AP Seminar Performace Task 2: Developing a Research Question

Summary

In this video, Jerry Gonzalez guides students through the process of developing an effective research question for the AP Seminar Performance Task 2. He emphasizes the importance of transitioning from a general research topic to a focused question, keeping stimulus materials in mind, and situating the question within a larger context. Jerry explains the difference between solutions-based and position-based research questions, and highlights the need for thorough preliminary research to inform question formulation. By connecting stimulus sources with academic materials, students are encouraged to refine their research question to allow for a well-supported argument.

Highlights

• Jerry Gonzalez provides a step-by-step guide to forming an effective research question! 🎯
• The importance of stimulus sources in shaping your research topic! 🔗
• Differences between position-based and solutions-based research questions explained! ⚖️
• Tips on integrating academic peer-reviewed sources effectively! 📖
• In-depth look at the AP Seminar rubric requirements for a successful research paper! 📊

Key Takeaways

• Always connect your research topic with the provided stimulus materials for coherence! 📚
• Understand the difference between solutions-based and position-based research arguments! 🧐
• Context is king; make sure your research question has situational awareness! 🌎
• Peer review and discussion can refine and perfect your research questions! 🗣️
• The preliminary research is crucial—don't skip it! 🔍

Overview

Jerry Gonzalez starts by elaborating the transition from a broad research topic to an effective research question, emphasizing the role of stimulus materials and preliminary research in this process. His aim is to aid students in shaping questions within larger contexts, capturing rubrics’ expectations while developing content knowledge.

The video provides insights into distinguishing solutions-based from position-based questions, essential for forming arguments. Jerry advises on using thematic links between stimulus sources to inspire topic selection and delineates strategies for establishing research question parameters. He underlines the importance of peer reviews and thorough readings to refine research questions.

