research questions history

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The History Research Process

Choosing a Topic & Framing a Research Question
Brainstorming Search Terms
Feasibility: Secondary Sources
Feasibility: Primary Source Overview
Example Assessment of Primary Sourcebase #1
Example Assessment of Primary Sourcebase #2
Where and How to Find Primary Sources
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Searching: How-To Videos
Writing History Book Reviews
Find the Historiography of a Topic This link opens in a new window
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Reference Sources
Surveying Scholarship
Discussing Scholarship in Your Narrative
Referencing Scholarship in Footnotes
Chicago Citation Style (new window)

Research Topics Versus Research Questions

You will often begin by selecting a research topic, then defining a research question within this topic to investigate. What's the difference?

A simple topic is too broad. For example:

African Americans and the Civil War may be a broad topic that interests you, but this is not yet a question you can attempt to answer.
How did African American participation in the Union and Confederate armies change during the course of the war? is one example of a research question you might create from the previous topic.
How were African Americans participating in the Civil War in eastern Kentucky in June of 1864? is one example of a question which relates to the previous topic, but which is too narrow in scope to be reasonable.

As you explore scholarly secondary sources and historical primary sources, you may need to periodically re-evaluate your research question to ensure that it is neither too broad nor too narrow.

Robert C. Williams suggests that a research question might:

"ask how or why an event happened (causation, explanation)"
"ask what the consequences were of a particular event"
"discuss the intellectual origins of a particular idea"
"ask what the cultural context of an event was";
"ask whether or not an individual was responsible for a certain act"
"ask about the social history of a political event"
"quantify broad trends in a society at a particular time" (52)

Source: Williams, Robert C. The Historian's Toolbox: A Student's Guide to the Theory and Craft of History . Second ed. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 2007.

Additional Resources for Selecting Topics

The following books can suggest topic ideas.

Consulting a special encyclopedia in your area of history may also inspire you with ideas for topics and research questions.

Another approach is to start with the primary sources that are available and work backwards to a research question. Browse through sources from the "Primary Sources" tab (or similar). What questions do the documents raise for you? (Maybe regarding the people who created them, the culture in which they were created, etc.) Your research might seek to answer one of your questions.

Tips for Choosing Research Topics

Start with something that interests you. Extreme boredom will make it harder to stay motivated.
Jenny Presnell recommends choosing a topic "that exemplifies a larger phenomenon. For instance, you may be following the current debates on the changing family in twenty-first century America and want to explore what families were like in a different place and time" (8).

This list of tips owes credit to: Presnell, Jenny L. The Information-Literate Historian: A Guide to Research for History Students . New York: Oxford University Press, 2007.

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Last Updated: Dec 11, 2023 12:16 PM
URL: https://shsulibraryguides.org/historyresearch

HIST H270 What is History?

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Scholarly vs Popular
Thesis Statements

Developing a Research Question

From Laurier Library.

Selecting and Narrowing a Topic

When starting out on your research, it is important to choose a research topic that is not only of interest to you, but can also be covered effectively in the space that you have available. You may not know right away what your research question is - that's okay! Start out with a broad topic, then conduct some background research to explore possibilities and narrow your topic to something more manageable.

Choose an interesting general topic. If you’re interested in your topic, others probably will be too! And your research will be a lot more fun. Once you have a general topic of interest, you can begin to explore more focused areas within that broad topic.

Gather background information. Do a few quick searches in OneSearch@IU or in other relevant sources. See what other researchers have already written to help narrow your focus.

What subtopics relate to the broader topic?
What questions do these sources raise?
What piques your interest? What might you like to say about the topic?

Consider your audience. Who would be interested in this issue? For whom are you writing?

Adapted from: George Mason University Writing Center. (2008). How to write a research question. Retrieved from http://writingcenter.gmu.edu/writing-resources/wc-quick-guides

From Topic to Research Question

Once you have done some background research and narrowed down your topic, you can begin to turn that topic into a research question that you will attempt to answer in the course of your research. Keep in mind that your question may change as you gather more information and as you write. However, having some sense of your direction can help you evaluate sources and identify relevant information throughout your research process.

Explore questions.

Ask open-ended “how” and “why” questions about your general topic.
Consider the “so what?” of your topic. Why does this topic matter to you? Why should it matter to others?

Evaluate your research question. Use the following to determine if any of the questions you generated would be appropriate and workable for your assignment.

Is your question clear? Do you have a specific aspect of your general topic that you are going to explore further?
Is your question focused? Will you be able to cover the topic adequately in the space available?
Is your question sufficiently complex? (cannot be answered with a simple yes/no response, requires research and analysis)

Hypothesize. Once you have developed your research question, consider how you will attempt to answer or address it.

If you are making an argument, what will you say?
Why does your argument matter?
What kinds of sources will you need in order to support your argument?
How might others challenge your argument?

Adapted from: George Mason University Writing Center. (2008). How to write a research question. Retrieved from http://writingcenter.gmu.edu/writing-resources/wc-quick-guides

Sample Research Questions

A good research question is clear, focused, and has an appropriate level of complexity. Developing a strong question is a process, so you will likely refine your question as you continue to research and to develop your ideas.

Unclear : Why are social networking sites harmful?

Clear: How are online users experiencing or addressing privacy issues on such social networking sites as MySpace and Facebook?

Unfocused: What is the effect on the environment from global warming?

Focused: How is glacial melting affecting penguins in Antarctica?

Simple vs Complex

Too simple: How are doctors addressing diabetes in the U.S.?

Appropriately Complex: What are common traits of those suffering from diabetes in America, and how can these commonalities be used to aid the medical community in prevention of the disease?

Adapted from: George Mason University Writing Center. (2008). How to write a research question. Retrieved from http://writingcenter.gmu.edu/writing-resources/wc-quick-guides

General online reference sources.

Reference sources like dictionaries and encylopedias provide general information about various subjects. They also include definitions that may help you break down your topic and understand it better. Sources includes in these entries can be springboards for more in-depth research.

A note on citation: Reference sources are generally not cited since they usually consist of common knowledge (e.g. who was the first United States President). But if you're unsure whether to cite something it's best to do so. Specific pieces of information and direct quotes should always be cited.

Database of encyclopedias and specialized reference sources.

Encyclopedias and specialized reference resources in: Arts, Biography, History, Information and Publishing, Law, Literature, Medicine, Multicultural Studies, Nation and World, Religion, Science, Social Science

The online equivalent of the printed Encyclopedia Britannica and more. A fully searchable and browsable collection of authoritative references, including Britannica's latest article database, hundreds of recent articles not found in the print Britannica. Thousands of illustrations; references to biographies, geography and yearbooks are available.

Why Use References Sources

Reference sources are a great place to begin your research. They can help you:

gain an overview of a topic
explore potential research areas
identify key issues, publications, or authors in your research area

From here, you can narrow your search topic and look at more specialized sources.

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Last Updated: Feb 23, 2024 2:23 PM
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The Top 10 Most Interesting History Research Topics

Choosing history research topics is one of the hardest and most time-consuming things to do, especially if there is no guidance. You have to employ the right research skills to find authentic sources and ensure that your history research questions are precise and clear.

So to make your work easier, we have curated history research paper topics for college students and high schoolers, as well as examples of history research questions you can use for your assignment.

Find your bootcamp match

What makes a strong history research topic.

Clarity makes a strong history research topic. History is a broad subject, so your topic should be well-defined and your language should be simple enough for the reader to understand the basic outline of your history research project. In other words, there should be no ambiguity. An ambiguous topic will be much harder to write than a clear one.

Tips for Choosing a History Research Topic

Understand the requirements. Pay attention to your academic level and make sure that you are clear on what is expected of you. Keep referring to your assignment as you go along to ensure that you do not deviate from it.
Choose a topic that interests you. If your history topic is boring, doing the research and writing the paper will become tedious work. It is important that you select a topic that appeals to you and that you will enjoy writing about. Even if you choose a controversial topic, it’s worth pursuing as long as it will motivate you to keep writing.
Be objective. Movies such as Pearl Harbor have romanticized history as their subject, so make sure you select a topic based on facts and not merely your opinion. This will help in removing bias from your research questions as well.
Begin your search for research sources early. Ensure that there are adequate primary and secondary sources for your research assignment. You can also consult other alternative sources for your research. Remember to also make use of your high school or college librarian. They will guide you toward reliable sources.
Consult others when necessary. Whenever your assignment requirements are unclear to you, consult your professor. You can also brainstorm with fellow students to get more ideas on what topic you should select, or visit your university’s writing center to get a refresher on how to write strong topic sentences.

What’s the Difference Between a Research Topic and a Research Question?

A research topic refers to a broad idea that you may have chosen for your history research paper. For example, “modern history” is a general topic from which you can get various, more specific topics, such as “the role of globalization in industrialization.”

A research question takes a broad topic and narrows it down to a more specific subject. Your question will help in selecting the right sources. A research question answers the what, why, and how of the research topic. For example, what role has industrialization played in globalization?

How to Create Strong History Research Questions

A strong history research question should be empirically sound. This means that it should be narrow enough to do an in-depth analysis. However, it should not be so narrow that it can be answered with a simple yes or no. A simple search on Google should not answer your research question.

According to Kristin Poling from the Department of History at Harvard, formulating a research question requires preliminary research. You need to see whether there are authentic sources available to answer your question, and you need to understand where the gaps in the literature are. Strong questions lead to strong thesis statements.

2. Causes of the American Revolution

The American Revolution, also known as the United States War of Independence, is an important American historical event that occurred between 1775 and 1783. Researching the American revolutionaries behind the Boston Tea Party is a great way to understand how monumental social conflicts bring about the rise and fall of nations.

3. American Neutrality in World War Ⅰ

Also known as the First War or the Great War, World War Ⅰ was the first major global war of the 20th Century, and it lasted between 1914 and 1918. If you choose this topic, you will be able to analyze why America first made the foreign policy decision to avoid taking part in the war, as well as why it changed its mind later on.

4. Effects of the Allies’ Occupation of Germany

The Allied occupation of Germany began in 1945 after Germany was defeated in the Second World War. It refers to the joint occupation of Germany by the US, Great Britain, Soviet Union, and France. If you select this history research topic for your assignment, you will be able to delve deeper into the effects of the occupation on both Germany and the rest of the world.

5. Ronald Reagan and the End of the Cold War

The Cold War was a 20th Century battle of supremacy between the United States and the Soviet Union involving nuclear weapons. By discussing the role Ronald Reagan played in ending the Cold War, you could gain insight into the diplomatic history between these two powers or interpret how Reagan’s actions affected the course of American society.

6. Political, Economic, and Social Causes of the French Revolution

The French Revolution, which occurred between 1789 and 1799, significantly shifted the social and political ideals of all 18th Century European countries. This riveting European history research topic provides a means to explore the dangers of classism and its effects on civilian life.

7. The Legacy of Alexander the Great

You cannot learn about historical figures in ancient times without coming across Alexander the Great, the king of ancient Macedonia. Selecting this ancient history topic for your assignment will be a fascinating dive into how this key figure in history influenced Greek and Asian culture as he expanded his empire.

8. Rise of the Catholic Church as a Political Institution in the Middle Ages

The Middle Ages is a historical era between the fall of the Roman Empire in 476 CE and the beginning of the Renaissance period in the 14th century. Selecting this topic will help you understand the factors that influenced the rise of the Catholic Church as a powerful political institution in medieval Europe.

9. Impact of the Industrial Revolution on Working-Class Families

The Industrial Revolution was an era between the late 18th century and the middle of the 19th century when great strides were made in engineering, production, and manufacturing. It affected the economic and social lives of the working class and shifted gender roles. Studying industrialization effects would lend itself well to university students with access to rare books.

10. The Role of Martin Luther King Jr in the Civil Rights Movement

The Civil Rights Movement is one of the best Black history research paper topics for college students. One of the most impactful social movements, this movement was a response to the social injustice toward African Americans that continued after the abolition of slavery. Martin Luther King Jr was a key figure whose importance to American history cannot be overstated.

History Research Questions

In what ways have Alois Riegl’s theories shaped modern art today?
How did the Renaissance shift the worldview of European thinkers?
How did the Berlin Conference influence British Colonialism in Africa?
How have women in tech history shaped the role of American women in STEM in the 21st Century?
In what ways did the 17th century’s political and military shifts in Spain affect British rule?

Choosing the Right History Research Topic

Whether you are a high school or a college student, there are many history topics from which you can select your research project. Selecting history topics for history is highly dependent on the type of paper you have chosen to write. Argumentative research paper topics will yield different results than a comparative study or a descriptive study.

Whether you choose to select a historical figure, the military clashes between the American settlers and Native Americans, or the role of women in industrialization, make sure that you narrow down your topic and choose something that answers a specific question about an interesting issue, period, or event.

History Research Topics FAQ

Historiography is the study of recorded historical events and their interpretations. In other words, historiographies help us understand how experienced writers have shaped what, how, and why a specific history subject was recorded and interpreted a certain way.

You start a research paper by beginning with a historical overview from which you can narrow down your topics and the history research questions that you want to address. From there, you will be able to carefully choose your primary and secondary sources. According to Purdue OWL, evaluating sources is an excellent place to begin a research assignment.

You can find many research sources from online university libraries as well as websites devoted to history. The Internet is full of curated libraries such as the American Historical Association, which has resources for historical researchers to help you join the ranks of the most expert writers in the field.

Yes, you can pursue an online degree in history. Many major universities offer online history degrees as an alternative to in-person degrees. You can look up the university of your choice and check the requirements for enrollment.

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History: Developing a topic or research question

Suggested steps for developing a topic or question.

