Choosing your topic …you’re really interested in … you’re curious about …you know something - but not everything - about already … that you can realistically research …that’s related to your plans for the future, e.g. study at university or possible career Identify a theme that…

No idea where to start? Consider each of the following: Hobbies; Career; Further study; Subjects I really like; What makes me tick? Look for any possible links, overlaps, or commonalities between your ideas Use this to help you decide on a general subject area, such as medicine, psychology, engineering, music, history etc.

Expanding on your topic choice Once you have a topic choice, make a spider diagram showing all the possible sub-topics you could investigate. Look at all the sub-topics you have written down. Which interests you most? Which one would you be most likely to read up about voluntarily?

Your research question Once you have decided on your research topic, it is important to identify a focussed question. General topic Focussed research question ? ? ?

Honing in on a question Questions are good because they: give guidance and focus to both your research and your product help you to actually address an issue rather than just talking round a topic require you to provide an answer, and to justify it with reasoned arguments – they make it easier to say something original and interesting

Exploring question words Before fixing on a question it’s worth considering the many different types of question you can ask Look at the question words on the next slide Identify which words would be most / least helpful in forming your EP title question As you go along, consider why some will be more / less appropriate

Hint! There are no absolutely right or wrong answers as to which words will help you form the best questions However, you are doing an extended project – a project that must go beyond the descriptive, and involve a substantial amount of critical analysis and reflection So, you should consider words that will really provoke you to extend your enquiry

Forming your question Look back at your notes Bringing the ideas of sub-topics and question words together, formulate at least 3 different questions you could use to title your project Think especially about WHO (who is affected by the question); WHAT (what will you need to find out); WHY (why did you choose this topic?); WHERE (are you considering a global or national question, or just a small area of a country?); WHEN (what time period will you limit yourself to?)

Using questions during your research Always keep your title question in mind Keep revisiting your question, you need to be prepared to revise it It is often useful to break your main question down into sub-questions – ‘smaller’ questions that you need to answer in order to answer your main question. If you’re doing a practical project, sub-questions may be smaller activities or problems you need to solve. Use sub-questions to guide your research and also to form sub-headings within the body of your writing

Reflection If you need to revise your question along the way, this doesn‘t mean you ‘got it wrong’ to begin with Modifying your question later may show that you’re taking on board what you learn from your research – this is a good thing! Don’t forget - keep all your notes from this exercise for your activity log.