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Return to the Guide to Academic Research
Choosing a research topic
Hide/show this dialogue
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Hannah and David talk homework over some turkey tetrazzini in the Marketplace…
Hannah: I’ve got an 8-10 page paper on some type of postcolonial literature for Trads. And I need at least 5 scholarly sources.
David: Don’t look at me, I’ve got a presentation for Poli Sci. I need data about the 1992 and 1996 elections, contemporary newspaper articles, and secondary sources on third parties.
Hannah: Oh, the 90s… I wish I was a kid again, watching Sesame Street.
David: Hey, maybe if we talk to that librarian sitting at the reference desk, we can get our topics figured out in time to go catch that Real World marathon in Loose Lounge.
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The topic you choose plays a large role in the outcome of your research project. It is likely that your topic will change several times as you progress through the early stages of research, so don’t worry if your first few ideas turn into dead ends.
Where are you in the process right now?
I need to...
- think of ideas for a topic
- start looking for sources on my topic to determine if it is feasible
Getting ideas for your topic
Understand your assignment:
- Are there assigned topics or do you need to develop your own?
- Has your instructor specified what type or how many sources you need?
- What is the scope of the assignment?
Is it a five-minute presentation or a 15-page paper? Do you need to everything about the topic or just enough about one area to explain it to someone else? Asking yourself these kinds of questions can help you determine what types of sources you are looking for.
- Do you need recent information?
- Do you need primary sources?
- Do you need data sources?
- When is it
due?
If the due date is less than a week away, you’ll need to focus on resources that our library has. If you have more time, you’ll be able to request articles and books through Interlibrary Loan.
A good topic is:
- something you are interested in
- appropriate to the requirements of the assignment
- able to be supported by evidence
Ways to look for ideas when brainstorming a topic:
- look over what you’ve read for the course
- talk to your instructor
- talk to your friends
- pay attention to current events, or browse newspapers and magazines
Start looking for sources
Brainstorm search terrms
- Make a list of words that describe your topic.
- In addition to words for broad concepts (e.g. poverty, feminism) consider brainstorming more specific keywords, such as:
- Event: an event within the context of your topic.
- Time: a particular time period connected to your topic.
- Person or group: an individual or group identified with the topic or particularly affected by it.
- Place: a region, city or other geographical unit connected to your topic.
See
Hannah's and or
David'skeyword lists for examples.
"postcolonial literature," "Indian literature," Salman Rushdie, Midnight's Children, India Pakistan partition, "postcolonial literature history"
Bill Clinton, Ross Perot, Bob Dole, third party
- Read over background information on your topic using encyclopedias or a specialized dictionary… or Wikipedia, just don’t end your research there.
- Use your list to do a few basic keyword searches in the library catalog and one or two databases relevant to your subject to see if your topic can be supported by the available information.
- Schedule a library lab or stop by the reference desk to ask a librarian where to start looking.
Narrowing your topic
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Hannah: If I just put “postcolonial literature” into the catalog, I get 373 hits! I can't read all that or fit it into 8 pages... |
If you’ve found numerous articles or books that are potentially related to your topic and you can’t decide which ones to focus on, it’s time to narrow your topic.
- Go back to your list of keywords—is there a particular person, place, time period, or event you could use as the focus of your paper?
Too broad: postcolonial literature in India
Better: postcolonial aspects of the work of Salman Rushdie
Best: postocolonial dynamics of historical representation in Rushdie's Midnight's Children
Be flexible—it is normal to have your topic change as your research progresses. You can never predict what you’re going to find.
Broaden your topic
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David: I wanted to find out how college-educated women in Poweshiek County responded to Ross Perot's flat tax proposal, but I can find any data on that. |
Before you give up on a topic that really interests you, it’s worth talking to a librarian or your professor to see if there are potential sources you are overlooking or that are hard to find.
Sometimes, though, there's just no reliable data on the topic. You might need to broaden it or take a different angle.
- Can you expand the concepts you’d like to study?
Too narrow: women voting for Ross Perot in Poweshiek county
Better: success of third parties among Iowa voters
- Can you expand the time period or groups of people that you hope to study?
Too narrow: women in Iowa voting for a third party in the 1992 or 1996 election
Better: Iowa voters response to Ross Perot in the 1992 or 1996 election
Be flexible—it is normal to have your topic change as your research progresses. You can never predict what you’re going to find.
Turn your topic into a research question
After you’ve conducted background research on your topic, it can be helpful to begin expressing it as a specific question.
- Idea = Frank Lloyd Wright or modern architecture
- Research Question = How has Frank Lloyd Wright influenced modern architecture?
- Focused Research Question = What design principles used by Frank Lloyd Wright are common in contemporary homes?
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