How to Develop a Research Topic

STEP ONE: IDENTIFY YOUR TOPIC.  If you haven't picked a topic yet, go to Suggestions for Finding a Topic.  State your topic as a question. For example, if you are interested in finding out about use of alcoholic beverages by college students, you might pose the question, "What effect does use of alcoholic beverages have on the health of college students?"  Identify the main concepts or keywords in your question. In this case they are alcoholic beverages, health, and college students. STEP TWO: TEST YOUR TOPIC.  Test the main concepts or keywords in your topic by looking them up in the appropriate background sources or by using them as search terms in the SMC Library Online Catalog If you are finding too much information and too many sources, narrow your topic by using the and operator: beer and health and college students, for example. Finding too little information may indicate that you need to broaden your topic. For example, look for information on students, rather than college students. Link synonymous search terms with or: alcoholic beverages or beer or wine or liquor. Using truncation with search terms also broadens the search and increases the number of items you find. If you're not finding relevant information, please consult with a Reference Librarian. Once you have identified and tested your topic, you're ready to take the next step, finding background information on your research topic. Return to the Seven Steps of the Research Process Return to Library Research Guide