Need topic ideas?
A great idea can come from anywhere! Here are some suggested places to start:
Developing a Topic
Before you develop your research topic or question, you'll need to do some background research first. This will help you:
Encyclopedia-style databases offer short overviews of a topic and are good places to start.
Try the library databases below to explore your topic. When you're ready, move on to refining your topic.
Find background information:
Now that you've done some background research, it's time to narrow your topic. Remember: the shorter your final paper, the narrower your topic needs to be. Here are some suggestions for narrowing and defining your topic:
Describe and develop your topic in some detail. Try filling in the blanks in the following sentence, as much as you can:
I want to research ____(what/who)____
and ____(what/who)____
in ____(where)____
during ____(when)____
because ____(why)____.