Labor-Focused Research Questions

Below each question is an example of how that question could be narrowed to a researchable topic.

1. What kinds of work-related changes were required [specific labor law or court case]? In what ways would those changes have been considered revolutionary, or not, at the time?

• Example What kinds of work-related changes were required by the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938?  In what ways would those changes have been considered revolutionary, or not, at the time?

2. What demands or ideas did [specific group of workers] propose in [strike demand or public statement]. And in what ways (and for whom) were they seeking reform or revolutionary change?

• Example: What ideas did the Knights of Labor’s propose in their “Preamble and Declaration of Principles”? In what ways (and for whom) were they seeking reform or revolutionary change?

3. How did [specific employer&/or government] react to [specific strike]?

• Example: How did General Motors Corporation react to the autoworkers’ sit-down strike in 1936-1937?

4. How did [new technology or work process] affect [specific group of workers]? How did those workers react&/or in what ways did this revolutionize who did that work and working conditions?

• Example: How did the introduction of the disassembly line” (division of labor) in meatpacking affect the workers who butchered and processed meat in Kansas City in the late 19th century?

5. How did [specific group of workers] react or contribute to [specific revolution]?

• Example: How did enslaved people in the United States react to news of the Haitian Revolution of 1893?

Narrow the question to a researchable project by inserting a specific time period, event &/or group of workers and employers in the brackets.

• A time period might be a week(s), month(s), or year(s)
• An event might be a strike, a labor negotiation, a court case, a campaign to pass a law
• A group of workers might be defined by one or more of the following
  •      a particular city or workplace
  •      a particular skill or occupation
  •      personal characteristics (gender, age, free or unfree labor, race or ethnicity, ability)
• Search newspapers and labor presses, history books, articles or exhibits, or ask local union leaders to identify a nearby or lesser-known labor dispute, law, workplace, or worker(s) or employer(s).