Introduction and Tips For Choosing a Topic Your University Library contains a wealth of published information and other knowledge tools. Unfortunately, these may not help get you to your research destination if, when you begin a project, you are unclear about defining where it is you would like to go. In other words, how exactly should you go about selecting an appropriate research topic? And how can the University Library help you accomplish this? Here are some specific suggestions.

Begin early
Your subsequent research and writing all depend upon the choice you make about a topic. Take this choice seriously and you will find that the research and writing that follows will likely be more successful and enjoyable.

Understand your own research preferences and instructor's guidelines
How much freedom do you have to choose a specific topic?
How many sources are you going to need (just a few or are you composing a comprehensive literature review)?
Will you concentrate on one specific source format (books vs. websites vs. audio/videorecordings, etc.) or a variety?
Are you being asked to work with "primary" research materials or conduct original research
(e.g., personal interviews, surveys, other raw data gathering, etc.)?

Assign limits to your project
Are you focusing on a specific industry or company of interest?
What range of current or historical time periods will you investigate?
How will you limit your research geographically?
(are you interested in information from or about a specific global region, country, U.S. state or local area?)

Consider your personal interests-in what topics do you have the most direct personal or professional interest? Think about:

1. Topics you discuss with friends, fellow students or other colleagues.

2. Topics referred to in news and/or entertainment media.

3. Topics covered within professional or technical journals.

4. Topics mentioned inside your course materials (syllabus, textbooks, course handouts, etc.).

5. Topics posted on class electronic discussion lists (e.g., "well-engaged") or discussed in class.

6. Topics touched upon in previous research papers you have written, about which you would like to conduct additional investigation.

7. Topics in formal research papers, books and other publications within your field
(frequently suggest questions, hypotheses, etc. in need of further research).

Consider your personal distastes-What leading arguments in your discipline do you disagree with? Are there major or minor theories in your field that perplex you? What subjects, events, organizations or individuals stir up your curiosity, either negatively or positively? Sometimes asking such questions can also be an excellent starting point for picking your own topic.

Consider the time you have available-Some topics will require extra research time to cover them properly (e.g., If your topic addresses lengthy historical periods, analyzes large volumes of country, company or industry data, etc.). You should also plan for more research time if your topic requires you to draw upon very narrow, specialized sources (e.g., items only available within one archive or subject to stringent access restrictions, etc.).

Consider how much material is conveniently available to You. Are you familiar with the range of relevant resources available at your University Library? Have you thoroughly reviewed the relevant offerings of pertinent online databases, reference books, the University Library website, subject guides and research strategy guides? Have you checked with a reference librarian? Will your potential topic require you to locate information held by other libraries outside of your university's library? Have you allowed yourself enough time to do this? Are you aware how the University Library reference librarians can help you get a hold of these items?


In business research particularly, although much information is generated (e.g., within companies), it is not always readily accessible to those outside company walls (even if the company is "public"). Moreover, you'll want to consider that small organizations (e.g., an Internet "start-up") can be very active, innovative and interesting, but still not generate much readily-available published material. Remember, you can always request assistance and advice from a University Library reference librarian or your instructor.

Skim and Scan - Review a selection of background information relevant to your topic -A general habit of background reading, viewing, listening and other participation within a field often puts you in a better position to wisely choose a topic - perhaps an area receiving a lot of coverage that captures your attention, or, maybe some topic that seems important but is not receiving much discussion. Library resources can help if you first:

1. Review general and specialized encyclopedia articles (good for summaries and bibliographies to get you started on a topic - remember, most disciplines, psychology, finance, etc. produce specialized encyclopedias specific to that field).

2. Skim and scan books (peruse tables of contents, look at major topics covered, notable organizations, etc.).

3. Locate bibliographies (review selected items within these "in-depth" or simply scan them as a whole to generate topic ideas-doing so can give you a notion of the major subjects covered within any given field of interest).

4. Use commercial WWW search engines like www.yahoo.com or http://www.google.com/.

5. Monitor electronic discussion lists (i.e., "Listservs" - Which areas of discussion are the "hot topics?" )

6. Skim and scan the table of contents (and, time allowing, selected articles) within professional journals and trade magazines.

