QUESTION TYPE

EXAMPLE QUESTION

COMPONENTS OF THE ANSWER

1. Reference questions : typically answered with single known facts or statistics.
e.g.Scavenger hunt, trivia, jeopardy,background information, answers to level one questions. Use
encyclopedias,almanacs,topical reference books

1.a. Find the population of each country in Africa or the total (in dollars) of Japanese investment in the U.S. in 2002.
1.b. What percentage of drug-related crime in 1999 was committed by dealers, not users?"  

   A search for individual facts or data:
        *Often is part of the search for the solution to a larger problem or simply the answer to a “bar bet”.
        * May be gathering background information to understand the context of a book, artist, fashion design or historical period
         * Facts/data are sometimes found quickly or can require a very intensive/extensive search [Note: Concerned with facts rather than knowledge or analysis and answers can normally be found in a single source.]

  2. Review or report questions are typically answered with what is generally known about a fairly narrow topic. A survey of what is known or opinions.

e.g. current events, book report, controverials topic report,

 2.a. Find out what is known generally about a fairly specific topic. "What is the history of the Internet?"
2.b “What is the rationale for California's "3 strikes" sentencing policy?”

 A report or review:
***NOT designed to create new information or insight

IS DESIGNED to collate and synthesize existing information. A summary of the past.

Answers can typically be found in a selection of books, articles, and Web sites.

[Note: gathering this information may often include activities like #1 above.]

  3. Research questions are open-ended and require a variety of accumulated data to develop an answer. Done in high school, college and in the world of work!  Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, New thinking.

3.a. Gather evidence to determine whether gang violence is directly related to playing violent video games.

3.b."Could liberalization of drug laws reduce crime in the U.S.?"

 Combines reference and review/report searches to answer an open ended question.  Is advanced thinking and analysis: requires an open-ended question for which there is no ready answer.
One must:
* Gather and analyze a body of information or data and *  Extract new meaning from it or
 * Develop unique solutions to problems or cases..

[Note: this will always include #2  and usually #1above. It may also involve designing and performing experiments, gathering new data through lab or field work, surveys, or other techniques.]