narrowed topics for research paper

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Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Paper

Narrowing a Topic Idea
Purpose of Guide
Design Flaws to Avoid
Independent and Dependent Variables
Glossary of Research Terms
Reading Research Effectively
Broadening a Topic Idea
Extending the Timeliness of a Topic Idea
Academic Writing Style
Applying Critical Thinking
Choosing a Title
Making an Outline
Paragraph Development
Research Process Video Series
Executive Summary
The C.A.R.S. Model
Background Information
The Research Problem/Question
Theoretical Framework
Citation Tracking
Content Alert Services
Evaluating Sources
Primary Sources
Secondary Sources
Tiertiary Sources
Scholarly vs. Popular Publications
Qualitative Methods
Quantitative Methods
Insiderness
Using Non-Textual Elements
Limitations of the Study
Common Grammar Mistakes
Writing Concisely
Avoiding Plagiarism
Footnotes or Endnotes?
Further Readings
Generative AI and Writing
USC Libraries Tutorials and Other Guides
Bibliography

Importance of Narrowing the Research Topic

Whether you are assigned a general issue to investigate, must choose a problem to study from a list given to you by your professor, or you have to identify your own topic to investigate, it is important that the scope of the research problem is not too broad, otherwise, it will be difficult to adequately address the topic in the space and time allowed. You could experience a number of problems if your topic is too broad, including:

You find too many information sources and, as a consequence, it is difficult to decide what to include or exclude or what are the most relevant sources.
You find information that is too general and, as a consequence, it is difficult to develop a clear framework for examining the research problem.
A lack of sufficient parameters that clearly define the research problem makes it difficult to identify and apply the proper methods needed to analyze it.
You find information that covers a wide variety of concepts or ideas that can't be integrated into one paper and, as a consequence, you trail off into unnecessary tangents.

Lloyd-Walker, Beverly and Derek Walker. "Moving from Hunches to a Research Topic: Salient Literature and Research Methods." In Designs, Methods and Practices for Research of Project Management . Beverly Pasian, editor. ( Burlington, VT: Gower Publishing, 2015 ), pp. 119-129.

Strategies for Narrowing the Research Topic

A common challenge when beginning to write a research paper is determining how and in what ways to narrow down your topic . Even if your professor gives you a specific topic to study, it will almost never be so specific that you won’t have to narrow it down at least to some degree [besides, it is very boring to grade fifty papers that are all about the exact same thing!].

A topic is too broad to be manageable when a review of the literature reveals too many different, and oftentimes conflicting or only remotely related, ideas about how to investigate the research problem. Although you will want to start the writing process by considering a variety of different approaches to studying the research problem, you will need to narrow the focus of your investigation at some point early in the writing process. This way, you don't attempt to do too much in one paper.

Here are some strategies to help narrow the thematic focus of your paper :

Aspect -- choose one lens through which to view the research problem, or look at just one facet of it [e.g., rather than studying the role of food in South Asian religious rituals, study the role of food in Hindu marriage ceremonies, or, the role of one particular type of food among several religions].
Components -- determine if your initial variable or unit of analysis can be broken into smaller parts, which can then be analyzed more precisely [e.g., a study of tobacco use among adolescents can focus on just chewing tobacco rather than all forms of usage or, rather than adolescents in general, focus on female adolescents in a certain age range who choose to use tobacco].
Methodology -- the way in which you gather information can reduce the domain of interpretive analysis needed to address the research problem [e.g., a single case study can be designed to generate data that does not require as extensive an explanation as using multiple cases].
Place -- generally, the smaller the geographic unit of analysis, the more narrow the focus [e.g., rather than study trade relations issues in West Africa, study trade relations between Niger and Cameroon as a case study that helps to explain economic problems in the region].
Relationship -- ask yourself how do two or more different perspectives or variables relate to one another. Designing a study around the relationships between specific variables can help constrict the scope of analysis [e.g., cause/effect, compare/contrast, contemporary/historical, group/individual, child/adult, opinion/reason, problem/solution].
Time -- the shorter the time period of the study, the more narrow the focus [e.g., restricting the study of trade relations between Niger and Cameroon to only the period of 2010 - 2020].
Type -- focus your topic in terms of a specific type or class of people, places, or phenomena [e.g., a study of developing safer traffic patterns near schools can focus on SUVs, or just student drivers, or just the timing of traffic signals in the area].
Combination -- use two or more of the above strategies to focus your topic more narrowly.

NOTE: Apply one of the above strategies first in designing your study to determine if that gives you a manageable research problem to investigate. You will know if the problem is manageable by reviewing the literature on your more narrowed problem and assessing whether prior research is sufficient to move forward in your study [i.e., not too much, not too little]. Be careful, however, because combining multiple strategies risks creating the opposite problem--your problem becomes too narrowly defined and you can't locate enough research or data to support your study.

Booth, Wayne C. The Craft of Research . Fourth edition. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 2016; Coming Up With Your Topic. Institute for Writing Rhetoric. Dartmouth College; Narrowing a Topic. Writing Center. University of Kansas; Narrowing Topics. Writing@CSU. Colorado State University; Strategies for Narrowing a Topic. University Libraries. Information Skills Modules. Virginia Tech University; The Process of Writing a Research Paper. Department of History. Trent University; Ways to Narrow Down a Topic. Contributing Authors. Utah State OpenCourseWare.

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Next: Broadening a Topic Idea >>
Last Updated: May 30, 2024 9:38 AM
URL: https://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide

Research Tips and Tricks

Getting Started
Understanding the Assignment
Topic Selection Tips

Topic Narrowing

Ways to narrow your topic, be careful, tools to help, youtube videos about narrowing a topic.

Breaking Topic Into Keywords
Developing A Search Strategy
Scholarly vs Popular Sources
What Are Primary Sources?
Finding Scholarly Articles
Finding Scholarly Books
Finding Primary Sources
Citing My Sources This link opens in a new window

Instructional Librarian

Talk to your professor

A common challenge when beginning to write a research paper is determining how to narrow down your topic.

Even if your professor gives you a topic to study, it will seldom be specific enough that you will not have to narrow it down, at least to some degree.

A topic is too broad to be manageable when you find that you have too many different, conflicting or only remotely related ideas.

Although you will want to start the writing process by considering a variety of different approaches to studying the research problem, you will need to narrow the focus of your investigation at some point early in the writing process - this way you don't attempt to do too much in one paper.

Here are some strategies to help narrow your topic :

Aspect -- choose one lens through which to view the research problem, or look at just one facet of it.

e.g., rather than studying the role of food in South Asian religious rituals, explore the role of food in Hindu ceremonies or the role of one particular type of food among several religions.

Components -- determine if your initial variable or unit of analysis can be broken into smaller parts, which can then be analyzed more precisely.

e.g., a study of tobacco use among adolescents can focus on just chewing tobacco rather than all forms of usage or, rather than adolescents in general, focus on female adolescents in a specific age range who choose to use tobacco.

Methodology -- how you gather information can reduce the domain of interpretive analysis needed to address the research problem.

e.g., a single case study can be designed to generate data that does not require as extensive an explanation as using multiple cases.

Place -- generally, the smaller the geographic unit of analysis, the more narrow the focus.

e.g., rather than study trade relations in North America, study trade relations between Mexico and the United States.

Relationship -- ask yourself how do two or more different perspectives or variables relate to one another. Designing a study around the relationships between specific variables can help constrict the scope of analysis.

e.g., cause/effect, compare/contrast, contemporary/historical, group/individual, male/female, opinion/reason, problem/solution.

Time -- the shorter the time period of the study, the more narrow the focus.

e.g., study of relations between Russia and the United States during the Vietnam War.

Type -- focus your topic in terms of a specific type or class of people, places, or phenomena.

e.g., a study of developing safer traffic patterns near schools can focus on SUVs, or just student drivers, or just the timing of traffic signals in the area.

Cause -- focus your topic to just one cause for your topic.

e.g., rather than writing about all the causes of WW1, just write about nationalism.

When narrowing your topic, make sure you don't narrow it too much. A topic is too narrow if you can state it in just a few words.

For example:

How many soldiers died during the first world war?
Who was the first President of the United States?
Why is ocean water salty?
Why are Pringles shaped the way they are?
Developing a Research Topic This exercise is designed to help you develop a thoughtful topic for your research assignment, including methods for narrowing your topic.
What Makes a Good Research Question?
Narrowing Your topic
Four Steps To Narrow Your Research Topic

<< Previous: Topic Selection Tips
Next: Breaking Topic Into Keywords >>
Last Updated: Apr 9, 2024 10:45 AM
URL: https://kingsu.libguides.com/research

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1-Research Questions

2. Narrowing a Topic

For many students, having to start with a research question is the biggest difference between how they did research in high school and how they are required to carry out their college research projects. It’s a process of working from the outside in: you start with the world of all possible topics (or your assigned topic) and narrow down until you’ve focused your interest enough to be able to tell precisely what you want to find out, instead of only what you want to “write about.”

Process of Narrowing a Topic

A Venn diagram of concentric circles to show narrowing from all possible topics to a specific research question.

All Possible Topics -You’ll need to narrow your topic in order to do research effectively. Without specific areas of focus, it will be hard to even know where to begin.

Assigned Topics – When professors assign a topic you have to narrow, they have already started the narrowing process. Narrowing a topic means making some part of it more specific. Ideas about a narrower topic can come from anywhere. Often, a narrower topic boils down to deciding what’s interesting to you. One way to get ideas is to read background information from a source like Wikipedia.

Topic Narrowed by Initial Exploration – It’s wise to do some more reading about that narrower topic to a) learn more about it and b) learn specialized terms used by professionals and scholars who study it.

Topic Narrowed to Research Question(s) – A research question defines exactly what you are trying to find out. It will influence most of the steps you take to conduct the research.

ACTIVITY: Which Topic Is Narrower?

When we talk about narrowing a topic, we’re talking about making it more specific. You can make it more specific by singling out at least one part or aspect of the original to decrease the scope of the original. Now here’s some practice for you to test your understanding.

Why Narrow a Topic?

Once you have a need for research—say, an assignment—you may need to prowl around a bit online to explore the topic and figure out what you actually want to find out and write about.

For instance, maybe your assignment is to develop a poster about the season “spring” for an introductory horticulture course. The instructor expects you to narrow that topic to something you are interested in and that is related to your class.

A pie chart with one small section labeled as A narrower topic is a slice of the larger one.

One way to get ideas would be to read about spring in Wikipedia, looking for things that seem interesting and relevant to your class, and then letting one thing lead to another as you keep reading and thinking about likely possibilities that are more narrow than the enormous “spring” topic. (Be sure to pay attention to the references at the bottom of most Wikipedia pages and pursue any that look interesting. Your instructor is not likely to let you cite Wikipedia, but those references may be citable scholarly sources that you could eventually decide to use.)

Or, instead, if it is spring at the time you could start by just looking around, admire the blooming trees on campus, and decide you’d like your poster to be about bud development on your favorites, the crabapple trees.

What you’re actually doing to narrow your topic is making at least one aspect of your topic more specific. For instance, assume your topic is the maintenance of the 130 miles of sidewalks on OSU’s Columbus campus. If you made maintenance more specific, your narrower topic might be snow removal on Columbus OSU’s sidewalks. If instead, you made the 130 miles of sidewalks more specific, your narrower topic might be maintenance of the sidewalks on all sides of Mirror Lake.

Anna Narrows Her Topic and Works on a Research Question

The Situation: Anna, an undergraduate, has been assigned a research paper on Antarctica. Her professor expects students to (1) narrow the topic on something more specific about Antarctica because they won’t have time to cover that whole topic. Then they are to (2) come up with a research question that their paper will answer.

