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More on Organizing Research
Use this concept mapping tutorial and work sheet to help organize your research and formulate a research question.
Formulating a Research Question
The table below shows how a research question develops from a broad topic to a focused question. Follow the 4 examples down the columns to see how the questions develop.
| Broad Topic | pollution | fishing | marketing | food |
| Restricted Topic | acid rain | fishing and business | Nike and marketing | eating habits |
| Narrowed Topic | acid rain in the U.S. | fishing reserves in the U.S. | Nike and international marketing | vegetarianism |
| Research Question | How can we prevent acid rain in the U.S. | How do we maintain and preserve our fish reserves in New England? | How successful has Nike been in its international sales? | What are the nutritional advantages of vegetarianism? |