Creating a Focus Statement
What are you researching?
When I ask the above question, this is the response I usually get:
Starting & Stopping
At a conference I recently attended, the speaker said students have no difficulty finding information; the biggest problem students have with research is knowing where to START and when to STOP. What are the boundaries of your research?
Google It!
The first step: READ.
- After your preliminary reading, come up with a list of keywords that you associate with the topic.
- Can you answer the following questions about your topic?
- Who
- What
- When
- Where
Don't stop there!
You have only finished your pre-research to put your topic in context.
Continue to ask yourself what YOU want to find out about the topic. Develop high order questions. Analyze, predict, synthesize. S-T-R-E-T-C-H your thinking past what is already known.
Create a Focus Statement
Now is the time to narrow your focus.
- What interests you about your topic?
- What do you still want to find out? What should others know about this topic?
- Is there enough quality information for me to do research?
Example
Congratulations!
You have finished the first steps in the research process. Check out the wheel to see the next step in successful research:
You're off to the races!
@fmsslibrary
CC-licensed images courtesy of Haiku Deck.
Q Chart from http://www.tvdsb.ca/webpages/tkernaghan/imageGallery/Instructional%20Strategies/Q%20Chart.png
Inquiry circle from http://www.accessola.org/OLAWEB/Together_for_Learning/T4L_Vision_Document/Discovery_and_Guided_Inquiry/OLAWEB/OSLA/Together_for_Learning/Discovery_and_Guided_Inquiry.aspx