Broadening or Narrowing Your Topic
When you need to broaden or narrow down your topic, ask yourself:
Who? - Who am I researching?
- Consider age, gender, profession, ethnicity, humans vs. animals vs. corporations, etc.
- For example: My topic is on homeschooling elementary age children.
What? - What am I researching?
- Consider potential causes and effects, trends, statistics, problems, etc.
- For example: My topic is on the reasons for the recent increase in parents choosing homeschooling for their children.
When? - What time period am I interested in?
- Consider when the topic became significant, century vs. specific dates, historical vs. current data, etc.
- For example: My topic is on the differences in homeschooling in the 1980s vs. today.
Where? - Where is my research topic taking place?
- Consider country, state, city, urban vs. rural, environments like prisons vs. college towns, etc.
- For example: My topic is on homeschooling in urban vs. rural environments.
Why? - Why does my research matter?
- Consider what makes it important to you, to your colleagues and peers, to your community, to the world, etc.
- For example: My topic is on homeschooling and how new parents can get stared with homeschooling their kids.