1 / 13

How to Narrow a Research Topic

How to Narrow a Research Topic. You know what you want to write about, but you’re not sure if it is too big or too small- what do you do? . When your research topic is too broad, you’ll get a zillion hits on a search engine. 6,730,000!.

isanne
Download Presentation

How to Narrow a Research Topic

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. How to Narrow a Research Topic

  2. You know what you want to write about, but you’re not sure if it is too big or too small- what do you do?

  3. How to Narrow a Research Topic When your research topic is too broad, you’ll get a zillion hits on a search engine. 6,730,000!

  4. How to Narrow a Research Topic When your research topic is too broad, you’ll get a zillion hits on a search engine. Ask yourself these questions: Who? What? When? Where? Why? How?

  5. How to Narrow a Research Topic Let’s see how this works with an example: eating disorders This topic is too broad (general) to write about in a short paper. We need to make it narrower (more specific).

  6. How to Narrow a Research Topic Who? TOPIC: EATING DISORDERS Populations Age NEW TOPIC: Eating disorders in elderly females Gender Race or Ethnicity

  7. How to Narrow a Research Topic What? TOPIC: EATING DISORDERS Types Anorexia NEW TOPIC: Anorexia in elderly females Bulimia Compulsive eating

  8. How to Narrow a Research Topic When? TOPIC: EATING DISORDERS Timeframes Current or historical view NEW TOPIC: Bulimia in middle-aged females Period of life

  9. How to Narrow a Research Topic Where? TOPIC: EATING DISORDERS Places States NEW TOPIC: Anorexia in Australian women Regions Countries

  10. How to Narrow a Research Topic Why? TOPIC: EATING DISORDERS Evaluate Causes NEW TOPIC: Successful methods for treatment of compulsive eating Treatments Outcomes

  11. How to Narrow a Research Topic Mix n’ Match • Combine any number of elements that you derive from asking these questions until you find an interesting topic to research. • Some examples: • Causes and treatment of anorexia in college athletes • Prevalence of bulimia in teen-age males in the United States • Changes in treatment for compulsive overeaters, 1950-present.

  12. How to Narrow a Research Topic Too Narrow? This one is easy. If you can’t find much information, then you are probably too narrow! Examples: What foreign languages are taught in South Dakota schools? Or where is Chinese taught and why?

  13. How to Narrow a Research Topic Don’t Forget Your Thesis!What is your stand on this topic? Topic: Rock and Roll Narrowed: Early Rock 1950s My stand on this topic: The early rock and roll of the ‘50s greatly influences the music of today. My ideas: American Idol had contestants do Beatles Lots of artists name them as influence- recent RS article about artists favorites. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame exhibits- info from website? Adjusted by K. Conner for Eng III

More Related