When researching, it’s easy to get caught up in the process, tracking down as much information that you can find. Scholars, though, don’t document information for its own sake, but to support their research question. By asking the right questions, you can be directed to the information you need to answer them.

Beyond the standard questions of who, what, when, where, how, and why, ask yourself the following:

• How does my topic fit into a broader context? Why did it come into being?

• What’s the subject’s history? How and why has the topic itself changed over time? You may need to create a historiography, the study of the ways history was written, to answer these questions.

• How does the subject fit into the larger structure of function as part of a more extensive system?

• How can your topic be grouped into similar ideas?

• How can it be differentiated?

• How would things be different if your topic never existed or disappeared?

• What would happen if your topic was put in a new context?

 Once you’ve read more on your subject, you may ask questions suggested by your sources:

• Ask questions that build on agreement. How does a claim by a source support the evidence that you’ve found from other sources?

• Ask questions that reflect disagreement. What have you found that you disagree with? What sources contradict each other, and how do you explain the difference in findings?

As you query your topic, write about it along the way. Write summaries, critiques, questions, and responses to your sources. You may wish to keep a journal to reflect on your progress. Writing helps you understand your subject and what you’ve read about it so far, but it also stimulates your thinking about it.

With these tips in mind, you can interrogate your subject as you research. The questions you use will lead to other questions, and, in time, to clarity on your research topic.

What questions do you use to guide your research?