Research Process & Support

Understanding Your Topic

You can use background information to learn enough about the topic to begin to narrow it down into a manageable paper topic, to further develop your paper's argument, or to introduce your topic in your paper. These resources can help you get background information on your topic:

Encyclopedia Britannica: ebooks, timelines, background info & primary sources

Gale Virtual Library: Provides online access to the complete full text of over 100 reference works from Gale, Macmillan, and other publishers. Includes: African American Almanac, Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography, Datapedia of the U.S., Dictionary of American History, Encyclopedia Judaica, Encylopedia of Religion, Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia, International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology, World Press Encyclopedia, etc.

Learn360 : streaming video, Facts on File, and interactive resources on every subject

Narrowing or Broadening Your Topic

Narrowing Your Topic

After you start researching, you might find that your topic is just too big for your project. You will need to narrow the focus of your paper. Consider some of these ways to limit your paper topic:

• Who – population or group (e.g. college students; women; Asian Americans)
• What – discipline or focus (e.g. sociological or historical perspective)
• Where – geographic location (e.g. United States; universities; small towns)
• When – time period or era (e.g. 19th century; Renaissance; Vietnam War)
• Why – why is the topic important? (e.g. to the class, to the field, or to you)

For example, a paper about alcohol abuse would be very broad. But a paper about reasons for alcohol abuse by female college students in the United States during the 1990s might be just right.

Broadening Your Topic

If you find that there is not enough published on your topic, you will need to broaden your topic. Here are a few strategies you can try when broadening your topic:

• Choose less specific terms for your search. For example, search standardized tests instead of SATs, or performance-enhancing drugs instead of anabolic steroids.

Another strategy is to broaden your topic by changing or removing limits from your topic:

• Who - population or group (e.g., instead of female college students, choose a broader section of the population, such as college students or young adults)
• What - discipline or focus (e.g., instead of choosing a sociological perspective, look at a number of perspectives)
• Where - geographic location (e.g., instead of Colorado, choose United States)
• When - time period or era (e.g., instead of 1987, choose 1980s or 20th century)

For example, a paper about alcohol use by college students at the University of Colorado in 1987 might be too narrow of a focus. But a paper about alcohol use by college students in the 1980s might be just right.

Adapted from University of Michigan Library Research Guides

For more help in selecting a topic, see also:

• MIT Libraries
•