The professor explained that the research question should be something they are interested in answering and that it must be more complicated than what they could answer with a quick Google search. He also said that research questions often, but not always, start with either the word “how” or “why.”

What you should do:

Read what Anna is thinking below as she tries to do the assignment.
After the reading, answer the questions at the end of the monologue in your own mind.
Check your answers with ours at the end of Anna’s interior monologue.
Keep this demonstration in mind the next time you are in Anna’s spot, and you can mimic her actions and think about your own topic.

Anna’s Interior Monologue

Okay, I am going to have to write something—a research paper—about Antarctica. I don’t know anything about that place—I think it’s a continent. I can’t think of a single thing I’ve ever wanted to know about Antarctica. How will I come up with a research question about that place? Calls for Wikipedia, I guess.

Anna with thought bubble showing a desert

At https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctica . Just skimming. Pretty boring stuff. Oh, look– Antarctica’s a desert! I guess “desert” doesn’t have to do with heat. That’s interesting. What else could it have to do with? Maybe lack of precipitation? But there’s lots of snow and ice there. Have to think about that—what makes a desert a desert?

It says one to five thousand people live there in research stations. Year-round. Definitely, the last thing I’d ever do. “…there is no evidence that it was seen by humans until the 19th century.” I never thought about whether anybody lived in Antarctica first, before the scientists and stuff.

Lots of names—explorer, explorer… boring. It says Amundson reached the South Pole first. Who’s Amundson? But wait. It says, “One month later, the doomed Scott Expedition reached the pole.” Doomed? Doomed is always interesting. Where’s more about the Scott Expedition? I’m going to use that Control-F technique and type in Scott to see if I can find more about him on this page. Nothing beyond that one sentence shows up. Why would they have just that one sentence? I’ll have to click on the Scott Expedition link.

Anna with thought bubble showing Terra Nova Expedition

But it gives me a page called Terra Nova Expedition. What does that have to do with Scott? And just who was Scott? And why was his expedition doomed? There he is in a photo before going to Antarctica. Guess he was English. Other photos show him and his team in the snow. Oh, the expedition was named Terra Nova after the ship they sailed this time—in 1911. Scott had been there earlier on another ship.

Lots of stuff about preparing for the trip. Then stuff about expedition journeys once they were in Antarctica. Not very exciting—nothing about being doomed. I don’t want to write about this stuff.

Wait. The last paragraph of the first section says “For many years after his death, Scott’s status as a tragic hero was unchallenged,” but then it says that in the 20th-century people looked closer at the expedition’s management and at whether Scott and some of his team could be personally blamed for the catastrophe. That “remains controversial,” it says. Catastrophe? Personally blamed? Hmm.

Back to skimming. It all seems horrible to me. They actually planned to kill their ponies for meat, so when they actually did it, it was no surprise. Everything was extremely difficult. And then when they arrived at the South Pole, they found that the explorer Amundsen had beaten them. Must have been a big disappointment.

The homeward march was even worse. The weather got worse. The dog sleds that were supposed to meet them periodically with supplies didn’t show up. Or maybe the Scott group was lost and didn’t go to the right meeting places. Maybe that’s what that earlier statement meant about whether the decisions that were made were good ones. Scott’s diary said the crystallized snow made it seem like they were pushing and pulling the sledges through dry sand .

It says that before things turned really bad ( really bad? You’ve already had to eat your horses !), Scott allowed his men to put 30 pounds of rocks with fossils on the sledges they were pushing and dragging. Now was that sensible? The men had to push or pull those sledges themselves. What if it was those rocks that actually doomed those men?

But here it says that those rocks are the proof of continental drift. So how did they know those rocks were so important? Was that knowledge worth their lives? Could they have known?

Wow–there is drama on this page! Scott’s diary is quoted about their troubles on the expedition—the relentless cold, frostbite, and the deaths of their dogs. One entry tells of a guy on Scott’s team “now with hands as well as feet pretty well useless” voluntarily leaving the tent and walking to his death. The diary says that the team member’s last words were ”I am just going outside and may be some time.” Ha!

They all seem lost and desperate but still have those sledges. Why would you keep pulling and pushing those sledges containing an extra 30 pounds of rock when you are so desperate and every step is life or death?

Anna with thought bubble showing a diary

Then there’s Scott’s last diary entry, on March 29, 1912. “… It seems a pity but I do not think I can write more.” Well.

That diary apparently gave lots of locations of where he thought they were but maybe they were lost. It says they ended up only 11 miles from one of their supply stations. I wonder if anybody knows how close they were to where Scott thought they were.

I’d love to see that diary. Wouldn’t that be cool? Online? I’ll Google it.

Yes! At the British museum. Look at that! I can see Scott’s last entry IN HIS OWN HANDWRITING!

Anna with thought bubble showing a web page

Actually, if I decide to write about something that requires reading the diary, it would be easier to not have to decipher his handwriting. Wonder whether there is a typed version of it online somewhere?

Maybe I should pay attention to the early paragraph on the Terra Nova Expedition page in Wikipedia—about it being controversial whether Scott and his team made bad decisions so that they brought most of their troubles on themselves. Can I narrow my topic to just the controversy over whether bad decisions of Scott and his crew doomed them? Maybe it’s too big a topic if I consider the decisions of all team members. Maybe I should just consider Scott’s decisions.

So what research question could come from that? Maybe: how did Scott’s decisions contribute to his team’s deaths in Antarctica? But am I talking about his decisions before or after they left for Antarctica? Or the whole time they were a team? Probably too many decisions involved. More focused: How did Scott’s decisions after reaching the South Pole help or hurt the chances of his team getting back safely? That’s not bad—maybe. If people have written about that. There are several of his decisions discussed on the Wikipedia page, and I know there are sources at the bottom of that page.

Anna with thought bubble showing a dessert

Let me think—what else did I see that was interesting or puzzling about all this? I remember being surprised that Antarctica is a desert. So maybe I could make Antarctica as a desert my topic. My research question could be something like: Why is Antarctica considered a desert? But there has to be a definition of deserts somewhere online, so that doesn’t sound complicated enough. Once you know the definition of desert, you’d know the answer to the question. Professor Sanders says research questions are more complicated than regular questions.

What’s a topic I could care about? A question I really wonder about? Maybe those rocks with the fossils in them. It’s just so hard to imagine desperate explorers continuing to push those sledges with an extra 30 pounds of rocks on them. Did they somehow know how important they would be? Or were they just curious about them? Why didn’t they ditch them? Or maybe they just didn’t realize how close to death they were. Maybe I could narrow my Antarctica topic to those rocks.

Maybe my narrowed topic could be something like: The rocks that Scott and his crew found in Antarctica that prove continental drift. Maybe my research question could be: How did Scott’s explorers choose the rocks they kept?

Well, now all I have is questions about my questions. Like, is my professor going to think the question about the rocks is still about Antarctica? Or is it all about continental drift or geology or even the psychology of desperate people? And what has been written about the finding of those rocks? Will I be able to find enough sources? I’m also wondering whether my question about Scott’s decisions is too big—do I have enough time for it?

Anna with thought bubble showing people talking

I think my professor is the only one who can tell me whether my question about the rocks has enough to do with Antarctica. Since he’s the one who will be grading my paper. But a librarian can help me figure out the other things.

So Dr. Sanders and a librarian are next.

Reflection Questions

Was Anna’s choice to start with Wikipedia a good choice? Why or why not?
Have you ever used that Control-F technique?
At what points does Anna think about where to look for information?
At the end of this session, Anna hasn’t yet settled on a research question. So what did she accomplish? What good was all this searching and thinking?

Our Answers:

Was Anna’s choice to start with Wikipedia a good choice? Why or why not? Wikipedia is a great place to start a research project. Just make sure you move on from there, because it’s a not a good place to end up with your project. One place to move on to is the sources at the bottom of most Wikipedia pages.
Have you ever used that Control-F technique? If you haven’t used the Control-F technique, we hope you will. It can save you a lot of time and effort reading online material.
At what points does Anna think about where to look for information ? When she began; when she wanted to know more about the Scott expedition; when she wonders whether she could read Scott’s diary online; when she thinks about what people could answer her questions.
At the end of this session, Anna hasn’t yet settled on a research question. So what did she accomplish? What good was all this reading and thinking? There are probably many answers to this question. Ours includes that Anna learned more about Antarctica, the subject of her research project. She focused her thinking (even if she doesn’t end up using the possible research questions she’s considering) and practiced critical thinking skills, such as when she thought about what she could be interested in, when she worked to make her potential research questions more specific, and when she figured out what questions still needed answering at the end. She also practiced her skills at making meaning from what she read, investigating a story that she didn’t expect to be there and didn’t know had the potential of being one that she is interested in. She also now knows what questions she needs answered and whom to ask. These thinking skills are what college is all about. Anna is way beyond where she was when she started.

Choosing & Using Sources: A Guide to Academic Research Copyright © 2015 by Teaching & Learning, Ohio State University Libraries is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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5.3: Narrowing a Topic

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Process of Narrowing a Topic

Visualize narrowing a topic as starting with all possible topics and choosing narrower and narrower subsets until you have a specific enough topic to form a research question.

All Possible Topics – You’ll need to narrow your topic to do research effectively. Without specific areas of focus, it will be hard to even know where to begin.

Assigned Topics – Ideas about a narrower topic can come from anywhere. Often, a narrower topic boils down to deciding what’s interesting to you. One way to get ideas is to read background information in a source like Wikipedia.

Topic Narrowed by Initial Exploration – It’s wise to do some background reading about that narrower topic to a) learn more about it and b) learn specialized terms used by professionals and scholars who study it.

Topic Narrowed to Research Question(s) – A research question defines exactly what you are trying to find out. It will influence most of the steps you take to conduct the research.

Why Narrow a Topic?

Once you have a need for research—say, an assignment—you may need to prowl around a bit online to explore the topic and figure out what you actually want to find out and write about. For instance, maybe your assignment is to develop a poster about “spring” for an introductory horticulture course. The instructor expects you to narrow that topic to something you are interested in and that is related to your class.

Another way to view a narrowed topic is as a sliver of the whole topic.

Ideas about a narrower topic can come from anywhere. In this case, a narrower topic boils down to deciding what’s interesting to you about “spring” that is related to what you’re learning in your horticulture class and small enough to manage in the time you have. One way to get ideas would be to read about spring in Wikipedia, a reference database such as CREDO, or a subject encyclopedia. Look for things that seem interesting and relevant to your class, and then let one thing lead to another as you keep reading and thinking about likely possibilities that are more narrow than the enormous “spring” topic. Be sure to pay attention to the references at the bottom of most Wikipedia pages and pursue any that look interesting. Your instructor is not likely to let you cite Wikipedia, but those references may be scholarly sources that you could eventually decide to use and cite.

Jada Narrows Her Topic and Works on a Research Question

The Situation: Jada, an undergraduate, has been assigned a research paper on Antarctica. Her professor expects students to narrow the topic to something more specific about Antarctica because they won’t have time to cover that whole topic. Then they are to come up with a research question that their paper will answer.

The professor explained that the research question should be something they are interested in answering and that it must be more complicated than what they could answer with a quick Google search. She also said that research questions often start with either the word “how” or “why.”

Try it out:

Read what Jada is thinking below as she tries to do the assignment.
After the reading, answer the questions based on your own approach to research.
Check your answers with ours.
Keep this passage in mind the next time you start a research topic and mimic the process that Jada uses.

