Find Your Topic

1. Brainstorm a topic for research 2. Turn it into a research question3. Broaden and narrow your question 4. Find keywords related to your topic 5. Use a concept map to refine your topic

Brainstorm a topic for research

If your instructor does not assign a specific topic, what do you do?

Examples• Turn on the news• Read today’s newspaper• Choose a favorite activity• Consider current issues on campus

Ideas are all around us….all we have to do is look

Which would not be the best way to select a topic?

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1. Read The New York Times.2. Research trends in fitness.

(You love the gym!)3. Buy a topic from Ebay.4. Research if gamers make

better students. (You are a pro at WarCraft.)

Great ways to find a topic

• Choose a current event

• Choose a topic of interest

• Browse magazines and books

• Choose a topic about a major or career

• Ask a Librarian for ideas

Turn it into a research question

• What do you want to know?

• What is your focus?

Asking a question helps you decide which information will be useful to you.

If your topic is global warming, possible research questions might be:

• How have polar ice caps been affected by climate change?

• What impact has global warming had on natural disasters?

• How has celebrity environmental activism raised awareness of energy consumption in the U.S?

A clear open-ended question calls for real

research and thinking.

• Research questions should not be closed-ended or answerable with a “yes” or “no.”

Does smoking cause cancer?

• Research questions are not the same as reference questions.

What percent of lung cancer is related to smoking?

Which is not a research question?

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1. How has the Internet affected the profitability of the music industry?

2. Does Censorship exist?3. How have rap lyrics impacted

the feminist movement?4. How has today’s popular

music influenced social change?

Broaden and narrow your question

Not too broad,

Not too narrow,

But just right.

Your research question should

allow you to retrieve just the

right amount of information.

Broadening a Research Question• A question that is too narrow or specific may not

retrieve enough information. If this happens, broaden the question.

• INSTEAD OF Should mountain top removal be permitted in Hazard, Kentucky despite endangered species laws protecting the flying squirrel?

• TRY What are the effects of coal mining on wildlife in the Appalachian Mountains?

Narrowing a research question

• A question that is too broad may retrieve too much information. Try to narrow your topic with one of these strategies:

• Time - 20th century 1980’s

• Place - North America Canada

• Population – American Baby Boomers

• Viewpoint – General Medical

Examples of Broad → Narrow

Car → Chevrolet → Corvette

United States → Kentucky → Covington

21st Century → 2001 → September 11,2001

Conservative → Republican → Rush Limbaugh

What should you do first when you find too much information?

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1. Broaden your research question

2. Narrow your research question

3. Change your topic4. Only use the first few

results

Find keywords related to your topic

• Once you have your research question, you will want to pull out relevant keywords in order to search for your topic in databases. It doesn’t work to put your whole question into the search box.

Choosing Keywords

• When choosing keywords from your question choose the words that cover your main points.

What impact has global warming had on natural disasters?

In the following research questions, which one does not have the relevant keywords highlighted?

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1. How has the introduction of wolves into Yellowstone in the past 5 years impacted local cattle ranches?

2. How does involvement in clubs and activities contribute to academic success in college?

3. What factors contribute to a higher than average rate of violence among professional athletes?

4. How does texting while driving contribute to teen accidents?

Keywords can make all the difference when conducting a search. Make sure you identify the words that are the main points

of your research question.

Sometimes you’ll have to brainstorm other ways of saying your keywords.

If your keywords are violence and professional athletes, you may need to brainstorm possible search terms.

For these keywords you might choose :

Wrestlers HockeyChris Benoit

Domestic violence SteroidsAggression

Which is not a possible keyword for mining?

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1. Coal mining

2. Strip mining

3. Oil refineries

4. Surface mining

Use a concept map to refine your topic

• Turn your ideas into a visual representation

• Organize key words and concepts

• Great tool for visual learners

Tobacco Use

Health

Economy

Culture

Government

Farmers

Retailers

Manufacturers

Doctors

Insurers

Second Hand Smoke

Alcohol

Media

Regulation

Taxes

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1. Find your way around campus

2. Locate attractions in Disney World

3. Visualize related key terms and concepts

4. Get more dates on Friday nights

5. Stalk and capture the elusive Kentucky Flying Squirrel

Create your own concept map!

How can you “Ask a Librarian”?

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1. IM2. Email3. Phone4. Information Desk5. Research

Consultation

Ask a Librarian