Image courtesy of William Cronon's Learning to Do Historical Research: A Primer

Use the sources -- primary and secondary -- to guide the development of a topic or research question.
Search for primary documents. Historical research consists primarily of constructing arguments based on primary documents. You will want to spend significant time exploring which documents are available that are related to your topic. These documents may include photographs, newspaper or magazine articles, recordings, public records, and so on. As always, consult a librarian if you are unsure where to start.
Read scholarly literature (secondary sources). Reading academic literature is critical for you to identify the questions that have not yet been sufficiently studied, to locate your topic within a particular context, and to ask further questions. If you are uncertain how to find the books and articles you may need, you should ask a librarian for help.
Example: I am studying _________________because I want to know_______________in order to help my readers understand____________________.
Research is an iterative process . As you discover new information or ideas, you may need to redo your database searches to locate additional primary and secondary sources. By constantly reviewing what you have found and learning, you can continually revise, develop new ideas, and make improvements.
Talk to professors and librarians.
Ask questions at every step to help you decide where to take your research next.
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Last Updated: May 24, 2024 11:47 AM
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First think about historical topics that interest you broadly. Then, gather background information by reading encyclopedias, major books on the topics, and then add focus with a research question.

Qualities of good historical questions.

Open-ended, asks "how" and "why" questions about your general topic
Considers causes or effects
Is argumentative and uses interpretations based on the evidence)
Appropriate specificity (think who, where, when)
Consider the "so what?" of your topic. Why does this topic matter to you? Why should it matter to others?
Reflect on the questions you have considered. Identify one or two questions you find engaging and which could be explored further through research.

Example: "How did white and African-American defense plant workers create and think about interracial relationships during World War II?"

This question investigates broad issues - interracial romance, sexual identity - but within a specific context - World War II and the defense industry.

WARNING: Avoid selecting a topic that is too broad: "How has war affected sex in America?" is too broad. It would take several books to answer this question.

A good question is narrow enough so that you can find a persuasive answer to it in time to meet the due date for this class paper. A good historical question also demands an answer that is not just yes or no. Why and how questions are often good choices, and so are questions that ask you to compare and contrast a topic in different locations or time periods; so are questions that ask you to explain the relationship between one event or historical process and another.

Adapted from: George Mason University Writing Center, (2008) " How to write a research question ," and Brown, " Writing about History ."

Connecting your interpretation to previous work by other historians:

Once you have a topic in mind, you need to find out what other scholars have written about your topic. If they've used the same sources you were thinking of using and reached the same conclusions, there's no point in repeating their work, so you should look for another topic.

Most of the time, though, you'll find that other scholars have used different sources and/or asked different questions, and that reading their work will help you place your own paper in perspective. When you are writing your paper, you will cite these historians - both their arguments about the material, and also (sometimes) their research findings.

Example: "As Tera Hunter has argued concerning Atlanta's laundresses, black women workers preferred work outside the homes of their white employers"(and then you would cite Hunter in a footnote, including page numbers).

Adapted from: Brown, " Writing about History ."

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Last Updated: May 1, 2024 1:02 PM
URL: https://guides.library.msstate.edu/history

Page revision date: 23-Mar-2009

Module 7: The Early Republic (1790-1820)

Developing research questions, learning objectives.

Identify effective research questions that are not too narrow or broad
Generate substantive, open-ended questions about the past

Imagine the following conversation with your friend:

Friend : “The funniest thing ever happened today!” You : “What happened?” Friend : “Oh my goodness…you wouldn’t even believe it. I don’t even know where to start.” You : “Okay, now I need to know. Where were you? Did it happen to you or to someone else?” Friend : “Someone else. It saw it on the way to class.” You : “Well, what happened? Who was it?” Friend : “This guy had turned around to talk to his friend and kept walking—directly into the fountain.” You : “Did he fall in?” Friend : “Yes, he started falling, and when he reached out for something to catch his fall, he grabbed a girl next to him and pulled her in, too!”

And you can imagine even more questions to follow—How did she react? Were they soaked afterwards? Did anyone help? Did they say anything?

In conversation with someone, it’s natural to ask questions to learn more. The more questions you ask, the more details you have, and the better equipped you’ll be to fully visualize what happened. Much in the same way that actively engaging in a conversation helps you paint a picture about a situation, you can also ask questions to learn more information about a research topic.

Research Questions

Developing a research question is the first, and, arguably, the most crucial step in creating a research-based project, whether it be a traditional academic research paper, a podcast, or a video presentation. A well-framed research question will allow you to focus on the matter at hand and approach it in a logical way. A poorly framed research question will make your project extremely difficult to complete, if not impossible. Let’s take a deeper look into developing the research question.

Watch this video to see how developing a research question can set you up for successful research.

You can view the transcript for “Developing a Research Question” here (opens in new window) .

Developing a Research Question

Your research question guides your research. Your research project will answer your research question. But how do you develop a research question? If your project is for a class in the history of the early United States, you may be assigned a specific research question, for example, “What were the causes of the Whiskey Rebellion?” But what if your assignment requires you to develop your own research question? Where do you start?

First, consider the general topic. (If the assignment requires you to focus on the history of the early U.S. republic, then a topic about World War II will not work.) Then, look for some aspect of that general topic that is interesting to you. A research project that interests you is much easier (and more fun!) to complete than one that bores you. For example, if your topic is the early U.S. republic, you could generally look into the expansion of the United States Navy, or the growing concerns enslavers had about slave rebellion. Both are appropriate, but one might be far more interesting to you.

Once you arrive at a general topic, consider a few defining questions. Defining questions help take a broad topic and narrow it down to create a focal point. If your topic was the American Revolution you might ask the following general defining questions:

Who did America fight?
Who won the war?
When was the war?
What caused the war?
Where was the war fought?

These are very general questions, and you already know most of these answers, but they do allow you to think more deeply about the general topic as you work toward developing your research question.

For this exercise, imagine that your instructor has assigned you a research project on an enslaved person’s revolt during the 18th and 19th centuries—a topic about which you know very little, so you will begin by asking five defining questions. They can be quite general, but they will allow you to probe the topic a bit more deeply. For example, you might ask “Where did the enslaved people revolt?” Use the space below to jot down ideas for your clarifying questions.

Now, let’s do some preliminary research on your topic. Here your course textbook or a review of a Wikipedia article can provide you with enough general information to ask a more specific, focused research question. You want to develop a good research question that focuses your research and sets you up for success in the finished product. Let’s first look at what constitutes a “bad” research question.

Is your question easily answered with a few simple facts? For example, if the question is: “Who was the first secretary of the United States Treasury?” then it will be difficult to develop a full project because that question is way too narrow. It can be answered in one sentence: “Alexander Hamilton was the first secretary of the United States Treasury.” Your instructor probably expects more than one sentence for your research project.

But even if the research question is not easily answered in one sentence, a question can still be too narrow. If your general topic is Alexander Hamilton, and the question you ask is: “How did Alexander Hamilton’s childhood education affect his view of public credit?” you will likely have a very difficult time finding sources to investigate and answer the question. This is a great tip to keep in mind. If you cannot find sources to answer your question, then that is a very clear indication the question is too narrow or otherwise problematic.

A research question can also be too broad. For example, “What was the impact of the Louisiana Purchase?” would be too broad, and would likely require hundreds of pages to answer. You would need to address the impact of the purchase on the expansion of slavery and the debates associated with slavery, evaluate the environmental impact of westward expansion, examine how Native Americans were affected, discuss how Napoleon used the purchase price to carry out wars in Europe, evaluate the significance of the port of New Orleans to the future of the United States, etc. This is likely well beyond the scope of your project. If you begin your research and are overwhelmed with sources, that is a good indication your topic is too broad.

See how well you can identify which research questions are either too narrow or too broad in this activity:

So the goal, then, is to hit the “sweet spot” in developing a research question. You want a question neither too narrow nor too broad. You want a question with boundaries that keep you on track. Let’s take a broad question and narrow it down to a workable and good research question. One way to do this is to use the 5Ws to narrow down the question.

Who? : who is the individual or group of individuals we are investigating?
What? : what aspect of the “who” are we investigating?
When? : what is the timeframe of our investigation?
Where? : what is the geographical focus of our investigation?
Why? : why is this investigation important or meaningful?

Answering the questions posed by the 5Ws can help you narrow down the types of things you are curious about and lead you to your research question.

For closed captioning, open the video on its original page by clicking the YouTube logo in the lower right-hand corner of the video display. In YouTube, the video will begin at the same starting point as this clip, but will continue playing until the very end.

You can view the transcript for this segmented clip of “Using the 5Ws to Develop a Research Question” here (opens in new window) .

Let’s assume that your general topic is slave revolt. Here we want to apply the 5Ws.

Who? : Enslaved persons
What? : Revolt
When? : The early republic, 1790-1820
Where? : The U.S. South
Why? : Did slave revolt have an impact on the treatment of enslaved persons?

And now we need to frame the 5Ws into one, answerable research question.

How did the revolt of enslaved persons in the U.S. South during the early republic impact laws about slavery?

We now have placed boundaries with a question that will keep us on track as we move forward with the research. We know we are examining how the law changed as a result of slave revolt between 1790 and 1820 in the U.S. South. Books on slave revolt in Cuba are not relevant. Articles on slave revolt in the 1730s are not relevant. Books on slave revolt in the North are not relevant. Boundaries on your question allow you to manage the project without being overwhelmed and arrive at an answer.

For this exercise, select one of the following topics and apply the 5Ws. Then, craft a research question that applies to the topic you selected.

Topics options:

Hamilton’s Report on Public Credit
The Battle of Tippecanoe
Corps of Discovery

Research question :

Research Projects other than the Research Paper

Traditionally, when we think of research projects, we think of research papers, and the idea that a good research question makes for a good research paper. That is true, but the principles for evaluating a research question can be applied to multiple projects. Perhaps your instructor in this class, or another class, assigns a poster project, where you must present data in a concise format such as a poster. Doing so without clearly defining the topic will be difficult, and when you are given an assignment that requires you to be brief and concise, a clear research question is vital to meeting the expectations.

The importance of crafting a solid research question applies to other types of assignments such as a video presentation or podcast as well. Podcasts are unique in that your presentation is not written but auditory. When we read something in which the topic wanders or is otherwise confusing, it is easy to go back and reread the material to make sense of what the author is trying to convey. That is not easy to do with a podcast (think about all the times you have hit the rewind button, only to go back too far, or not far enough). In a podcast, you want to stay on track throughout the narrative arc. A well-crafted research question will help you to stay focused, but it will also help shape and refine the focus of your podcast.

Creating a Podcast

Imagine your assignment is to create a podcast on a topic in U.S. history before the Civil War. Without a strong research question, that will be a very long podcast! Where do you even begin? Working through the techniques we have learned here will get you off to a great start:

Pick a general topic that is interesting to you.
Conduct preliminary research.
Consider the 5Ws.
Craft your research question, and then begin looking for the answers.
Refine your question as you compile your research.
Create an outline for your podcast, then fill in the specifics with a script, interview questions, or more details. For podcasting tips, visit this NPR website .

Remember that a research question can evolve and change while you work on your project. For example, if you were creating a podcast about some aspect of slave revolts, after some initial searching, you might have a research question of, “How did the revolt of enslaved persons in the U.S. South during the early Republic impact laws about slavery?”

While you conduct research, you may find interesting stories, news articles, or details about slave codes that lead you to adjust your question. For example, during your research, you will likely learn about the 1811 German Coast Uprisings in New Orleans—the largest uprising in North America with between 200 and 500 enslaved participants. They marched twenty miles in two days, burning and destroying some plantation homes and crops until White people in the area gathered a militia and promptly killed over forty of the enslaved participants. Over the next two weeks, White planters and officials interrogated, tried, executed, and decapitated an additional 44 escaped enslaved Blacks who had been captured. Executions were generally by hanging or firing squad. Heads were displayed on pikes to intimidate other enslaved persons. This is all shocking and new information to you and you decide to focus your research specifically on this uprising. Your new research question may be, “What were the reactions to the German Coast Uprisings in Louisiana in 1811?” Your podcast could answer this question in some way. Note that podcasts come in a variety of formats—it could be an interview, a conversation between co-hosts, a narrative, or something else altogether. No matter the format, having a guiding question that you ultimately answer during the podcast will give you a stronger delivery.

Imagine your assignment is to create a podcast on U.S. history before the Civil War. What topic would you choose? Write a research question that could help you focus on a specific topic or event for your podcast. There is no correct answer, but you can jot down your ideas in the space below.

Historical Hack: Developing Research Questions. Authored by : Sarah Franklin for Lumen Learning. Provided by : Lumen Learning. License : CC BY: Attribution
Developing a Research Question. Provided by : Steely Library NKU. Located at : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWLYCYeCFak . License : CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
1811 German Coast Uprising. Provided by : Wikipedia. Located at : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1811_German_Coast_uprising . License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
Defining Questions. Provided by : Lumen Learning. Located at : https://courses.lumenlearning.com/englishcomp1coreq/chapter/defining-questions/ . License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
Using the 5Ws to Develop a Research Question. Provided by : New Literacies Alliance. Located at : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ex4FaIaOjlA&t=134s . License : Other . License Terms : Standard YouTube License

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Formulating a Research Question

Whether for a Proseminar paper, a doctoral dissertation or a large-scale research project, the task of formulating a research question stands at the beginning of every academic assignment. A research question must be developed in relation to the existing research and the available source material and should be modified throughout the research and writing process.

What to Consider When Formulating a Research Question

A historical research question is formulated on the basis of the existing research and an appropriate academic approach and is answered by consulting a range of relevant sources. Developing a pertinent research question along these lines is a demanding task which must be constantly practiced over the course of your degree. Finding appropriate sources represents a particular challenge; the most interesting of research questions is of little value when you can find no relevant sources to answer it. You should thus make an effort to find pertinent sources from as early a stage as possible; one option is to look for references to stimulating sources among your seminar notes or reading lists. A research question can also be developed by testing arguments or research methods from your secondary reading on source material which has seldom been examined before or which you can easily access. This will mean that you will not have to formulate a new research question from scratch.

