Answered By: Allison BallLast Updated: Oct 04, 2021 Views: 63704 Show
Once you have chosen a research topic, you will need to narrow it down into a research statement or question. The sooner you do this in your research process, the more time you'll save because you can conduct more focused searches. Here are some common ways you can narrow down a research topic: By demographic characteristics Narrow it down by age group, occupation, ethnic group, gender, etc. e.g. challenges faced by international college graduates entering the workforce By relevant issues Try to identify key issues related to your topic, especially ones that you have an opinion on. You can turn your opinion into your thesis statement or research question. e.g. challenges faced by college graduates who are unable to find meaningful or relevant work By location Focus on a specific country, province, city, or type of environment (rural vs. urban). e.g. challenges faced by college graduates entering the workforce in rural Ontario By timeframe Decide whether you want to study recent events or a historical time period. This will also help you decide how current the information you use must be. e.g. challenges faced by college graduates entering the workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic By causes You can take the perspective of looking for causes of an issue you are researching. e.g. Why do employers hire fewer college graduates? When developing a research question, think about: Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How. The more of these you incorporate the more specific your research question will be. Comments (0)Keep it manageable and be flexible. If you start doing more research and not finding enough sources that support your thesis, you may need to adjust your topic. A topic will be very difficult to research if it is too broad or narrow. One way to narrow a broad topic such as "the environment" is to limit your topic. Some common ways to limit a topic are:
Example: What environmental issues are most important in the Southwestern United States?
Example: What are the most prominent environmental issues of the last 10 years?
Example: How does environmental awareness effect business practices today?
Example: What are the effects of air pollution on senior citizens? Remember that a topic may be too difficult to research if it is too:
Example: What sources of pollution affect the Genesee County water supply?
Example: How can the environment contribute to the culture, politics and society of the Western United States?
Putting your topic in the form of a question will help you focus on what type of information you want to collect. If you have any difficulties or questions with focusing your topic, discuss the topic with your instructor, or with a librarian. 1. Pick a Subject
Example: Picking a SubjectMy assignment:Write a research report on a topic of your choice My subject ideas:
My broad topic for the assignment is ‘Global Warming’. My research to narrow my topic:
2. Refine Your TopicNarrowing your subject to a more specific topic takes a bit of research and thought. Here are some ideas to help you narrow your topic:
Example: Refining Your TopicThe subject we chose in the earlier step is ‘global warming.’ This subject is a very broad topic with many different aspects you could research. We will use the techniques above to narrow our subject to a research topic.
Sample research question: Can alternative energy sources help stop global warming? What is a list of words or topics that relate to the narrowed topic or?Keywords are specific words or phrases that relate to your main idea or research question. They are used in brainstorming to determine search terms to use in finding research or narrowing down a topic.
Is a graphic organizer that shows the relationships among ideas?A concept map shows relationships between the main idea and other information. Concepts or ideas are represented in circles or boxes and are linked to related ideas with arrows.
What are the three methods of gathering information from sources?The most commonly used methods are: published literature sources, surveys (email and mail), interviews (telephone, face-to-face or focus group), observations, documents and records, and experiments.
What kind of topic is discussed in a persuasive text?A persuasive text is a form of non-fiction writing which aims to convince the reader of a certain point of view. The purpose is usually to encourage the reader to buy or do something.
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