Jerry concludes by advising students to foster credible arguments through meticulous research strategies, defining debates, and evaluating perspectives. Pivotal is Jerry's guidance on ensuring the research question suits the AP Seminar task, with adequate engagement and context realization achievable through careful planning and execution.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction and Objectives The introduction and objectives chapter covers the development of an effective research question. Jerry Gonzalez explains the importance of transitioning from a broad research topic to a more focused research question. The chapter emphasizes keeping stimulus materials in mind and focuses on the initial stages of the research process, particularly the first two rubric rows.
• 00:30 - 01:00: Importance of Research Context This chapter emphasizes the significance of understanding the research context when developing a research topic and transitioning it into a research question. It stresses the importance of adhering to the language of the rubric throughout this process, particularly when discussing and establishing the appropriate parameters and foundation for the research context. It reminds us to keep 'rubric row two' in focus, highlighting the need to correctly set up the context for the research discussion.
• 01:00 - 01:30: Research Question Formulation The chapter focuses on the formulation of research questions. It emphasizes the need to explain the significance or importance of the research question by situating it within a broader context. The connection to preliminary research and understanding the problem or issue at hand is highlighted. The chapter builds on previous discussions about context and introduces the details of formulating the actual research question.
• 01:30 - 02:00: Transitioning from Topic to Research Question The chapter focuses on the transition from identifying a topic to developing a research question. It builds on previous discussions about the initial steps of writing a successful paper, emphasizing the importance of connecting stimulus sources to form a legitimate research topic. The chapter's primary focus is on the critical steps needed to advance from a general topic idea to a specific research question, highlighted in two yellow boxes in a visual pathway referenced by the speaker. It aims to provide a clear pathway and guidance for making this crucial transition in academic writing.
• 02:00 - 02:30: Structuring Your Research Approach The chapter focuses on transitioning from a preliminary research topic to a specific research question. Once the final research question is formulated, it marks the beginning of in-depth research aimed at establishing a position to answer the question.
• 02:30 - 03:00: Refining Your Research Question The chapter discusses the process of refining a research question, building on the previous video's recommendation to create a thematic link between two stimulus sources. This approach helps generate a research idea and topic, which will guide further research.
• 03:00 - 03:30: Components of an Effective Research Question This chapter emphasizes the importance of formulating an effective research question. It highlights that the approach to developing a research question should treat stimulus sources equally alongside other sources. The focus is on developing a thorough understanding of the context surrounding the research topic. Before engaging in discussions related to controversial issues or problems, it is crucial to be well-informed about the context.
• 03:30 - 04:00: Research Depth and Focus This chapter emphasizes the importance of thorough preparation and research depth for establishing credibility as an author. It notes that as you research, both the scope of the research and the original question will evolve. The more you read and delve into your topic, the more refined your understanding becomes, allowing you to generate more appropriate insights and arguments.
• 04:00 - 04:30: Types of Research Arguments The chapter discusses the iterative process of refining a research question, which is pivotal to narrowing down the focus of a research paper. This iterative questioning and reviewing process helps in tackling complex issues effectively. Despite the length of a research paper, the continuous refinement of the research question is emphasized as a beneficial practice.
• 04:30 - 05:00: Criteria for Effective Research Questions The chapter titled 'Criteria for Effective Research Questions' emphasizes the importance of having a well-focused research question when writing a paper. It highlights that the typical word count for individual research reports, like a 2000 word paper, may not be sufficient to cover all complexities of a topic. This makes it crucial to frame a research question that is appropriately focused, setting the foundation for a successful paper. The chapter aims to guide the reader on what information is necessary to develop such a research question and how to ensure the research is adequately framed within the limitations of the project scope.
• 05:00 - 05:30: Review Before Finalizing Topic In the chapter titled 'Review Before Finalizing Topic', the focus is on the importance of establishing context when finalizing a topic. It details five key connections to consider: 1. Identifying the specific problem or issue being addressed is crucial. It's important to be able to articulate this clearly. 2. Finding evidence that highlights and exemplifies the issue is necessary. 3. Considering the cause or origin of the problem helps in understanding its background. 4. Explaining the overall significance of the issue is essential for clarifying its relevance in the broader context.
• 05:30 - 06:00: Framing Your Question for Argumentation This chapter, titled 'Framing Your Question for Argumentation,' emphasizes the importance of careful research and reading in understanding an issue. The key points include identifying relevant stakeholders and perspectives and supporting arguments with credible evidence. It underscores the responsibility of readers to comprehend the complexities and nuances of the topics they engage with.
• 06:00 - 06:30: Example of Transition from Topic to Question The chapter discusses the transition from a research topic to a research question, emphasizing the importance of doing thorough research to establish credibility. It highlights the significance of crafting an effective research question, which sets appropriate parameters and ensures a focused argument.
• 06:30 - 07:00: Application of Research Question The chapter titled 'Application of Research Question' focuses on the role of well-designed research questions in effectively investigating a subject area. While the video does not delve deeply into the topic, it directs viewers to detailed guidance available in AP Classroom. It recommends watching videos UAC 2, 3, 4, and 5 for comprehensive insights.

