Finding a good research question

Research is not research until you have focused it around a solid research question that addresses a problem or issue. Brainstorm a list of questions about your topic that you'd like to answer through your research. Make this list as long as you can and try to see your topic in as many ways as possible. Push yourself on this. It is an important step.

5) Explore what you already know. Access Leading Issue summaries ("Topic Overview" or "At Issue" Pages) and Timeline (under Research Tools) from the SIRS Leading Issue you have chosen. In 3-5 sentences, summarize the background and historical information of the Leading Issue you selected. Include main controversies, key figures, important organizations, and key events.

Briefly list what you know about your topic already. Consider the following:

• Surprising facts or statistics:

1. In America, there is one divorce approximately every 36 seconds*. That's nearly2,400 divorces per day, 16,800 divorces per week and 876,000 divorces a year.
2. People wait an average of three years after a divorce to remarry (if they remarry at all).
3. If your parents are happily married, your risk of divorce decreases by 14 percent.
4. The divorce rate among couples with children is 40 percent lower than couples without children
5. Half of all American children will witness the breakup of a parent's marriage. Of these children, close to half will also see the breakup of a parent's second marriage.

• the extent of the problem

1. A staggering 40 per cent of marriages are now doomed to end in divorce, despite the bad press: divorce is bad for your health, bad for your purse and particularly bad for your children. In the course of researching a book I have written with Fiona Shackleton, a divorce lawyer, I have been continually surprised by the misery that divorce inflicts upon families - often more, it seems to me, than the misery of an unhappy marriage.

• important people or institutions involved

1. Statistics tell us that first marriages today stand a 45 percent chance of breaking up and second marriages a 60 percent chance. But those numbers just confirm what we already knew: Divorce has increased not only in frequency but also in acceptance. And even if we don’t focus on figures per se, we know that today far more marriages end in divorce than a couple of decades ago.
2. Judith Wallerstein, senior lecturer emerita at the University of Berkeley’s School of Social Welfare, states in her 2000 book The Unexpected Legacy of Divorce: “The prevailing climate of opinion was that divorce would allow adults to make better choices and happier marriages by letting them undo earlier mistakes. They would arrive at an honest, mutual decision to divorce, because if one person wanted out, surely it could not be much of a marriage. These attitudes were held by men and women of many political persuasions, by lawyers, judges, and mental health professionals alike.”

• key schools of thought

1. the University of Berkeley’s School
2. New Canaan (CT) Public Schools

• common misconceptions

1. 1. Living Together Before Marriage Decreases the Risk of Divorce
2. Mothers Always Win Gain Custody 
3. No-Fault Divorce is Quicker and Cheaper
4. Marital Assets Are Split 50/50:
5. My Spouse Will be Punished For Cheating

• observations you've made

1.  Its  heartbroking to think of all the suffering, shattered dreams, and confused kids. If you’ve been through it, or known someone who’s been through divorce, it seems hard.

• important trends

1. The information provided by couples on these certificates allows us to monitor the occurrences of marriages and divorces.
2. To be at risk for divorce, couples must first be married. Rates of first marriages have fluctuated dramatically over the past 70 years

• major controversies

1. Most kids suffer emotionally
2. They are detached from a parent in order to be raised 

5a) Read the Essential Question, Pro/Con articles, and Viewpoints to learn about the claims of your Leading Issue topic of argument. What are all the claims related to the Leading Issue topic of argument you selected? (A claim is a position on a topic you will argue with evidence to support it).

5b) Think about which claim you would like to be the focus of your argument. Think about this: 'Which claim do I most strongly agree with?' If you want to challenge yourself even more, select a claim you do not strongly agree with for a more challenging topic of logical argument.

4a) Make a final decision about your logical argument research topic. What is it? Questions to ask yourself:

What have we been studying in class this year? Ive been studying in class this year how to research on different websites the difference if its real or not and also  is leading issues.
Which subjects appeal to me?   The subject that most appeal to me was Divorce.
What are people writing about? People are writing about how divorce can effect the household and why people go through  a divorce.
What's most interesting to me? The most interesting thing to me was the fact why people get a divorce. Often you don't realize who the person really is in certain situations.
Can I find information about that? Yes

4b) Why are you most interested in the topic of argument selected?

I am most interested in this topic due to the fact it really grabbed my attention on how people really think toward divorce. Often the people that get the divorce have an argument on why a divorce doesn't qualify when married. I love the thought that people look at this as a big matter but its not often talked about.

Critical Thinking Questions

Child Sexual Abuse-
1. Are schools doing enough to protect students from sexual abuse? Why or why not?

Schools aren't  doing enough to protect students because they provide guidance counselors and other people you can go and talk to. But when a students is having a hard time to open up to a guidance counselor or someone they can trust they don't approach the student to see if something is wrong. Often Schools can't prevent sexual abuse from happening.

