SELECTING A TOPIC

Selecting a topic for a research project can often be the most difficult step in the research process for some students. The first questions to ask yourself are: "What am I really interested in? What might I actually enjoy finding information about?" Maybe you read about something interesting in a recent newspaper or magazine article, or perhaps you heard something in a conversation or you saw something on a television program that sparked your interest.

In our discussion of how to select a topic, it is important to distinguish between a subject and a topic.

A subject is a broad area of interest from which a more specific topic can be selected. Examples of subjects might be "illegal immigration", "alcoholism", "freedom of speech", or "computer networks". Subjects are too broad to be a focus for a research paper and most subjects--unless they are dealing with very current issues--are likely to have whole books written about them. When trying to decide on a topic to research, it is generally helpful to first choose a subject. You can then focus in on a particular aspect of the subject for your topic.

A topic is a relatively narrow area of interest that could be thoroughly researched and written about in the time and length of the given assignment. Research topics commonly include at least two aspects or concepts. If you started with the subject "illegal immigration", for example, after some preliminary research or background reading, you might find that many people writing about the subject are concerned with the impact of illegal immigration on the U.S. economy. The economy could be the second concept for your research topic. The two (or more) concepts in a research topic can often be phrased in relationship to each other, such as "The effect of _________ on _________", "The role of _________ in _________" or "The use of _________ in _________". Following our focussing process from the subject "illegal immigration", a possible research topic could be "The effect of illegal immigration on the U.S. economy."

It can often be helpful to phrase a topic as a research question. For example, if you reworded this topic as research question, it would be "How does illegal immigration affect the U.S. economy?"

When you focus in on a research topic from a broad subject area, it's important to select a topic which is:

1) interesting to you, and

2) not too broad and not too specific.

If you select a topic that is too general, you will be overwhelmed with too much information to choose from and it will be difficult to focus your search. If there are whole books written about your topic, it is too broad for a research paper. If you choose a topic that is too specific, it will be difficult to find enough information to support your ideas and there may not be enough sources to allow you to develop a balanced perspective on a topic. If your research question can be fully answered in a few paragraphs, your topic is too limited. Narrowing in on a precise topic often continues well into the research process. As you gather more information, you will come up with more ideas to focus your research.

Paying attention to the wording of your research question can sometimes help you avoid being too specific. Research questions beginning with "How..." or "Why..." are usually broader and typically lead to more substantial research projects than questions beginning with "Who...", "Where..." or "When...", which can often be too limited for most research assignments. Questions beginning with "What..." tend to vary in breadth, depending on the wording of the rest of the question. For example, "What is the effect of illegal immigration on the U.S. economy?" is essentially the same relatively broad question as our earlier example that started with "How..."; while "What percentage of total U.S. employees are illegal immigrants?" is a much more specific question and would not be broad enough for most research assignments.

Research questions that have no simple answers usually lead to more productive research papers. Topics that are controversial and for which there are various different points of view give you more possibilities for developing your own ideas and analysis from your research.

Encyclopedias and other special reference sources (available in both print and electronic versions) can help you select and narrow a research topic. Be sure to use the index of any encyclopedia. The index will not only help you find all of the information on your subject in different sections of the encyclopedia, it will also often list subheadings and cross references for more specific subjects and related subjects that you may find more interesting. The actual articles in encyclopedias can give you a useful introduction to and overview of a subject. These articles can often help you decide on a topic on which to focus. An example of how to use an encyclopedia for selecting and narrowing a topic is described in the section, "Reference Tools for Backgound Information and Topic Selection."

Current periodicals (magazines and newspapers) may be helpful in providing you with an overview of recent events and issues in which you might be interested. A library's periodicals subject list can give the names of magazines that specialize in particular subject areas. By browsing through a number of different recent periodicals covering a specific discipline, you can often get a good sense of what topics are currently popular in the field.

In addition to using reference sources and periodicals to help select a topic, there are many creative techniques--often called "pre-writing" techniques--that can be used to prompt your thought processes. Techniques such as "brainstorming", "clustering", "mapping" and various types of lists and questions are discussed in many books dealing with written composition, creative writing and creative problem solving.

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These materials may be used for educational purposes if you inform and credit the author and cite the source as: LSCI 105 Computerized Research. All commercial rights are reserved. To contact the author, or send comments or suggestions, email: Eric Brenner at brenner@smcccd.cc.ca.us