Formulating a Research Questions/Thesis Statements

As you define and focus your topic it is helpful to express it in terms of a question and then a thesis statement which expresses the main idea of the research assignment.  For example, a project on televised presidential debates could be expressed as follows: "How has the nature of Presidential elections been affected by televised debates?"  Depending on the information attained, the thesis statement might be: "Television debates have (or do not have) a significant effect on presidential elections in the United States."  The information you gather is used to answer your research question and to support your thesis statement.