Creating The Research Question   Guidelines For Forming A Research Question  It must be researchable -   In this case, you are using only the Historical On-Line Census Browser, and you must check the VARIABLES in each census year to  make sure that it provides the data needed to answer your research question.  It must be placed in context - Before you can form a valid research question on immigration, you must have a context for the question.  You can gain a general background on African American immigration patterns by doing  the general reading on the project page,  from lectures or projects proposed by your teachers, or conversations with local educators or historians on your community's immigration history.  Your family history is also an excellent place to begin this research.   If you have not done any of the above preparation, go back and do so. Without context, you cannot form a question that will yield any valid information.  It must be focused - Studying the immigration patterns of all African Americans in a single state may be too broad for right now.  The data base will  give you results at the county level. Choosing a county and studying it around an important event or udying immigration across a limited stacross a geographic area is much better.  It must be significant -   There has to be a reason for the study that goes beyond satisfying simple curiosity.  You shouldn't just gather data on the number of Blacks  in a county because that data seems to be readily available.  You should gather that data if you have established a benchmark within an historical context as described above. It must provide for spin-off research -  Good research answers lead to other research questions.  Your answer should provide for other research questions based on your results.  How To Form Your Research Question Researching the Effect of an important  event - A good research stance can be adopted by asking  what event prompted the immigration of this group out of the county in which you are studying.  Sample research question:  During the Exodus years of 1879-1881 - approximately 20,000 African Americans left the South.  What effect did this exodus have on the rate of Black immigration or migration from  your county? Researching Across Time -  Another good way to focus your research is to study a group in a specific county across a period of time.  Sample Research Question: The Colonial Williamsburg web page says that population in Colonial Williamsburg was in 1790 was half black.  What does the Federal Census place that percentage at in 1790 and at other selected dates up to 1990?  Researching Across Space - Choosing geographic areas to research can make a nice complement to the research across time or of a seminal event.  Sample Research Question:  What areas around Chicago did the largest number of African American  immigrants settle during the first wave the Great Migration after World War I?