22Choosing A Topic

How to Choose a Topic

• Choosing a topic – the most important step in writing a research paper. • Choose a topic you like, are interested in, are an

expert• Can be contemporary topic, or historical

• If you can’t decide, browse at library, review books, magazines, newspapers, online public-access catalogue (OPAC)

• OPAC - availability of books in library – now moving to “next generation” catalog systems (more similar to Google) – See pg. 13-14

How to Choose a Topic

• Other ways to find a topic:• Ask the librarian – CD-Roms, online databases• Internet search - Google • Encyclopedias

• Library of Congress Online http://catalog.loc.gov/ • 14 million records representing books, serials, computer files,

manuscripts, cartographic materials, music, sound recordings, and visual materials

• Encyclopedia Online http://www.encyclopedia.com/• Free access to nearly 200,000 reference entries from sources you can

cite related pictures, videos, topic summaries, and newspaper and magazine articles

• Britannica http://www.britannica.com/

How to Choose a Topic

• Take your time searching for a topic• Will you enjoy writing about the topic?• Keep looking if you have doubts – avoid boredom

• Ask yourself questions about your interests• What do I really like?• What do I want to write about?• If you like literature, what kind of literature?

• Assignment: Think about two possible topics to present to the class

Topics to Avoid

• Topics that are too BIG• If a lot of books have been written about the topic• Bibliography is often too big

• Solution is to narrow the topic• Example: India in the age of Moguls

• Narrowed to:

• “Royal Monuments of India during the Age of Moguls”

Topics to Avoid

• Topics based on a single source• Research paper is intended to expose you to

opinions of different authorities, books, articles, etc.• Choose a topic that is broad enough to be

researched from multiple sources• Example: Biography/ life of a person

• If person is not well known

• Or may be “charmed” by compelling biography

• Example: James Monroe Monroe Doctine (use multiple sources)

Topics to Avoid

• Topics that are too technical• Depends on the class• “Heisenberg’s Principle of Indeterminacy as it

applies to Subparticle Research” • Good for Physics class, but not an English class

Topics to Avoid

• Topics that are too trivial• A trivial topic can be obvious, or insignificant, does

not inspire best writing

• Examples: • History of the Tennis Ball• How to Diaper an Unruly Baby• Growing Carrots in my Backyard

Topics to Avoid

• Topics that are overused• Topics that are subject to heated public debate, with

familiar positions:• U.S. Examples: abortion, legalization of drugs,

capital punishment, global warming, animal cruelty

• Important topics, BUT, tend to use well-known arguments/prejudices

• If you do use, try a new angle: Effects of RU-48 on surgical abortions

Topics to Avoid

• Topics that are contemporary• Avoid topics that are being hotly debated currently

• Should be avoided because:1. Difficult to find unbiased sources

2. Information usually from newspapers, magazines with speculative reporting, no scholarly comment

• Try finding an equivalent topic in the past:• Example: revolutionary war in Cuba (instead of

current war)

Narrowing the Topic

• “Python cannot swallow an elephant”

• Experiment with your topic: pursue on train of thought, where does it lead? An arguable thesis?

• Consider the length of the paper versus the size of the topic

• Use trial and error

Narrowing the Topic