Research Questions for College Papers

Questions to Help You Research Topics and Develop Content for 10+ Types of College Papers

What you’ll learn
Learn tips for successful academic writing
Obtain guidelines on how to use questions to do research
Have on hand a selection of common topics for college papers
Identify a specific issue to research and write about
Do productive research on a chosen topic
Generate content for a paper and start writing the first draft

Requirements
If you are writing a paper for a college course, and you need help choosing a topic, finding resources, collecting information, generating content, and writing the first draft, the resources in this course can help you.

Description
This collection of writing resources is intended for college students who are assigned papers on common (not specialized) topics. One resource provides tips about academic writing. Another one gives guidelines on how to use research questions productively to do research and generate content for a paper. The rest of the resources contain research questions on topics such as an important experience, career choice, and academic goals as well as questions that can help you develop content on a variety of academic genres such as case study, annotated bibliography, and literature review.

Each resource contains questions and suggested resources. The questions–which are research questions and questions to think about–are designed to spark your interest in the topic and to jump-start your research and your thought process. The questions can also help you find an angle so that you can channel your thought properly and aim them in a specific direction. In the process of doing research to respond to the questions, you will be collecting valuable information, gaining clarity on the topic, and generating content for your paper. The ultimate goal is to start writing your first draft.

Research topics included are electric cars, homelessness, climate change, the founding of America, and others.

The resources can be used to write several types of papers

Annotated bibliography

Literature review

Case study

Research essay

Argument essay

Definition essay

Cause and effect essay

Process essay

Classification essay

Compare and contrast essay

Descriptive essay

Narrative essay

Academic goals essay

Career choice

For example, the set of questions on homelessness can be used to write a case study of the measures a city took to address homelessness, an argument paper on the most effective solution to the problem, a research paper on existing programs to help the homeless, a cause and effect paper on the factors that contribute to homelessness or its effects on individuals and/or the community, a literature review of the latest research on effective solutions to homelessness, a descriptive essay about a shelter for homeless people, a compare and contrast essay on cities that have taken different approaches to addressing homelessness.

Who this course is for
College students who are writing academic papers
University students who have to write literature reviews, annotated bibliographies, case studies
Students who have to write about academic goals, a career choice, an important experience