The key to a good extended essay is a good research question (RQ). The RQ specifies the scope of your essay– what you’ll talk about, the timeframe, relevant events, key concepts, etc. It is the starting point for proper exploration and argumentation, which is why your RQ makes all the difference between a focused critically analyzed paper and a broad descriptive one. This article includes what makes a good research question, along with a thought process I personally used to make one.
What makes a good EE RQ?
A good EE question has to be clear and focused, as these affect criteria A to C (from Oxford EE Manual, attached below). In order to properly meet these criteria, an RQ must be broad enough to allow for thorough analysis, yet be specific and narrow enough to answer within 4000 words. If an RQ is not like that, it will result in either too large or too little a scope for analysis and argument.
These are a few steps I took in order to find a good RQ. First, I found topics that I was very interested in. I would select around 3-5 topics (so you have options at the start) and do light research on them– skimming through books and articles, a quick google search to see what was being said, etc. Second, after having some basic background knowledge, I ask: What questions do I have? What about what I have read sparks my interest? After listing those questions, I then go on to do more specific research, aiming to narrow my scope for the topic I’ve chosen. This allows me to name specific concepts, dates, or locations for my refined research question.
A Worked Example
Let’s take an example. I’m very interested in Shanghai, particularly with its status as the “Paris of the Orient” which dates back to the 1920s to 1930s. I read a lot about the jazz clubs, the nightlife, the decadence, and how it is a “heaven built on hell”. However, this came at a cost — extraterritoriality by foreign powers like Britain who got to control the Chinese government, try their citizens under British courts while still in China, and partition sections of Shanghai into their own concessions where Chinese citizens are treated as second class and excluded from public places like parks. That’s interesting. What else was going on in Shanghai around this time? Tensions between the Qing Dynasty government and a rising political party, the Nationalists led by Sun Yat-sen. So now, I have these two issues that I can take from my readings that I could research more about.
What questions do I have then? First, how did Britain get extradition? Second, why did the Nationalists rise in power while the Qing Dynasty was still in place? There’s a lot of questions that spring up from reading existing literature and having foundational knowledge — these are just a few I could think of. So if I was interested in both of these questions, I could choose to either investigate further into one of them, or somehow combine both.
Further reading will tell you that after losing the Opium War, China was made to sign the Treaty of Nanking which handed over Hong Kong and five other ports to Britain. Amongst them was Shanghai, which explains why it was filled with Western influences as this was where most Westerners established concessions, residences, and businesses. On researching the second question, you find out that the Qing Dynasty had been in decline due to internal corruption (among other factors), allowing it to lose to foreign powers who challenged the Middle Kingdom. As such, a (rough) question you could start with could be “How did the Nationalist party attempt to liberate China from foreign powers from 1912 to 1948?”
This question has some focus, but more reading could definitely make this more specific.
A sample of a bad question— one that is vague and broad— could be “How did the Chinese Communist Party impact China?” To make it more focused, we could say “What influence did Chinese Communist Party ideals have on the economic development of China in the 2010s?” As you can see, the latter has a specific scope (CCP ideals and economic development) within a set timeframe (2010s) which makes researching, arguing, and analyzing easier.
This page also has a table comparing Poor RQs to Good RQs for further references— mentioning useful phrases and sample poor questions for you to improve as practice.
Conclusion
To create a good research question, keep in mind that it will serve as the framework for your writing, and it must be something that can be answered within 4000 words. Starting broad and slowly narrowing it down helps you find something that you are interested in and capable of writing a 4000 word research paper on. By asking yourself the right questions, you can arrive at a solid topic. By specifying what you want to look at, you can achieve a solid research question.