Bear in mind the following key factors when formulating a research question:

The Existing Research and Appropriate Academic Approaches

A research question is developed on the basis of the available research literature. For example, ask yourself: “Which findings have been made and which debates have taken place in relation to my research topic? Which aspects and viewpoints have been overlooked in the process? In relation to which points, if at all, are existing arguments unconvincing?” Historical research can be understood as an ongoing debate: by deciding on a research question, historians select the debates in which they would like to participate and the kind of contributions which they would like to make to these.

Available Sources

Sources lay the foundations for every historical insight. They make the investigation of concrete questions possible, but they also set the limits of what can be researched: a topic for which no relevant sources exist cannot be pursued. On the other hand, very large or overly complex source collections can also complicate research.

A Model Research Question

The following template illustrates how a research question can be formulated on the basis of the existing research, the available sources and an appropriate academic approach:

In research on phenomenon AB, CD’s views have long been regarded as definitive. Recently, however, CD’s argument has come under increasing criticism, especially from EF, who places more emphasis on GH. By examining source material IJ and by following approach KL, I would like to investigate whether more recently devised methods can lead to a more conclusive explanation than that offered by CD. In doing so, I rely primarily on the following literature: MN

The Development of a Research Question as a Circular Process

A research question is generally developed in a circular process. An initial idea or the selection of a topic or object of research steers your investigation in a particular direction. After working your way through the introductory literature (typically in the form of encyclopaedia and handbook articles ) and assessing potential sources, you will then be in a position to formulate a preliminary research question. This will shape your subsequent research and help you to evaluate which literature is and is not relevant.

You should refine your research question as your research progresses. As such, your literature research , literature analysis , source research and source analysis will all be engaged in a constant exchange with your research question. While the latter steers your research in a particular direction, it will also be influenced by the results of your research. For example, it can often be the case that key aspects relating to your topic only become apparent after you have already formulated your research question. It can also become clear during your research that a lack of relevant sources may leave certain questions unanswerable.

This back-and-forth between formulating a research question and conducting research can continue indefinitely, since each new answer to one aspect of your research question throws up new questions of its own. It is therefore important that you draw boundaries around every piece of research which you conduct and that these are made clear to your readers, for example in your introduction. These boundaries can relate to your topic itself (which aspects can be investigated, which must be overlooked?), the time period under investigation, and/or the secondary literature to be consulted. Important to consider here is how much time you have to complete your study.

A useful technique when working on a research question can be to maintain a written list of important themes which emerge from your literature and source research. These can take the form of findings, suppositions and/or open questions recorded as a series of claims to be subjected to more stringent subsequent analysis. This intermediate step can help to ease the transition from research to writing .

Narrowing Down Your Research Question

Narrowing down your research question marks a crucial step towards writing a successful academic paper; a research question which is too broad can cause you to become lost in a sea of literature and sources. A (Pro)Seminar paper is always focused on a narrow research question. A handbook article , in contrast, primarily seeks to provide broad background knowledge (e.g. “England in the Late Middle Ages”). In practice, a research question can never actually be too narrowly defined and should, as a rule, be spatially, temporally and thematically circumscribed. This means that a research question should focus on a particular topic as it relates to a specific time period and/or geographical area, as is often indicated in a study’s (sub-)title.

- “The wave of strikes in the Basel chemical industry in the immediate post-war period.”

- “Which similarities and differences were there between communist movements in Switzerland and those in other countries at the end of the Second World War?”

“How does the conception of an 'Industrial Revolution’ change in relation to sources from rural parts of the German-speaking world?”

Characteristics of a Good Research Question

A good research question fulfils several of the following criteria:

It awakes the author’s interest.
It is relevant to the topic under investigation.
It aims to distinguish itself from or refute the results of previous research (e.g. “previous studies argue that…, in contrast this study posits that…”). Alternatively, it seeks to establish a link between topics or debates which have hitherto been seen in isolation from one another, or it attempts to fill a gap in the existing research.
It includes a claim which can be debated or discussed.
It allows a conclusion to be drawn.
It is written in the form of a question or an assertion.
It comprises a main question (and related sub-questions)
It is precisely formulated.
It is stated succinctly (in approximately 10 lines or fewer).
It connects with related topics and contexts and opens up further points of discussion.
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World History Research Paper Topics

In this comprehensive guide, we explore the fascinating world of world history research paper topics , designed to assist history students in their academic pursuits. Delving into the annals of human civilization, this page offers a diverse array of research paper topics categorized into 10 distinct themes, each presenting a captivating journey through time. From ancient civilizations and medieval Europe to modern global interactions and cultural movements, these topics provide a rich tapestry of subjects to explore and analyze. Emphasizing the importance of topic selection, the guide provides 10 tips to help students make informed choices that align with their interests and academic objectives. Furthermore, it equips aspiring historians with 10 essential tips for crafting compelling world history research papers that showcase critical thinking and scholarly excellence. For those seeking professional assistance, iResearchNet’s custom world history research paper writing services are presented, featuring a host of advantages and personalized support. As history enthusiasts embark on their academic journey, we invite them to unravel the tapestry of world history, exploring the intricacies of our shared human heritage and shaping a deeper understanding of the world’s past.

100 World History Research Paper Topics

World history is an expansive realm, brimming with diverse cultures, societies, and epochal events that have shaped human civilization. For history students embarking on research papers, this page offers an extensive compilation of world of world history research paper topics thoughtfully divided into 10 categories, each providing an intriguing window into the annals of time.

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Ancient Civilizations:

Mesopotamia: The Cradle of Civilization
Ancient Egypt: Pyramids, Pharaohs, and Society
Indus Valley Civilization: Trade and Urban Planning
Ancient Greece: Democracy and Philosophical Contributions
Roman Empire: Expansion and Decline
Ancient China: The Qin Dynasty: Unification and Terracotta Army
Ancient India: The Maurya Empire: Emperor Ashoka’s Reign and Buddhist Legacy
Ancient Africa: The Kingdom of Kush: Civilization Along the Nile River
Ancient Americas: The Maya Civilization: Architecture, Mathematics, and Calendar
Ancient Mesoamerica: The Aztec Empire: Society and Rituals

Medieval and Renaissance Europe:

The Crusades: Religious Conflict and Cultural Exchange
The Black Death: Social and Economic Impact
The Italian Renaissance: Art, Science, and Humanism
The Age of Exploration: European Expansion and Global Encounters
The Reformation: Religious Reforms and the Power of the Church
Medieval Japan: Feudal System and Samurai Culture
Medieval China: The Song Dynasty: Innovations and Maritime Trade
Medieval Middle East: The Islamic Golden Age: Science, Philosophy, and Art
Medieval Africa: The Mali Empire: Mansa Musa’s Hajj and Economic Prosperity
Medieval Americas: The Inca Empire: Engineering Marvels and Governance

Modern Global Interactions:

The Age of Enlightenment: Intellectual Revolutions and Enlightenment Thinkers
The French Revolution: Causes, Events, and Consequences
Industrial Revolution: Economic Transformations and Social Impact
The American Revolution: Independence and Constitutionalism
The British Empire: Colonization and Legacy
Imperial China: The Qing Dynasty: Opium Wars and Decline
Imperial India: The British Raj and Indian Independence Movement
Modern Japan: Meiji Restoration and Westernization
Colonial Africa: Scramble for Africa and the Berlin Conference
Latin American Revolutions: Bolivar, San Martin, and Independence Movements

Cultural and Intellectual Movements:

The Harlem Renaissance: African American Art and Literature
The Enlightenment in Latin America: Independence Movements
The Bauhaus Movement: Modernist Architecture and Design
Surrealism: Artistic Expression of the Unconscious Mind
Chinese Cultural Revolution: Mao Zedong’s Ideological Campaign
The Civil Rights Movement: Struggles for Equality and Desegregation
Feminist Movements: Suffrage and Gender Equality
The Beat Generation: Literature, Poetry, and Counterculture
Postcolonial Literature: Identity, Resistance, and Representation
Cultural Revolution in Iran: Ayatollah Khomeini and Islamic Revolution

Empires and Dynasties:

The Mongol Empire: Conquests and Legacy
The Byzantine Empire: Continuity and Survival
The Safavid Empire: Persian Renaissance and Religious Identity
The Gupta Empire: Golden Age of Indian Science and Mathematics
The Tang Dynasty: Cultural Flourishing and Silk Road Trade
The Ottoman Empire: Sultans, Janissaries, and Decline
The Mughal Empire: Akbar the Great and Artistic Patronage
The Spanish Empire: Conquistadors and Colonial Rule
The Russian Empire: Tsars and Westernization
The Austro-Hungarian Empire: Multiculturalism and Nationalism

Global Conflicts and Wars:

The Peloponnesian War: Athenian and Spartan Rivalry
The Hundred Years’ War: England and France Conflict
The Napoleonic Wars: European Conflicts and Napoleon’s Ambitions
The Korean War: Divided Peninsula and Cold War Tensions
The Vietnam War: Anti-War Movement and Long-term Impact
World War I: Causes, Events, and Aftermath
World War II: The Holocaust and Global Consequences
The Cold War: Superpower Rivalry and Nuclear Arms Race
The Cuban Missile Crisis: US-Soviet Confrontation in the Caribbean
The Arab-Israeli Conflict: Origins and Continuing Struggles

Revolutions and Independence Movements:

The Haitian Revolution: Slavery and Independence
The Mexican Revolution: Social and Political Transformations
The Russian Revolution: Fall of the Romanovs and Bolshevik Rule
The Chinese Revolution: Rise of the Communist Party and Mao Zedong
The Iranian Revolution: Ayatollah Khomeini and Islamic Republic
The Indian Independence Movement: Gandhi’s Nonviolent Resistance
The Nigerian Civil War: Biafra’s Secession and Conflict Resolution
The Algerian War of Independence: FLN and French Colonialism
The American Civil Rights Movement: Martin Luther King Jr. and Equality
The Apartheid Movement in South Africa: Mandela, Soweto, and Freedom

Explorers and Expeditions:

Christopher Columbus: The Discovery of the New World
Ferdinand Magellan: The First Circumnavigation of the Globe
Vasco da Gama: Voyage to India and the Maritime Spice Trade
Captain James Cook: Pacific Voyages and Exploration of Australia
Marco Polo: Travels to the East and the Silk Road
Zheng He: Ming Dynasty’s Great Navigator and Diplomat
Lewis and Clark Expedition: Exploring the American West
Roald Amundsen: First to Reach the South Pole
Amelia Earhart: Pioneering Aviator and Her Disappearance
Neil Armstrong: The First Moon Landing and Space Exploration

Pre-Columbian Civilizations:

The Aztec Empire: Society and Rituals
The Inca Empire: Engineering Marvels and Governance
The Maya Civilization: Astronomy and Calendar System
The Moche Civilization: Art and Ceremonial Centers
The Chaco Culture: Ancestral Puebloans and Architecture
The Cahokia Mounds: Mesoamerican Influence in North America
The Tiwanaku Empire: Andean Civilization and Stone Monuments
The Ancestral Puebloans: Cliff Dwellings and Sustainable Farming
The Olmec Civilization: Cultural Influence and Artistic Legacy
The Nazca Lines: Geoglyphs in the Peruvian Desert

Ancient China:

The Qin Dynasty: Unification and Terracotta Army
The Han Dynasty: Silk Road and Cultural Achievements
The Tang Dynasty: Golden Age of Poetry and Literature
The Song Dynasty: Technological Innovations and Economic Growth
The Yuan Dynasty: Mongol Rule and Cultural Exchange
The Ming Dynasty: Exploration and Zheng He’s Voyages
The Qing Dynasty: Opium Wars and Decline
Confucianism: Philosophy, Ethics, and Political Influence
Daoism (Taoism): Nature, Balance, and Harmony
Buddhism in China: Spread, Syncretism, and Cultural Impact

With these thought-provoking world history research paper topics, history students can embark on enlightening journeys through time, unearthing captivating narratives that have shaped the human story and expanded our understanding of the world’s rich and diverse past. Whether delving into ancient civilizations, exploring cultural movements, or analyzing global conflicts, these topics provide an opportunity to connect with the past and gain valuable insights into the complexities of our shared history.

World History: Exploring the Range of Topics

World history is an intriguing tapestry that weaves together the diverse threads of human civilization. As we delve into the past, we encounter a multitude of cultures, societies, and historical events that have shaped the trajectory of human development. From the rise and fall of empires to the intellectual revolutions that transformed thought and the conflicts that reshaped borders, the canvas of world history is vast and vibrant, offering an extensive range of research paper topics that entice history students to embark on explorative journeys through time.