Female Student biting a pencil while looking at a laptop

Jada’s Thoughts

Okay, I have to write—a research paper—about Antarctica. I don’t know anything about that place—and I can’t think of a single thing I’d like to know about Antarctica. Calls for Wikipedia, I guess.

Guess I’ll go here https://en.Wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctica . Just skimming. Pretty boring stuff. Oh, look– Antarctica’s a desert! I guess “desert” doesn’t have to do with heat. That’s interesting. Why is it considered a desert, there’s lots of snow and ice there. Have to think about that—what makes a desert a desert.

It says one to five thousand people live there in research stations. Year-round. And there is no evidence that it was seen by humans until the 19th century. I never thought about whether anybody lived in Antarctica first, before explorers and scientists.

Lots of names—explorers, others. It says Amundsen reached the South pole first. Who’s Amundsen? But wait. It says, “One month later, the doomed Scott Expedition reached the pole.” Doomed? Doomed is always interesting. Where is there more information about the Scott Expedition? There is only one sentence. Why would they have just that one sentence? I’ll have to click on the Scott Expedition link.

Members of the Robert F. Scott Expedition

Terra Nova…

But it gives me a page called Terra Nova Expedition. What does that have to do with Scott? Who was he and why was his expedition doomed? There he is in a photo before going to Antarctica. Guess he was English. Other photos show him and his team in the snow. Oh, the expedition was named Terra Nova after the ship they sailed this time—in 1911. Scott was also there earlier on another ship.

Lots of info about preparing for the trip. Then stuff about expedition journeys once they were in Antarctica. Not very exciting—nothing about being doomed.

Back to skimming. It all seems horrible to me. They actually planned to kill their ponies for meat. Everything was extremely difficult. And then when they arrived at the South Pole, they found that the explorer Amundsen had beaten them. Must have been a big disappointment.

The homeward march was even worse. The weather was bad. The dog sleds that were supposed to meet them periodically with supplies didn’t show up. Or maybe the Scott group was lost and didn’t go to the right meeting places. Maybe that’s what that earlier statement meant about whether the decisions that were made were good ones. Scott’s diary said the crystallized snow made it seem like they were pushing and pulling the sleds through dry sand .

It says that before things turned really bad, Scott allowed his men to put 30 pounds of rocks with fossils on the sleds they were pushing and dragging. Now was that sensible? But here it says that those rocks are the proof of continental drift. So how did they know those rocks were so important? Was that knowledge worth their lives? Could they have known?

Scott’s diary is quoted about their troubles on the expedition—the relentless cold, frostbite, and the deaths of their dogs. One entry tells of a guy on Scott’s team “now with hands as well as feet pretty well useless” voluntarily leaving the tent and walking to his death. The diary says that the team member’s last words were ”I am just going outside and may be some time.”

They all seem lost and desperate but still have those sleds. Why would you keep pulling and pushing those sleds containing an extra 30 pounds of rock when you are so desperate and every step is life or death?

Last page from the Robert F. Scott Diary

A diary…

Then there’s Scott’s last diary entry, on March 29, 1912. “… It seems a pity but I do not think I can write more.”. The diary apparently gave lots of locations of where he thought they were but maybe they were lost. It says they ended up only 11 miles from one of their supply stations.

I’d love to see that diary. Wouldn’t that be cool? Online? I’ll Google it. Yes! it’s at the British Museum. Look at that! I can see Scott’s last entry IN HIS OWN HANDWRITING! And there’s a digital copy too.

I wonder if I should narrow my topic to just the controversy over whether the expedition was doomed because of the bad decisions made by Scott and his crew? Maybe it’s too big a topic if I consider the decisions of all team members. Maybe I should just consider Scott’s decisions. They should be noted in the diary.

So what research question could come from that? Maybe: how did Scott’s decisions contribute to his team’s deaths in Antarctica? Need to be more focused: How did Scott’s decisions after reaching the South Pole help or hurt the chances of his team getting back safely? There are several of his decisions discussed on the Wikipedia page, and I know there are sources at the bottom of that page.

Really, a desert?

Let me think—what else did I see that was interesting or puzzling about all this? I remember being surprised that Antarctica is a desert. So maybe I could make the desert of Antarctica my topic. My research question could be something like: Why is Antarctica considered a desert? But there has to be a definition of deserts somewhere online, so that doesn’t sound complicated enough. Maybe those rocks with the fossils in them. It’s just so hard to imagine desperate explorers continuing to push those sleds with an extra 30 pounds of rocks on them. Did they somehow know how important they would be? Why didn’t they ditch them? Or maybe they just didn’t realize how close to death they were. Maybe I could narrow my Antarctica topic to those rocks.

Maybe my topic could be something like The rocks that Scott and his crew found in Antarctica that prove continental drift. Maybe my research question could be: How did Scott’s explorers choose the rocks they kept? Or maybe I should stick with why Scott and his crew made bad decisions.

I should ask.

I think my professor is the only one who can tell me whether my question about the rocks has enough to do with Antarctica. Since she’s the one who will be grading my paper. But a librarian can help me figure out the other things. So Dr. Sanders and a librarian are next.

Was Jada’s choice to start with Wikipedia a good choice? Why or why not?
Have you ever skimmed resources first and then read more deeply later?
At what points does Jada think about where to look for information?
At the end of this session, Jada hasn’t yet settled on a research question. So what did she accomplish? What good was all this searching and thinking?

Our Answers

Was Jada’s choice to start with Wikipedia a good choice? Although not usually cited in research papers, Wikipedia is a good place to learn more about all kinds of topics. Information is usually general in nature and you can check out the references at the bottom of the page. Use those links to find additional resources. This may lead you to library based sources like subject dictionaries, encyclopedias, or guides.
Have you ever skimmed resources first and then read more deeply later? When first exploring your topic you may choose to skim resources. That is a very brief read looking for interesting and useful information. Later when you select a topic and look for resources that provide deeper, more focused information.
At what points does Jada think about where to look for information? After receiving the core part of the topic (Antarctica), she begins looking for general information and becomes curious about the Scott expedition. As she learns more she thinks about where she can look for additional information, such as the diary mentioned in Wikipedia..
At the end of this session, Jada hasn’t yet settled on a research question. So what did she accomplish? What good was all this searching and thinking? The background information that Jada looked at helped her to focus on the problems with the Scott Expedition. She slowly narrows down some of the issues and centers on the weight of the rocks. She considers two different questions (one more narrow than the other) and intends to seek input from the professor and librarian. Taking the time to explore her topic has given her ideas useful for a solid research question.

Exercise: Determine the Topic Order

An interactive H5P element has been excluded from this version of the text. You can view it online here: https://minnstate.pressbooks.pub/ctar/?p=59#h5p-7

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1 Narrowing a Topic

Defining your research question is a process of working from the outside in: you start with the world of all possible topics (or your assigned topic) and narrow down until you have focused your interest enough to be able to state precisely what you want to find out, instead of only what you want to “write about.”

Going through this process can be the hardest part of doing research, but once you have a question that is realistically scoped (not too broad, not too narrow) it will guide the rest of your work.

The Process of Narrowing a Topic

Concentric circles from broad topic to narrow question

ACTIVITY: Which Topic is Narrower?

Now it’s your turn. Practice thinking about narrower topics with these 3 examples. Click the arrow to show the next question.

TIP: Use Some of the 5 W’s to Help Narrow Your Topic to a Searchable Question

Your assignment is to write on the topic of higher education. You decide you want to write about the high cost of tuition, but that is still too broad.

Start by asking some or all of the following questions.


	First year students, mature students, part-time students
	Graduation rates, degree completion, attrition, dropout
	Last 10 years
	Financial burden, employment, student debt

From asking these questions, you might come up with a research question like this:

“How does the high cost of tuition impact the degree completion of mature college students?”

Image: “ Rq-narrow ” by Teaching and Learning, University Libraries is licensed under CC BY-4.0 .

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Selecting a Research Topic

Why should i narrow my research topic, considerations, topic selection process.

Topic Selection Strategies
EBSCO's Research Starters
Defining Scope

If you have a need to conduct research for a course at any level, you should understand the significance of narrowing down your research topic. Reasons for narrowing down a research topic are:

The field you are studying is much too broad, so you cannot formulate a research question or hypothesis from it.
You are not quite sure what you want to cover in your research project/paper.
You feel overwhelmed by the research topic you have already selected.
Your assignment requires you to research a topic that has not yet been covered (research gap).

Before you begin your search for a research topic, there are some things to consider that could impact the topic you choose:

In what field of study is your assignment? In what course is your project?
Does your assignment require you to research a specific topic within a particular discipline?
How narrow or broad does your topic need to be?
Who will be reading your paper?
Will you be presenting your project to an audience?
What type of paper are you writing? This may determine the scope of your topic.

The process of narrowing down a research topic can be illustrated by the image below ("Choosing & Using Sources," 2016). It illustrates the process of thinking about all potential research topics, then narrowing it down to a specific research question. This diagram can assist you in determining your topic because it illustrates how all possible topics and subjects transform into your final research topic. It is also recommended that you refer to your assignment instructions for guidance on topic selection.

All possible topics: Represents all potential topics in your field of discipline. This is often overwhelming, so it is typical to rule out irrelevant topics to create a "smaller" pool of topics.

Assigned topic: This is a combination of determining topics that are interesting to you and that fulfill your assignment requirements. You might have more than one topic, so you may need to narrow them down further.

Topic narrowed by initial exploration: This results from conducting preliminary research on your assigned topic(s). During this process, you will learn more about the topics you are considering. From there, you can determine if the topic is still of interest.

Topic narrowed to research question(s): From the information you have learned in your preliminary research, you formulate a research question that identifies what your paper/project will attempt to discover.

The video below from Wilsey Library demonstrates how to narrow down a general research topic.

<< Previous: Welcome
Next: Topic Selection Strategies >>
Last Updated: May 22, 2023 10:46 AM
URL: https://library.tiffin.edu/selectingaresearchtopic

Developing Research Questions & Narrowing Research Topics

Remember the story of “Goldilocks and the Three Bears”? Goldilocks searched the bears’ house looking for the chair, porridge, and bed that was “Juuust right.” Well, think of Goldilocks when you are formulating your research topic: you want to create the perfect one, the one that is “Juuust right.”

General Subject
Narrow Subject
Narrow Again

1. Start with the General Topic

Let’s say that your professor has given you the general subject of food and says you need to write a paper that is 3 – 5 double-spaced pages. Well, “food” is a pretty big topic. If you were going to discuss everything about food, you would be writing a book, or nine. Think of all the history, cultures, diets, recipes, chemistry, etc. that are wrapped up in the idea of food. It is quite a lot!

2. Narrow the Subject Down

So, we need to narrow this subject down. Let’s say that your major is in history. You might be tempted to say “history of food” and consider that topic a job well done. Before you pat yourself on the back, think about it: there are many aspects of food’s history to consider.

What will you discuss about the history of food?

The different cultural beliefs about beef?

The historic importance of rice in China?

The importance of food at a certain point in history?

3. Then Narrow this Topic Down Even Further

You can narrow down your topic of the history of food even further. Let’s say that you decided to focus on the important foods at a certain point in history. This topic is certainly narrower than the giant topic of food, and narrower than history of food, but the topic is not narrow enough.

Here are some questions you could ask to help you narrow your topic down even further:

What specific point in history will you choose?

What geographic locale will the food be?

What is the food and the culture around that food?

4. Now You Have Your Topic

After asking a series of questions to help narrow down the subject and doing some initial searching in Library Quick Search, we have decided on the topic:

“How the Chili Queens Influenced San Antonio”

Just like the pyramid to the right, we started off broad and ended to a point.

