So we've been assigned to write a paper for our class and we need to select a topic. But what are we going to write about? To avoid the stress of last-minute searches and topic changes, it is important to take the time to brainstorm your research topic before beginning the search process.
But before jumping in, let's first review the steps within the research process.
Be sure to understand the requirements of the assignment! Research can be overwhelming at times, so write a checklist with the types of resources needed as well as any other requirements (for example, "articles must be published in the last 10 years).
Once we know the requirements of our paper, we can begin exploring topics we would be interested in writing about, leading us to a research question. When developing a research question, it is important to consider our interests and motivations for learning. When we choose a topic that is interesting, we do better research!
Think about what we know about a topic we wish to learn more about. A helpful way to explore your topic is by concept mapping. When developing a concept map, we start broadly and work our way from this broad topic to more focused knowledge.
Mapping your Research Ideas is licensed CC-BY by the UCLA Library. A transcript is available on YouTube.
We can save time by doing background research to learn more about our topic (and add terms, and new information to our concept map). For background research, we can use the Internet, an encyclopedia, course readings, or even a librarian to help explore a topic. It may be through this background research that we will stumble upon a topic for our research question that we want to explore!
Remember, research is not linear. We will often circle back to previous steps in the research process in order to come up with well-formed research question. Research is also iterative -meaning that our original topic idea is likely to change as we get further into the research.
Some great places to start our research beyond Google are:
Find over 3 million encyclopedia and dictionary entries in more than 600 top quality encyclopedias and dictionaries in all major subjects from art to medicine, psychology to history, and technology to literature. Includes bilingual and biographical dictionaries.
You may be accustomed to researching topics by typing questions into a Google search bar. When searching Library Databases, brainstorm words that are related to your topic and then use the most meaningful nouns as your search terms. Leave out adjectives, adverbs, prepositions and, in most cases, verbs.
Librarians can help you find good keywords! Use our Chat with a librarian 24/7 for help!
The following video offers advice on starting your list of keywords.
(CC BY-NC-ND McMaster University Library.)
What are sustainable alternatives to dams to control climate change related flooding?
"Sustainable alternatives"
dam*
"Climate change"
Flooding