Need an Idea?
A great idea can come from many places. Here are some suggested places to start:
- Class discussions
- Assigned readings
- Topics in the news
- Browse journals in the field
- Personal interests
Develop Your Topic
Before you develop your research topic or question, you'll need to do some background research first.
Some good places to find background information:
- Your textbook or class readings
- Encyclopedias and reference books
- Credible websites
- Library databases
Try the library databases below to explore your topic. When you're ready, move on to refining your topic.
Find Background Information:
[Please delete this text and add links to two databases, websites, or other resources your students can use to explore topics.]
Now that you've done some background research, it's time to narrow your topic. Remember: the shorter your final paper, the narrower your topic needs to be. Here are some suggestions for narrowing and defining your topic:
- Is there a specific subset of the topic you can focus on?
- Is there a cause and effect relationship you can explore?
- Is there an unanswered question on the subject?
- Can you focus on a specific time period or group of people?
Describe and develop your topic in some detail. Try filling in the blanks in the following sentence, as much as you can:
I want to research ____(what/who)____
and ____(what/who)____
in ____(where)____
during ____(when)____
because ____(why)____.