AP Seminar Performace Task 2: Developing a Research Question Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 hey and welcome to another video on pt2 my name is jerry gonzalez and in this video we'll be taking a look at developing an effective research question so in this video we want to identify the strategies needed to transition from a general research topic to a more focused research question and so we're still focusing in on these first two rubric rows right we're focusing in on ensuring that we are keeping our stimulus materials in mind
• 00:30 - 01:00 in generating a research topic and not losing that focus from the transition uh to from topic to research question so we want to make sure that we keep the language of the rubric uh in mind when we're when we're doing this but we're also focusing in again on rubric row two on allowing ourselves to establish the parameters the appropriate parameters the appropriate foundation to discuss context so remember our overall
• 01:00 - 01:30 goal for rubric row 2 will be to explain the significance or importance of your research question by situating it within the larger context so in the previous video we talked a little bit about context we talked a little bit about um doing that for preliminary research on the problem or issue that you're researching and now today what we'll be talking about is the actual research question formulation on that end
• 01:30 - 02:00 so uh coming back to this pathway here in the previous video we looked at um the first three ideas the first three steps needed to come up to uh to writing a successful paper and so today what i want to focus in on are the two yellow boxes so at this point hopefully you have bridged that connection between the stimulus sources to come up with a legitimate research topic hopefully
• 02:00 - 02:30 you've done a little bit of preliminary research on that topic and now you're gonna get into tran making that transition from the topic to the actual research question and after we do that after we come up with our final research question that's when the work really begins that's when we're gonna start conducting that further research to eventually establish a position that's going to eventually answer your research question
• 02:30 - 03:00 so let's take a look at some at how we're going to structure ourselves here so in the previous video i i recommended that you use the following approach to come up with your research question remember that i wanted you to possibly make a thematic connection between the two between two of the stimulus sources to generate a research idea and topic of which from where you would eventually conduct some additional research
• 03:00 - 03:30 and then from there we're going to come up to this research question and this approach is really going to allow for the stimulus sources to be treated as equal to the rest of your sources and we're doing all of that with the with the idea to develop context right so it's very very important that you understand the importance of context so before discussing a controversial problem or issue it's important for you to be as informed
• 03:30 - 04:00 as possible so that you can establish your credibility as an author right you don't want to go into a debate not having properly prepared so as you continue to research the scope of what you are researching and your original research question will continue to evolve right the more you read the more you research the more refined your understanding of a particular problem or issue will be to actually generate an appropriate
• 04:00 - 04:30 research question and continuing to review continuing to question continuing to research continuing that recursive process is going to lead you to eventually narrow the focus of your paper and this many in many instances is going to be beneficial because it's going to allow you to adequately address the complexity of the issue that you are exploring so even though this paper is 2 000 words in length and it's certainly longer than the 1200 word
• 04:30 - 05:00 paper that you wrote earlier in the year with the individual research report 2000 words still isn't that much uh in terms of word count to actually or to adequately explore all of the complexities of a problem or issue right so you want to make sure that you set yourself up appropriately by having a appropriately focused research question to eventually write a successful paper so what what's some of the information that you need to help
• 05:00 - 05:30 establish context so i have five kind of connections or five things that you should consider here the first thing is that you want to identify that specific problem or issue that you're addressing right you should be able to identify you should be able to actually speak to it then you're going to want to try to find evidence that helps to exemplify that issue that's being discussed consider the cause or origin of that problem or issue explain the overall significance of the
• 05:30 - 06:00 issue and then identify the relevant stakeholders and perspectives and we do all of that through research we through we do all of that through reading none of this should really be uh presumed right you need to make sure that you are supporting everything with credible evidence and so it's very important for you to remember that it's your job to understand the nuances of the issue that you're discussing you are the one who took uh the
• 06:00 - 06:30 responsibility of researching this topic so it's very important that you are doing your work on the back end to help to estab uh establish your own credibility there and so in thinking about that transition from research topic to research question might be asking yourself like what is the importance of this research question so an effective research question is important because it puts up those appropriate parameters for you to have a focused argument and effective
• 06:30 - 07:00 research questions are going to be designed to provide the foundation for researching an area of investigation effectively i'm not going to talk about that too much in this video yet but we have a lot of detailed guidance on research questions in ap classroom i recommend that you take a look at the following videos should take a look at uac 2 3 4 and 5 because those are really going into much
