Once you have reviewed overview information you can use the TQS prompts below to further refine your research question. Remember, the shorter your paper, the narrower your topic needs to be.

• Which specific subset of the topic you can focus on? Specific people, places, or times?
• Is there a cause and effect relationship you can explore?
• Is there something about this topic that is not addressed in scholarship?

It may be helpful to fill in the blanks below to concisely state a

TOPIC: I am working on the topic of __________ (who, what, where, when)
QUESTION: because I want to find out __________,
SIGNIFICANCE: so that I can help others understand __________.

The TQS formulation for a research question comes from Turabian, Kate L. Student's Guide to Writing College Papers. 4th edition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 2010.