This question aligns with Chapter 2, "Getting Started: Finding a Research Question," of Writing a Research Paper in Political Science.A "good" research question ______.
A. allows the student to find out even more about something that she or he has not had a chance to learn about in the past. Seeking to develop an excellent description of an event or phenomenon, regardless of the existing scholarship, is an important goal for a student
B. often takes time to develop because the student is trying to find a way to write about a topic, about which there is already a good deal of information. Therefore, the student must find a narrow part to discuss or will have too much to say
C. frequently puts a student in the middle of a debate among scholars and/or policy makers. As these experts are not sure what the "best" answer is, students know that entering this discussion will enable them to have something interesting and nontrivial to say
D. reflects a puzzle; in other words, a difficult conceptualization of a term or theory in political science that most students or citizens can't understand. Therefore, the student's job in the research paper is to describe and clarify this term or theory. Research questions motivated by puzzles are mainly theoretical in nature and are best suited to students who aren't interested in doing empirical research
E. none of these
Answer: C
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