Use this process to narrow your own topic! At the final step, you can easily change your topic to a thesis, just like we successfully narrowed this topic from “Food” to “San Antonio’s Chili Queens spread the love of cowboy food and Texas hospitality to San Antonio visitors.”

Activity

Now you know how to transform a broad idea to a specific one that can be discussed within a set page limit. Remember the pyramid: your topic should get narrower with each question that you ask. If the topic is getting bigger, there may be a problem. Use this activity to narrow the topic of “sports” to a topic that can be discussed in a 2-3 page paper to make it “juuust right.”

Think you have the hang of this? Test yourself with the following practice questions. There are five questions. You might want to complete a Library Quick Search if you are unsure about how broad or narrow the topic is.

The more work that you do to get to a “Goldilocks research topic,” the better equipped you will be for your research journey. Remember, it took Goldilocks a couple of tries before she found the porridge that was “Juuust right” and it might take you a couple of tries before you find which topic will be just right for you too!

Want some more help? These tutorials provide some different approaches to getting your topic juuust right.

Reynolds Community College Libraries – Refine a Topic University of Nevada, Las Vegas University Libraries – Topic Narrowing Penn State University Libraries – Choosing a Topic Virginia Tech University Libraries – Strategies for Narrowing a Topic

Narrowing your research topic

Contributors: Derrian Goebel

Narrowing a research topic is moving from a general topic, like global warming, to a tighter research focus, such as helping the environment by improving travel modes (example below). However, you can’t just forget about the big picture—how your argument/claim fits into the bigger discussion including connections to other viewpoints on your topic.

To ensure a connection with other viewpoints and the bigger picture, ask yourself some questions when revising your paper:

Are you showing readers how your narrowed topic effects, or relates to, the bigger picture?
When going through each topic point, do you acknowledge opposing viewpoints?
When you are ready to relate your narrowed topic to the bigger picture, do you mention other topics included in the larger discussion?

Example: Solving Global Warming—Do Something

Plant trees
Best travel

Bigger picture

“Solving Global Warming—Do Something” is the larger discussion about climate change and the environment. “Use less,” “plant trees” and “be a catalyst” are some branches stemming from the larger discussion. The “best travel” topic is only one part of the global warming bigger picture. Articulate the multiple standpoints within the bigger picture :

So, for example in the previous picture, you will need to be able to locate your narrowed topic (best travel) in relation to the other parts of the main issue.
Show your readers how your focused subject is connected to these other conversations.

Narrowed research topic

How people can buy hybrid/electric cars, car pool with co-workers, walk, bike or use public transportation (above). Opposing viewpoints are ones that argue within your focused area.

Explore the multiple arguments, perspectives and alternative positions within your narrowed research topic:

Take the time and give fair consideration to these other perspectives, which will benefit your argument by offering readers a fair report.

For example, not everyone will live close enough to their work to walk or ride a bike. These, too, are parts of the argument—they are the alternative point(s) of view.

If you can argue, then do so: “People may not be able to walk or ride a bike, but what about the bus?” Otherwise, it is best to simply acknowledge and move on: “…which is a good point.” This is an example of fair reporting.

So overall, when your teacher asks you to focus your research, don’t forget that connection to the bigger discussion in which you were initially interested. Also, don’t forget other opinions for a fair and balanced essay.

How To Choose A Research Topic

Step-By-Step Tutorial With Examples + Free Topic Evaluator

By: Derek Jansen (MBA) | Expert Reviewer: Dr Eunice Rautenbach | April 2024

Choosing the right research topic is likely the most important decision you’ll make on your dissertation or thesis journey. To make the right choice, you need to take a systematic approach and evaluate each of your candidate ideas across a consistent set of criteria. In this tutorial, we’ll unpack five essential criteria that will help you evaluate your prospective research ideas and choose a winner.

Overview: The “Big 5” Key Criteria

Topic originality or novelty
Value and significance
Access to data and equipment
Time limitations and implications
Ethical requirements and constraints

Criterion #1: Originality & Novelty

As we’ve discussed extensively on this blog, originality in a research topic is essential. In other words, you need a clear research gap . The uniqueness of your topic determines its contribution to the field and its potential to stand out in the academic community. So, for each of your prospective topics, ask yourself the following questions:

What research gap and research problem am I filling?
Does my topic offer new insights?
Am I combining existing ideas in a unique way?
Am I taking a unique methodological approach?

To objectively evaluate the originality of each of your topic candidates, rate them on these aspects. This process will not only help in choosing a topic that stands out, but also one that can capture the interest of your audience and possibly contribute significantly to the field of study – which brings us to our next criterion.

Criterion #2: Value & Significance

Next, you’ll need to assess the value and significance of each prospective topic. To do this, you’ll need to ask some hard questions.

Why is it important to explore these research questions?
Who stands to benefit from this study?
How will they benefit, specifically?

By clearly understanding and outlining the significance of each potential topic, you’ll not only be justifying your final choice – you’ll essentially be laying the groundwork for a persuasive research proposal , which is equally important.

Criterion #3: Access to Data & Equipment

Naturally, access to relevant data and equipment is crucial for the success of your research project. So, for each of your prospective topic ideas, you’ll need to evaluate whether you have the necessary resources to collect data and conduct your study.

Here are some questions to ask for each potential topic:

Will I be able to access the sample of interest (e.g., people, animals, etc.)?
Do I have (or can I get) access to the required equipment, at the time that I need it?
Are there costs associated with any of this? If so, what are they?

Keep in mind that getting access to certain types of data may also require special permissions and legalities, especially if your topic involves vulnerable groups (patients, youths, etc.). You may also need to adhere to specific data protection laws, depending on the country. So, be sure to evaluate these aspects thoroughly for each topic. Overlooking any of these can lead to significant complications down the line.

Free Webinar: How To Find A Dissertation Research Topic

Criterion #4: Time Requirements & Implications

Naturally, having a realistic timeline for each potential research idea is crucial. So, consider the scope of each potential topic and estimate how long each phase of the research will take — from literature review to data collection and analysis, to writing and revisions. Underestimating the time needed for a research project is extremely common , so it’s important to include buffer time for unforeseen delays.

Remember, efficient time management is not just about the duration but also about the timing . For example, if your research involves fieldwork, there may specific times of the year when this is most doable (or not doable at all). So, be sure to consider both time and timing for each of your prospective topics.

Criterion #5: Ethical Compliance

Failing to adhere to your university’s research ethics policy is a surefire way to get your proposal rejected . So, you’ll need to evaluate each topic for potential ethical issues, especially if your research involves human subjects, sensitive data, or has any potential environmental impact.

Remember that ethical compliance is not just a formality – it’s a responsibility to ensure the integrity and social responsibility of your research. Topics that pose significant ethical challenges are typically the first to be rejected, so you need to take this seriously. It’s also useful to keep in mind that some topics are more “ethically sensitive” than others , which usually means that they’ll require multiple levels of approval. Ideally, you want to avoid this additional admin, so mark down any prospective topics that fall into an ethical “grey zone”.

If you’re unsure about the details of your university’s ethics policy, ask for a copy or speak directly to your course coordinator. Don’t make any assumptions when it comes to research ethics!

Key Takeaways

In this post, we’ve explored how to choose a research topic using a systematic approach. To recap, the “Big 5” assessment criteria include:

Topic originality and novelty
Time requirements
Ethical compliance

Be sure to grab a copy of our free research topic evaluator sheet here to fast-track your topic selection process. If you need hands-on help finding and refining a high-quality research topic for your dissertation or thesis, you can also check out our private coaching service .

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Narrowing a Topic

Process of Narrowing a Topic

Visualize narrowing a topic as starting with all possible topics and choosing narrower and narrower subsets until you have a specific enough topic to form a research question.

All Possible Topics – You’ll need to narrow your topic to do research effectively. Without specific areas of focus, it will be hard to even know where to begin.

Topic Narrowed to Research Question(s) – A research question defines exactly what you are trying to find out. It will influence most of the steps you take to conduct the research.

Why Narrow a Topic?

Another way to view a narrowed topic is as a sliver of the whole topic.

Jada Narrows Her Topic and Works on a Research Question

The professor explained that the research question should be something they are interested in answering and that it must be more complicated than what they could answer with a quick Google search. She also said that research questions often start with either the word “how” or “why.”

Try it out:

Read what Jada is thinking below as she tries to do the assignment.
After the reading, answer the questions based on your own approach to research.
Check your answers with ours.
Keep this passage in mind the next time you start a research topic and mimic the process that Jada uses.

Jada’s Thoughts

Guess I’ll go here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctica . Just skimming. Pretty boring stuff. Oh, look– Antarctica’s a desert! I guess “desert” doesn’t have to do with heat. That’s interesting. Why is it considered a desert, there’s lots of snow and ice there. Have to think about that—what makes a desert a desert.

Terra Nova…

Lots of info about preparing for the trip. Then stuff about expedition journeys once they were in Antarctica. Not very exciting—nothing about being doomed.

Really, a desert?

I should ask.

Was Jada’s choice to start with Wikipedia a good choice? Why or why not?
Have you ever skimmed resources first and then read more deeply later?
At what points does Jada think about where to look for information?
At the end of this session, Jada hasn’t yet settled on a research question. So what did she accomplish? What good was all this searching and thinking?

Our Answers

Was Jada’s choice to start with Wikipedia a good choice? Although not usually cited in research papers, Wikipedia is a good place to learn more about all kinds of topics. Information is usually general in nature and you can check out the references at the bottom of the page. Use those links to find additional resources. This may lead you to library based sources like subject dictionaries, encyclopedias, or guides.
Have you ever skimmed resources first and then read more deeply later? When first exploring your topic you may choose to skim resources. That is a very brief read looking for interesting and useful information. Later when you select a topic and look for resources that provide deeper, more focused information.
At what points does Jada think about where to look for information? After receiving the core part of the topic (Antarctica), she begins looking for general information and becomes curious about the Scott expedition. As she learns more she thinks about where she can look for additional information, such as the diary mentioned in Wikipedia..
At the end of this session, Jada hasn’t yet settled on a research question. So what did she accomplish? What good was all this searching and thinking? The background information that Jada looked at helped her to focus on the problems with the Scott Expedition. She slowly narrows down some of the issues and centers on the weight of the rocks. She considers two different questions (one more narrow than the other) and intends to seek input from the professor and librarian. Taking the time to explore her topic has given her ideas useful for a solid research question.

Exercise: Determine the Topic Order

Critical Thinking in Academic Research Copyright © 2022 by Cindy Gruwell and Robin Ewing is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Need a Topic?
Form a Research Position
Background Research
Brainstorming Strategies This link opens in a new window

Narrow Down Your Topic: Example #1

Narrow down your topic: example #2, try narrowing down your topic....

Choosing Keywords
Get Help This link opens in a new window

Forming a Research Question

Topic Development

Concept Map

Topics/Thesis

#1 Blank Worksheet Complete the attached Topic Development / Pre-Search Worksheet.
#2 Blank Worksheet (Long Version) Complete the attached Research Exploration Form.
#2 Fracking Example (Long Version - with additional Social Justice questions)
<< Previous: Brainstorming Strategies
Next: Choosing Keywords >>
Last Updated: May 17, 2024 1:00 PM
URL: https://libguides.lmu.edu/needatopic

University of Michigan Library
Research Guides

Finding and Exploring Your Topic

Narrowing/Broadening Your Topic
General Brainstorming
Subject-Specific Brainstorming
Understanding Your Topic

Brainstorming

A bubble chart like the one below can help you brainstorm different ways that your topic can be narrowed or broadened.

