ENG 120 & ENG 200 (Campus) Research Guide

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.