• 07:00 - 07:30 more detail on developing a research question focusing in a research question and then situating your research question to a wider context so if you need a little bit more structure if you need a little bit more guidance on research questions i highly recommend that you take a look at those videos we have two types of research questions that we like to think about in ap seminar those types of research questions those
• 07:30 - 08:00 two different types of research questions lead us to two different types of research arguments we have questions that will lead us to a solutions based argument and then we have questions that will lead us to a position based argument neither one of these approaches is necessarily better than the other and the type of question that you ask depends on your end goal and it sometimes depends on the problem or issue that you're identifying for pt2 the most important thing
• 08:00 - 08:30 is that you make sure that your topic and your research question is connected to the stimulus that is priority number one so in taking a look at these two different types of arguments that you can make a solutions based argument is going to be an argument that attempts to solve a problem okay and your thesis in this case the answer to your question is going to be a specific solution that you're proposing to solve the problem that you identified
• 08:30 - 09:00 and your claims or your overall reasons are going to be the reasons for why that solution is best now again if you need some more information on that we cover that in great detail in ap daily which is f which you can find in ap classroom on the other side of that is the position based argument and a position based argument is going to be an argument that takes more of a position on on an issue right so in this case the answer to the question or the thesis
• 09:00 - 09:30 can be more of like the yes no maybe so and your claims are going to be the reasons for why your argument is most valid right why we should choose your side in thinking about that so those are the two like broad-based types of arguments that you can make within this class and then thinking about like the components like what should my what should i think of what should i include with my research question you should think about the five criteria
• 09:30 - 10:00 that we identify in ap seminar as being critical to an effective research question the first criteria is that effective research questions involve genuine points of ongoing debate now when we talk about ongoing debate we want to make sure that you are focusing in that ongoing debate with sources that are going to be available um with academic sources that will be available to you right so this is sort of like more nuanced remember that we're going to
• 10:00 - 10:30 encourage you to include um academic journals peer-reviewed academic work within this paper so you want to make sure that whatever topic or issue you're exploring whatever your research question is you're going to want to make sure that that is available to you within the academic world as well the second criteria is that it invites engagement with alternative perspectives meaning that it is not just a one-sided or it's not just
• 10:30 - 11:00 uh you know really like obvious in in nature a third requirement is that it requires a judgment or evaluation to be made fourth is that it's researchable meaning that it's not too broad or too narrow narrow that it's feasible and then fifth that it's simple and what we mean by that is that you aren't actually combining a bunch of different questions within one research question right we cover uh research questions
• 11:00 - 11:30 again in uac 2 and 3 in ap daily where we go through each of these criteria in great detail so once again if you need a little bit more help with this or if you want a little bit more practice with this i encourage you to go to ap classroom and watch those videos there so let's talk a little bit about that transition from the topic to the question now so the first thing i want you to think about
• 11:30 - 12:00 is have you done enough research to clearly identify a debate within your desired field and so one of the things that you should really consider before going into the research topic you should have read enough sources on your topic at a minimum you really should have read about five sources here including some academic journals before moving on to the next step so you want to make sure that you're knowledgeable you want to make sure that you are somewhat informed on this on this
• 12:00 - 12:30 problem or issue that you're researching because you don't want to prematurely identify a problem or issue specifically you may not want to write a solutions based paper only to come to find out that that problem has already been solved so you want to make sure that you are doing your necessary homework to get to a place where you can write an effective research question the second question that you want to ask
• 12:30 - 13:00 yourself do you want to take a position meaning do you want to develop conclusions or do you want to solve a problem meaning do you want to explore specific solutions once you've made that determination you'll you'll want to take a look and review the different types of research questions the different research question stems to see what works best for you then from there you want to write a draft of your research question with all of those components in mind those five criteria that we've talked about
• 13:00 - 13:30 and realize that you can and sometimes should make changes to your research question throughout the research process so you as you continue to do more research as you're continuing to become even more informed it may be necessary to re-evaluate your research question review it and revise it in my opinion it's always best to try to localize your research question to a specific place specific population
