Creating a good question/thesis
Creating a good question or thesis requires thinking about what your problem is. The questions below are meant to guide you toward a good thesis/question. Notice that they require more thinking as they go.
Which one? (Collect information to make an informed choice.)
What does Japan trade with the rest of the world?
How? (Understand problems and perspectives, weigh options, and propose solutions.)What type of transport does Japan use to trade?
What if?
What would happen to the Japanese trade market if they got hit by another tsunami?
Should?(Make a moral or practical decision based on evidence.)
Should Japan start trading more with Australia?
Why?(Understand and explain relationships to get to the essence of a complicated issue.)
Why should Japan start trading more with Australia?
Question Stems to start thinking
- What should the audience/reader do/feel/believe? they should agree with me.
- Who are the major players on both/each side and how did they contribute to?
- Which are the most important?
- What was the impact of?
- Can I compare? How is X like or unlike Y?
- What if? Can I predict?
- How could we solve/improve/design/deal with?
- Is there a better solution to?
- How can you defend?
- What changes would you recommend to?
- Was it effective, justified, defensible, warranted?
- Why did this happen? Why did it succeed? Why did it fail?
- What should be? What are/would be the possible outcomes of?
- What are the problems related to?
- What were the motives behind?
- Why are the opponents protesting?
- What is my personal response to?
- What case can I make for?
- What is the significance of?
- Where will the next move(s) occur?
- How is this debate likely to affect?
- What is the value or, what is/are the potential benefit(s) of?
- What are three/four/five reasons for us to believe?