The Investigation Topic That Is Too Broad
A student must complete an investigation worth a substantial share of the school assessment. The topic chosen is 'Japanese food culture'. The plan lists sections on sushi, ramen, seasonal festivals, regional differences, convenience stores, and the student's own cooking experience. The investigation must be conducted largely in Japanese, include analysis rather than description, and connect to the student's own experience. The student has collected 12 sources, all in English, and intends to translate key points into Japanese at the end. The teacher's feedback says the topic lacks a research question and that the sources do not support analysis.
1. Diagnose the two main problems with this investigation plan and propose a narrower research question.
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First, the topic is a list of subtopics, not a research question, so it invites description rather than analysis. Six sections in the available time will produce shallow coverage with no argument. Second, all 12 sources are in English and translation is deferred to the end, which undermines the requirement that the investigation be conducted largely in Japanese and makes analysis harder because the student is working at one remove from the material. A narrower question would be, for example: 'How has the regional availability of a particular ingredient shaped local home cooking, and how does this compare with what is sold where I live?' This is answerable, comparative, and links to the student's own experience. The student should reduce to two or three focused sections, gather Japanese-language sources such as local government or supermarket pages early, and read them before drafting rather than translating afterwards.
2. Explain how the revised plan better satisfies the requirement for analysis and personal connection.
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The revised question asks 'how' and 'compare', which requires the student to explain causes and weigh differences rather than list facts. Each section must make a claim supported by evidence from the Japanese sources, and the comparison with the student's own region supplies the analytical contrast. The personal connection is built into the question rather than tacked on as a final anecdote about cooking. Working from Japanese sources early also means the student's notes and draft are already in Japanese, so the final product reflects genuine engagement with the material instead of a translation exercise. The two-to-three-section structure leaves room to develop each point in depth, which is what distinguishes analysis from a survey. The student should keep a source log in Japanese to demonstrate the research process.