Questioning enables us to organize our thinking around what we don't know. - Warren Berger
Engage in research by tapping into your intellectual curiosity.
Think in questions not answers. In other words, when presented with an issue or debatable topic, instead of starting with a conclusion, opinion, or answer, start your journey with questions. Challenge what you think you know. Ask what you know you don't know. These questions will guide your searches and keep you open minded to various perspectives instead of locked into your initial feelings about an issue.
Question Formulation Technique (QFT)
If you find it a challenge to ask questions about your research topic, try the Question Formulation Technique. Designed by The Right Question Institute, QFT helps coax out latent curiosity with a simple 4-step approach. Their goal is to "make it possible for all people to learn to ask better questions and participate in more effectively in key decisions" (rightquestion.org).
1. Write down the topic for exploration
2. Produce your questions, following these rules:
Number your questions
Ask as many questions as you can
Do not stop to discuss, judge, or answer
Record exactly as stated
Change statements into questions
3. Improve your questions
Categorize questions as open or closed
closed-ended questions have a yes/no or one-word answer
open-ended questions require a longer explanation
4. Strategize
Prioritize your questions
Develop an action plan or next steps
5. Reflect
What did you learn?
How can you use it?
Always the beautiful answer / who asks a more beautiful question. - e. e. cummings
Circling back to the video with Warren Berger, who wrote the book A More Beautiful Question, what is your more beautiful question?
