4 Application: Question Trees

Oftentimes, one question leads to another question, so it can be helpful to document all the questions swirling around in your mind as you think about what you want to write about this semester.

A question tree is one way to keep track of all the questions you have. To begin this exercise, start with a root question. This root question should be the main question you’re thinking about at the start of your inquiry process.

Once you’ve written down your root question, pause to think about what question you want to ask next. What more do you need to learn in order to answer this first question you’ve posed? Notice in the video below that the root question we’ll be discussing is: ‘Is working an on-campus job a good idea?” Now, draw a tree trunk and carefully write inside of the trunk this next question, which we’ll call the trunk question.

Notice, then, in the next branch in the video that we consider the question: ‘Will working on campus help me graduate on time?

Then, spend a little time with each branch question to determine if there are additional offshoot that will or could be answered to help you understand your branch questions. Write down anything that comes to mind. These will be your twig questions.

As a final step, look back at all of your questions. You might circle the ones you find most interesting and use these to narrow your focus. Keep in mind that just because you began with a root question doesn’t mean that you need this first question to be the question that drives your upcoming writing project. You can choose to proceed with a branch or a twig question instead. Whatever you decide, the question tree presents an opportunity to creatively externalize your intellectual inquiry and then prioritize the primary question you’ll use to drive your project forward.