• 13:30 - 14:00 or specific event to help to narrow the parameters of your research question so remember that it's going to be very difficult to write a research paper in which you cover the entire world sometimes it can be pretty difficult to cover everything that's happening within the united states so depending on your problem or issue that you identify it may be necessary for you to apply a more narrow approach without getting too narrow to the point where there's no existing research on your
• 14:00 - 14:30 actual population for the iwa specifically you want to make sure that your research question is framed to lead to an argument this can be pretty difficult or this can be a difficult transition sometimes because you have to recall that the goal of the iwa and the individual multimedia presentation is to produce an argument and this is a different task
• 14:30 - 15:00 than what was required of you for the irr so the iwa is not just a longer version of the first paper the criteria are different the rubric is different so you want to make sure that your research question is framed in a way that's going to lead to success on the iwa remember you are writing an evidence-based argument that argument is answering your research
• 15:00 - 15:30 question that research question was generated from a topic that was inspired from the stimulus materials those stimulus materials should be treated as a source that is equal in priority so attempts to retrofit the stimulus after the argument is usually written usually leads to poor integration of the source and research questions that are too directly connected might make it difficult for your topic to breathe okay to move
• 15:30 - 16:00 outside of the actual literal use of the stimulus materials so there's a delicate balance there that you should take into consideration so let's take a look at a prior example of how my student moved from a research topic to research question so i'm using a prior example from the 2019 stimulus here and within that my student was i i have these five questions again that
• 16:00 - 16:30 i covered in a previous video and my first question is what is the idea that you are considering and the student noted that they were considering looking at activism and advocacy through art and i wanted them to tell me what sources specifically they were using and she said i think that the letter from birmingham jail and blowing in the wind connect because they both promote activism and fighting for change blowing in the wind asks a series of rhetorical questions
• 16:30 - 17:00 one of the most significant being yes and how many years can some people exist before they're allowed to be free this line directly connects to human rights and giving everyone the freedom to be equal in society in a letter from birmingham jail dr king not only advocates for civil rights but he also promotes non-violent direction non-violent direction action as a method for activism and advocacy dr king states injustice anywhere is a threat to
• 17:00 - 17:30 justice everywhere which shows the importance of addressing social injustices because no matter how seemingly small the issue any injustice matters and is important to speak up against so then i'm getting into the actual questions of how they're going to get to their research topic and then eventually to their research question so how do the sources connect to one another and to your idea both sources connect to the idea of activism and speaking up against social issues
• 17:30 - 18:00 my ideal is activism through art which is a non-violent form of protest against social ideas the letter and the song are also two non-violent pieces of protest that advocate for equal rights and recognition of responsibility among citizens and the overall theme that's connected to the sources the theme is rights and responsibilities because they both advocate equal rights and recognition of responsibility among citizens and finally on that interest piece i'm
• 18:00 - 18:30 interested in activism because i've always had a strong sense of justice and i want to focus on fighting injustice and i think that non-violent protest through art is an interesting way to promote activism so this student at this point has developed a research topic right they have a general idea of what their topic might be and so after a little bit of research they eventually came to these two potential research questions the two potential research questions that they came up with were to what extent can protest art
• 18:30 - 19:00 be an effective form of demonstration so this is more of a position-based research question or if they wanted to move into a more solutions based route they also came up with the research question of what is the best way to increase support for public demonstrations and in this case neither one of these two research questions is directly focused in on the works of martin luther king jr and bob dylan
• 19:00 - 19:30 right they used application to get to those actual uh research questions so the main takeaway here is that an effective research question is one that is situated within the theme of the stimulus sources and it will provide you with the parameters needed to produce an effective argument the next steps are to determine the type of paper that you're going to want to write whether it's a solution based or a position-based paper and to develop that preliminary research question
• 19:30 - 20:00 now at this point you might consider having a conversation with your peers and with your teachers about your research question ideas of course keeping in mind that you can't necessarily ask your teacher like hey is my research question good right you have to make sure that you are following the appropriate steps there make sure that you have a classmate peer review your research question to make sure that you're on the right track and conduct that further research on your research topic you should begin looking for the
• 20:00 - 20:30 academic peer-reviewed work which is really going to be within that space that you want to live in for this project we'll talk more on research strategies later but in the meantime i recommend that you check out ap daily specifically the ese videos thanks for watching