Quick questions on Planning the Major Project in HSC Aboriginal Studies

A strong focus is specific, significant and researchable. It might examine a local community organisation, a cultural practice, a social justice issue, a person of significance, or a comparison. Avoid topics so broad they cannot be researched in depth, and avoid topics where you cannot access reliable or community-endorsed sources. The best projects connect to a community you can engage respectfully, often a local one.

Convert your focus into one main inquiry question and a few sub-questions. A good inquiry question is open, analytical and answerable with evidence you can realistically gather. For example, rather than asking whether a community is doing well, ask how a specific community-controlled organisation supports self-determination, and what its members identify as its strengths and challenges. The questions shape every later decision about methods and sources.

Say "interviews and community-based fieldwork (primary)" and "government reports and statistics (secondary)" rather than a vague "I did some research", and pair quantitative/qualitative with what each captures (scale vs meaning).

Show HOW it changes a decision: designing the focus with community input, or choosing methods (yarning, community-led fieldwork) that give participants genuine voice.