The Journey through Ancient Civilizations : The study of ancient civilizations opens the door to some of the most awe-inspiring and enigmatic epochs in human history. Topics in this category offer a glimpse into the cradle of civilization, where great empires emerged, and remarkable achievements were made. Scholars can delve into the mystery of the pyramids in Egypt, decipher the cuneiform script of Mesopotamia, explore the urban planning of the Indus Valley Civilization, contemplate the philosophical musings of ancient Greek thinkers, and unravel the intricate political mechanisms of the Roman Empire. Each civilization represents a unique tapestry, providing fertile ground for researchers to explore a variety of aspects, from architecture and religion to governance and social structures.
Unraveling the Threads of Medieval and Renaissance Europe : The medieval period witnessed the rise and fall of empires, the flourishing of art and culture, and the spread of knowledge across Europe. Research paper topics in this category encompass the tumultuous era of the Crusades, which saw the collision of civilizations, and the transformative impact of the Black Death on society. The Italian Renaissance brought about a resurgence of art and humanism, igniting intellectual revolutions that reverberated throughout Europe. Meanwhile, the Age of Exploration expanded the boundaries of human knowledge, with explorers charting new territories and cultures. Topics in this category offer an opportunity to delve into the complex interplay of politics, religion, and cultural exchange that shaped the medieval and Renaissance periods.
Modern Global Interactions: From Enlightenment to Modernity : The age of enlightenment ushered in an era of intellectual ferment, fueled by the desire to challenge traditional authority and embrace reason, science, and individual rights. Research paper topics in this category delve into the ideological underpinnings of revolutions, such as the French Revolution, which forever altered the political landscape of Europe. The industrial revolution marked a period of immense economic growth and societal transformation, laying the groundwork for the modern world. As the empires expanded their influence, interactions between nations intensified, resulting in conflicts such as World War I and II, shaping the course of the 20th century. Scholars can explore the profound societal changes brought about by these events, the rise of nationalism, and the quest for global stability in the face of geopolitical tensions.
Cultural and Intellectual Movements: Art, Literature, and Ideas : Cultural and intellectual movements have played a pivotal role in shaping societies and challenging prevailing norms. Research paper topics in this category offer an opportunity to delve into the vibrant creativity of the Harlem Renaissance, celebrating the artistic contributions of African Americans. Surrealism invites exploration into the realms of the unconscious and dreams, reflecting the psyche of the 20th-century mind. Meanwhile, the Civil Rights Movement signifies the unyielding spirit of activism, seeking justice, and equality. Topics in this category span an array of artistic and literary movements, philosophical ideas, and social changes that have left indelible marks on the human experience.
Empires and Dynasties: The Rulers and the Ruled : The rise and fall of empires are entwined with the stories of great rulers and the lives of the people they governed. From the vast Mongol Empire, led by figures like Genghis Khan, to the mighty Byzantine Empire, known for its continuity and survival, each dynasty leaves a legacy that influences subsequent generations. The Safavid Empire in Persia flourished with a renaissance of art and culture, while the Gupta Empire in India witnessed an era of scientific and mathematical brilliance. Scholars can explore the intricacies of governance, economic systems, and cultural achievements that characterized these empires and dynasties, shaping the societies they ruled over.
Global Conflicts and Wars: Struggles and Transformations : Wars and conflicts have been defining moments in history, altering political landscapes, and redrawing the boundaries of nations. Research paper topics in this category examine pivotal events, such as the Peloponnesian War, which brought about the decline of ancient Greek city-states, and the Hundred Years’ War, which shaped the relationship between England and France. The modern era witnessed devastating conflicts, from World War I and II, the Korean War, to the Vietnam War, which continue to shape geopolitical dynamics. Scholars can explore the social, political, and economic ramifications of these conflicts, as well as the ideologies that fueled them and the legacies they left behind.
Revolutions and Independence Movements: Quest for Change : Revolutionary movements have been catalysts for profound social and political transformations. The Haitian Revolution challenged the institution of slavery, resulting in the establishment of the first independent black republic. In Latin America, revolutionary figures like Simon Bolivar and José de San Martin spearheaded the fight for independence from colonial powers. Topics in this category allow researchers to delve into the motivations and ideologies that drove these movements, the challenges faced, and the long-term impact on the societies they sought to liberate.
Explorers and Expeditions: Expanding Horizons : The Age of Exploration marked a period of bold adventurers setting sail to chart uncharted territories, discovering new lands, and encountering diverse cultures. Explorers like Christopher Columbus, Ferdinand Magellan, and Zheng He embarked on expeditions that expanded the known world. Topics in this category offer an opportunity to explore the motivations and consequences of these explorations, the interactions between explorers and indigenous peoples, and the lasting impact on global trade and cultural exchange.
Pre-Columbian Civilizations: Lost Worlds of the Americas : The Americas were home to a rich tapestry of civilizations long before the arrival of European explorers. Research paper topics in this category allow scholars to delve into the fascinating civilizations of the Aztecs, Incas, Mayans, and more. From their complex social structures and religious practices to architectural marvels and astronomical knowledge, these pre-Columbian cultures offer a captivating glimpse into the ingenuity and achievements of indigenous peoples.
Ancient China: Dynasties and Philosophies : China’s history spans a myriad of dynasties, each contributing to its rich cultural heritage. Research paper topics in this category delve into the profound impact of dynasties such as the Qin and Han, witnessing the unification of China and the flourishing of arts and culture. The Tang Dynasty left an enduring legacy of poetry and literature, while the Ming Dynasty saw great explorations led by the famous navigator Zheng He. Scholars can explore the philosophical underpinnings of Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism, which have profoundly shaped Chinese thought and society.

In conclusion, world history presents a vast array of research paper topics that beckon history students to embark on journeys through time. From ancient civilizations to the modern era, from cultural movements to global conflicts, each topic offers a unique perspective on the human experience and the forces that have shaped the world we live in today. As we explore the intricate tapestry of world history, we gain valuable insights into the complexities of human societies and the interconnections that have molded our shared global heritage. The depth and breadth of world history research paper topics provide students with endless opportunities to unearth captivating narratives, challenge existing interpretations, and contribute to our collective understanding of the past.

Whether one’s interests lie in the awe-inspiring wonders of the ancient world or the intricacies of modern geopolitics, world history research paper topics offer something for every curious mind. As history students embark on their academic journey, they are encouraged to choose topics that resonate with their passions and intellectual curiosity. To assist in this process, the following section provides guidance on how to select world history research paper topics that will not only captivate readers but also showcase the students’ analytical and critical thinking abilities.

How to Choose a World History Topic

Selecting a compelling and relevant research topic is a crucial step in the journey of crafting an exceptional history paper. The process of choosing a topic can be both exciting and challenging, as it requires striking a delicate balance between personal interest, academic significance, and the availability of credible resources. To help history students navigate this undertaking successfully, let’s delve deeper into ten valuable tips on how to choose world history research paper topics that will not only captivate readers but also showcase the students’ analytical and critical thinking abilities.

Explore Your Interests : The study of world history encompasses a vast range of periods, regions, and themes. Begin by exploring your own interests within this vast landscape. Consider historical eras or topics that intrigue you the most. Perhaps you are fascinated by ancient civilizations, drawn to the tumultuous era of revolutions, or curious about the interactions between cultures during the Age of Exploration. The more passionate you are about the subject, the more engaged and committed you will be during the research and writing process.
Focus on Specificity : Rather than opting for broad and generic topics, narrow down your focus to specific aspects or events within a broader historical context. For example, instead of choosing “The Industrial Revolution,” you could focus on “The Impact of the Industrial Revolution on the Working Class in 19th-century England.” By narrowing your topic, you allow for more in-depth analysis and provide a unique perspective on familiar subjects.
Consider Unexplored Areas : World history is a treasure trove of untold stories and lesser-known events. Take the opportunity to explore uncharted territories within historical research. Seek out topics that have been underrepresented or under-researched. These unexplored areas may offer fresh insights and novel perspectives, making your research paper stand out and contribute to the field.
Research Availability : Before finalizing your research topic, ensure that there are sufficient credible sources and academic materials available to support your investigation. Adequate research materials not only substantiate your arguments but also enrich the depth of your analysis. Access to primary sources, archives, and academic journals specific to your chosen topic will contribute to the academic rigor of your research.
Relevance and Significance : Choose a topic that holds relevance and significance not only in its historical context but also in the present day. Investigate how the chosen topic relates to contemporary issues and challenges. Highlighting the enduring impact of historical events or phenomena can help readers understand the relevance of the past to the present and the future.
Consult with Professors and Experts : Don’t hesitate to seek advice from your history professors or academic advisors. They can provide valuable insights, guidance, and suggestions for potential research paper topics based on their expertise. Their knowledge of the field can help you refine your ideas and identify fruitful areas of research.
Analyze Primary Sources : If possible, incorporate primary sources into your research. Primary sources are firsthand accounts or original documents from the past. These sources offer direct perspectives from historical actors and can add authenticity and depth to your research. Engaging with primary sources demonstrates your ability to conduct thorough historical research.
Connect with Current Debates : World history is an ever-evolving field with ongoing debates and discussions among scholars. Engage with current historiographical debates, controversies, or unresolved questions related to your chosen topic. Demonstrating awareness of these debates will elevate the significance of your research and stimulate discussions on diverse perspectives.
Consider Global Connections : Many historical events and phenomena have global connections or transnational implications. Explore topics that highlight the interconnectedness of world history. Investigate how events and ideas from one region impacted others, leading to a more comprehensive analysis of historical developments.
Brainstorm and Refine : Choosing the right research paper topic is a process that requires time and thoughtful consideration. Don’t rush the selection process. Take the time to brainstorm ideas, conduct preliminary research, and refine your choices. Seeking feedback from peers or instructors can also provide valuable perspectives and enhance the quality of your final research topic.

In conclusion, selecting the right world history research paper topic is a critical step that sets the stage for an enriching and fulfilling academic journey. By exploring personal interests, focusing on specificity, and considering the availability of credible resources, students can discover research paper topics that not only ignite their curiosity but also contribute to the broader discourse of world history. A well-chosen topic serves as the foundation for a compelling and insightful research paper that sheds new light on the past, enhances historical understanding, and connects the complexities of history to the present and future.

How to Write a World History Research Paper

Crafting a well-structured and insightful world history research paper is a rewarding endeavor that allows students to delve deep into the annals of time and contribute to the broader understanding of human civilization. As history students embark on this academic journey, it is essential to approach the writing process with careful planning, thorough research, and effective communication of ideas. In this section, we will explore ten essential tips to guide students on how to write a world history research paper that will leave a lasting impression on readers and contribute to the ever-evolving narrative of the past.

Conduct In-Depth Research : The foundation of a successful world history research paper lies in thorough research. Begin by gathering a wide range of credible sources, including books, academic journals, primary documents, and reputable online databases. Take meticulous notes and keep track of all your sources to ensure accurate citations.
Develop a Clear Thesis Statement : Your thesis statement is the backbone of your research paper. It should succinctly convey the main argument or claim of your paper. A well-crafted thesis statement sets the tone for the entire paper and guides the reader on what to expect.
Create a Detailed Outline : Organize your research and thoughts into a coherent outline. This roadmap will serve as a guide throughout the writing process, ensuring a logical flow of ideas and a well-structured paper. Divide your research paper into clear sections, such as introduction, literature review, methodology (if applicable), main body, and conclusion.
Provide Context and Background : In the introduction, provide necessary context and background information to orient your readers. Explain the significance of the chosen topic and its relevance to the broader historical narrative. Engage your readers from the outset by highlighting the importance of your research.
Engage with Scholarly Debates : Situate your research within existing scholarly debates and historiographical discussions. Show an understanding of various perspectives on your topic and how your research contributes to the ongoing discourse. By engaging with scholarly debates, you showcase your ability to critically analyze and synthesize existing research.
Utilize Primary and Secondary Sources : Incorporate a mix of primary and secondary sources to support your arguments. Primary sources provide direct evidence from the past, such as letters, diaries, official documents, and artifacts. Secondary sources offer scholarly interpretations and analysis. Strive for a balance between these types of sources to provide a well-rounded perspective.
Analyze and Interpret Evidence : Avoid merely presenting historical facts; instead, critically analyze and interpret the evidence to support your thesis. Draw connections between sources, contextualize events, and offer insightful conclusions. Your ability to analyze evidence will demonstrate the depth of your historical understanding.
Craft Strong Topic Sentences : Begin each paragraph with a strong topic sentence that outlines the main point of the paragraph. Well-crafted topic sentences keep your research paper focused and maintain a cohesive flow of ideas. Each paragraph should contribute to the overall argument of your paper.
Address Counterarguments : Acknowledging and addressing counterarguments demonstrates intellectual rigor and an understanding of the complexity of historical issues. Anticipate potential objections to your thesis and provide compelling counterpoints to strengthen your position.
Revise and Edit Thoroughly : After completing the initial draft, take the time to revise and edit your research paper meticulously. Check for coherence, clarity, grammar, and proper citation formatting. Pay attention to the overall organization and structure of your paper. Seeking feedback from peers or professors can provide fresh perspectives and help refine your work.

In conclusion, writing a world history research paper requires careful planning, in-depth research, and effective communication of ideas. By conducting thorough research, developing a clear thesis statement, and creating a detailed outline, you set the stage for a compelling and well-structured paper. Engaging with scholarly debates, analyzing evidence, and crafting strong topic sentences enhance the quality of your research. Addressing counterarguments showcases your critical thinking skills and strengthens your argument. Lastly, thorough revision and editing are essential to ensure that your research paper meets academic standards and effectively conveys your historical insights.

Through the process of writing a world history research paper, students not only contribute to the body of historical knowledge but also develop essential skills in research, analysis, and effective communication. As you embark on this academic journey, remember that every word and idea you put on paper adds to the rich tapestry of human history and expands our understanding of the world’s diverse and interconnected past. Embrace the challenge, and let your research paper be a testament to the curiosity and passion that drive historians to explore the depths of time and unravel the mysteries of our shared heritage.

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HIS 100 - Perspectives in History

Developing a research question.

The FAQ What is a research question and how do I develop one? provides great information on the process of forming and developing your research question:

A research question is the question that is answered by your research. So when you are developing one, you want to ask yourself: What do you want to know about a topic? When doing research, you want to address your topic as a question for which there are no immediate answers.

For example:

Topic: video games and violence

Research Question: Does playing violent video games lead to juvenile violence?

Try these steps to formulate a research question:

Start by identifying your topic (e.g. texting and driving).
Focus your topic by asking your self: who? what? when? why? where? (e.g. texting and driving and accidents).
Formulate a question to ask about your topic (e.g. How many car accidents are caused by drivers who are texting?)
Narrow your question further if possible again by asking your self: who? what? when? why? where? (e.g. How many car accidents are caused in the U.S. per year by drivers who are texting?).

Further Help

To access help with citation and more, visit Academic Support via modules in Brightspace:

The Complete Guide to Using Academic Support via Brightspace This link opens in a new window This link opens in a new window
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Home » 300+ American History Research Paper Topics

300+ American History Research Paper Topics

American history is a vast and complex subject that encompasses a wide range of events, movements, and individuals who have shaped the country’s past and present. From the struggles for independence and civil rights to the exploration and settlement of the continent, American history provides an abundance of topics for research papers . Whether you’re interested in politics, social issues, cultural trends, or military history, there are numerous topics to choose from that will help you delve deeper into the fascinating story of the United States. In this arcticle, we will explore some of the most compelling and thought-provoking American history topics that you can choose to explore in your own research .

