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Selecting a Topic
1. Choose a subject based on emotion, career goals or personal experience to make the research more interesting.
2. Narrow the subject by focusing on a smaller piece of the larger subject. The focus may be a cause, effect, mystery, case study, controversy or issue. This focus will be the topic of the paper.
Examples:
| Subject: | Criminal Justice | Topic: | Community policing | |
| Subject: | Nutrition | Topic: | Obesity in children | |
| Subject: | Education | Topic: | School uniforms in public schools |
3. Conduct preliminary research such as reading an encyclopedia, magazine or journal article. Write down keywords, names and subject headings while reading. This will help when searching for books, journals, web sites and visual media.
4. The research paper should have a goal (thesis). When conducting preliminary research, write down questions about the topic. Choose one as a major question or goal of the paper and concentrate on research for that goal.
Beginning Research
The following resources may be helpful when choosing a topic and beginning research. Also use the Topic tabs in this guide for ideas.
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