Developing Research Skills for Middle School Students

To say that middle school is different from elementary school would be the understatement of the year. As a parent watching your child transition between these two academic and social environments, you want to do everything possible to support their journey. 

One area where your child may need the most help involves independent research. Developing strong research skills as a pre-teen provides a sturdy foundation your child can build upon in high school and beyond. 

Let’s dive into how you can promote research skills for middle school success. 

What are Research Skills, and Why Are They Important?

Research skills refer to the ability to find, analyze, and evaluate information relevant to a topic or assignment. 

To expand on this definition, consider how research skills affect your life outside of work and academic settings. To find the best coffee maker, for example, you need to compare models, read product reviews, and track prices to get the best deal. 

Beyond helping you find the best coffee maker, research skills help employees complete many routine tasks. The better the research skills you demonstrate on the job, the more value you demonstrate as an employee. 

For these reasons, it’s essential that your child start improving their research skills for middle school. Let’s dive into the specific skills that can set your child up for professional and academic success. 

Research Skills Middle School Students Need

So far, we’ve established that research skills relate to finding, analyzing, and evaluating information related to a task. To your 12-13-year-old, these concepts might be as foreign as Ancient Greek. In this section, we’ll break down each of these ideas in a digestible way. In the next section, we’ll focus on how you can support your child’s research journey at each step.

NOTE: It’s likely that your child can already do some or most of what we’ll cover in the next two sections. Your task as a parent is to help them connect the dots and apply their skills in a new way.  

Finding Good Sources

Every day, your child is bombarded with information from different sources, such as television, websites, and social media. You might have already discussed internet safety with your child or put a content filter on their cell phone/computer. However, if they’re going to become an independent researcher, they need to know how to identify unreliable sources independently.  

Analyzing with Purpose

Analysis is part of the human experience, as we, on some level, analyze everything we see or hear. However, this is mostly a passive activity. To analyze with purpose, your child will need to learn how to turn analysis from a passive into an active activity. 

Evaluating Without Emotion 

People naturally want to find sources that match their opinions. However, good researchers know how to evaluate without emotion, meaning they look at all sources objectively and judge them on their merits. 

Ways to Improve Research Skills for Middle School Students

This is the part where you come in. Discover how you can boost your child’s skills in the three areas we reviewed in the previous section.  

Finding Good Sources

The internet dominates research in 2025, but a visit to the local library can still support your child’s research skills development. If your child is working on a research project for school, have them talk to a research librarian. These highly trained professionals know exactly how to support young learners’ research skills. 

At home, simply valuing reading can go a long way in supporting your child’s growth in this area. Providing physical newspapers and books encourages your child to compare and seek out new viewpoints. 

Analyzing with Purpose

As your child navigates sources at home, online, and at the library, ask them guiding questions about what they’re planning to read. Something as simple as “What makes you want to read that book?” can support their intellectual development.  

Analyzing Without Emotion

It’s natural that your child will have opinions about what they read, and some things may provoke an emotional response. Emphasize that although this response is 100% natural, take a moment to ask them why they feel the way they do. This conversation can help your child identify their emotional triggers and learn how to set them aside as they review sources objectively.  

Questions and Answers 

What are some research activities for middle school students?

Consider a family genealogy project to jumpstart your child’s passion for research. This project could include:

·      Interviewing aunts, uncles, and grandparents.

·      Performing research through Ancestry or a similar service.

·      Visiting the library to research news stories about family members.

No matter the specific activities, a family genealogy project provides many opportunities for your child to develop their research skills and build self-confidence. Encourage your child to use their creativity (e.g., drawing, creative writing) throughout the project. 

What’s the difference between qualitative and quantitative research skills?

Quantitative research refers to the analysis of numerical data sets. You perform this kind of research every time you check your bank statements or credit card bills. As quantitative research requires some knowledge of statistics, your child may not encounter it until their last year of middle school or first year of high school. 

Qualitative research involves analyzing non-numerical data, such as different opinions about the same topic. This is the kind of research skill your child is likely to tackle first in middle school and requires mastery of the skills we’ve discussed so far in this article. 

What are some small ways I can support my child in improving their research skills?

There are many great ways to help your child improve their research skills outside of structured activities. Watching a news program with your child and discussing it afterward can complement the research education your child receives in school.

Other ways to support your child include encouraging their passions outside of school. Learning how to improve at a sport, instrument, or any creative activity requires research and practice. Performing this kind of research also demonstrates its value as a normal, everyday activity.