American History Research Paper Topics

American History Research Paper Topics are as follows:

The Salem witch trials: religious hysteria and persecution.
The California Gold Rush: immigration and economic boom.
The Harlem Renaissance: cultural movements and African American creativity.
The Stonewall riots: LGBTQ+ rights and activism.
The Underground Railroad: abolitionist movement and escape from slavery.
The New York City Draft Riots: racial tensions and class conflict during the Civil War.
The Battle of Little Bighorn: Native American resistance and US expansionism.
The Scopes Monkey Trial: evolution and religion in the public school system.
The assassination of Abraham Lincoln: political upheaval and the aftermath.
The Bracero Program: labor migration and Mexican American relations.
The Japanese American internment: civil liberties and government policies during WWII.
The Black Panthers: civil rights and revolutionary politics.
The Montgomery bus boycott: racial segregation and nonviolent protest.
The War of 1812: US-British relations and national identity.
The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution: US involvement in Vietnam and presidential power.
The Trail of Tears: forced relocation of Native Americans and government policy.
The Louisiana Purchase: westward expansion and territorial acquisition.
The Emancipation Proclamation: Abraham Lincoln and the end of slavery.
The Boston Tea Party: colonial resistance and the American Revolution.
The Haymarket Riot: labor movements and the struggle for workers’ rights.
The Sacco and Vanzetti trial: political prejudice and the justice system.
The Nixon administration and Watergate: political corruption and media coverage.
The Battle of Gettysburg: turning point in the Civil War and military strategy.
The United States’ entry into WWI: neutrality and international relations.
The assassination of JFK: conspiracy theories and the impact on American politics.
The Montgomery GI Bill: post-WWII veterans’ benefits and education.
The 1968 Democratic National Convention: anti-war protests and police brutality.
The Space Shuttle Challenger disaster: NASA and government accountability.
The Wounded Knee Massacre: Native American activism and government response.
The Oklahoma City bombing: domestic terrorism and extremism.
The Pentagon Papers: government secrecy and media freedom.
The American eugenics movement: racial science and government policy.
The Zoot Suit Riots: racial tensions and discrimination in WWII-era Los Angeles.
The Tet Offensive: turning point in the Vietnam War and media coverage.
The 1920s: flappers, jazz music, and cultural transformation.
The Seneca Falls Convention: women’s suffrage and gender equality.
The assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.: civil rights and the struggle for racial justice.
The Tea Party movement: conservative populism and political polarization.
The space race and the moon landing: US-Soviet competition and national pride.
The Gulf War: US military action in the Middle East and international relations.
The Hurricane Katrina disaster: government response and racial inequality.
The Rodney King verdict and LA riots: police brutality and racial justice.
The Iran-Contra scandal: government corruption and foreign policy.
The civil rights movement and the Freedom Riders: nonviolent protest and desegregation.
The Flint water crisis: environmental racism and government negligence.
The Occupy Wall Street movement: economic inequality and social justice.
The AIDS epidemic: public health crisis and societal attitudes.
The American Revolution: causes and consequences.
The impact of slavery on the development of the United States.
The Reconstruction Era: successes and failures.
The Civil War: social, political, and economic impacts.
The women’s suffrage movement: progress and setbacks.
The rise of industrialization and its impact on society.
The Progressive Era: reforms and political changes.
The New Deal: success or failure?
The impact of the Great Depression on American society.
The Second World War: America’s involvement and impact.
The Cold War: the US and Soviet Union’s global influence.
The civil rights movement: leaders and strategies.
The Vietnam War: political, social, and cultural impacts.
The Watergate scandal: corruption and the presidency.
The Reagan Revolution: conservatism and change.
The Gulf War: America’s role in international conflict.
The 9/11 terrorist attacks: effects on domestic and foreign policy.
The Obama presidency: achievements and controversies.
The rise of Silicon Valley: technology and innovation.
The labor movement: unionization and workers’ rights.
The Trail of Tears: the forced relocation of Native Americans.
The Mormon migration: religious freedom and settlement.
The gold rush: economic and social impacts.
The women’s liberation movement: progress and setbacks.
The rise of the suburbs: lifestyle changes and the American Dream.
The Harlem Renaissance: cultural and artistic movements.
The Dust Bowl: environmental disasters and migration.
The Ku Klux Klan: racism and terror in America.
The rise of the Christian Right: religion and politics.
The Cuban Missile Crisis: America and the Soviet Union on the brink of war.
The Manhattan Project: the development of nuclear weapons.
The Bay of Pigs invasion: US foreign policy in Latin America.
The Space Race: America’s competition with the Soviet Union.
The Black Power movement: self-determination and political activism.
The Stonewall riots: the birth of the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement.
The War on Drugs: the impact on minority communities.
The rise of hip hop: cultural expression and social commentary.
The Iraq War: America’s intervention in the Middle East.
The Tea Party movement: populism and conservative politics.
The Dakota Access Pipeline protests: Indigenous rights and environmentalism.
The #MeToo movement: sexual harassment and assault in the workplace.
The 2020 presidential election: controversies and historical significance.
The COVID-19 pandemic: social, economic, and political impacts.
The climate crisis: America’s role in mitigating global warming.
The opioid epidemic: public health crisis and government response.
The gig economy: labor rights and the changing nature of work.
The immigration debate: policies and social attitudes towards immigrants.
The Black Lives Matter movement: racial justice and police reform.
The Battle of Antietam: bloodiest day in American history and its impact on the Civil War.
The Salem Witch Trials: causes and consequences of the infamous witch hunt.
The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment: examining the unethical medical study conducted on African American men.
The Stonewall Riots: analyzing the LGBTQ+ rights movement and the impact of the Stonewall uprising.
The Bay of Pigs Invasion: evaluating the failed US attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro’s regime in Cuba.
The Battle of Little Bighorn: examining the conflict between the US Army and Native American tribes.
The Red Scare: analyzing the fear of communism in the US during the Cold War.
The Manhattan Project: evaluating the development of the atomic bomb during World War II.
The Seneca Falls Convention: examining the first women’s rights convention and its impact on American society.
The My Lai Massacre: analyzing the massacre of Vietnamese civilians by US soldiers during the Vietnam War.
The Treaty of Versailles: evaluating the impact of the treaty that ended World War I.
The Dust Bowl Migration: examining the migration of farmers from the Great Plains to California during the Great Depression.
The Black Lives Matter Movement: analyzing the movement for racial justice and police reform in the US.
The Oregon Trail: examining the westward expansion of the US and the impact of the Oregon Trail.
The 1968 Democratic National Convention: evaluating the protests and violence that occurred during the convention.
The Indian Removal Act: examining the forced relocation of Native American tribes in the 1830s.
The Great Society: evaluating the social and economic reforms of President Lyndon B. Johnson.
The Wounded Knee Massacre: analyzing the US Army’s killing of Native American men, women, and children in 1890.
The Ku Klux Klan: examining the rise and fall of the white supremacist group.
The Gadsden Purchase: evaluating the US acquisition of land from Mexico in 1853.
The Second Great Awakening: analyzing the religious revival of the early 19th century and its impact on American society.
The Haymarket Riot: examining the labor unrest and violence that occurred during the 1886 Chicago labor rally.
The Dust Bowl Art: analyzing the art and literature inspired by the Great Plains drought.
The Roe v. Wade Decision: evaluating the impact of the landmark Supreme Court decision on abortion rights.
The Salem Customs House: examining the significance of the customs house in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel “The Scarlet Letter.”
The Homestead Strike: analyzing the violent labor dispute that occurred at the Carnegie Steel Company in 1892.
The War of 1812: evaluating the US conflict with Great Britain and its impact on American society.
The Sacco and Vanzetti Trial: examining the controversial trial of two Italian immigrants in the 1920s.
The Scopes Monkey Trial: evaluating the trial that pitted science against religion in the 1920s.
The Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty: examining the US treaty with Panama that led to the construction of the Panama Canal.
The Bonus Army: analyzing the World War I veterans who marched on Washington, D.C. to demand government benefits.
The O.J. Simpson Trial: evaluating the impact of the high-profile murder trial on American culture.
The Iran-Contra Affair: examining the political scandal that involved the US selling weapons to Iran and using the profits to fund anti-communist rebels in Nicaragua.
The Buffalo Soldiers: analyzing the history of the African American soldiers who served in the western frontier.
The American Civil War: examining the factors that led to the conflict.
The New Deal: evaluating the impact of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s economic policies.
The Space Race: the competition between the US and Soviet Union to explore space.
The Vietnam War: analyzing the US involvement in the conflict.
The American Revolution: evaluating the role of key figures like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.
The Civil Rights Movement: examining the fight for racial equality in the US.
The Gold Rush: exploring the impact of the California Gold Rush on American society.
The Watergate Scandal: the political scandal that brought down President Nixon.
The Great Migration: analyzing the movement of African Americans from the South to Northern cities.
The Harlem Renaissance: examining the cultural and artistic movement of the 1920s.
The Trail of Tears: evaluating the forced removal of Native American tribes from their lands.
The Cold War: analyzing the political and economic tensions between the US and Soviet Union.
The Industrial Revolution: examining the changes brought about by industrialization in the US.
The Boston Tea Party: evaluating the impact of the colonial protest against British taxation.
The Underground Railroad: analyzing the network that helped slaves escape to freedom.
The Women’s Suffrage Movement: examining the fight for women’s right to vote.
The Dust Bowl: evaluating the environmental and economic impact of the Great Plains drought.
The Emancipation Proclamation: analyzing Lincoln’s decision to free slaves in Confederate states.
The Transatlantic Slave Trade: examining the forced migration of Africans to the US.
The Louisiana Purchase: analyzing the impact of the US acquisition of Louisiana from France.
The Spanish Flu Pandemic: examining the global pandemic that killed millions.
The Attack on Pearl Harbor: evaluating the impact of the Japanese attack on the US.
The Montgomery Bus Boycott: analyzing the nonviolent protest against segregated public transportation.
The Panama Canal: examining the construction of the canal and its impact on international trade.
The Salem Maritime Trade: analyzing the economic and social impact of maritime trade in the colonial period.
The Cuban Revolution: examining the overthrow of Batista and the rise of Fidel Castro.
The Iraq War: analyzing the US invasion of Iraq in 2003.
The New York City Draft Riots: evaluating the racial and class tensions that led to the riots.
The Black Panther Party: examining the political and social impact of the Black Panther movement.
The American West: analyzing the expansion and settlement of the American West.
The Berlin Wall: examining the construction and fall of the Berlin Wall.
The 19th Amendment: evaluating the impact of women’s right to vote on American society.
The United States and the United Nations: analyzing the US involvement in the UN.
The Jim Crow Laws: examining the laws that enforced racial segregation in the US.
The Bracero Program: analyzing the US-Mexico labor agreement during World War II.
The Korean War: evaluating the US involvement in the conflict.
The Alamo: examining the battle that became a symbol of Texas independence.
The Assassination of JFK: analyzing the impact of the assassination on American politics and society.
The Great Chicago Fire: evaluating the impact of the fire that destroyed much of Chicago in 1871.
The Americanization Movement: examining the movement that sought to assimilate immigrants into American culture.
The Spanish American War: US imperialism and expansion in the late 19th century.
The Red Scare: political repression and the fear of communism in the 20th century.
The National Parks system: conservation and environmentalism in the US.
The Women’s Liberation Movement: feminism and gender equality in the 1960s and 1970s.
The Brown v. Board of Education decision: landmark ruling on desegregation in public schools.
The Gulf of Mexico oil spill: environmental disaster and corporate responsibility.
The American Revolution: causes, major events, and legacy.
The Great Depression: economic crisis and government response in the 1930s.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964: legislative landmark in the struggle for racial justice.
The Dust Bowl: ecological disaster and its impact on American agriculture.
The Waco Siege: government overreach and religious extremism.
The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire: workplace safety and labor reform.
The Black Lives Matter movement: police brutality and racial justice in the 21st century.
The Homestead Strike: labor dispute and the fight for workers’ rights.
The Panama Canal: engineering marvel and US influence in Central America.
The Marshall Plan: US aid to Europe after World War II and the Cold War.
The Cuban Missile Crisis: nuclear brinksmanship and US-Soviet relations.
The Montgomery Improvement Association: nonviolent resistance and the bus boycott.
The Roe v. Wade decision: reproductive rights and the women’s movement.
The My Lai Massacre: war crimes and US military conduct in Vietnam.
The Salem-Keizer school desegregation case: busing and the limits of integration.
The Flint sit-down strike: labor unrest and unionization in the auto industry.
The transcontinental railroad: westward expansion and economic growth.
The Iranian Hostage Crisis: US foreign policy and Middle East tensions.
The Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty: US control of the Panama Canal and sovereignty issues.
The Black Sox Scandal: corruption and gambling in Major League Baseball.
The Freedom Summer: civil rights activism and voter registration in the South.
The Salem maritime trade: piracy and international commerce in the colonial period.
The Stono Rebellion: slave rebellion and resistance in South Carolina.
The Alaska Purchase: US acquisition of Alaska and its impact on Native Alaskans.
The United States and the League of Nations: US foreign policy and internationalism.
The Chicago Seven trial: political dissent and government repression during the Vietnam War.
The Reagan Revolution: conservative politics and the changing face of American politics.
The American Indian Movement: Native American rights and activism.
The Battle of Bull Run: first major battle of the Civil War and its impact.
The Wounded Knee Occupation: Native American sovereignty and government response.
The Whiskey Rebellion: taxation and the limits of federal authority in the early US.
The Iran-Iraq War: US involvement and Middle East politics.
The United States and the Cold War: US-Soviet relations and the arms race.
The Ku Klux Klan: white supremacy and domestic terrorism in American history.
The Battle of Midway: turning point in World War II and military strategy.
The Montgomery Bus Boycott: analyzing the civil rights movement and its impact on segregation in the South.
The Cuban Missile Crisis: evaluating the US and Soviet Union’s tense standoff in 1962.
The Trail of Tears: examining the forced removal of Native American tribes from their lands in the 1830s.
The Space Race: analyzing the competition between the US and Soviet Union to explore space.
The Emancipation Proclamation: evaluating the impact of President Lincoln’s proclamation on slavery during the Civil War.
The Black Panthers: examining the rise and fall of the Black Panther Party in the 1960s and 1970s.
The Harlem Renaissance: analyzing the cultural movement that celebrated African American art, literature, and music in the 1920s and 1930s.
The Korean War: evaluating the US and UN’s conflict with North Korea and China in the 1950s.
The Boston Tea Party: examining the protest that sparked the American Revolution.
The National Parks System: analyzing the history and impact of the National Parks System in the US.
The New Deal: evaluating President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s economic reforms during the Great Depression.
The Black Codes: examining the laws passed in Southern states after the Civil War to restrict the rights of African Americans.
The Watergate Scandal: analyzing the political scandal that led to the resignation of President Nixon.
The War on Drugs: evaluating the US government’s policies and actions to combat drug use and trafficking.
The McCarthy Hearings: examining the anti-communist hearings led by Senator Joseph McCarthy in the 1950s.
The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake: analyzing the disaster and its impact on the city and American society.
The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire: examining the tragedy that led to significant labor reforms in the early 20th century.
The Rodney King Riots: analyzing the 1992 riots in Los Angeles following the acquittal of police officers in the beating of Rodney King.
The Transcontinental Railroad: evaluating the construction of the railroad and its impact on American transportation and commerce.
The New York Draft Riots: examining the violent protests against the Civil War draft in New York City in 1863.
The Tulsa Race Massacre: analyzing the 1921 race massacre in Tulsa, Oklahoma and its aftermath.
The 1918 Influenza Pandemic: examining the deadly global pandemic and its impact on American society.
The Battle of Gettysburg: evaluating the pivotal Civil War battle and its impact on the war and American history.
The Mexican-American War: analyzing the US conflict with Mexico and its impact on American expansion.
The American Indian Movement: examining the Native American organization and its activism for Indigenous rights.
The War in Iraq: evaluating the US-led war in Iraq and its impact on US foreign policy.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964: analyzing the landmark legislation that prohibited discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
The Jim Crow Laws: examining the laws that enforced racial segregation in the South after the Civil War.
The Women’s Suffrage Movement: evaluating the fight for women’s right to vote in the US.
The Anti-Vietnam War Movement: analyzing the protests and activism against the US involvement in the Vietnam War.
The Donner Party: examining the ill-fated wagon train journey and its impact on westward expansion.
The Great Migration: analyzing the mass movement of African Americans from the South to the North and West in the early 20th century.
The Red Scare: examining the anti-communist hysteria in the US during the Cold War era.
The Alamo: evaluating the 1836 battle in Texas and its significance in American history.
The Cuban Revolution: analyzing the revolution led by Fidel Castro and its impact on US-Cuban relations.
The Dust Bowl: examining the environmental disaster that devastated the Great Plains in the 1930s.
The assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.: analyzing the impact of the civil rights leader’s death on American society.
The California Gold Rush: evaluating the rush of people to California in search of gold in 1849.
The Salem Witch Trials: examining the 1692 witch hunt and its impact on American society.
The Reconstruction Era: analyzing the period of US history following the Civil War that aimed to rebuild the South and integrate newly freed slaves into society.
The Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster: evaluating the tragic 1986 event that claimed the lives of seven astronauts.
The Great Society: examining President Lyndon B. Johnson’s domestic policies in the 1960s and their impact on American society.
The Bataan Death March: analyzing the brutal forced march of American and Filipino prisoners of war by the Japanese in World War II.
The Detroit Race Riot: examining the violent 1967 riots in Detroit and their impact on American race relations.
The Wounded Knee Massacre: analyzing the 1890 massacre of Sioux Indians by US troops and its impact on Native American relations with the US government.
The Spanish-American War: evaluating the US conflict with Spain in 1898 and its impact on American imperialism.
The Cold War: examining the geopolitical tensions between the US and Soviet Union from 1945-1991.
The Underground Railroad: evaluating the network of secret routes and safe houses used to help enslaved people escape to freedom in the 19th century.
The Tuskegee Airmen: examining the all-Black fighter squadron that served in World War II and their impact on American history.
The Boston Massacre: analyzing the 1770 event in which British soldiers killed five colonists and its impact on American revolutionary sentiment.
The 1968 Democratic National Convention: examining the protests and clashes between police and anti-war demonstrators during the convention.
The Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision: evaluating the landmark decision legalizing abortion in the US in 1973.
The Louisiana Territory: analyzing the US acquisition of the Louisiana Territory from France in 1803.
The Stock Market Crash of 1929: examining the causes and impact of the crash that led to the Great Depression.
The Lusitania sinking: analyzing the 1915 sinking of a British passenger ship by a German submarine and its impact on American entry into World War I.
The Second Great Awakening: evaluating the religious revival movement in the US in the early 19th century and its impact on American society.
The Black Panthers: analyzing the impact of the Black Panther Party on the civil rights movement and American society in the 1960s.
The Mexican-American War: examining the US conflict with Mexico in the 1840s and its impact on US expansionism.
The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire: analyzing the 1911 tragedy and its impact on workplace safety regulations.
The Transcontinental Railroad: evaluating the building of the railroad in the late 19th century and its impact on American transportation and economy.
The Stono Rebellion: examining the 1739 slave uprising in South Carolina and its impact on American slavery laws.
The Battle of Gettysburg: analyzing the 1863 battle and its significance in the Civil War.
The Black Sox Scandal: evaluating the 1919 scandal in which members of the Chicago White Sox baseball team were accused of throwing the World Series.
The Oregon Trail: examining the westward expansion of American settlers to the Pacific Northwest in the 19th century.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964: analyzing the landmark legislation outlawing discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
The Indian Removal Act: evaluating the 1830 law that authorized the forced removal of Native American tribes from their lands in the Southeastern US.
The Battle of Antietam: analyzing the 1862 battle and its impact on the Civil War.
The Iran-Contra Affair: examining the political scandal involving the Reagan administration’s secret arms sales to Iran and illegal funding of Contra rebels in Nicaragua.
The Pullman Strike: analyzing the 1894 labor strike by railway workers and its impact on American labor laws.
The 1920s: examining the cultural, social, and political changes that occurred during the “Roaring Twenties.”
The Battle of Little Bighorn: analyzing the 1876 battle between US forces and Sioux and Cheyenne warriors and its impact on Native American relations with the US government.
The Montgomery GI Bill: evaluating the legislation that provided education and training benefits to US veterans after World War II.
The Black Codes: examining the laws enacted in the South after the Civil War that restricted the rights and freedoms of newly freed slaves.
The Korean War: analyzing the US involvement in the conflict and its impact on American foreign policy.
The Seneca Falls Convention: evaluating the 1848 convention advocating for women’s suffrage and its impact on the women’s rights movement.
The Bay of Pigs Invasion: examining the failed 1961 US attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro’s government in Cuba.
The Homestead Strike: analyzing the 1892 labor strike by steelworkers and its impact on American labor relations.
The Gadsden Purchase: evaluating the US acquisition of land from Mexico in 1853 and its impact on American territorial expansion.
The Harlem Renaissance: examining the cultural and artistic movement in the 1920s and 1930s that celebrated Black creativity and identity.
The Fourteenth Amendment: analyzing the constitutional amendment that granted citizenship and equal protection under the law to all persons born or naturalized in the US.
The Battle of New Orleans: evaluating the 1815 battle in which American forces led by Andrew Jackson defeated British troops and its impact on American nationalism.
The Birmingham Campaign: analyzing the 1963 civil rights campaign in Alabama and its impact on the movement.
The Pullman Palace Car Company: examining the company’s history and impact on American railroad travel and labor relations.