Narrowing Your Topic

Sometimes a topic that seems like the right size for your paper can seem way too big after you’ve learned a little more about it. When this happens, you need to narrow the focus of your paper. You can do this by considering different ways to restrict your paper topic.

Some of the ways you can limit your paper topic are by:

Who – population or group (e.g., college students; women; Asian Americans)
What – discipline or focus (e.g., sociological or historical perspective)
Where – geographic location (e.g., United States; universities; small towns)
When – time period or era (19 th century; Renaissance; Vietnam War)
Why – why is the topic important? (to the class, to the field, or to you)

For example, a paper about alcohol use would be very broad. But a paper about reasons for alcohol abuse by female college students in the United States during the 1990s might be just right.

Goldilocker: An Online Tool For Narrowing Your Topic

The University of Michigan Library Learning and Teaching Team has created an online tool to help you narrow your topic. The Goldilocker tool can be used as a stand alone/personal exercise to articulate your topic in a much more narrow fashion. It can also be used in conjunction with University of Michigan courses and classes outside of the university.

Broadening Your Topic

Sometimes you will find that your topic is too narrow - there is not enough published on your topic. When this happens, you can try to broaden your topic. There are a couple of strategies you can try when broadening your topic.

One strategy is to choose less specific terms for your search, e.g., standardized tests instead of SATs, or performance-enhancing drugs instead of anabolic steroids.

Another strategy is to broaden your topic by changing or removing limits or filters from your topic:

Who - population or group (e.g., instead of college students, choose a broader section of the population)
What - discipline or focus (e.g., instead of choosing a sociological perspective, look at a number of perspectives)
Where - geographic location (e.g., instead of Michigan, choose United States)
When - time period or era (e.g., instead of 1984, choose 1980s or 20th century)

For example, a paper about alcohol use by college students at the University of Michigan in 1984 might be too narrow of a focus. But a paper about alcohol use by college students in the 1980s might be just right.

How to Narrow the Research Topic for Your Paper

Writing Research Papers
Writing Essays
English Grammar
M.Ed., Education Administration, University of Georgia
B.A., History, Armstrong State University

It is typical for students to set off on a research topic only to find out that the one they've chosen is too broad. If you are lucky, you will find out before you conduct too much research, because much of the early research you carry out might be useless once you finally narrow your topic.

It is a good idea to run your initial research idea by a teacher or librarian to get an expert opinion. He or she will save you some time and give you some tips on narrowing the scope of your topic.

What Is Too Broad?

Students get tired of hearing that their chosen topic is too broad, but it is a very common problem. How do you know if your topic is too broad?

If you find yourself in the library staring at a entire section of books that could work as references for your topic, it is too broad! A good topic addresses a specific question or problem. You should see only four or five books on the shelf that address your specific research question (maybe fewer!).
If your topic can be summed up in a word or two, like smoking, school cheating , education, overweight teens, corporal punishment , Korean War, or hip-hop, it is too broad.
If you have trouble coming up with a thesis statement, your topic is probably too broad.

A good research project must be narrowed down in order to be meaningful and manageable.

How to Narrow Your Topic

The best way to narrow your topic is to apply a few of the old familiar question words, like who, what, where, when, why, and how.

Paddling as punishment:
Where? : "Paddling in grade school"
What and where? : "Emotional effects of paddling in grade school"
What and who? : "Emotional effects of paddling on female children"
Hip-hop dancing:
What? : "Hip-hop as therapy"
What and where? : "Hip-hop as therapy in Japan"
What, where, and who? : "Hip-hop as therapy for delinquent youth in Japan"

Eventually, you will see that the process of narrowing your research topic actually makes your project more interesting. Already, you're one step closer to a better grade!

Another Tactic

Another good method for narrowing your focus involves brainstorming a list of terms and questions related to your broad topic. To demonstrate, let's start with a broad subject, like unhealthy behavior as an example.

Imagine that your instructor has given this subject as a writing prompt. You can make a list of somewhat-related, random nouns and see if you can ask questions to relate the two topics. This results in a narrow subject! Here is a demonstration:

This might look random, but your next step is to come up with a question that connects the two subjects. The answer to that question is the starting point for a thesis statement , and a brainstorming session like this can lead to great research ideas.

Art and unhealthy behavior:
Is there a specific piece of art that represents the hazards of smoking?
Is there a famous artist who died from an unhealthy habit?
Sandwiches and unhealthy behavior:
What happens if you eat sandwiches every day for dinner?
Are ice cream sandwiches really bad for us?
Examples of Great Introductory Paragraphs
What Is a Research Paper?
What Is Expository Writing?
What Is a Literature Review?
How to Write a Solid Thesis Statement
Focusing in Composition
Topic In Composition and Speech
Revising a Paper
How to Get Started on a Literature Review
Common Application Essay Option 6: Losing Track of Time
How To Write an Essay
Definition and Examples of Analysis in Composition
How to Develop a Research Paper Timeline
Composition Type: Problem-Solution Essays
Write an Attention-Grabbing Opening Sentence for an Essay
What Is a Senior Thesis?

45northresearch.com

Get inspired for the best research choices!

How to Narrow Down a Research Topic: Step-by-Step Guide

Topic selection bears much primacy among various considerations in your essay writing process. Settling for an overly broad/narrow topic may be detrimental to your word count and compromise the quality of arguments within your research paper.

If you opt to write your paper without narrowing your topic you risk tackling irrelevant information or missing crucial arguments within your paper. It is thus crucial that your paper caters to all relevant arguments within your prescribed length.

Unfortunately, many students face an issue when it comes to selecting and defining their essay topics. Here, we’ll offer some tips on how to narrow a topic, helping you ensure proper topic selection.

What is a narrowed topic

A narrowed topic is a topic that defines various variables of analysis, ensuring that a paper can be exhausted within a specified length. Unlike a broad topic, the outline for a narrowed essay topic contains ideas that are relevant to a study and covers all questions within the thesis statement.

Also, narrowed topics yield a specific document upon research. This is contrary to broad topic ideas which may yield multiple documents addressing a diverse range of ideas related to your key phrase.

How to narrow a research topic

Having tackled the narrow topic meaning, let’s discuss how you can narrow a broad topic for an easier essay writing experience.

Define the 5 W’s and single H

This is perhaps the simplest approach for narrowing your research topic. As you brainstorm your topic, clarify the what, where, why, when, who and how of your topic sentence.

what? Tech integration

When? 21st century

Why? To improve teaching-learning and student performance

Where? Elementary schools in Rudolf

Who? Students

How? Through using audio-visual aids and virtual reality

From this, we can establish the topic: The impacts of audio-visual aids and virtual reality in teaching-learning and student performance in elementary schools in Rudolf.

This approach caters to all details you should consider in your topic, avoiding any ambiguity that could lead to an incomplete research paper.

Highlight your research perspective

Often, you will be informed that a topic defined in two keywords e.g., drug abuse and poor performance is broad and unideal for a research paper. As such, you should work to narrow your focus from a general topic to a more specific idea.

For instance, instead of discussing drug use in college, come up with questions to establish the exact issue you intend to analyse within college drug abuse. These questions will guide your research efforts and enable you to focus your attention on more specific and relevant issues.

Define the place

Defining the geographic unit of your analysis reduces the focus group, helping you specify various driving forces behind a phenomenon under study. As such, be keen to define the area to which your study is confined, therefore, overcoming any loopholes in your arguments.

Analyse various components of your research paper

Can your variables of analysis be broken down into smaller components for precise analysis? For instance, the topic: of drug abuse in college can be narrowed to the triggers of drug abuse in college or the impact of drug use on students’ academic performance.

Conduct research and develop an outline

After selecting a topic, conduct extensive research and prepare an outline of your arguments. This will give you a perspective of your arguments and serve as a basis for approximating your word count.

The outline also helps you to gauge the completeness of your research and to sift irrelevant claims. During the research, we suggest that you pay close attention to the ideas you have encountered during class time and also consult emerging issues within a topic for inspiration for your thesis.

Steps for narrowing down a topic

Select a general idea

e.g., student performance

Describe your focus

e.g., student performance in elementary school

Highlight the key aspects of your paper

e.g., the impact of tech integration on performance at an elementary level

Define the specific issues

e.g., tech integration in elementary-level teaching-learning approaches is beneficial for elementary students

Define the time and geographic region of your analysis

e.g., Tech integration in teaching-learning will help improve the performance of elementary students in Rudolph.

Broad topics examples

Why is the word “religion” currently the most misunderstood?
How will life be altered by COVID-19
Regarding mental health, while withdrawn
prevention of childhood obesity
relationships over a distance
consequences of cheating in schools
Does our system of education fit our culture?
Is the death penalty moral?
Should animal testing be permitted?
Workplace sexual harassment

Narrow topic examples

Is diversity beneficial to a team, and if so, why?
Why are some sports more well-liked than others?
Can theme parks serve a function other than entertainment, such as education?
Are male friendships different from female ones, and if so, why?
Does a person’s level of success in life depend on how attractive they are in general?
How do we handle a massive influx of immigrants?
What are the advantages of coffee and energy drinks?
Why is communism the finest form of government in the world?
The use of messengers harms communication culture.
Do actors who portray murders and psychopaths put their mental health at risk?

How to Narrow Down a Research Topic Succesfully

Narrowing a research topic can be hectic, but it is important to do it upfront to ensure your research workflows well. However, this depends on the number of words, the research should have. Do you know how to narrow a research topic? We will provide an overview on narrowing down a topic.

Are you looking for online research paper help? We have the best professional writers that will turn your ideas into quality research papers. Our expert writers help students in college and university. Thereby, be assured of quality work that will gain you top grades at cheap prices.

How to Find a Research Topic?

This depends on your field of study, through this, you will be able to research a relevant topic that you can work on. Getting a research topic should be based on what you want to focus on. A narrow topic will help make it easier to do your research.

Enquire From The Professor – While searching for a research topic, request advice from your professor or supervisor to ensure you get the best topic for your course. In some cases, the supervisors can narrow down on the type of research that you can do. Thereby, making it easier for you to choose a topic. Check The Resources Available – It depends on the number of resources you have. It wouldn’t be right to do a topic that will require you to travel a long distance to go collect your data. Even though there are various ways you can collect data online, it is better when it is an accessible place to get information upfront. What is Your Interest or Hobby? – Your research topic should be based on your hobbies or interests. It shouldn’t just be a topic, but one that you feel most interested in. This will give you the zeal to research more and do your best to provide the best paper to your professor. Your interests will make sure that you are highly motivated to carry out your research in college or university. As time goes by, when you further your studies, you can still do broader research on the same. Previously Done Research – While choosing a topic, ensure there is evidence of previous research on it. It might be hectic if you decide to just do a topic that no one else has ever dealt with. Remember to stick to your field and not just do anything for the sake. There is a wide variety of narrowing a topic examples that you can use as a starting point. The topic needs to be researchable to prevent you from getting issues when carrying out your research. Ideas From Books – Getting a place to begin may be hectic at first. You can even get an idea from books you have been reading and strike an interest. Always choose a topic that sounds interesting. There are a wide variety of books that you can use to get ideas. However, try to get a narrow topic from the broad topics.

How to Narrow Down a Topic

Now that you have gotten a suitable general topic, we can work on how to narrow down the topic. You can either decide to use one or two of the methods. However, using a combination of the methods is most suitable.

Ask Yourself the Three W’s And H.

While choosing a topic you need to ask yourself, why, what, where, when, how, and who? This will help you know whether the topic of interest is good

One of many narrow topic examples includes: Examine food security impact on health in America. Who? People in America

What? Food security

When? Currently in the 21 st century

Where? America – which state specifically?

Why? The impact of food security on health

How? Food security impact.

