Choosing a Topic
There are no rules for choosing a topic and formulating a thesis, but the following approach may help.
List subjects that are appropriate to the assignment and of interest to you. At this stage, think in nouns.
- reality television
- human cloning
- Captain Ahab
Make what you think are plausible claims about your topics—add verbs.
- Reality television is therapeutic for its viewers.
- Human cloning is more likely to debase than enhance human life.
- Ahab should be understood as a tragic hero.
You now have potential thesis statements. The thesis—a claim to be proved or disproved by factual evidence and persuasive argument—is what drives most research.
Once you have decided on a thesis, begin researching it as a question:
- Is reality television more than entertainment?
- What are the most likely consequences of human cloning?
- Can Ahab be understood as heroic?
Having a clear idea of your paper's scope will make the research process far simpler. Think about what you can accomplish within the context of the assignment. Be realistic: you will not solve global warming or find the key to peace in the Middle East in the course of a five-page paper.
Consider the following as you define your scope:
- How long does your paper need to be?
- How much time do you have to complete it?
- Will you be able to find enough information?
- Are there restrictions on the resources that you can use (e.g., only scholarly, only from the last five years)?
Too Narrow: If your scope is too narrow, you will have trouble finding enough sources.
- Women are negatively portrayed in Lithuanian TV commercials.
- Incidence of skin cancer is related to ethnicity in Malaysia.
Too Broad: You'll find lots of sources, but you will have trouble organizing them and writing about your topic in a focused way.
- World War II was caused by a variety of factors.
- Vegetarianism is beneficial.
Most research assignments will occur within a course offered by a particular department. Naturally you will approach your research from the perspective of that discipline, however, considering alternative points of view could lead you to interesting new resources.
Don't limit yourself to only the obvious databases. There are articles on Shakespeare in ScienceDirect and articles on quantum mechanics in Literature Online.