About the author

Muhammad Hassan

Researcher, Academic Writer, Web developer

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Writing a Research Question

What is a research question? A research question is a clear, focused, concise, and arguable question on which you center your research and writing.

Here are six tips on how to prepare a research questions:

1. Make sure it is a question that you are genuinely interested in . You will be working on this question all semester; your work will be far more enjoyable and meaningful if you are interested in learning the answer.

2. Make sure that the question centers on a debatable point. It should not be simply factual. If the question can be answered with a simple search engine search, is it not a research question. Too Factual: “Who invented the light bulb?” Debatable: “How has the disparity in household energy use between the United States and sub-Saharan Africa over the past hundred years affected health in these two regions?”

3. Make sure that your question is focused enough that you will be able to be confident in your conclusions by the end of the semester. Too broad: “What caused the global prominence of the U.S. in the twentieth century?” More narrow: “Were military or economic factors of greater importance to U.S. global dominance starting after World War II?”

4. Make sure that your question is significant , not just to yourself, but to others. Unimportant: “Why is Mohammed such a common Arabic name?” Significant: “How has the relationship between pan-Arabism and pan-Islamism changed since 1800?” If you are not sure whether your question has historical significance, keep reading, or ask your instructor.

5. Make sure your question is researchable . That is, are you likely to be able to find evidence that can actually answer this question? Too vague: “Why is gender discrimination such a common phenomenon in the world?” Researchable: “How did women’s experiences of discrimination during the late nineteenth century affect when women learned the right to vote in the U.S. (1920), South Africa (1930), and Japan (1945)?”

6. Imagine a possible answer . Later this semester, your thesis statement will be your well-informed and thought-out answer to a research question. Don’t worry if your research slowly encourages you to revise your research question. But do make sure that your question is capable of being answered using a clear statement on a debatable issue. If you cannot imagine answers to your question that fit the bill, you might need to review your research question.

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Research and Collections

Military History Research Centre

Reference question form.

The Military History Research Centre (MHRC) can assist you with questions about Canadian military history. We often answer questions about the military service of a family member; assist in identifying a medal, uniform or equipment; or provide information about a military event or location.

Please note that we cannot do extensive research. Our service is intended to assist individuals with their own research. We aim to direct people to the information they are seeking and to answer short, factual questions.

The Museum receives hundreds of research requests each year. We aim to respond within four weeks. However, response times will vary depending on the nature of the question.

Please submit your questions online. This allows us to gather relevant information from you, do more thorough research, and provide answers that may include links, images and attachments.

Before submitting a question, please consult the Military History FAQs below , which has answers to our most frequently asked questions.

Frequently Asked Questions

Service person-related questions, i am researching a service person, where do i start.

We recommend starting with our research guides , which explain the process of researching service personnel in the First and Second World Wars. A good place to start is to access an individual’s service file, also known as a personnel file. These are usually held by Library and Archives Canada . This is the official file created to record a service person’s military career (see related questions below). The file can provide significant information, including the unit(s) in which they served, medical information, and other forms of official correspondence.

When we refer to a person’s “unit,” we are referring generally to what may be their regiment, battalion, ship, squadron or hospital. Knowing the unit(s) in which someone served can help trace their movements and postings during the war. With this information, there are several research avenues you can take. For example, a researcher wanting to learn more about an individual’s experiences in a specific unit may use this information to seek published or unpublished letters from other members of that unit in libraries and archives. Somebody planning to visit Europe to trace a family member’s movements should first check for a unit history. We suggest looking for books on the unit, battle, or theatre of war as a good start and to provide context. Our research guides provide a number of entry points that often lead to new sources and research questions.

I am looking for a service or personnel file, can you help?

Service files — sometimes also called personnel files — may be in different places depending on the time period and military branch (for example, land, sea, air, or home front). Because official records were created by the government, most — but not all — Canadian service files are held by Library and Archives Canada . However, there are exceptions. Veterans Affairs Canada keeps some information on those that served with the Merchant Navy. Service records of First World War airmen are held by the National Archives in the United Kingdom, while First World War service files of those who served with the Royal Newfoundland Regiment and the Newfoundland Forestry Companies are held by The Rooms in St. John’s, Newfoundland. Please see our research guides for more information.

How do I find out what unit someone served in?

*We use the term “unit” as a general term for a regiment, battalion, ship, squadron, hospital, etc.

Is there somebody in your family who may know the unit in which an individual served? Do you have any documents or objects related to that person’s service (for example, a pay book, discharge certificate, flight log, cap badge, or uniform? If not, the next best place to look is often the person’s service file (see related question above). The documents in this file will list an individual’s unit and their transfer between units. Without a service file, finding a unit is more difficult but still possible with research.

There are different places where you might find this information, but most start with knowing the individual’s branch of service (for example, the Army, Navy, or Air Force) and possibly the closest regional military unit or base where your family member may have enlisted. With that information, we suggest checking the nominal rolls of those units or bases. Nominal rolls can be found as official government nominal rolls through Library and Archives Canada , and are sometimes also in published regimental histories, local regimental museums, local archives, or on regimental websites. Aside from the official First World War nominal rolls with Library and Archives Canada, nominal rolls from other eras and conflicts may be harder to find. Newspaper articles sometimes featured stories or letters from service personnel, and they can also include unit names.

How do I find out the circumstances of an individual’s injury or death?

This level of detail can be difficult to achieve when researching an individual. Quite often, the details were not preserved, or they are scant and administrative. In other cases, they were never known because of the circumstances of death, especially if an individual was missing in action. Some details can be learned from a service file, but it is more likely that the file may only note the nature of the injury or cause of death, such as a gunshot wound but not the detailed circumstances surrounding the incident.

Similar information on deaths can be found in Death Registers. Library and Archives Canada holds some First World War Death Registers , as well as Second World War graves registers , which may also hold some information. Sometimes, details might also be found in other places, including in published regimental histories, newspapers, letters and diaries of comrades in arms, and, in rare cases, an official unit war diary (Army) or operations record book (Air Force). These were the official records maintained by units, and they can include details such as personnel movements, casualties, and reports on actions. Library and Archives Canada holds these records for Canadian units.

