Writing a good research depends on how well college students can formulate a good working research question. Knowing how to write a research question is not only reflective of good writing skills but how students can think in research terms.

By displaying the right research skills, college students can grow into becoming better writers and thinkers. Writing a research paper provides students the opportunity to research a topic they have curiosity and interest in while applying the skills they have been taught in previous writing courses. Ideally, they should also have the chance to creatively experiment with ideas of their own. Unfortunately, not every research paper goes smoothly, and some students simply summarize information and explaining terms and ideas that have been repeated dozens of times before.

College instructors can make their teaching more rewarding and productive by using the professional approach described in the following guidelines.

Choosing a Topic or Issue

Model Writing a Research Question

Most college students do not have experience writing a research question and it is absolutely critical that they understand the difference between writing a too broad or too narrow research question. A broad research questions is focused enough to research in some depth. Clarify to students that narrow research questions can be answered with a simple statistic or factual report.

Model Writing a Thesis Question

Once students formulate three-four research questions they are genuinely interested in, they can then begin to answer them by writing research questions.Again, thesis questions should be neither too broad nor too narrow and provide enough information that addresses the research paper. Too many times students try to write overly ambitious thesis statements with wordy language .

The success of writing a research paper depends largely on what the college brings to his understanding of the research and writing process, not only in terms of knowledge and writing skill, but willingness to experiment with different theses and research questions.

The choice of a research topic provides a focus for the writing. Students should choose topics based on what they care enough on to develop their own opinions. Students should remember to stick with just one major topic if they want to write coherently.