Choosing a Research Topic
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The document provides guidance on choosing an effective research topic. It recommends starting with a broad topic of interest and then narrowing it down by using library databases to answer questions about who, what, when, where and why. This helps formulate a research question that takes a stance and can be supported with evidence. Good research topics are narrow enough to cover in the required pages but broad enough to find information. The topic should be approachable from at least two sides and not answerable with a quick search. Examples of good and bad research questions are provided.
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Choosing a Research Topic
- 1. Choosing a Research Topic
- 2. A successful research project starts with a good topic. But how can you decide what to pick?
- 3. The first thing to do is read your assignment carefully. How long does it have to be? How many sources will you need? Are any topics off-limits? Although you may do some summaries or reviews, most college-level research is persuasive or argumentative writing.
- 4. This type of research has a clear purpose: taking a stance and supporting it with high-quality evidence.
- 5. Step #1: Select a broad topic of interest. Step #2: Narrow it down to an effective research topic once you have learned a little more. Choosing a good research topic has two main steps:
- 6. There are many places that can help you find a broad topic idea, including news sources, magazines, course materials, or even a conversation with friends, family or your instructor.
- 7. But there are also a few library databases that are ideal for exploring an area of interest, and they also allow you to get a jump-start on your research at the same time. (Find them in a class LibGuide or the A-Z Databases List.)
- 8. These databases allow you to browse or search for topics and read background information, reference sources (like online encyclopedias), news, journal articles and more.
- 9. These databases present different sides of complex issues. This helps with a very important part of doing good research: being open to what you find. You will not learn much if you only look for sources that validate preexisting beliefs. You do learn when you are open to new ideas and new knowledge.
- 10. As you browse these databases, ask yourself five questions. When I am looking at a potential topic, what exactly should I be learning about it?
- 11. Who? What? Where? When? Why? Questions to Ask When Browsing
- 12. Questions to Ask When Browsing Which groups have an interest in this topic? (ex. parents, particular organizations, students, the government, etc.) Who specifically will you focus on? What are the most important issues at stake? What are the different factors involved? Where is the topic relevant? Will you focus on the United States? Ohio? Some sort of comparison? When did the situation or event start? Is it ongoing? How recent should your sources be to be useful? What interests you about it? Why do you want to write about it? Who? What? Where? When? Why?
- 13. Once you can answer the Who, What, When, Where and Why, you typically will have a good idea of an effective, narrowed version of your original broad topic. Your instructor might ask you to phrase your narrowed topic as a question; this is called the research question. As You Browse a Topic:
- 14. 1) Answerable 2) Narrow enough to be covered sufficiently in the required number of pages 3) Broad enough that you can actually find information 4) Abstract enough to require analysis Good Research Questions Are
- 15. 1) Trivia questions 2) Answered with a quick Yes or No 3) Answerable with a 5- minute search on Google 4) Asking for an opinion that cannot be supported Bad Research Questions Are
- 16. Are These Good Research Questions? Where did the Civil War start? Why did the Civil War start? Who had the best-looking uniforms in the Civil War?
- 17. Are These Good Research Questions? Where did the Civil War start? Why did the Civil War start? Who had the best-looking uniforms in the Civil War? No. It can be answered with a quick Google search and has a definite answer. It is not an interesting question. No. It is way too broad to be covered well in a college paper. Entire books have been written on this subject, and even they cannot fully answer it. No. It is a matter of opinion. If I like the color blue there is no evidence that can convince me that gray is more attractive.
- 18. Bad Better Why did the Civil War start? How did the Mexican-American War lead to the subsequent Civil War? Who had the best- looking uniforms during the Civil War? Which army’s uniforms were better suited for fighting in the Civil War? Fixing Bad Research Questions
- 19. You do not want a topic that is so broad you cannot make an effective argument, but you also do not want one too narrow that you cannot find any published information. Let’s take a look at some more examples.
- 20. Too Broad Just Right Too Narrow Reality TV Reality TV shows and portrayal of African- American women Arguments about race in the show Big Brother in 2013 Bullying Successful bullying prevention programs in elementary schools Consequences and prevention of bullying in elementary schools in Montgomery County Campus safety Benefits and costs of implementing after-hours campus safety program Number of muggings prevented by installing new sidewalk lights on campus
- 21. Another important thing to ask is whether your research topic is approachable from at least two sides. In other words, someone else should be able to take another view.
- 22. What does the president do? What power does the president have over declaring war? Although the second research question is more specific, neither of these examples is approachable from two sides. The paper would simply be a summary of indisputable facts and no one could reasonably take another view. Fixing Bad Research Questions
- 23. Should the president have the power to declare war? Now our research question is debatable and we can choose the position that is best supported by evidence. The paper will certainly include some description of the president’s powers, since this is necessary for the reader to understand, but this research question goes deeper and requires analysis. It will end up being much better research! Fixing Bad Research Questions
- 24. These are all general guidelines. Be sure to look carefully at your assignment and talk to your instructor about choosing a good research topic in the context of your class.
- 25. Next Steps: Look over the resources in the “further activities” section to the right and take the Quiz below it. Also, please leave any comments or questions you have below this presentation.
- 26. Credits Images Slide 1 http://www.flickr.com/photos/rememberremix/8394083030/ Slide 2 http://www.flickr.com/photos/ludwg/8668129713/ Slides 14-15 http://www.psdgraphics.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/thumbs-up-down-icons.jpg Content Slides 16-20 adapted from University of West Georgia’s “The Research Process” handout Slide 20 chart adapted from Kansas State’s “COMM 105/106: Public Speaking” LibGuide http://guides.lib.k- state.edu/publicspeaking105/106 Key Takeaway: A great way to choose an effective research topic is to start with a broad area of interest, browse library databases to answer the “Who/What/When/Where/Why,” and then formulate a research question that takes a stance on your issue and can be supported with high-quality evidence.