Through that, you can see whether your general topic is relevant and how to break it down.

Ask Further Questions

On this, you need to consider whether the topic is going to be of importance a few years from now or is just going to be relevant at the moment. In this, ask yourself about the problems, the effect on the target group, how the target group benefits, and the group responsible for it.

Hence, in this, you will research how food security impacts the target people. What problems can be faced if it is not achieved? On this, get to know the motives and effect on the people the food is intended for.

Narrowing down a research topic helps you get a better overview of what you are researching. You can check other scholarly articles to know what people have previously researched and the gap left to fill.

Consider Using the SOCRAPR Model

Take your research topic and narrow it down using the SOCRAPR model . With this, consider these different aspects.

Similarities – How is food security now compared to earlier years? Opposites – How has food security changed over the years? Contrast – How is food security affecting the kind of health people have? Relationship – This is between the accessibility of food and its impact on health. Anthropomorphism – This is in terms of human values – how the lack or plenty of food affects human behaviors. Personification – Give descriptions of human qualities. Repetition – Will food security establishment be a recurring thing?

Compare and Contrast Other Research Papers

You need to compare and contrast previously done papers on the same. This will provide a greater overview of what to expect. While comparing, you will get some great ideas on what to expect and the kind of points that you can write.

You can choose a topic that deals with comparing or contrasting two elements. For example, how food security had an impact on health in the 20 th century as compared to the 21 st century.

Try to read any scholarly articles you can get on the same and gather all the information that seems relevant to your research.

Remember to familiarize yourself with the topic and know how a compare and contrast research topic is done. Think about the topic as two mini papers you are doing while comparing.

The Dangers of Not Narrowing Down A Research Topic

If you work with a general topic be assured that it will be hectic to do the research. However, if you narrow down the topic to minimal it will be easier to narrow down the topic.

Too Much Irrelevant Information. If you do not narrow down a research topic, you will have too much irrelevant information. This will make it hard to know the kind of information to include or omit. It is like going to a store with a wide variety of clothes that look fabulous. You will be caught in between and not know the best one to choose. Hence, narrowing down, makes it easier to choose the resources to use. Difficulty in Coming up With A Clear Framework. It can be hectic to come up with a clear framework to address a research problem. However, if you are working with a straight topic, you will be able to get a clear framework to do your research. A broad topic can make it hard to find the right method you can use for analysis. Lack of Specific Information That Fits. When the topic is too broad, you get too much irrelevant information or relevant information that will make it hard to decide what to put and what to leave out. Getting the specific information that fits can then take you a while.

Hence, broad topic examples can affect how well you will carry out your research. The topic should be educational for at most relevance. Yes, there might be enough information that doesn’t fit your study.

The Best Tips on How to Narrow Down a Research Topic

This is how you can narrow down a research topic through the aspects, methodology, time, place, and type. However, you can either use some of the tips or a combination of all. In the end, it depends on your preference.

Consider the Aspect

From what view would you want to research your topic?

For example in our food security topic, consider finding out, whether the impact on health is different in different age groups; the young and the old.

This will help make you focus on what’s relevant most. Get to know how the initial topic can be partitioned into smaller components for analysis. This will make it easier to focus on the specifics and get relevant information

Methodology to Use

What kind of research methodology are you planning to use in your research? This will help provide a better overview of the research that you should expect to do.

Is it going to be a qualitative or quantitative research paper? Narrow down to what kind of methods are most specific for that specific region. Collection of data is a major factor that you shouldn’t take for granted.

Narrowing it down to a specific area will help make the research much easier to do. However, if it is a global issue, you can consider choosing a larger area. Your scope of the study should cover all the relevant information to make your research paper a success.

For example, where specifically in America? How many states are you planning to study?

Relationship

Get to know your two major variables and see how they relate to each other. Designing a study around the correlation of different variables will put you in a better place.

For example food and health. Those are our major variables as we try to find out how best they relate. Other examples are: cause and effect, compare and contrast, currently or historically, male and female, and opinion and reason.

Thereby, this will make doing the research easier.

At what phase, century or time do you want your research to be based. Is it during the historical or current period? Studies need to be based on the current timeframes. For example, food security impact on health in Washington DC during the 21 st century . Having a specific timeframe makes it easy to perform the research. Remember that different periods have different circumstances and causes.

Don’t Know How To Narrow Your Research Topic?

Remember to narrow down a research topic, you need to first choose a general topic, giving a specific description of the topic, ask yourself questions on the topic, mention the specific aspects in the topic, narrow down the specifics of the topics, turn the topic into a sentence or statement, and get to know the specific place that you want to do the research. How to narrow a topic is easy if you follow all the relevant steps.

Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Paper: Narrowing a Topic Idea

Purpose of Guide
Writing a Research Proposal
Design Flaws to Avoid
Independent and Dependent Variables
Narrowing a Topic Idea
Broadening a Topic Idea
The Research Problem/Question
Academic Writing Style
Choosing a Title
Making an Outline
Paragraph Development
The C.A.R.S. Model
Background Information
Theoretical Framework
Citation Tracking
Evaluating Sources
Reading Research Effectively
Primary Sources
Secondary Sources
What Is Scholarly vs. Popular?
Is it Peer-Reviewed?
Qualitative Methods
Quantitative Methods
Common Grammar Mistakes
Writing Concisely
Avoiding Plagiarism [linked guide]
Annotated Bibliography
Grading Someone Else's Paper

Importance of Narrowing the Research Topic

Whether you are assigned a general issue to investigate, given a list of problems to study, or you have to identify your own topic to investigate, it is important that the scope of the research problem underpinning your study is not too broad, otherwise, it will be very difficult to adequately address the problem in the space and time allowed. You could experience a number of problems if your topic is too broad, including:

You find too many information sources and, as a consequence, it is difficult to decide what to include or exclude or what are the most important.
You find information that is too general and, as a consequence, it is difficult to develop a clear framework for examining the research problem.
A lack of sufficient parameters that clearly define the research problem makes it difficult to identify and apply the proper methods needed to analyze it.
You find information that covers a wide variety of concepts or ideas that can't be integrated into one paper and, as a consequence, you easily trail off into unnecessary tangents.

Strategies for Narrowing the Research Topic

A common challenge when beginning to write a research paper is determining how to narrow down your topic . Even if your professor gives you a specific topic to study, it will almost never be so specific that you won’t have to narrow it down at least to some degree [besides, it is very boring to grade fifty papers that are all about the exact same thing!].

A topic is too broad to be manageable when you find that you have too many different, and oftentimes conflicting or only remotely related, ideas about how to investigate the research problem. Although you will want to start the writing process by considering a variety of different approaches to studying the research problem, you will need to narrow the focus of your investigation at some point early in the writing process. This way, you don't attempt to do too much in one paper.

Here are some strategies to help narrow your topic :

Aspect -- choose one lens through which to view the research problem, or look at just one facet of it [e.g., rather than studying the role of food in South Asian religious rituals, study the role of food in Hindu ceremonies, or, the role of one particular type of food among several religions].
Components -- determine if your initial variable or unit of analysis can be broken into smaller parts, which can then be analyzed more precisely [e.g., a study of tobacco use among adolescents can focus on just chewing tobacco rather than all forms of usage or, rather than adolescents in general, focus on female adolescents in a certain age range who choose to use tobacco].
Methodology -- the way in which you gather information can reduce the domain of interpretive analysis needed to address the research problem [e.g., a single case study can be designed to generate data that does not require as extensive an explanation as using multiple cases].
Place -- generally, the smaller the geographic unit of analysis, the more narrow the focus [e.g., rather than study trade relations in West Africa, study trade relations between Niger and Cameroon as a case study that helps to explain problems in the region].
Relationship -- ask yourself how do two or more different perspectives or variables relate to one another. Designing a study around the relationships between specific variables can help constrict the scope of analysis [e.g., cause/effect, compare/contrast, contemporary/historical, group/individual, male/female, opinion/reason, problem/solution].
Time -- the shorter the time period of the study, the more narrow the focus [e.g., study of trade relations between Niger and Cameroon during the period of 2010 - 2018].
Type -- focus your topic in terms of a specific type or class of people, places, or phenomena [e.g., a study of developing safer traffic patterns near schools can focus on SUVs, or just student drivers, or just the timing of traffic signals in the area].
Combination -- use two or more of the above strategies to focus your topic very narrowly.

NOTE : Apply one of the above strategies first in designing your study to determine if that gives you a manageable research problem to investigate. You will know if the problem is manageable by reviewing the literature on this more specific problem and assessing whether prior research on the narrower topic is sufficient to move forward in your study [i.e., not too much, not too little]. Be careful, however, because combining multiple strategies risks creating the opposite problem--your problem becomes too narrowly defined and you can't locate enough research or data to support your study.

Booth, Wayne C. The Craft of Research . Fourth edition. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 2016; Coming Up With Your Topic . Institute for Writing Rhetoric. Dartmouth College; Narrowing a Topic . Writing Center. University of Kansas; Narrowing Topics . Writing@CSU. Colorado State University; Strategies for Narrowing a Topic . University Libraries. Information Skills Modules. Virginia Tech University; The Process of Writing a Research Paper . Department of History. Trent University; Ways to Narrow Down a Topic . Contributing Authors. Utah State OpenCourseWare.

<< Previous: Choosing a Research Problem
Next: Broadening a Topic Idea >>
Last Updated: Sep 8, 2023 12:19 PM
URL: https://guides.library.txstate.edu/socialscienceresearch

Organizing Academic Research Papers: Narrowing a Topic Idea

Purpose of Guide
Design Flaws to Avoid
Glossary of Research Terms
Narrowing a Topic Idea
Broadening a Topic Idea
Extending the Timeliness of a Topic Idea
Academic Writing Style
Choosing a Title
Making an Outline
Paragraph Development
Executive Summary
Background Information
The Research Problem/Question
Theoretical Framework
Citation Tracking
Content Alert Services
Evaluating Sources
Primary Sources
Secondary Sources
Tertiary Sources
What Is Scholarly vs. Popular?
Qualitative Methods
Quantitative Methods
Using Non-Textual Elements
Limitations of the Study
Common Grammar Mistakes
Avoiding Plagiarism
Footnotes or Endnotes?
Further Readings
Annotated Bibliography
Dealing with Nervousness
Using Visual Aids
Grading Someone Else's Paper
How to Manage Group Projects
Multiple Book Review Essay
Reviewing Collected Essays
About Informed Consent
Writing Field Notes
Writing a Policy Memo
Writing a Research Proposal
Acknowledgements

Importance of...

Whether assigned a general issue to investigate, you are given a list of problems to study, or you have to make up your own research topic, it is important that the research problem that guides your study is not too broad, otherwise, it will be very difficult to adequately address the problem in the space and time allowed. You could experience a number of problems if your topic is too broad, including:

You find too many information sources and, as a consequence, it is difficult to decide what to include or exclude or what are the most important.
You find information that is too general and, as a consequence, it is difficult to develop a clear framework for understanding the research problem and the methods needed to analyze it.
You find information that covers a wide variety of concepts or ideas that can't be integrated into one paper and, as a consequence, you easily trail off into unnecessary tangents.

Strategies for Narrowing the Research Topic

The most common challenge when beginning to write a research paper is narrowing down your topic . Even if your professor gives you a specific topic to study, it will almost never be so specific that you won’t have to narrow it down at least to some degree [besides, grading fifty papers that are all on exactly the same thing is very boring!].

A topic is too broad to be manageable when you find that you have too many different, and oftentimes conflicting and only remotely related, ideas about how to investigate the research problem. While you will want to start the writing process by considering a variety of different approaches to studying the problem, you will need to narrow the focus of your research at some point so don't attempt to do too much in one paper.