How do I research the circumstances of a “Mentioned in Dispatches,” medal, or commendation?

Medals were usually awarded in recognition of acts of gallantry or for length of service. In the world wars, many of the gallantry awards were accompanied by short descriptions. These were often published in The Gazette (London) and/or the Canada Gazette , and they can sometimes be found in Library and Archives Canada records, including the database of Military medals, honours and awards, 1812–1969 . The Department of National Defence’s Directorate of History and Heritage maintains a database of Canadian Army Overseas Honours and Awards (1939–45) , while the Royal Canadian Air Force Association has a searchable list of honours and awards . Local newspapers might also have published stories about the reasons for an individual’s award.

There are also specialist books devoted to Canadians who received awards such as the Victoria Cross, Military Cross, Military Medal, and the Meritorious Service Medal. Veterans Affairs Canada has lists and descriptions of Canadian Medals and Decorations , including the criteria for awarding them.

For “Mentioned in Dispatches,” other than the relevant names and dates, it is unlikely that the circumstances that warranted the award were preserved in records. However, there are some sources that are still worth checking. We suggest looking at the official war diaries ( Library and Archives Canada ), regimental histories, newspapers (especially local ones, if they exist), and archived memoirs, letters and diaries of fellow service personnel.

I have a service file, but I don’t understand the writing and abbreviations. How can I decipher this information?

Service files, war diaries, letters, and other historical records can contain many acronyms and terms that are difficult to understand. There are sources that can be used to help decode military acronyms and terminology. Library and Archives Canada has a page on acronyms and abbreviations used in service files . Additionally, some books will have appendices with military terminology and acronyms. These can be especially helpful for understanding the different branches, military trades, and historical conflicts. Furthermore, for example, if your grandfather participated in North Atlantic convoys during the Second World War, consult a book on the Battle of the Atlantic. There are also dedicated online military history and genealogy websites that can provide guidance.

I have a service file, but it doesn’t say much. How do I learn more about an individual’s experience?

Service files are typically administrative and provide only basic information about a person’s service, posting, wounds and benefits. They can be frustrating, but they are the place to start for deeper research. For example, a service file will not highlight that your great-grandfather fought at the Battle of Vimy Ridge; however, it will list the Canadian Expeditionary Force battalion in which he served, and you can then determine whether that battalion fought at Vimy. Research is usually about moving from one clue to the next. Here’s another example: Service files contain medical records, which may note that your great-grandfather was wounded on April 9, 1917 — the first day of the Battle of Vimy Ridge — which is further evidence that he likely served there.

Use the service file in conjunction with regimental histories, war diaries, official histories, regimental museums and websites, regimental magazines, and even online personal interest sites to help complete the picture.

Object-related questions

I have an object and/or archival material (documents, photographs and film) that i would like to donate. who should i contact.

Please refer to our page on donating objects and/or archival material for all information related to the donation process.

How do I identify an object?

We recommend beginning with our Search the Collection online artifact and archives catalogue. Start your search using a term such as “bayonet,” then use the “Available Online” toggle under “Refine Results” to access all available images of bayonets.

If you do not find what you are looking for, try a broader online search. There are two ways to do this: either search using descriptive terms or start with the suspected country of origin and/or event. For example, if you have a bayonet, you could try searching by describing it, such as “ double edge bayonet, brass and wood handle ” or by the country/event, such as “ Canadian bayonets Second World War. ” Keep in mind that events may have different names, as in the case of the First World War, which may also be referred to as the Great War, World War One, or WWI. Most web browsers allow you to browse by image (for example, Google Images or Bing Images).

Published works are another excellent resource for specialized research into military objects and artifacts. The Canadian War Museum’s Military History Research Centre (MHRC) has many published resources that can be searched using our online library catalogue , some of which may also be found in a library close to you. You can also visit the MHRC in person to consult library resources by making an appointment . If you cannot visit in person, some material may also be available for interlibrary loan by requesting a book through your local library.

What is the value of my object?

The Canadian War Museum does not appraise objects, nor can we provide names of appraisers. If you are seeking the monetary value of your object, we suggest looking for militaria appraisers in your area and/or contacting auction houses and antique sellers for comparable objects and prices. For archival materials, the National Archival Appraisal Board , the Canadian Personal Property Appraisers Group , or the International Society for Appraisers could help you find an appraiser.

I have an object (such as a bayonet, rifle or helmet) that has makers’ marks or other markings. How do I find out what these marks mean?

Official-issue military objects often have marks on them that identify a period of use or date of issue. Online resources or specialized publications can provide more detail about the marks and their meanings.

Please see our question on identifying an object .

The Military History Research Centre (MHRC) has many object-related resources that can be searched using our online library catalogue , some of which may also be held at a library close to you. You can visit the MHRC in person to consult library resources by making an appointment . If you cannot visit in person, some material may also be available for interlibrary loan by requesting a book through your local library.

I have a medal set (or object) and would like to identify the descendants of its original owner so that I can return it to the family. Is there a way to do this?

The Canadian War Museum cannot help you identify living descendants, nor can it give out contact information. This type of inquiry is challenging. For example, it may be easy to identify who a medal set belonged to if a name and service number are engraved on it, but finding descendants may be difficult depending on how much information is publicly available. In other cases, identifying the original owner may be more challenging. For example, you may have a helmet with a battalion number and initials, only to find out that several people with the same initials, in the same battalion, participated in that battle. Each artifact is unique.

Please see our question on identifying an object to first determine what object you have. We then suggest looking at our questions on researching service personnel to identify the person. Lastly, you can search for descendants using resources such as genealogical websites, obituaries, city directories, and social media.

Can you tell me where my object came from? For example, “Why did my grandfather have a German medal?”

We cannot determine details of why somebody may have an object because this is too difficult to determine without eyewitness testimony or a personal account of why someone had an object and how it came to be in their possession. The object may have been acquired during military operations, given to them by a friend, or simply purchased.

Can you tell me how to preserve my object?

Preservation is dependent on the object in question, its current condition, and where it will be stored or displayed. We cannot provide specific advice on your particular object. However, online resources are available. We recommend the Canadian Conservation Institute ’s resources on Care of objects and collections . You may also wish to hire a professional. The Canadian Association for Conservation of Cultural Property and the Canadian Association of Professional Conservators are good resources.

In what order should medals be mounted?

Please see Veterans Affairs Canada’s web page, The Mounting and Wearing of Decorations, Campaign Stars and Medals , for more information.

Where can I get medals mounted?

The Canadian War Museum cannot give references for medal mounting. We recommend searching for local medal-mounting services.

Where can I get new ribbons or a new mounting bar for medals?

Veterans Affairs Canada can provide new ribbons or a new mounting bar at no cost.

Copyright and Reproduction

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Florida fossil porcupine solves a prickly dilemma 10-million years in the making

There's a longstanding debate simmering among biologists who study porcupines. There are 16 porcupine species in Central and South America, but only one in the United States and Canada. DNA evidence suggests North America's sole porcupine belongs to a group that originated 10 million years ago, but fossils seem to tell a different story. Some paleontologists think they may have evolved just 2.5 million years ago, at the beginning of the ice ages.

A new study published in the journal Current Biology claims to have reconciled the dispute, thanks to an exceptionally rare, nearly complete porcupine skeleton discovered in Florida. The authors reached their conclusion by studying key differences in bone structure between North and South American porcupines, but getting there wasn't easy. It took an entire class of graduate and undergraduate students and several years of careful preparation and study.

"Even for a seasoned curator with all the necessary expertise, it takes an incredible amount of time to fully study and process an entire skeleton," said lead author Natasha Vitek. While studying as a doctoral student at the Florida Museum of Natural History, Vitek teamed up with vertebrate paleontology curator Jonathan Bloch to create a college course in which students got hands-on research experience by studying porcupine fossils.

Ancient radiation gave rise to world's largest rodents

Porcupines are a type of rodent, and their ancestors likely originated in Africa more than 30 million years ago. Their descendants have since wandered into Asia and parts of Europe by land, but their journey to South America is a particularly defining event in the history of mammals. They crossed the Atlantic Ocean -- likely by rafting -- when Africa and South America were much closer together than they are today. They were the first rodents to ever set foot on the continent, where they evolved into well-known groups like guinea pigs, chinchillas, capybaras and porcupines.

Some took on giant proportions. There were lumbering, rat-like animals up to five feet long, equipped with a tiny brain that weighed less than a plum. Extinct relatives of the capybara grew to the size of cows.

Porcupines remained relatively small and evolved adaptations for life in the treetops of South America's lush rainforests. Today, they travel through the canopy with the aid of long fingers capped with blunt, sickle-shaped claws perfectly angled for gripping branches. Many also have long, prehensile tails capable of bearing their weight, which they use while climbing and reaching for fruit.

Despite their excellent track record of getting around, South America was a dead end for many millions of years. A vast seaway with swift currents separated North and South America, and most animals were unable to cross -- with a few notable exceptions.

Beginning about 5 million years ago, the Isthmus of Panama rose above sea level, cutting off the Pacific from the Atlantic. This land bridge became the ancient equivalent of a congested highway a few million years later, with traffic flowing in both directions.

Prehistoric elephants, saber-toothed cats, jaguars, llamas, peccaries, deer, skunks and bears streamed from North America to South. The reverse trek was made by four different kinds of ground sloths, oversized armadillos, terror birds, capybaras and even a marsupial.

The two groups met with radically different fates. Those mammals migrating south did fairly well; many became successfully established in their new tropical environments and survived to the present. But nearly all lineages that ventured north into colder environments have gone extinct. Today, there are only three survivors: the nine-banded armadillo, the Virginia opossum and the North American porcupine.

New fossils catch evolution in the act

Animals that traveled north had to contend with new environments that bore little resemblance to the ones they left behind. Warm, tropical forests gave way to open grasslands, deserts and cold deciduous forests. For porcupines, this meant coping with brutal winters, fewer resources and coming down from the trees to walk on land. They still haven't quite gotten the hang of the latter; North American porcupines have a maximum ground speed of about 2 mph.

South American porcupines are equipped with a menacing coat of hollow, overlapping quills, which offer a substantial amount of protection but do little to regulate body temperature. North American porcupines replaced these with a mix of insulating fur and long, needle-like quills that can be raised when they feel threatened. They also had to modify their diet, which changed the shape of their jaw.

"In winter, when their favorite foods are not around, they will bite into tree bark to get at the softer tissue underneath. It's not great food, but it's better than nothing," Vitek said. "We think this type of feeding selected for a particular jaw structure that makes them better at grinding."

They also lost their prehensile tails. Although North American porcupines still like climbing, it's not their forte. Museum specimens often show evidence of healed bone fractures, likely caused by falling from trees.

Many of these traits can be observed in fossils. The problem is there aren't many fossils to go around. According to Vitek, most are either individual teeth or jaw fragments, and researchers often lump them in with South American porcupines. Those that are considered to belong to the North American group lack the critical features that would provide paleontologists with clues to how they evolved.

So when Florida Museum paleontologist Art Poyer found an exquisitely preserved porcupine skeleton in a Florida limestone quarry, they were well aware of its significance.

"When they first brought it in, I was amazed," said Bloch, senior author of the study. "It is so rare to get fossil skeletons like this with not only a skull and jaws, but many associated bones from the rest of the body. It allows for a much more complete picture of how this extinct mammal would have interacted with its environment. Right away we noticed that it was different from modern North American porcupines in having a specialized tail for grasping branches."

By comparing the fossil skeleton with bones from modern porcupines, Bloch and Vitek were confident they could determine its identity. But the amount of work this would require was more than one person could do on their own in a short amount of time. So they co-created a paleontology college course, in which the only assignment for the entire semester was studying porcupine bones.

"It's the kind of thing that could only be taught at a place like the Florida Museum, where you have both collections and enough students to study them," Vitek said. "We focused on details of the jaw, limbs, feet and tails. It required a very detailed series of comparisons that you might not even notice on the first pass."

The results were surprising. The fossil lacked the reinforced bark-gnawing jaws and possessed a prehensile tail, making it appear more closely related to South American porcupines. But, Vitek said, other traits bore a stronger similarity to North American porcupines, including the shape of the middle ear bone as well as the shapes of the lower front and back teeth.

With all the data combined, analyses consistently provided the same answer. The fossils belonged to an extinct species of North American porcupine, meaning this group has a long history that likely began before the Isthmus of Panama had formed. But questions remain as to how many species once existed in this group or why they went extinct.

"One thing that isn't resolved by our study is whether these extinct species are direct ancestors of the North American porcupine that is alive today," Vitek said. "It's also possible porcupines got into temperate regions twice, once along the Gulf Coast and once out west. We're not there yet."

Jennifer Hoeflich, Isaac Magallanes, Sean Moran, Rachel Narducci, Victor Perez, Jeanette Pirlo, Mitchell Riegler, Molly Selba, María Vallejo-Pareja, Michael Ziegler, Michael Granatosky and Richard Hulbert of the Florida Museum of Natural History are also authors on the paper.

New Species
Dolphins and Whales
Ancient DNA
Early Mammals
Trace fossil
Hadrosaurus
Tyrannosaurus
Paralititan
Garter snake

Story Source:

Materials provided by Florida Museum of Natural History . Original written by Jerald Pinson. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

Related Multimedia :

Fossils and illustrations relating to early porcupines

Journal Reference :

Natasha S. Vitek, Jennifer C. Hoeflich, Isaac Magallanes, Sean M. Moran, Rachel E. Narducci, Victor J. Perez, Jeanette Pirlo, Mitchell S. Riegler, Molly C. Selba, María C. Vallejo-Pareja, Michael J. Ziegler, Michael C. Granatosky, Richard C. Hulbert, Jonathan I. Bloch. An extinct north American porcupine with a South American tail . Current Biology , 2024; DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2024.04.069

Cite This Page :

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Computer Science > Artificial Intelligence

Title: increasing the llm accuracy for question answering: ontologies to the rescue.

