Workshop 7: “Which Came First—the Answer or the Question?” will address the most important, and least discussed, aspect of the thesis: the research question that is so enthralling that the graduate student has no problem living with it for at least the next year of her life. A graduate student cannot be a good thinker and a poor questioner. I will discuss how each discipline is driven not by the answers but by the essential questions. This workshop will teach students how to master the art of questioning, and illustrate how these questions will lead to the thesis. I will focus on the following methods of questioning goals and purposes:
a. Questioning Goals and Purposes
b. Questioning Questions
c. Questioning Information, Data, and Experience
d. Questioning Inferences and Conclusions
e. Questioning Concepts and Ideas
f. Questioning Assumptions
g. Questioning Implications and Consequences
h. Questioning Viewpoints and Perspectives