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CAN YOU GIVE ME AN EXAMPLE OF HOW TO FORMULATE A RESEARCH QUESTION FOR A THESIS PROJECT

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In order to formulate an effective research question for your thesis project, there are several key components you need to consider. First and foremost, your research question should address an area, topic or issue that you genuinely find interesting and would enjoy exploring in depth. Pursuing a topic you are passionate about will help sustain your motivation throughout the often arduous research and writing process. It’s also important that your chosen topic has not already been extensively researched or that there are still unanswered questions within that topic area that could potentially advance new knowledge and understanding.

Some things to consider when coming up with potential research topics include current events, social issues, areas of personal and professional interest to you that have not yet been fully resolved or explained. You can also get inspiration from academic literature and debates within your chosen field of study that indicate there are still open questions or conflicting perspectives requiring further exploration and evidence. Discussing potential topics with your supervisor early on can also help point you towards feasible areas of investigation that fit within the scope of a bachelor’s or master’s level thesis project.

Once you have identified a few potential topics of interest, it’s important to start refining these broad topics into more focused research questions. An effective research question will have several key features. First, it should be clearly stated in the form of a question to define exactly what it is you are seeking to investigate and answer through your research. Avoid vague, non-interrogative statements as these don’t properly frame the direction and goals of the study. The question should be narrow and specific enough that it can realistically be answered within the standard length and time frame requirements of an undergraduate or graduate thesis. It also needs to ask something that is empirically researchable and provable through gathering objective evidence and data, rather than being based solely on personal opinions.

Some key steps to take when refining your broad topic into a specific research question include: considering what gaps in knowledge exist within this topic area that could advance understanding; what debates or disagreements currently exist that your research could help resolve; what measurable factors or variables could be studied to better understand relationships, impacts or outcomes related to this topic. For example, if your broad topic was “The impacts of social media use on mental health in young people”, you might refine this into the question “To what extent does increased time spent on image-based social media platforms like Instagram correlate with higher rates of depression and anxiety in female university students aged 18-24?” This question is clearly defined, focused, researchable and aimed at answering something specific that could add meaningful knowledge.

Once you have a potential research question drafted, it’s important to conduct a thorough review of the existing academic literature related to your topic area. This will help you determine if your question has indeed not been substantially addressed already or if new perspectives, methodologies or contexts could provide novel insights. You should also ensure through this review process that there are adequate published sources and materials available to support investigation into your question. If after reviewing the literature you find there are no significant knowledge gaps or your question would simply duplicate past work, it likely needs reformulating to target an area requiring further illumination. Discussing your preliminary literature review and question with your supervisor provides an invaluable checkpoint before committing significant time to developing your proposal and can help guide revision.

With refinement based on feedback at this stage, you will be ready to start developing your research proposal, which will involve providing a more detailed rationale for why this question needs answered along with your proposed research design and methodology for investigating it. This involves outlining aspects like your theoretical framework, methods of data collection, analysis approaches, anticipated limitations and the significance of potentially making an original contribution to knowledge on this topic. The proposal stage allows iterative improvement of your research plan based on supervisor and ethics committee input to help ensure a strong, well-designed study capable of yielding meaningful results.

By taking the time upfront to thoughtfully craft a clear, focused yet open-ended research question through careful consideration of existing knowledge gaps and literature, iterative refinement, and input from supervisors, you set yourself up for success in conducting a thesis project that makes a notable, original academic contribution. With a researchable question as the foundation, you then build a rigorous, ethics-approved methodology to systematically seek answers towards advancing understanding of your chosen topic area. Formulating a high-quality research question is one of the most important initial steps in the thesis process.

WHAT IS THE QUINTESSENTIAL QUESTION THAT UNDERLIES CRITICAL THINKING?

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Thank you for the thoughtful question. At the heart of critical thinking is inquiry into how we know what we know and making judgments based on reasoning and evidence. Let me expand on this further:

The quintessential question that underlies critical thinking is “How do I know?” Asking how and why we have come to certain beliefs, conclusions or positions is fundamental to a critical approach. It requires reflecting on the origins of ideas and assessing the strength of supporting information rather than passively accepting claims at face value.

Critical thinkers investigate the sources of facts, arguments and opinions. They consider the context, possible biases and reasoned justifications provided rather than simply viewing statements in isolation. Asking “How do I know?” forces examination of evidential foundations and logical coherency. It allows movement beyond initial reactions or feelings to deeper understanding and judgment.

When we ask “How do I know?”, it pushes analysis of both our own and others’ perspectives. All viewpoints should be open to inquiry and critique. By questioning the bases of knowledge, we aim to move past presuppositions, rhetoric and unexamined assumptions. The “how” and “why” prompt acknowledgement of gaps, weaknesses and need for justification rather than assertions alone.

The question “How do I know?” also stimulates consideration of differing viewpoints, contextual factors and alternative interpretations. It encourages searching for additional perspectives and information as a remedy to narrow or limited frameworks of analysis. Exposing ideas to scrutiny and looking for rebuttals or counterevidence helps neutralize biases to arrive at more objective and defendable positions.

Asking how we know further fosters metacognition or thinking about thinking. It requires reflecting on cognitive and affective influences on our reasoning such as preferences, experiences, emotional reactivity and motivation. Self-examination illuminates unrecognized influences that may distort our ability to think in a balanced, open-minded manner. The ability to perceive the invisible influences that shape our thought is pivotal to critical thinking.

“How do I know?” promotes intellectual humility by acknowledging legitimate uncertainty. Not all issues permit completely certain or proven resolutions given human fallibility and complexity of many topics. The question thus supports provisional or probabilistic rather than definitive conclusions. It also recognizes multiple perspectives may have meritworthy components requiring integration rather than outright dismissal.

The quintessential question behind critical thinking is an inquiry into the evidential foundations and logical strengths of the ways we have come to understand issues, form beliefs and arrive at positions. By pushing analysis of how and why we know what we know, it serves to challenge unexamined assumptions, broaden perspectives, enhance objectivity and arrive at more well-supported and defensible viewpoints. At its heart, critical thinking entails careful judgment of knowledge claims and reasoned refutation or confirmation of their validity.