Refining Your Topic
Define any terms you don't understand.
For example:
You have chosen the topic: anorexia.
- Consult a medical dictionary for an official definition.
- Online Dictionaries and Thesauri. Use the Medicine, Health and Psychology category.
- Print medical dictionaries in the Library Reference Area, call numbers beginning with R.
Make up a list of sub questions about your topic.
For example:
- Who is likely to develop anorexia?
- Why is this a serious problem?
- When is anorexia likely to occur?
- What is happening to prevent anorexia?
- Where is it possible to get treatment?
- How does this relate to other teenage problems?
- Do females get anorexia more than males?
As in the list above, more subquestions may be generated than can be discussed in a short research paper. Research can provide ideas for focusing the topic. The final topic is best phrased in terms of a question, usually starting with "How" or "Why".
Generate a list of key words and synonyms related to the concepts you are interested in investigating further.
For example:
- Anorexia
- Eating Disorders
- Bulimia
- Disease
- Teenagers
- Adolescents
- Youth
- Females
Test your topic.
Do keyword searching in the UW-Stout Library Catalog or Indexes and Databases to see if information is going to be available.
Consider the quality of information needed.
Is the question technical or scholarly, or more popular and consumer-oriented.
How much information is needed?
Is it just a few facts and figures for a short speech, or many resources for a comprehensive paper?
In which disciplines or fields of study would this topic be researched?
Example: Anorexia would be studied by medical doctors and psychologists. This can help determine subject area resources, or specific periodical indexes.
What formats of materials do you want?
Which formats would be likely to cover the topic? Are some formats desireable for a presentation?
Books? Journals? Magazines? Newspapers? Videos? Images? Maps? Slide sets? Web Pages?
Consider whether you need finding tools, fact tools or both.
Finding Tools:
- UW-Stout Library Catalog To identify books and audiovisual materials.
- Indexes and Databases To identify articles.
- Search Engines To identify web pages.
Fact Tools:
- Reference Materials For definitions, quick facts, encyclopedia summaries.
- See also Subject Guides for statistics, maps, illustrations and appropriate subject areas.
Think about the age of the topic.
- When was it a "hot" topic?
- When did key events happen related to the topic?
- Watch for dates covered, or dates of publication when you consider resources.
Example: A current event like an earthquake that happened yesterday will not be searchable in an encyclopedia, but you will be able to use related background information on earthquakes from encyclopedias.
Do some background reading.
Use special or generalized encyclopedias or textbooks if your topic has been around for awhile. Skim read some current articles if you have a new topic.
Last Updated: 06/13/2008 and Last Revised: 4/23/2008
Contact Denise Madland for more information or help on this topic.