2.Why is it often so difficult to detect cases of abuse between teacher and student?

It is often hard to detect case studies of abuse between a student and a teahcre because often it is and after school situation it won't be done in class or in front of other students often it is hard to detect what is even going on in the class. 

3.Are more laws needed to prevent accused child sexual abusers from simply taking a teaching job in another district or state? Explain.

Laws such as having male teachers teach young female students then the situation would not be in any way an issue. 

Divorce- 

1.Should couples stay together in a troubled marriage rather than divorce? Why or why not?
Couples should stay together in a troubled marriage only to benefit the children in the relationship. If the troubled situation is easier to move on from maybe sticking together and really seeing eye to eye on something can always better the relationship. Often it is hard to stay together through the situation which is better to just leave. 

2.Are there any reasons why couples should divorce? Explain.

 Couples should divorce in a time when being abused or mistreated. They should be in a relationship or marriage with someone that is often not doing any good thing. In the marriage it takes the person apart from who they truly are often it just destroys the person itself. 

3. What steps do you think the government should take to encourage marriage and lower the divorce rate?What impact does divorce have on society?

Government should take the steps to reduce divorce rate, by honestly making sure that in a marriage its what they truly want maybe a cleansing thing were the people honestly should test the limit to see if the relationship is going to last. Then again the government can't do much to help two people who believe they belong together. 

Drug Legalization- 

1. Where does opium come from?

Opium is legally used in the production of pharmaceuticals all over the world. 

2.List three side-effects of recreational drug use.

• Loss of appetite
• Increased heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature
• Dilation of pupils

3.If recreational drugs were legalized, what government agency should be charged with their regulation? 

If drugs were legalized, Local law enforcement agencies stationed within the respective residence would be charged with their regulations. 

Dating Violence- 

1. How can the use of cell phones contribute to dating violence and harassment?
Cell phones can lead to dating violence and harassment by using social networks without being careful. Some website can lead to people that can hack into your webcam and catfish accounts that people are often very unaware about. 

2.Why do some girls stay in abusive relationships?

Some girls stay in abusive relationships because often they see the good in the person that they are with. People only see the bad in the person while the person he's who they truly are inside. 

3.What can be done to educate teens and their parents about the warning signs of dating violence?
 Some educated teens can learn to be warned about  dating violence by telling them their are different situations that they can go about in order to really, leave a relationship they don't truly want to be in. often they just don't know how to leave the relationship or they are just scared. 

4.Do you think the prevalence of sexual content in the media contributes to dating violence? Why or why not?

 The prevalence of sexual content in the media contributes to dating violence, because often people meet on these dating sites believing it is safe. Often they just trust them and this may lead to dating violence because your just basing everything off of the things they listed about them in the bio. 

Teenage Suicidal Behavior- 

1. What kind of legal action is appropriate for teens who send racy pictures on their cell phones? 

The type of legal action is appropriate for teens who send racy pictures would be to take away all electronic from the child strictly picking them up and dropping them off at school. No social activity at all. or you can just strictly leave the child be to learn on their own the wrongs of doing such a thing and the consequence. 

2. Should teens who receive these photos receive the same punishment?

The teens that ask for the photos should be punished the same way. If the photo is just sent by the person itself then their should be no punishment toward that person. 

3. How would child pornography laws be applied to someone over the age of 18 who sends or receives nude photos on a call phone? What would be the consequences of being charged with a crime involving child pornography?
Some teenagers who have texted photographs of themselves, or of their friends or partners, have been charged with distribution of child pornography, while those who have received the images have been charged with possession of child pornography; in some cases, the possession charge has been applied to school administrators who have investigated sexting incidents as well.

4. What role should schools take in educating teens about the dangers of "sexting"?
What responsibility do parents have in monitoring their children’s use of cell phones and computers?

Parents barely have any type of mointopring 

Prewriting Question

• What cases can be made for or against X?

Teenage Suicidal Behavior- 

YES		NO
Teens need to be aware of the seriousness of sexting. Teenagers often don't want to open up to anyone cause everyone say the same thing " That they have a purpose in this world"		Teenagers overreact and believe suicide is the only way to get rid of the situation.

Dating Violence-

YES		NO
Many girls are afraid to stand up to a strong and controlling boyfriend.		Violent and sexual images in the media, as well as new communication technology, contribute significantly to an increase in dating violence.

Drug Legalization-

YES		NO
The criminalization of recreational drugs is a waste of law enforcement resources.		Recreational drugs lead to  social decay.

Divorce-

YES		NO
Society would benefit if families stayed together.  Children would be happier in a household with both parents		It is pointless to stay in an unhappy marriage.

Child Sexual Abuse-

YES		NO
More needs to be done to keep molesting employees out of schools.		Many states are already enacting new legislation that includes tough penalties for abusive school employees and for administrators who fail to report them.