Inquiry Questions

Good Inquiry Questions:

  • Are an invitation to think (not recall, summarize, and detail).

  • Require support and justification, not just an answer.

  • Are open-ended; typically there is not one final, correct answer.

  • Make you think about something in a way that you've never considered before.

  • Invites both deep thinking and deep feelings. Asks you to think ethically (what is right and wrong).

  • Leads to more good questions.

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Examples: Inquiry Research Questions

  1. Should there be limits to a society's freedom of speech? (ie, hate speech laws)

  2. Can North American media be trusted to provide unbiased news?

  3. Does the internet increase society's vulnerability to criminal activity?

  4. Should the government censor music lyrics for violence and exploitation?

  5. Is technology having a negative impact on our literacy levels?

  6. Is online social networking beneficial to society?

  7. Is online addiction real?

  8. Should society try to minimize violence in sports?

  9. Do violent video games promote real-life violence?

  10. Do cell phones have a net benefit on the lives of teenagers?

  11. Has modern technology created a generation that is less intelligent and lazy than previous generations?

  12. Is Internet activism an effective means of political action?

  13. Has unequal access to technology widened the achievement gap between the rich and poor?

  14. Should the government of British Columbia allow the province's rainforests to be logged?

  15. Should Canada reinstate the death penalty?

  16. Should the countries of the world deal with nations who decide to stockpile biological and chemical weapons?

  17. Should physician assisted suicide (euthanasia) be decriminalized?

  18. Should white supremacy groups be criminalized?

  19. Does homeschooling provide a better schooling experience than public schooling?

  20. Is Islamic fundamentalism unjustly stereotyped in Canada?

  21. Should organ donors be paid for their donations?

  22. Should Canada's oil sources be nationalized, or expropriated, by the government?

  23. Have anti-terrorism laws in North America been successful?

  24. Should Iran and North Korea be allowed to develop their own nuclear weapons

  25. Should downloading copyrighted material (books, songs, videos, etc.) be illegal?

  26. Is it important to protect the world's coral reefs?

  27. Do women in Islamic countries face more obstacles than women in North America?

  28. What renewable energy source is most likely to replace fossil fuels?

  29. Should the governments of the world continue to spend billions of dollars on space exploration?

  30. Is nuclear power a feasible source of clean energy?

  31. Does alcohol advertising promote substance abuse?

  32. Have the governments of the world done enough to prevent the spread of AIDS?

  33. Is there sufficient evidence to prove the existence of extraterrestrial life?

  34. Are governments in North America doing enough to address childhood poverty?

  35. Should prostitution be decriminalized?