Here are some strategies to help focus your topic into something more manageable :

Aspect -- choose one lens through which to view the research problem, or look at just one facet of it [e.g., rather than studying the role of food in Eastern religious rituals; study the role of food in Hindu ceremonies].
Components -- determine if your initial variables or unit of analyses can be broken into smaller parts, which can then be analyzed more precisely [e.g., a study of tobacco use among adolescents can focus on just chewing tobacco rather than all forms of usage or, rather than adolescents in general, focus on female adolescents of a certain age who smoke].
Place -- the smaller the area of analysis, the more narrow the focus [e.g., rather than study trade relations in West Africa, study trade relations between Niger and Cameroon].
Relationship -- how do two or more different perspectives or variables relate to one another? [e.g., cause/effect, compare/contrast, group/individual, male/female, contemporary/historical, etc.].
Time -- the shorter the time period, the more narrow the focus.
Type -- focus your topic in terms of a specific type or class of people, places, or things [e.g., a study of traffic patterns near schools can focus only on SUVs, or just student drivers, or just the timing of stoplights in the area].
Combination -- use two or more of the above strategies to focus your topic very narrowly.

NOTE : Apply one of the above first to determine if that gives you a manageable study; combining multiple strategies risks creating the opposite problem--your topic becomes too narrowly defined.

Coming Up With Your Topic . Institute for Writing Rhetoric. Dartmouth College; Narrowing a Topic. Writing Center. University of Kansas; The Process of Writing a Research Paper . Department of History. Trent University.

<< Previous: 1. Choosing a Topic
Next: Broadening a Topic Idea >>
Last Updated: Jul 18, 2023 11:58 AM
URL: https://library.sacredheart.edu/c.php?g=29803
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1. Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare

overview.

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into healthcare is revolutionizing patient care, diagnostics, and treatment plans. Researchers are exploring how AI can enhance the accuracy of diagnoses, predict patient outcomes, and personalize treatment.

Key Areas of Research

– Predictive Analytics: Using AI to predict disease outbreaks, patient deterioration, and treatment responses.

– Medical Imaging: AI algorithms for early detection of diseases through imaging techniques like MRI and CT scans.

– Robotic Surgery: Enhancing precision and reducing recovery times through AI-assisted robotic surgeries.

Potential Impact

AI in healthcare promises to improve patient outcomes, reduce healthcare costs, and streamline hospital operations, making quality care more accessible globally.

2. Quantum Computing Applications

Quantum computing is moving from theoretical physics into practical applications, offering unprecedented computational power. Research paper writing services are investigating its potential to solve complex problems beyond the reach of classical computers.

– Cryptography: Developing quantum-resistant encryption methods to secure digital communications.

– Drug Discovery: Using quantum simulations to accelerate the discovery of new pharmaceuticals.

– Optimization Problems: Solving logistical and resource allocation problems more efficiently.

Quantum computing could revolutionize fields like cryptography, logistics, and pharmaceuticals, leading to faster advancements and more robust security systems.

3. Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation

As the effects of climate change become increasingly evident, research is focused on innovative strategies for mitigation and adaptation. This includes both technological advancements and policy-driven solutions.

– Renewable Energy: Innovations in solar, wind, and bioenergy technologies.

– Carbon Capture: Developing efficient methods for capturing and storing carbon dioxide.

– Resilient Infrastructure: Designing infrastructure to withstand extreme weather events.

Effective climate change strategies can significantly reduce global carbon emissions, protect ecosystems, and build resilient communities, safeguarding future generations.

4. Neuroscience and Brain-Computer Interfaces

Advancements in neuroscience are paving the way for brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), which enable direct communication between the brain and external devices pay someone to do my assignment . This research has profound implications for medicine, communication, and human augmentation.

– Neuroprosthetics: Developing prosthetic limbs controlled by brain signals.

– Cognitive Enhancement: Enhancing memory, learning, and cognitive functions through BCIs.

– Mental Health: Using BCIs to treat neurological disorders like depression and anxiety.

BCIs have the potential to restore lost functions, enhance human capabilities, and provide new treatments for mental health conditions, improving quality of life for millions.

5. Synthetic Biology and Genetic Engineering

Synthetic biology and genetic engineering are enabling scientists to design and construct new biological parts, devices, and systems. This research is driving innovation in medicine, agriculture, and environmental management.

– Gene Editing: CRISPR and other technologies for precise genetic modifications.

– Synthetic Organisms: Creating microorganisms with tailored functions for industrial applications.

– Biofuels: Engineering organisms to produce sustainable biofuels.

These advancements could lead to breakthroughs in curing genetic diseases, improving agricultural yields, and developing sustainable biofuels, addressing critical global challenges.

6. Space Exploration and Colonization

With renewed interest in space exploration, researchers are exploring the feasibility of colonizing other planets, particularly Mars. This involves addressing technical, biological, and social challenges.

– Life Support Systems: Developing sustainable habitats for long-term space missions.

– Space Farming: Growing food in extraterrestrial environments.

– Astrobiology: Studying the potential for life on other planets and moons.

Successful space colonization could ensure the long-term survival of humanity, provide new resources, and inspire generations to pursue scientific and technological careers.

7. Blockchain and Decentralized Technologies

Blockchain technology, initially known for cryptocurrencies, is finding applications in various sectors, including finance, supply chain, and governance. Research is focused on enhancing security, scalability, and interoperability.

– Decentralized Finance (DeFi): Creating financial systems without intermediaries.

– Supply Chain Transparency: Using blockchain for traceability and accountability.

– Smart Contracts: Automating legal agreements and transactions.

Blockchain technology can democratize access to financial services, enhance supply chain transparency, and reduce fraud, transforming traditional industries.

8. Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology

Nanotechnology and advanced materials are enabling the development of materials with novel properties, such as enhanced strength, flexibility, and conductivity. These materials have applications across various industries.

– Graphene: Exploring applications of this highly conductive and strong material.

– Nano-Medicine: Using nanoparticles for targeted drug delivery and diagnostics.

– Smart Materials: Developing materials that respond to environmental changes.

Advances in nanotechnology and materials science could lead to more efficient electronics, revolutionary medical treatments, and smart infrastructures, driving innovation across sectors.

9. Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security

With a growing global population, ensuring food security through sustainable agriculture practices is a critical research area. Researchers are focusing on improving crop yields, reducing environmental impact, and enhancing food distribution systems.

– Precision Agriculture: Using data and technology to optimize farming practices.

– Genetically Modified Crops: Developing crops resistant to pests and climate change.

– Alternative Proteins: Exploring plant-based and lab-grown meat as sustainable food sources.

Sustainable agriculture can help feed the growing population, reduce environmental degradation, and promote food equity, ensuring that everyone has access to nutritious food.

10. Cybersecurity and Privacy Enhancements

As digital transformation accelerates, ensuring cybersecurity and protecting privacy are paramount. Researchers are developing new methods to safeguard data and systems from ever-evolving threats.

– Quantum-Safe Cryptography: Preparing for the security challenges posed by quantum computers.

– AI in Cybersecurity: Using machine learning to detect and respond to cyber threats.

– Privacy-Preserving Technologies: Enhancing data privacy in digital interactions.

Advanced cybersecurity measures can protect sensitive information, maintain trust in digital systems, and ensure the safe operation of critical infrastructure, safeguarding individuals and organizations.

Conclusion

The emerging research topics of 2024 reflect a world grappling with rapid technological advancements and pressing global challenges. From the integration of AI in healthcare to the potential colonization of space, these topics highlight the transformative power of science and technology. By addressing these issues through innovative research, we can pave the way for a more sustainable, secure, and prosperous future. Whether through mitigating the impacts of climate change or revolutionizing cybersecurity, the research of today will shape the world of tomorrow. Researchers and students diving into these areas have the opportunity to contribute significantly to their fields and to society at large, making 2024 a pivotal year for academic and scientific advancement.

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A technique for more effective multipurpose robots

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Four photos show, on top level, a simulation of a robot hand using a spatula, knife, hammer and wrench. The second row shows a real robot hand performing the tasks, and the bottom row shows a human hand performing the tasks.

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Let’s say you want to train a robot so it understands how to use tools and can then quickly learn to make repairs around your house with a hammer, wrench, and screwdriver. To do that, you would need an enormous amount of data demonstrating tool use.

Existing robotic datasets vary widely in modality — some include color images while others are composed of tactile imprints, for instance. Data could also be collected in different domains, like simulation or human demos. And each dataset may capture a unique task and environment.

It is difficult to efficiently incorporate data from so many sources in one machine-learning model, so many methods use just one type of data to train a robot. But robots trained this way, with a relatively small amount of task-specific data, are often unable to perform new tasks in unfamiliar environments.

In an effort to train better multipurpose robots, MIT researchers developed a technique to combine multiple sources of data across domains, modalities, and tasks using a type of generative AI known as diffusion models.

They train a separate diffusion model to learn a strategy, or policy, for completing one task using one specific dataset. Then they combine the policies learned by the diffusion models into a general policy that enables a robot to perform multiple tasks in various settings.

In simulations and real-world experiments, this training approach enabled a robot to perform multiple tool-use tasks and adapt to new tasks it did not see during training. The method, known as Policy Composition (PoCo), led to a 20 percent improvement in task performance when compared to baseline techniques.

“Addressing heterogeneity in robotic datasets is like a chicken-egg problem. If we want to use a lot of data to train general robot policies, then we first need deployable robots to get all this data. I think that leveraging all the heterogeneous data available, similar to what researchers have done with ChatGPT, is an important step for the robotics field,” says Lirui Wang, an electrical engineering and computer science (EECS) graduate student and lead author of a paper on PoCo .

Wang’s coauthors include Jialiang Zhao, a mechanical engineering graduate student; Yilun Du, an EECS graduate student; Edward Adelson, the John and Dorothy Wilson Professor of Vision Science in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and a member of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL); and senior author Russ Tedrake, the Toyota Professor of EECS, Aeronautics and Astronautics, and Mechanical Engineering, and a member of CSAIL. The research will be presented at the Robotics: Science and Systems Conference.

Combining disparate datasets

A robotic policy is a machine-learning model that takes inputs and uses them to perform an action. One way to think about a policy is as a strategy. In the case of a robotic arm, that strategy might be a trajectory, or a series of poses that move the arm so it picks up a hammer and uses it to pound a nail.

Datasets used to learn robotic policies are typically small and focused on one particular task and environment, like packing items into boxes in a warehouse.

“Every single robotic warehouse is generating terabytes of data, but it only belongs to that specific robot installation working on those packages. It is not ideal if you want to use all of these data to train a general machine,” Wang says.

The MIT researchers developed a technique that can take a series of smaller datasets, like those gathered from many robotic warehouses, learn separate policies from each one, and combine the policies in a way that enables a robot to generalize to many tasks.

They represent each policy using a type of generative AI model known as a diffusion model. Diffusion models, often used for image generation, learn to create new data samples that resemble samples in a training dataset by iteratively refining their output.

But rather than teaching a diffusion model to generate images, the researchers teach it to generate a trajectory for a robot. They do this by adding noise to the trajectories in a training dataset. The diffusion model gradually removes the noise and refines its output into a trajectory.

This technique, known as Diffusion Policy , was previously introduced by researchers at MIT, Columbia University, and the Toyota Research Institute. PoCo builds off this Diffusion Policy work.

The team trains each diffusion model with a different type of dataset, such as one with human video demonstrations and another gleaned from teleoperation of a robotic arm.

Then the researchers perform a weighted combination of the individual policies learned by all the diffusion models, iteratively refining the output so the combined policy satisfies the objectives of each individual policy.

