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Helping Students Answer Document-Based Questions
Document-based questions (DBQs) have become standard on many high-stakes social studies tests.
Document-based questions (DBQs) have become standard on many high-stakes social studies tests. Responding to DBQs effectively requires skill that can be developed through direct instruction and practice. Teaching students a step-by-step approach allows them to address the question in a methodical and thoughtful manner that will result in greater skill and confidence.
The purposes for using DBQs far surpasses that of just high stakes tests however. There are many benefits to using them throughout the entire social studies curriculum.
Benefits of Document-Based Questions
Students are asked to process information the way social scientists or historians do.
Answers to DBQs provide an excellent platform for assessing both content and critical thinking skills.
DBQs make connections between what students learn from secondary sources and the primary sources upon which the social sciences are based.
Content is provided for a wide variety of measurements that include analyzing competing theories, evaluating historical evidence, tracking change over time, detecting bias, testing data sources for reliability or validity, etc.
DBQs lend themselves to many question types, such as true/false, multiple choice, short answer, and essay.
Sources
Teachers need to identify high quality, authentic sources for document-based questions. The seemingly limitless supply of documents available for DBQs includes:
- quotations from primary historic or literary sources
- published government documents
- charts, graphs, and tables
- maps, plans, and blueprints
- cartoons, drawings, and art
Strategies for Answering DBQs
Students should learn practical approaches to answering document-based questions. Practicing a step-by-step method of answering DBQs can improve a student’s thinking skills and generate confidence that often results in better test scores. Consider teaching students to apply the following approaches in their studies.
DBQs based on quotations or government documents
- Before reading the document, read the question(s) to understand its focus.
- When reading the document, highlight or underline key words that relate to the question(s).
- Make notes that pertain to the question.
- Consider the author and the time when the document was written.
- Identify the author’s point of view and purpose.
- Watch for comparisons and contrasts or cause and effect relationships that affect the answer.
DBQs based on charts, graphs, tables, maps, plans, and blueprints
- Read the question(s) to determine what to look for in the document.
- Consider the purpose for creating a visual of the information.
- Read the title and/or key to a map or plan; consider the trends of a graph or chart; compare the elements of a table.
- Make notes that pertain to the question and use them to answer it.
DBQs based on cartoons, drawings, or art
- Read the questions(s) to determine what to look for in the visual.
- Consider the purpose or motivation of the person who created the visual.
- Ask how the visual conveys its creators concepts and whether it has an emotional impact.
- Apply your observations to the question(s).
Note: Students will need frequent opportunities to practice answering document-based questions in order to perform well on DBQs on a high-stakes test. Integrating such questions into weekly tests and lessons helps to ensure success for students on standardized social studies tests.
Sample Document-Based Question
Study the world population graph and answer the question below.
- Which of the following statements best reflects the information on the chart?
- World population has been on a steady decline since 1960.
- The graph projects that population growth rates will steadily decline during the first half of the 21st century.
- Population declines in some countries are offset by growth in others.
- All of these are true.
Strategy
Walk students through the following process.
- Ask students to read the question before studying the graph.
- Study the graph. What is the purpose of the graph? Read the title of the graph. What information is going to be presented? What data is represented on the x and y coordinates? Take notes if possible.
- Return to the question and read the answer choices.
The student, reading, would find that there are four possible statements that might reflect the information on the chart. The purpose of the visual was to call out an expected steady decline in the population growth rate. The title identifies that the chart is about population growth rates, not population growth. So, the answer is (b), the world population growth rate is projected to decline steadily.
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