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Welcome to Lesson 5!
Welcome to Lesson 5!
This is another one-page lesson! It'll probably take you about 10 to 20 minutes to read through this lesson, but how long it'll take really depends on how fast you read and how much of the material is new to you. To get to the next lesson, use the navigational links in the vertical black bar on the left, or use the link at the bottom of this page. If you are taking the tests associated with the lessons in this tutorial, then when you are ready to a test, you'll need to navigate to the page that has LINKS TO ALL TESTS.
And now, the author would like to tell you about three things she is really eager for you to take away from this lesson:
Be sure to have your assignment's source requirements in mind when you pick a topic to research; it'll save you a lot of frustration.
Topics that are too broad or too narrow will be annoying to research, so avoid them.
Before settling on a topic, test it to make sure you can find at least some appropriate sources.
Now, let's get started!
Now, let's get started!
It's easy to choose a topic, right? Can't you just pick any old thing like pocket-gophers, or designing a roller-coaster, or insurance fraud? Well, it all depends on whether or not your assignment stipulates that you use certain types of sources. If it DOES, then you'll need to choose a topic very carefully. That's why in Lesson 2 and Lesson 3 you learned about different types of sources and their qualities.
To choose a topic, use this checklist:
To choose a topic, use this checklist:
1. Make sure you pick a topic with your assignment's source requirements in mind.
1. Make sure you pick a topic with your assignment's source requirements in mind.
Your assignment might specify that you need to find and use certain types of sources such as those that are credible or, more specifically, those that are are scholarly and/or peer-reviewed, such as journal articles, conference papers, or scholarly books.
If that's the case then there are lots of topics you WON'T want to choose. Why? Because many topics are not written about in scholarly or peer-reviewed sources. You learned a little about this in Lesson 3 on scholarly sources – remember? If not, don't worry and keep reading.
Here are a few example topics (out of a possible 349 billion) that aren't likely to have any relevant scholarly/peer-reviewed sources:
marshmallow peeps
schooner maintenance and repair
New York City's secret tunnels
Wilfred Brimley
how to tend sheep
Rather, the subject matter of scholarly/peer-reviewed sources is going to relate to research conducted in scholarly, academic disciplines such as: art, biology, business, chemistry, education, engineering, philosophy, psychology, etc.
Keep in mind that scholarly sources don't tend to focus on extremely local topics either, such as the history of fruit-tree orchards in Flagstaff or the use of solar power at NAU.
FYI - Even if your instructor tells you that you can pick ANY topic, don't make your final choice until you've tested your topic and you're confident you can find the types of sources you're required to use.
QUESTION 1. If your assignment asks you to research a topic and gather information from scholarly or peer-reviewed sources, then you'll want to choose a topic that's likely to be discussed in those types of sources. However, if you aren't familiar with scholarly or peer-reviewed sources, then how do you know what topics those sources are likely to discuss? In other words, how can you choose a topic for which scholarly or peer-reviewed sources will be relevant and informative, when you are unfamiliar with the content and nature of those sources?
This is a valid question that shows how college assignments can be a bit....well...treacherous and filled with snags and pitfalls. And, this is why it is a really good idea to start early, test your topic, and expect some delays, rather than leaving your research to the last minute.
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2. Make sure your topic is not too broad.
2. Make sure your topic is not too broad.
If your topic is a single word or simple phrase, it's probably too broad, like these topics:
climate change
food safety
bioengineering
post-modernism
When topics are broad like this, your writing ends up turning into a long, dull definition (like an encyclopedia entry).
Instead, topics should INVESTIGATE or ANALYZE something.
But, sometimes it's hard to get from a broad topic to a research question that investigates something. To get started, think about your topic in terms of:
Who is involved or affected?
What problem would you like to resolve - or, what is a possible solution?
When is this topic relevant - right now, or is it more historical?
Where is the topic relevant? Consider location (such as the United States, Africa, the Pacific Northwest, rural areas, etc.) and/or context (such as elementary schools, prisons, corporations, etc.)
How did it happen?
Examples might help:
Examples might help:
The topic "prairie dogs" is too broad. But the topic "What factors contribute to the success or mortality of urban prairie dog colonies?" might be just about right.
The topic "food safety" is too broad. But, the topic "How do federal regulations for food safety contribute to Americans' health and well-being?" might be just about right.
Basically, aim to state your topic as a research question like you see above, or as a hypothesis. A good research topic will be one that you don't know the answer to, which will require investigation. That's the whole point of research after all!
Stating your topic as a focused and arguable question or sentence will also make it easier to select keywords that represent your topic. You'll learn more selecting keywords to search in Lesson 6.
There's another useful technique for narrowing down broad topics, and that's to start searching some databases such as Quick Search on the library's home page or Google Scholar. Enter a few keywords into the database that represent a broad topic that interests you, such as cryptocurrency. Then look at your results to get ideas for different ways people are researching this topic.
For example to the right, that first Google Scholar result might give you ideas for narrowing your search to investigate why people are – or are not – adopting cryptocurrencies. The second result might make you think about exploring criminal exploitation of cryptocurrency. And that third result might prompt you to narrow your search to economic volatility issues.
3. Make sure your topic is not too narrow, obscure, or weird.
3. Make sure your topic is not too narrow, obscure, or weird.
It's possible to choose a topic that's so narrow, obscure, or weird that NO information sources exist on it - or, too few to write a paper anyway. Here are some examples:
What is the history of organic food labeling in Arizona?
Why can't hummingbirds be tamed?
What percentage of commercial airline crashes was traced to negligent maintenance during the ten years immediately preceding and following deregulation of the airline industry?
That last topic example demonstrates another problem; that is, the answer would simply be a percentage and you wouldn't be able to stretch that into a multi-page paper.
*Example borrowed from: https://www.esc.edu/online-writing-center/exercise-room/research-question-broad-or-narrow/
All this talk about "Make sure this" and "Make sure that" – how do you ACTUALLY make sure your topic will work? As you can see from the flowchart below, you have to do a little preliminary research on your topic to make sure you can find enough of the sources you're required to use. Even if you have chosen a topic and it seems like it fits all of your assignment's requirements, and it is not too narrow, and not too broad, that still doesn't mean you're guaranteed to find sources on that topic. You have to test it and see. So, even the task of choosing your topic requires a bit of research. But, if you start your assignment early enough, you'll be able to follow the path below to the happy face.
QUESTION 2. Which plan of action (A or B) is likely to result in you learning more?
A. To meet your assignment's source requirements, do some preliminary research on your chosen topic to decide whether appropriate, relevant sources are available. If you find some, great, you can then look for some more, read them, learn something, and write an interesting paper.
B. To meet your assignment's source requirements, pick a topic, then find some required sources. Don't worry if the sources are barely-related to your topic. You can contrive a way to retrofit the sources into your paper so that it seems like they are relevant.
(Answer at bottom of page.)
Ok, so what did you get out of Lesson 5?
Ok, so what did you get out of Lesson 5?
You should be able to explain why the topic you choose to research should be coordinated with your assignment's source requirements.
You should be able to troubleshoot topics that are too broad or too narrow.
You should be able to articulate the importance of testing your topic.
You are finished with Lesson 5. What's next? That depends....
You are finished with Lesson 5. What's next? That depends....
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THANK YOU!!
THANK YOU!!
Answers to questions on this page:Question 1. trueQuestion 2. A.
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