7. Try preliminary searches in commercial databases (e.g., Infotrac, Proquest, Lexis/Nexis, and other databases ).

8. Pay attention to mass media (radio and television) coverage of events in your field.

Try all of the above and more - not to acquire in-depth knowledge, but for a broad overview of key issues, events and personalities, which will help you pick an interesting and researchable topic.

Discuss a potential topic(s) with your instructor-an excellent source of suggestions, especially when it comes to how to go about narrowing down a potential topic (or broadening it if necessary).

Brainstorm-There are many potentially useful brainstorming techniques, some specific examples being "freewriting" or "clustering" exercises which encourage you to do some free-flowing composition of thoughts and questions (often created with little or no direct reference to your books, class notes or other reference materials--sometimes resulting in graphical clusters or flow-charts, with groupings of important words connected by lines and circles). One can even brainstorm about a topic in the form of a self-directed email message.

Discuss your project with a reference librarian-Still unsure about how to arrive at an appropriate topic? You should visit the reference desk at your library .

Topic choice is the starting point for you to express some originality and allows you to communicate a notion about the ideas, people, industries, cultures, organizations and/or publications most important to you...and to do so in your own original research and writing style. It is just such originality that will likely keep the readers of your final project/paper interested (and awake!). Keep in mind too that you are researching and writing for a specific audience, most especially your instructor--and you will want to carefully consider any detailed instructions, guidelines, expectations or feedback received from that audience--

FURTHER SUGGESTED READING

 

Berry, D.M. & Martin, G.P. (1971) A Guide to Writing Research Papers. New York : McGraw-Hill. LB 2369 B36 *see, "Appendix A - Selecting a Subject"

Buffa, L. (1997) Research Paper Smart: Where to Find It, How to Write It, How to Cite It. New York : Random House. LB 2369 B84 1997 *see, "Ch 1. Getting Started"

Campbell, W.G., Ballou, S.V., & Slade, C. (1986) Form and Style: Theses, Reports, Term Papers. Boston : Houghton Mifflin. LB 2369 C3 1986 *see, Ch 1. "Choosing a Topic"

Gehle, Q.L. & Rollo, D.J. (1977) The Writing Process. New York : St. Martin's Press. PE 1408 G377 *see, Part One. "The Prewriting Process"

Hairston, M. & Ruszkiewicz, J.J. (1996) The Scott, Foresman Handbook for Writers. New York : Harper Collins. PE 1408 H2968 1996 *see, Ch 1, "What Does Writing Involve" and Ch 2, "How Do You Prepare and Plan to Write?" (Ch 2. discusses brainstorming and clustering techniques)

Hashimoto, I.Y., Kroll, B.M. & Schafer, J.C. (1982) Strategies for Academic Writing: A Guide for College Students. Ann Arbor : University of Michigan Press. LB 2369 H33 *see, Ch 1. "Devising an Initial Plan"

Jacobus, L.A. (1989) Writing As Thinking. New York : MacMillan. PE 1408 J27 1989. *see, Chs. 1-2 on "Prewriting" (discusses brainstorming and clustering techniques)

Mulkerne, D.J.D. & Kahn, G. (1977) The Term Paper Step By Step. New York : Anchor/Doubleday. LB 2369 K3 1977 *see, Ch II. "Choosing and Limiting the Subject"

Preece, R. (1994) Starting Research. New York : Pinter. LB 2369 P69 1994. *see, Ch. 1 "What is Research" and Ch. 8 "The Research Question"

Weidenborner, S. & Caruso, D. (1982) Writing Research Papers: A Guide to the Process. New York : St. Martin's Press. LB 2369 W45 *see, Ch. 2 "Defining Your Objective"

 

LINKS

www.ipl.org/teen/aplus/linkstopic.htm The Internet Public Library's links page on choosing a research topic

The following three sites address general creativity, brainstorming and the mind-- they include links to other creativity sites, suggest brainstorming exercises, creativity games, etc.

www.enchantedmind.com

www.ozemail.com.au/~caveman/Creative"Creativity Web: Resources for Creativity and Innovation"

www.brainstorming.co.uk/