Specific Research Questions

The topic or issue will help narrow down what you can research for your report. A specific research question will help focus your research to a specific area.

A broad question like “What is global warming?” is way to big to write about and try to research in our time allotted. Plus, that one has already been answered. A better, more narrow question on this topic would be, “How does global warming affect the California shorelines?”

This research question narrows down a broad topic and connects it to you. If you are a Business major, you might want to ask, “What are carbon credits, and how might they affect the California economy?” This question connects your interest or topic to your major.

Report Audience

What audience you are writing for?

  • Expert
  • Novice
  • Peer

Report Purpose

Answer questions.

Review what is already known about a subject.

Report new knowledge.

In-Text Citation

Also called parenthetical citations.

One Author: (Ramos 1)

Two Authors: (Smith and Ramos 1)

Three or more Authors: (Ramos et al. 1)

Citation

Here is the format:

Author(s). “Article Title.” Source, vol. #, no. #, season year, pp. xx-xx. Database, URL.

Example:

Kong, Les. “Business Sources for Education Majors.” Education Graduate Students Journal, vol. 75, no. 4, 2014, pp. 12-19. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/52506788.

Creating Structure

There are many different ways to structure a report. Decide on the final type of report you will be writing and we can begin to outline the structure. There are as many ways to organize a report and there are types of reports. Here are some examples:

  • Organize by date, time, or sequence
  • Organize by magnitude or order of importance
  • Organize by division
  • Organize by classification
  • Organize by position, location, or space
  • Organize by definition
  • Organize by comparison/contrast
  • Organize by thesis statement
  • Organize by genre (Wikipedia, Encyclopedia, News Report)

You do not have to develop your own structure from scratch, although you can. Look at examples of the type of report you are writing to help determine the structure for your report.

Example: Look at a Wikipedia entry similar to your topic. How is it structured? What order do they present information?

Quick Write

How are you organizing your report?