Research into history is more then simply presenting an unchanging view of the past, historians instead are constantly search for new sources, untold stories, new approaches, to discovering these stories, and finding new interpretations based on new information, all in an effort to offer an ever-new past to the present.

The Research Question we will pursue for this guided research into cultural migration is:

Are patterns apparent in the immigration/migration of African Americans during the years after the Civil War?

So how did we come up this research question?

Research depends on several assumptions; such as there are regular patterns that we can comprehend. Theories are the tentative explanations of our understanding of these patterns and how and why these patterns may occur. The pursuit of understanding requires that the researcher acquire and foster certain attitudes; such as questioning, disciplined curiosity, open-mindedness, with-holding judgment, respect for evidence balanced with skepticism, intellectual honesty, a sense of responsibility, and an understanding of one's competence and limitations.

Before planning an investigation, the researcher first recognizes a question or a problem to be studied. Although questions need not be derived from a theory, theories often guide researchers in predicting events or outcomes of research which ultimately support or deny the explanation. You have spent time investigating where your ancestors came from and you are ready to state a problem in a more formal manner. Questions about observable patterns in the movement of people are the basis of our work.

Additional Research Ideas
Some interesting research ideas on immigration/migration of African Americans would include:

• What was the social climate in the South after the Civil War in the United States that may have cause the immigration/migration of African Americans?
• Can we determine how many African Americans immigrated from slave holding states in the years after the Civil war?
• Can we determine how many African Americans immigrated from non-slave-holding states in the years after the Civil war?
• What were their states of origin?
• What were their states of destination?
• Did they stay at their initial destination sites and become permanent residents or did they move on to other locations?
• What kinds of lands and places were they looking for?
• What impact did the immigration of African Americans have on the areas to which they moved?

As you have reviewed the background information of this project, you may have come up with some of your own ideas for research. Your ideas should be added to the growing list of ideas below. These ideas can also grow into research questions. Click on a link to read additional research areas submitted by others or respond to a previous research question posted here.
You may type a new research idea and your comments in the boxes below.

Formalizing your Research Question

Your research question should evolve as you go through the research process. The research question is in the center of the Vee-diagram so that as you take each step of the process, you will revisit your question. This will focus your work, but it will also help you evaluate whether your question goes to the heart of what you want to know. The ideal question is one that will yield the most relevant and reliable information with the least expense and effort. Review the Background Information as a part of this guided research. Additional information and sources can be found through library research, consulting the card catalog and any available journals or abstracts in the field. Local historical museums are great sources of information. Internet searches are also valuable but as always, evaluate the source of the information. Anyone who does not bother to review previous literature runs the risk of needlessly duplicating effort or mistakes. After you have done your information search you should revisit your research question and determine if changes need to be made.

The Research we will pursue for this guided research:

If failure of reconstruction after the civil war and the resulting political unrest were resulting in an economic enslavement of African Americans, then we would should see a pattern of migration out of the southeast United States.

Notice that this is in the form of a statement. It makes the prediction of what we expect to observe, if our model is correct!