What do you want to know about a topic? When doing research, you want to address your topic as a question for which there are no immediate answers. For example:
Topic: video games and violence
Research Question: Does playing violent video games lead to juvenile violence?
Try these steps to formulate a research question:
Check out these links and the video below for more information:
When selecting a topic for your research, ask yourself the following questions:
Watch this Credo Learning Tools video on How to Select a Topic which is an essential foundational step of the research process. The other videos listed on the Credo Research Quick Tips page from the How to Select a Topic video could also be helpful. Take your time viewing those resources.
When you need to broaden or narrow down your topic, ask yourself:
Who am I researching?
What am I researching?
What time period am I interested in?
Where is my research topic taking place?
Why does my research matter?
A mind map is a visual representation of your issue or topic. It is a tool which is used to visualize ideas and opportunities for broadening or narrowing down search topics. Click here for more information on mind mapping.
There are a number of free brainstorming and mind mapping tools available online like Bubbl.us and Popplet.
Need help finding or deciding on a topic? The following databases and web resources contain lists of topics you can browse through for inspiration: