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Choosing a Topic
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Topic ideasThis guide from the University of Northern Iowa can help you think through your options for choosing a topic.
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Topic brainstorming and testing (video)This 3-minute NC State Libraries video, "Picking Your Topic Is Research," guides you from brainstorming a topic to scoping it to see if it's too broad or too narrow. It explains the steps in how to research a topic.
Developing a Research Question
Somewhere in between your initial idea and settling on a research question, you'll need to do background research on how scholars in a particular subject area have discussed your topic. You may find background research in your textbook or class readings, academic books in the library's collections.
BACKGROUND SOURCES AS ALTERNATIVES TO WIKIPEDIA: The databases below compile reference sources, meaning encyclopedias or dictionaries, authored by experts from a variety of disciplines, and can be a great way to consider how your topic has been studied from different angles.
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Gale eBooks This link opens in a new windowSearchable database of several hundred subject encyclopedias and other reference works across all subject areas, but with particular strengths in the social sciences and humanities. It includes a number of major reference works, and is Northwesterns largest single collection of reference materials. A good source for authoritative background information.
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Oxford Reference Online This link opens in a new windowOnline version of many Oxford University Press reference works, ranging from specialized dictionaries and companions to major reference works such as the Encyclopedia of Human Rights, the Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink, the Oxford Encyclopedia of Latinos and Latinas in the United States, and the Oxford Encyclopedia of Economic History, among many others.
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CQ Researcher Plus Archive This link opens in a new windowThe CQ Researcher is a collection of reports covering political and social issues, with regular reports on topics in health, international affairs, education, the environment, technology and the U.S. economy.
Use NU Search to browse for books, reference entries, and periodicals to build background information.
After you have an initial project idea, you can think deeper about the idea by developing a "Topic + Question + Significance" sentence. This formula came from Kate Turabian's Student's Guide to Writing College Papers. Turabian notes that you can use it plan and test your question, but do not incorporate this sentence directly into your paper (p. 13):
TOPIC: I am working on the topic of __________,
QUESTION: because I want to find out __________,
SIGNIFICANCE: so that I can help others understand __________.
Turabian, Kate L. Student's Guide to Writing College Papers. 4th edition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 2010.
Remember: the shorter your final paper, the narrower your topic needs to be. For example...
Which specific subset of the topic you can focus on?
- Specific demographic groups, people, places, time periods?
- Is there something about this topic that is not already addressed in scholarship?
- Is there a relationship you can explore:
- cause/effect
- compare/contrast
- current/historical
- group/individual
- opinion/reason
- problem/solution
How do you move from a research question to searching in a database? You first have to pick out keywords from your research question.