Research Questions: from judgment to inference
Name _______________ Place in your journal notebook under week
assigned
What follows is a list of judgment research questions I have stolen from students.
Look over the list. The questions are intended as focusing questions for the proposal
assignment. Consider how the question might be changed from judgment to
inference.
One way to rephrase the question is to try to answer it with your own
reasons and then use those to rephrase.
Another is to learn claims made by sources in answer to the question
and to test their claims.
Another is to list the criteria for making the judgment and then to use
the criteria to rephrase the question.
Example:
Judgment Question: Should the federal government mandate parental notification
for teens seeking abortions?
Answers:
No. Such a mandate could endanger teens, especially if incest is involved or parents
are abusive.
Or Yes. Such notification allows parents to council and guide their teen who may be
feeling trapped and alone.
Revised question: How would a federal government mandate for parental
notification for teens affect adolescent’s welfare and safety?
Focusing Questions
1. Should “Zero Tolerance” policies in US schools be revised?
2. Should NO Child Left Behind be reauthorized by congress?
3. Is the Endangered Species Act working?
4. Have the Bush administration policies in Iraq been effective?
5. Should we expand oil drilling into ANWAR (Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge)?
6. Write a question that interests you as a judgment and then rephrase to be
inference based.
A. Judgment:
B. Inference:
