Question

As you read your materials, ask yourself questions continuously. Think about the purpose of your assignment and pose questions to help guide you deeper into your reading.

Some types of questions to consider are who, what, when, where, why, how. The following are some examples:

• Who: whose interests are served by the ideas expressed?
• What: what ideas or constructs are being explored and debated?
• When: did the event described occur before or after an important historical event?
• Where: from which countries did the researchers draw their data?
• Why: why did the researchers employ a particular approach?
• How: how do the authors’ examples illustrate the points that they are trying to make?  

The questions you ask will vary from simple to complex, but it is particularly important to ask questions that will help you make connections within the reading, connections among different readings and connections with your topic.