does the Abner Doubleday myth persist?”
• Interested in what happened, WHY/HOW it happened, and what factors led to
that outcome, and how that outcome/event changed things afterward.
• “How did the 1919 World Series scandal affect organized baseball?”
• “To what extent has Title IX affected the US Women's National Team's success in the World
Cup? ”
• “To what extent did the desegregation of baseball lead to the desegregation of other sports?"
• “How did [Big Event] affect [city, sport, institution]”
• “How did Hurricane Katrina affect the New Orleans Saints?”
• “How did the 1918 flu pandemic affect sports in Maryland?”
• “How did World War II change college sports?”

12. Evaluate Your Question
FOCUSED
RESEARCHABLE
FEASIBLE
SPECIFIC
COMPLEX
RELEVANT
ARGUABLE
Does it
meet
the
criteria?

13. • Submit to the Discussion Board
• You will read and critique each other’s questions to make them stronger.
• Be respectful, constructive
• Use the criteria!
• Also Submit via email to Dr. Warrick (awarrick@montgomerycollege.edu)
• 25 Points – 10 discussion board (5 for posting, 5 for constructive
feedback), 15 email