Abstract: There is increasing evidence that question-answering (QA) systems with Large Language Models (LLMs), which employ a knowledge graph/semantic representation of an enterprise SQL database (i.e. Text-to-SPARQL), achieve higher accuracy compared to systems that answer questions directly on SQL databases (i.e. Text-to-SQL). Our previous benchmark research showed that by using a knowledge graph, the accuracy improved from 16% to 54%. The question remains: how can we further improve the accuracy and reduce the error rate? Building on the observations of our previous research where the inaccurate LLM-generated SPARQL queries followed incorrect paths, we present an approach that consists of 1) Ontology-based Query Check (OBQC): detects errors by leveraging the ontology of the knowledge graph to check if the LLM-generated SPARQL query matches the semantic of ontology and 2) LLM Repair: use the error explanations with an LLM to repair the SPARQL query. Using the chat with the data benchmark, our primary finding is that our approach increases the overall accuracy to 72% including an additional 8% of "I don't know" unknown results. Thus, the overall error rate is 20%. These results provide further evidence that investing knowledge graphs, namely the ontology, provides higher accuracy for LLM powered question answering systems.

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Both individuals and organizations that work with arXivLabs have embraced and accepted our values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only works with partners that adhere to them.

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Most AAPI adults think the history of racism should be taught in schools, an AP-NORC poll finds

W ASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. schools should teach about issues related to race, most Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders believe. They also oppose efforts to restrict what subjects can be discussed in the classroom, according to a new poll.

In the survey from AAPI Data and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research , 71% of AAPI adults favor teaching about the history of slavery, racism and segregation in K-12 public schools. The same share also said they support teaching about the history of Asian American and Pacific Islander communities in the United States, while about half support teaching about issues related to sex and sexuality.

AAPI Democrats are more supportive of these topics being taught in classrooms than AAPI Republicans.

Still, only 17% of AAPI adults think school boards should be able to limit what subjects students and teachers talk about in the classroom, and about one-quarter of AAPI Republicans are in favor of these restrictions.

The results indicate that efforts to politicize education through culture war issues have not gained strong inroads in Asian American communities, said Karthick Ramakrishnan, a public policy professor at the University of California, Riverside, and founder of AAPI Data. Across the country, conservative members of state legislatures and local school boards have made efforts to restrict teaching about race and gender in classrooms.

“Even as parents are concerned and engaged in various ways with K-12 education, the culture wars are not something that resonate with AAPI parents,” he said. “I think that's important because there's so much news coverage of it and certainly a lot of policy activity.”

AAPI Americans are a fast-growing demographic , but small sample sizes and linguistic barriers often prevent their views from being analyzed in other surveys.

Glenn Thomas, a 53-year-old father to three children in public schools who identifies as a political independent and is Japanese and white, said that while he does not oppose classrooms covering topics like race and gender, he does not think they should be the sole focus of how curriculums are designed.

“I'm kind of old-school, reading, writing, arithmetic,” he said of how schools approach topics like gender and race. “I don't think it necessarily needs to be taught as separate curriculums.”

Thomas, whose family has lived all over the country because of his career in the military, said the influence of politics and external actors in public schools varied greatly depending on where they lived. In Florida, where he currently lives, he thinks the state government too heavily influences local schools.

Nationally, 39% of AAPI adults say that they follow news about their school boards, while just 13% say they have attended a local school board meeting and 18% have communicated in-person or online with a local school board member. When it comes to elections, 28% have voted in a local school board election.

While those percentages are roughly consistent with the general public, AAPI adults are slightly less likely to say they have voted in a local school board election.

Because a high percentage of Asian Americans are immigrants, Ramakrishnan said, many did not grow up in the same political system as the United States, where there is a high level of local control and influence over schools. A lack of outreach from mainstream institutions may also contribute to a lower level of engagement, he added.

“It takes a fair amount of effort to learn how the system works and how to have influence in that system," he said. “Given the high level of interest that (Asian American and Pacific Islander) parents place in education, you would expect higher rates of participation.”

Varisa Patraporn, a Thai American mother of two public school children in California, said that she is a consistent voter in local elections, given the importance of those individuals in making decisions that affect schools. In Cerritos, where she lives, candidates tend to host events and send out mailers during elections, reflecting a robust campaign for seats on the school board.

Patraporn said that while she has communicated with school board members, she has not attended a school board meeting. Part of that, she said, is because the meetings happen in the evening and are harder to attend for parents who have young children or other obligations. That means the parents who do attend and speak up can have a disproportionate amount of sway.

Patraporn said that she wants the school curriculum to be more diverse and inclusive, despite pushback from some parents who do not want discussions of race in the classroom. She said she often supplements her children's reading to expose them to a wider range of perspectives beyond what they get from their assignments.

“Those conversations have started, but there's a lot of resistance in our community to that,” she said. “There's a lot of resistance in terms of being fearful of what it means to actually talk about race.”

Ramakrishnan said the polling data indicates an opening to engage AAPI communities more intensely with their local educational institutions. According to the poll, about two-thirds of AAPI adults see the schools that children attend as extremely or very important to their success in adulthood. And about half say parents and teachers have too little influence on the curriculum in public schools, similar to the general population.

“This is a community that still sees college as a good deal, as an important pathway toward mobility and success, and is concerned about the quality of K-12 education as well,” he said. “We have a ripe opportunity to engage and boost participation in these Asian American Pacific Islander communities when it comes to educational policy.”

The poll of 1,068 U.S. adults who are Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders was conducted from April 8-17, 2024, using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based Amplify AAPI Panel, designed to be representative of the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander population. Online and telephone interviews were offered in English, the Chinese dialects of Mandarin and Cantonese, Vietnamese and Korean. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 4.7 percentage points.

The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org .

FILE - A row of school buses rests in a parking lot, April 7, 2020, in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. About 7 in 10 AAPI adults approve of K-12 public schools teaching about the history of slavery, racism and segregation, according to a new poll from AAPI Data and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. A similar share also support teaching about the history of Asian American and Pacific Islander communities in the United States, while about half support teaching about issues related to sex and sexuality. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak, File)

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300+ Research Paper Questions and Topics for History Class
History Paper Questions and Topics. Now that we have established how to write a research paper for history class (along with its necessary components), it is time to turn our attention toward potential questions and topics. The following list provides over 300+ questions to help you navigate through this particular stage of the writing process.
PDF Formulating a Research Question
Formulating a Research Question. Every research project starts with a question. Your question will allow you to select, evaluate and interpret your sources systematically. The question you start with isn't set in stone, but will almost certainly be revisited and revised as you read. Every discipline allows for certain kinds of questions to be ...
140 Good Research Topics for History Papers
10 Good History Research Topics that are Easy to Adapt. Conditions for Slaves During the Building of the Great Pyramid. Three Events from the First Greek Olympiad. How, Where, and When Rome was Founded. The Battle of Marathon: How the Greeks Defeated Persia.
Choosing a Topic & Framing a Research Question
The following books can suggest topic ideas.. Consulting a special encyclopedia in your area of history may also inspire you with ideas for topics and research questions.. Another approach is to start with the primary sources that are available and work backwards to a research question. Browse through sources from the "Primary Sources" tab (or similar). What questions do the documents raise for
How to write a key inquiry question
Most 'closed questions' start with the interrogatives 'does', 'did', 'was' or 'are'. A great key question starts with either 'what', 'why', or 'how'. 3. Base it on a historical knowledge skill. Make your question focus on one of the historical knowledge skills in history. Here is a list of the most common historical knowledge skills:
Best History Research Paper Topics
Dive into the world of historical scholarship with our comprehensive guide to the best history research paper topics.Primarily designed for students tasked with writing history research papers, this guide presents a curated list of 100 exceptional topics, divided into 10 distinct categories, each with a unique historical focus.
PDF Writing History Formulating a Research Question
Writing History Formulating a Research Question Crafting a thoughtful research question will allow you to select, evaluate, and interpret your sources systematically. The question you start with is not set in stone, and will almost certainly be revisited and revised as you read. Every discipline allows for certain kinds of questions to be asked.
Develop a Research Question
Once you have done some background research and narrowed down your topic, you can begin to turn that topic into a research question that you will attempt to answer in the course of your research. Keep in mind that your question may change as you gather more information and as you write. However, having some sense of your direction can help you ...
History Research Paper Topics
Top 10 History Research Paper Topics. 1. Religion in Ancient Greece. Any list of history topics about ancient Greek religion is bound to contain some gems. By digging into cultural patterns, you can explore how religion affected the social, political, religious, military, and economic development of Greece. You could even venture outside the ...
History: Developing a topic or research question
Use the sources-- primary and secondary -- to guide the development of a topic or research question.; Conduct initial research in both primary and secondary sources to test the feasibility of your topic and let the available evidence mold your research question.. Search for primary documents. Historical research consists primarily of constructing arguments based on primary documents. You will ...
History Research Paper Topics
There are numerous history research paper topics you can choose from. This page is dedicated to providing students studying history with a comprehensive collection of 200 history research paper topics. With a focus on diverse categories and subtopics, students can find inspiration and guidance as they embark on their research journey.
Research Questions
First think about historical topics that interest you broadly. Then, gather background information by reading encyclopedias, major books on the topics, and then add focus with a research question. Qualities of good historical questions. Open-ended, asks "how" and "why" questions about your general topic; Considers causes or effects
Asking Good Questions
A good research question defines the focus of your research project. Your research question helps readers to know the specific subject matter you will be addressing within the broad topic of environmental history. For instance, suppose you are interested in market development and its environmental effects.
Developing Research Questions
Research Questions. Developing a research question is the first, and, arguably, the most crucial step in creating a research-based project, whether it be a traditional academic research paper, a podcast, or a video presentation. A well-framed research question will allow you to focus on the matter at hand and approach it in a logical way.
Formulating a Research Question
Formulating a Research Question. Whether for a Proseminar paper, a doctoral dissertation or a large-scale research project, the task of formulating a research question stands at the beginning of every academic assignment. A research question must be developed in relation to the existing research and the available source material and should be ...
World History Research Paper Topics
World History Research Paper Topics. In this comprehensive guide, we explore the fascinating world of world history research paper topics, designed to assist history students in their academic pursuits. Delving into the annals of human civilization, this page offers a diverse array of research paper topics categorized into 10 distinct themes ...
Developing a Research Question
When doing research, you want to address your topic as a question for which there are no immediate answers. For example: Topic: video games and violence. Research Question: Does playing violent video games lead to juvenile violence? Try these steps to formulate a research question: Start by identifying your topic (e.g. texting and driving).
PDF A Brief Guide to Writing the History Paper
assigned readings from the course syllabus) and research papers (typically requiring additional research in a library or archive on a topic of your own choosing). Different types of history papers naturally require different amounts of research, analysis, and interpretation. Despite this variety, historical arguments often assume a common form.
10 Research Question Examples to Guide your Research Project
The first question asks for a ready-made solution, and is not focused or researchable. The second question is a clearer comparative question, but note that it may not be practically feasible. For a smaller research project or thesis, it could be narrowed down further to focus on the effectiveness of drunk driving laws in just one or two countries.
Writing Strong Research Questions
A good research question is essential to guide your research paper, dissertation, or thesis. All research questions should be: Focused on a single problem or issue. Researchable using primary and/or secondary sources. Feasible to answer within the timeframe and practical constraints. Specific enough to answer thoroughly.
300+ American History Research Paper Topics
American history is a vast and complex subject that encompasses a wide range of events, movements, and individuals who have shaped the country's past and present. From the struggles for independence and civil rights to the exploration and settlement of the continent, American history provides an abundance of topics for research papers ...
How to develop research sub-questions
Good sub-questions should: Be 'open' questions (This means that they cannot be answered with a simple 'yes' or 'no' answer. Usually this means starting the question with: what, why, or how) Incorporate terms and concepts that you learnt during your background research. In answering each of your three sub-questions through source research, you ...
Writing a Research Question
What is a research question? A research question is a clear, focused, concise, and arguable question on which you center your research and writing. Here are six tips on how to prepare a research questions: 1. Make sure it is a question that you are genuinely interested in.You will be working on this question all semester; your work will be far more enjoyable and meaningful if you are ...
Reference Question Form
The Military History Research Centre (MHRC) can assist you with questions about Canadian military history. We often answer questions about the military service of a family member; assist in identifying a medal, uniform or equipment; or provide information about a military event or location. Please note that we cannot do extensive research. Our ...
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There is increasing evidence that question-answering (QA) systems with Large Language Models (LLMs), which employ a knowledge graph/semantic representation of an enterprise SQL database (i.e. Text-to-SPARQL), achieve higher accuracy compared to systems that answer questions directly on SQL databases (i.e. Text-to-SQL). Our previous benchmark research showed that by using a knowledge graph, the ...
Most AAPI adults think the history of racism should be taught in
In the survey from AAPI Data and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, 71% of AAPI adults favor teaching about the history of slavery, racism and segregation in K-12 public ...
Photos: Fossil rewrites US porcupine's 10 million-year-old history
While the research has provided significant insights, some questions remain. It's unclear whether the extinct porcupine species are direct ancestors of modern North American porcupines or if ...
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Lebanon Poverty and Equity Assessment 2024
This report provides an assessment of the current state of poverty and inequality in Lebanon. It documents the impact of a protracted economic crisis on households, that is well into its fifth year, along with their responses and investigates how the crisis has potentially affected labor market dynamics in the country.

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2. Causes of the American Revolution

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4. Effects of the Allies’ Occupation of Germany

5. Ronald Reagan and the End of the Cold War

6. Political, Economic, and Social Causes of the French Revolution

7. The Legacy of Alexander the Great

8. Rise of the Catholic Church as a Political Institution in the Middle Ages

9. Impact of the Industrial Revolution on Working-Class Families

10. The Role of Martin Luther King Jr in the Civil Rights Movement

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