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Effective Research Strategies: Defining and Refining your Topic

Learn how to choose, define, and refine a research topic using critical thinking skills, identifying concepts, and narrowing or broadening the focus. Understand the importance of identifying significant terms, related terms, and synonyms in the research process.

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Effective Research Strategies: Defining and Refining your Topic

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  1. Research Strategies Dr. Ramchandran Sethuraman Long Beach City College The ideas for the Powerpoint presentation are drawn and used with permission from the CSU system

  2. Defining your research topic • Use critical thinking skills • State your topic as a question • Identify concepts • If necessary, narrow or broaden your topic

  3. Stating your topic as a question • Enables you to clarify and focus on topic • Topic: drinking and driving • How does drinking affect driving? • What are the laws on drinking and driving? • What are the statistics on drinking and driving?

  4. Identify Concepts • Once you have stated your topic as a question, you need to identify the main concepts in the question • Do this by picking out the significant terms in your question. . . . .

  5. Significant Terms/Concepts • How does drinkingaffect driving? • What are the laws on drinking and driving? • What are the statistics on drinking and driving? Italics indicate the key concepts

  6. Related Terms for Concepts • Make a list of related terms and synonyms • This may provide additional terms to use when searching for information • It may also suggest ways to narrow or broaden your topic • Example: rabbit/bunny)

  7. Listing related terms

  8. Narrowing or Broadening Topic • Finding too much or too little information may mean that you have to narrow or broaden your topic • Examples follow on next slides. . . .

  9. Narrowing the Topic • To narrow a topic, try adding some concrete or specific terms to your question • What are California’s laws on drinking and driving? • What are the statistics on teenage drinking and driving? Once you have formulated a new question, repeat the process of picking out significant terms and making a list of synonyms and related terms

  10. Broadening the Topic • To broaden a topic, try selecting terms that are more general • How does substance abuse affect driving? Once you have formulated a new question, repeat the process of picking out significant terms and making a list of synonyms and related terms

  11. Information needed depends on the assignment! • What type of assignment is it? • How much information do you need? • Is currency an issue? • Particular type of publication? . . . . • Do you need to use primary sources? • Information in a particular format? • Is point of view an issue?

  12. What type of assignment is it? Assignments can vary: • Short oral presentation • Critiques • Summaries • Short essays • Term papers/projects

  13. How much information do you need? Once you have answered the previous question (nature of the assignment) you will have a good idea of how much information you need. Some assignments can be completed by studying brief summaries or overviews - others require more comprehensive information.

  14. Currency? • Some assignments require you to use the most current information. • Others require you to find historical and/or information over a period of time. • Yet others require you to find both (current and retroscpective).

  15. Type of Information • Some assignments may require you to use scholarly or professional journals. • Depending on the topic you may need to consult government information, business sources, trade journals etc. • Some others may actually want you to consult popular journals • And lets not forget books!

  16. Do you need to use primary sources? • Most cases you will use secondary sources (books and articles). • In some cases you may be required to use primary sources (diaries, interviews, letters or raw data).

  17. Do you need information in a particular format? In addition to print materials, your assignment may require you to use other kinds of sources such as: • Numeric sources (statistics) • Electronic sources (the Web, computer files, listservs) • Visual (art slides, maps etc.) • Audio sources (audio tapes)

  18. Is Point of View an issue? • For debates, argumentative essays you may need to find information that presents a particular point of view, opposing points of view or a range of viewpoints.

  19. Summary • You have learned the process of choosing, defining and refining a research topic • You have learned that it is an iterative (repetitive) process • You have learned how to analyze your given topic to determine the amount and type of information you need to gather. • You are now ready to put these skills into action!

  20. Good strategy ensures that you reach your research goals successfully!

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