Environmental Sciences: Step 1: Your Question

The first step in your research is always going to be identifying your research question. This is usually no more than one or two sentences and will help you keep your searching focused on information relevant to your topic.

Keep in mind that you may need to adjust your topic or question to make sure it fits your assignment. You don't want it to be too broad or too narrow. If you answer yes to one or more of these questions, your research question is likely too broad:

• Can my research topic be summed up in just a few words?
• Am I having trouble coming up with a thesis statement?
• Am I getting thousands of search results?

Try to apply one or more journalistic questions (e.g., who, what, when, where) to your question to try to narrow it down. 

On the other hand, if your search is only showing you a handful of results, your research question is likely too narrow. Try removing one of the journalistic questions from your search and trying again.