When writing a paper, your first task is to find a research question that will lead to a research problem worth solving. First, find a topic specific enough to research it in the time that you have allotted to complete the project. You are looking for a right-sized question worth investigating. A thesis question, for example, should be bigger and more complex than a short undergraduate paper.

Next, interrogate the topic until you find questions that catch your interest. Your questions should inspire you and get you excited. Don’t settle on the easy or the boring. Keep probing the topic until you find a subject that lights a fire in you.

Determine the kinds of evidence that your readers will expect you to offer in support of your answer. Will you need to look at secondary sources, or primary sources, or both? Will you need quantitative or qualitative data?

Ask yourself if you can find this data. Commit to researching a topic only when you think you have a good chance of finding the right kind of evidence.

Once you think you have enough data to support an answer to your question, you can begin to formulate an argument that makes your case.

Ask Yourself Three Questions

Your aim is to explain the following:

• What you’re writing about

• What you don’t know about it

• Why you want your readers to care about it

Alternatively, you can frame your argument in this way:

“I’m working on the topic of X because I want to find out Y for readers to understand Z.”

Connecting Claims, Reasons, and Evidence

As you formulate your research question, you can also start to structure your argument in this way:

“I claim that X because of these reasons Y which I base on this evidence Z.”

You should also anticipate objections and formulate responses in this way:

“I acknowledge these questions ABC, and I respond to them with these arguments 123.”

A Zigzagging Journey

Creating a question, researching, and developing an argument seldom takes a straight path. Instead, once you have an argument worth making, you may discover that you need more evidence, new sources, and even a different direction for your paper. Allow for some detours on your journey to deeper knowledge.