Finding a Topic, Part 1

The first step in working on any research project is to choose a good topic. Sometimes you may be given a list of topics to choose from, while at other times you may have to find a topic on your own. Since there are so many topics that you could research, how do you pick a good one?

Characteristics of Good Topics

A good topic for a research paper or project meets the following characteristics:

• It allows you to meet the requirements for the assignment.
• It demonstrates the appropriate scope by being neither too broad nor too narrow.
• It is a topic in which you can find research.
• It is something that interests you.

Before you choose a topic, you should make sure that you fully understand the requirements of the assignment. Make sure to:

• read your assignment carefully a few times and ask for clarification if you have any questions;
• check the page length requirements of your assignment and/or any other parameters; and
• look for any requirements regarding types of sources. For example, do you need to use articles from scholarly journals? If so, then how many?

Once you understand your assignment, then you can start brainstorming topic ideas.

Most important, make sure that your topic is of interest to you! You will spend a lot of time on this assignment, so make sure that you are researching something you care about.

Brainstorming Topics

A great way to get started with choosing a research topic is to use one or more of these brainstorming techniques:

• Identify areas that you are passionate about.
• Do you like sports, animals, health, politics, science, etc.? How can completing your assignment help you learn more about something that interests you already?
• List things you have seen or experienced that raise questions for you.
• These could be questions related to your family, friends, work, hobbies, or school. Could researching these questions help you answer them?
• Free write about things that have either inspired or irritated you.
• Write continuously for 5 minutes without censoring yourself. Then stop and look over what you have written. What jumps out at you? Could research help you to better understand one of these topics?
• List problems you have seen in your community that you want to solve.
• What solutions make sense to you? Could research help you to learn more about these?
• Answer who? what? when? where? why? and how? in relation to a general topic, such as something you’ve learned about in class or heard about in the news.
• Do your answers suggest possible areas for research?