One way to ensure you have a topic that’s of interest to you to pick a subject to which you have a personal connection. For instance, if your sister has Crohn’s Disease, you may be interested in investigating it. Or, if you went on an exchange program to Croatia, you might be keen to know more about its history or culture. Another way to trim down your possibilities is to see if there any patterns that emerge from the longer list. For example, if you wrote down “Gertrude Stein” and “Djuna Barnes,” you could focus on lesbian expat authors.
You want to choose a topic that has some, but not too much information available on it. If there are some substantive related resources out there, you know you’re on the right track; if there are pages and pages of relevant search results, you can tell that plenty of people have already gone down that road or that the topic is likely too big to cover and you will need to narrow it further.
For instance, if you are interested in the mapping of the human genome, read about the general history of the scientific advances that have allowed us to map DNA and see if there’s a particular subtopic that catches your eye. Instead of trying to cover the entire subject, limit your scope to focus on the discovery of a gene related to a specific trait or disease or on a particular application, like the regulation of gene therapy for unborn fetuses.
When you meet with or email them, explain the research that you’ve already conducted to show them that you’ve done your homework. Then, ask something like, “I’m most interested in looking into coming of age rituals in contemporary indigenous cultures, and I was wondering if you think that’s a good topic to pursue and if you had any suggestions for specific case studies or other resources related to it. ” Remember: they may be able to point you in a more specific direction based on your general interests, but don’t expect them to do the whole selection process for you. If you’re doing independent research to earn a degree (rather than to fulfill the requirements of a particular class), you should also ask them about the potential marketability of your subject since your topic will be setting the direction for your future career.
After you conduct your preliminary research, think about the gaps that you noticed in the information available on the subject that you’ve been investigating. Devise a question that could address that missing information. One concrete way to do this is to explore the relationship between two ideas, concepts, phenomena, or events that came up in your research but whose relationship has not been fully investigated. For example, “how did political radicals influence popular representations of sexuality in the 1920s United States?” Another concrete way to formulate your question is to consider how an existing methodology or concept applies to a new, specific context or case study. For instance, you could think of how Sigmund Freud’s idea of the “appendage” applies to a specific virtual reality game.
For example, if your question requires conducting a study that’s not feasible given your timeframe or the resources available to you, then you need to find a way to revise your question so that you can answer it. Sometimes if your topic is too new, there won’t be a substantial enough body of research available for you to do a comprehensive analysis of it. In that case, you may need to revise or broaden your question so that you can actually answer it. [5] X Research source
If your question is not narrow enough, refine your focus further by limiting your topic according to a given historical era, theoretical approach, geographical region, demographic or culture, industry or field. For example, if you’re interested in refugees, you might limit your scope by honing in on a particular event (World War II) and/or time period (the 1940s), a specific location (England) and/or population (Jewish people from Austria). [6] X Research source
You might have a brilliant research question, but, if it’s about genetic disorders and the grant you’re applying for only funds research on communicable diseases, you’ll need to go back to the drawing board. Also be sure to take the required length of the project into consideration. For instance, if your question is too narrow or specific, you might not be able to hit the 250-page requirement for a doctoral thesis.
Start by listing the various research methods that you’ll use, such as a literature review, interviews, and qualitative analysis. Then, create a timeline for when you’ll be doing each kind of research, being sure to leave enough time for yourself to complete the writing. Think about your writing style, too. A humanities-related paper may have more of a storytelling writing style, while a more technical or scientific paper will be much more matter-of-fact. [9] X Expert Source Alexander Ruiz, M. Ed. Educational Consultant Expert Interview. 18 June 2020.
You can order topics chronologically (for instance, if you’re studying a historical event). Most often, you’ll order them according to the progression of your argument, with one idea building on the last. Remember that in order to answer your question, you will need to contextualize it. [11] X Expert Source Alexander Ruiz, M. Ed. Educational Consultant Expert Interview. 18 June 2020. The first part of your outline should address the necessary background information, studies, and/or debates that informed your question. For instance, if you’re analyzing the role of female elected officials from Sweden in the 1970s, you’d want to cover a history of women in the country’s government, investigate public understandings of gender at that cultural moment, and review any existing studies of the topic. Keep in mind that some research topics will need more context than others. For instance, a humanities- or history-related topic will need a lot of backstory and context. [12] X Expert Source Alexander Ruiz, M. Ed. Educational Consultant Expert Interview. 18 June 2020. Your research may change the structure or content of your outline, but it’s still useful to have a well-developed starting point.
