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ASRC 4602/6602: Women and Gender Issues in Africa: Research Process

Research Plan

The research process is a series of multiple steps. Look at creating a research plan. Your instructor may have given you a topic/question to research or the freedom to come up with your own topic/question. Just take a few moments to think about the following: 

  1. What am I trying to accomplish?
  2. How interested am I in this idea?
  3. How much time do I have?
  4. What information and resources are available? 
  5. Does your issue have sub-topics that you need to know more about? 
  6. What is the assigned length of the research paper?

 

Am I?: Too African to be American, Too American to be African --  film by Nadia Sasso.
Clarke Africana Library Videodisc 834.

A documentary film that explores the complex identity formations of young African women living in America and West Africa who identify bi-culturally.

From Questions to Keywords

Writing a Research Question

Writing Strong Research Questions | Crieteria and Examples:

Published on October 26, 2022 by Shona McCombes. Revised on August 15, 2023. For the original essay with more details visit: https://www.scribbr.com/research-process/research-questions/

A research question pinpoints exactly what you want to find out in your work. A good research question is essential to guide your research paper, dissertation, or thesis.

All research questions should be:

  • Focused on a single problem or issue
  • Researchable using primary and/or secondary sources
  • Feasible to answer within the timeframe and practical constraints
  • Specific enough to answer thoroughly
  • Complex enough to develop the answer over the space of a paper or thesis
  • Relevant to your field of study and/or society more broadly