Nova Scotia
1. Political Inquiry and Skills
1.1 Formulating Political Questions
Chapter 1.1
Formulating Political Questions: The Foundation of Political Inquiry
Learners develop the skills to craft rigorous, open-ended, and evidence-based political inquiry questions that drive meaningful analysis of governance, policy, and civic life.
What You'll Learn
Political inquiry questions must be open-ended, debatable, and researchable.
Empirical questions seek facts while normative questions involve value judgements.
Scope, stakeholder analysis, and perspective-taking strengthen political inquiry questions.
Revising biased or weak questions improves analytical depth and inquiry quality.
What You'll Practice
1
Students distinguish empirical questions from normative claims in political contexts.
2
Learners identify characteristics of strong, well-scoped political inquiry questions.
3
Practice involves revising weak questions into analytically rigorous political inquiries.
Why This Matters
Formulating strong political inquiry questions is the essential foundation for all rigorous political analysis, civic engagement, and evidence-based reasoning about governance and public policy.
This Unit Includes
Practice exercises
Learning resources
Skills
Political Inquiry
Empirical Questions
Normative Claims
Causal Reasoning
Evidence-Based Reasoning
NS Curriculum Aligned