Greater than the sum of its parts

“One of the benefits of this approach is that we can combine policies to get the best of both worlds. For instance, a policy trained on real-world data might be able to achieve more dexterity, while a policy trained on simulation might be able to achieve more generalization,” Wang says.

Because the policies are trained separately, one could mix and match diffusion policies to achieve better results for a certain task. A user could also add data in a new modality or domain by training an additional Diffusion Policy with that dataset, rather than starting the entire process from scratch.

The researchers tested PoCo in simulation and on real robotic arms that performed a variety of tools tasks, such as using a hammer to pound a nail and flipping an object with a spatula. PoCo led to a 20 percent improvement in task performance compared to baseline methods.

“The striking thing was that when we finished tuning and visualized it, we can clearly see that the composed trajectory looks much better than either one of them individually,” Wang says.

In the future, the researchers want to apply this technique to long-horizon tasks where a robot would pick up one tool, use it, then switch to another tool. They also want to incorporate larger robotics datasets to improve performance.

“We will need all three kinds of data to succeed for robotics: internet data, simulation data, and real robot data. How to combine them effectively will be the million-dollar question. PoCo is a solid step on the right track,” says Jim Fan, senior research scientist at NVIDIA and leader of the AI Agents Initiative, who was not involved with this work.

This research is funded, in part, by Amazon, the Singapore Defense Science and Technology Agency, the U.S. National Science Foundation, and the Toyota Research Institute.

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The Social Value of Hurricane Forecasts

What is the impact and value of hurricane forecasts? We study this question using newly-collected forecast data for major US hurricanes since 2005. We find higher wind speed forecasts increase pre-landfall protective spending, but erroneous under-forecasts increase post-landfall damage and rebuilding expenditures. Our main contribution is a new theoretically-grounded approach for estimating the marginal value of forecast improvements. We find that the average annual improvement reduced total per-hurricane costs, inclusive of unobserved protective spending, by $700,000 per county. Improvements since 2007 reduced costs by 19%, averaging $5 billion per hurricane. This exceeds the annual budget for all federal weather forecasting.

Funding for this project was provided by Grant NA20OAR4320472 from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. This manuscript benefited from discussions by Jeff Shrader and Manuel Linsenmeier, and comments from Christopher Costello, Gabriel Lade, Derek Lemoine, Cynthia Lin-Lawell, Antony Millner, Christopher Parmeter, Christopher Timmins, and Jinhua Zhao, as well as from feedback by seminar participants at Cornell University, St. John’s University, the University of Miami, the Colorado Environmental Economics Workshop, the Kansas City Fed, the Northeast Environmental Workshop, the Occasional Workshop, the Seminar Series of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Summer Conference of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Bureau of Economic Research.

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Narrowing a Topic Idea
Strategies for Narrowing the Research Topic. A common challenge when beginning to write a research paper is determining how and in what ways to narrow down your topic. Even if your professor gives you a specific topic to study, it will almost never be so specific that you won't have to narrow it down at least to some degree [besides, it is ...
Guides: Research Tips and Tricks: Narrowing Your Topic Tips
Ways To Narrow Your Topic. Here are some strategies to help narrow your topic: Aspect -- choose one lens through which to view the research problem, or look at just one facet of it. e.g., rather than studying the role of food in South Asian religious rituals, explore the role of food in Hindu ceremonies or the role of one particular type of ...
Narrowing a Topic and Developing a Research Question
Once you have chosen a general topic for your research paper, you will want to narrow this topic to something more specific. Next, you will develop a research question to research, explore, and write about in your paper. Narrowing a Topic. When you have an overall subject to pursue, your next task is to narrow and focus the topic.
PDF Narrowing a Topic and Developing a Research Question
Narrowing a Topic and Developing a Research Question Reference Sources Reference sources are a great place to begin your research. They provide: • a way to identify potential research topics. • a starting point to gather information on your topic. • an introduction to major works and key issues related to your topic.
2. Narrowing a Topic
Narrowing a Topic - Choosing & Using Sources: A Guide to Academic Research. 1-Research Questions. 2. Narrowing a Topic. For many students, having to start with a research question is the biggest difference between how they did research in high school and how they are required to carry out their college research projects.
5.3: Narrowing a Topic
5.3: Narrowing a Topic. Page ID. Ohio State University Libraries. Process of Narrowing a Topic. Visualize narrowing a topic as starting with all possible topics and choosing narrower and narrower subsets until you have a specific enough topic to form a research question. All Possible Topics - You'll need to narrow your topic to do research ...
Narrowing a Topic
1. Narrowing a Topic. Defining your research question is a process of working from the outside in: you start with the world of all possible topics (or your assigned topic) and narrow down until you have focused your interest enough to be able to state precisely what you want to find out, instead of only what you want to "write about.".
Narrowing Your Research Topic
Topic narrowed by initial exploration: This results from conducting preliminary research on your assigned topic (s). During this process, you will learn more about the topics you are considering. From there, you can determine if the topic is still of interest. Topic narrowed to research question (s): From the information you have learned in ...
Developing Research Question & Narrowing Research Topics
Narrow Subject. Narrow Again. Your Topic. 1. Start with the General Topic. Let's say that your professor has given you the general subject of food and says you need to write a paper that is 3 - 5 double-spaced pages. Well, "food" is a pretty big topic. If you were going to discuss everything about food, you would be writing a book, or nine.
Narrowing Your Research Topic
Narrowing a research topic is moving from a general topic, like global warming, to a tighter research focus, such as helping the environment by improving travel modes (example below). However, you can't just forget about the big picture—how your argument/claim fits into the bigger discussion including connections to other viewpoints on your ...
How To Choose A Research Topic
To recap, the "Big 5" assessment criteria include: Topic originality and novelty. Value and significance. Access to data and equipment. Time requirements. Ethical compliance. Be sure to grab a copy of our free research topic evaluator sheet here to fast-track your topic selection process.
Narrowing a Topic
Process of Narrowing a Topic. Visualize narrowing a topic as starting with all possible topics and choosing narrower and narrower subsets until you have a specific enough topic to form a research question. All Possible Topics - You'll need to narrow your topic to do research effectively. Without specific areas of focus, it will be hard to ...
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Once you have a topic, the next step is narrowing it down. Narrowing a Topic Once you have an idea for a topic, a more specific idea that can be written about and analyzed must be decided. A broad topic can result in too much research available (if it is a research paper), having conflicting ideas within the paper, or may be hard to manage ...
Form a Research Position
Try narrowing down your topic... #1 Blank Worksheet. Complete the attached Topic Development / Pre-Search Worksheet. #2 Blank Worksheet (Long Version) Complete the attached Research Exploration Form. #2 Fracking Example (Long Version - with additional Social Justice questions)
Finding and Exploring Your Topic
The University of Michigan Library Learning and Teaching Team has created an online tool to help you narrow your topic. The Goldilocker tool can be used as a stand alone/personal exercise to articulate your topic in a much more narrow fashion. It can also be used in conjunction with University of Michigan courses and classes outside of the university.
Narrow Your Focus for a Research Paper
Another good method for narrowing your focus involves brainstorming a list of terms and questions related to your broad topic. To demonstrate, let's start with a broad subject, like unhealthy behavior as an example. Imagine that your instructor has given this subject as a writing prompt. You can make a list of somewhat-related, random nouns and ...
How To Narrow Down A Research Topic
2. Give specific description of the topic area. Example: turnover in the nursing industry. 3. Mention an aspect of the specific topic: Example: factors that affect turnover among registered nurses. To narrow down a topic's focus, follow these steps: 4. Note down extra specifics about the topic.
Stepwise Guide on How to Narrow a Research Topic with Examples
What is a narrowed topic . A narrowed topic is a topic that defines various variables of analysis, ensuring that a paper can be exhausted within a specified length. Unlike a broad topic, the outline for a narrowed essay topic contains ideas that are relevant to a study and covers all questions within the thesis statement. Also, narrowed topics ...
How to Narrow Down a Research Topic: Ideas and Solutions
Enquire From The Professor - While searching for a research topic, request advice from your professor or supervisor to ensure you get the best topic for your course. In some cases, the supervisors can narrow down on the type of research that you can do. Thereby, making it easier for you to choose a topic. Check The Resources Available - It ...
Narrowing a Topic Idea
A common challenge when beginning to write a research paper is determining how to narrow down your topic.Even if your professor gives you a specific topic to study, it will almost never be so specific that you won't have to narrow it down at least to some degree [besides, it is very boring to grade fifty papers that are all about the exact same thing!].
Narrowing a Topic
The first part is research to figure out your research question. The second part is to investigate possible answers to that question. For instance, maybe your assignment is to develop a poster about "The Internet" for a writing course. The instructor expects you to narrow that topic to something you are interested in and that is related to ...
Organizing Academic Research Papers: Narrowing a Topic Idea
Here are some strategies to help focus your topic into something more manageable:. Aspect-- choose one lens through which to view the research problem, or look at just one facet of it [e.g., rather than studying the role of food in Eastern religious rituals; study the role of food in Hindu ceremonies].; Components-- determine if your initial variables or unit of analyses can be broken into ...
Welcome to the Purdue Online Writing Lab
The Online Writing Lab (the Purdue OWL) at Purdue University houses writing resources and instructional material, and we provide these as a free service at Purdue.
Carr Center for Human Rights Policy
The Carr Center for Human Rights Policy serves as the hub of the Harvard Kennedy School's research, teaching, and training in the human rights domain. The center embraces a dual mission: to educate students and the next generation of leaders from around the world in human rights policy and practice; and to convene and provide policy-relevant ...
5 Machine Learning Papers to Read in 2024
Overall, the paper shows promise as AutoCodeRover is capable of significantly reducing the manual effort required in program maintenance and improvement tasks. Conclusion . There are many machine learning papers to read in 2024, and here are my recommendation papers to read: HyperFast: Instant Classification for Tabular Data
Top 10 Emerging Research Paper Topics in 2024
Researchers are increasingly focusing on interdisciplinary approaches to address complex global challenges. This blog explores the top 10 emerging research paper topics that are expected to dominate academic discourse in 2024, offering insights into their significance, potential impact, and areas of exploration. 1.
Trustworthy AI
At IBM Research, we're working on a range of approaches to ensure that AI systems built in the future are fair, robust, explainable, account, and align with the values of the society they're designed for. ... Topics. AI Testing. We're designing tools to help ensure that AI systems are trustworthy, reliable and can optimize business processes.
A technique for more effective multipurpose robots
PoCo is a solid step on the right track," says Jim Fan, senior research scientist at NVIDIA and leader of the AI Agents Initiative, who was not involved with this work. This research is funded, in part, by Amazon, the Singapore Defense Science and Technology Agency, the U.S. National Science Foundation, and the Toyota Research Institute.
The Social Value of Hurricane Forecasts
Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, and business professionals.
What Is Artificial Intelligence? Definition, Uses, and Types
What is artificial intelligence? Artificial intelligence (AI) is the theory and development of computer systems capable of performing tasks that historically required human intelligence, such as recognizing speech, making decisions, and identifying patterns. AI is an umbrella term that encompasses a wide variety of technologies, including machine learning, deep learning, and natural language ...

Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Paper

Importance of Narrowing the Research Topic

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Topic Narrowing

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Selecting a Research Topic

Developing Research Questions & Narrowing Research Topics

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Activity

Narrowing your research topic

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Narrowed research topic

How To Choose A Research Topic

Overview: The “Big 5” Key Criteria

Criterion #1: Originality & Novelty

Criterion #2: Value & Significance

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Criterion #5: Ethical Compliance

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