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Module 1: I Like It, But Will It Work?

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home_home.jpg MODULE 1: Information Literacy Concepts
MODULE 2: Research Pro Tips
 MODULE 3: Finding Information

 

I Like It, But Will It Work? Developing a Feasible Topic

Picking a Feasible Topic

In the previous lesson So What Should I Write On? Researching and Developing a Topic You Like, you learned how you can develop an interesting research topic by going through the processes of topic development and preliminary research. Unfortunately, being interested in a topic does not guarantee that your topic will be a good fit for your assignment. While there are several reasons a topic might not work out, there are three main culprits.

  • Too broad - choosing too broad of a topic will prevent you from being able to describe the problem and suggest a solution within the page limitations of your assignment. Research assignments that are too broad often appear unfocused; your audience will read your paper and think: "so what?"
  • Too narrow - choosing too narrow of a topic will limit how much evidence you can find to support your argument. When you select a research topic that is very specific, you decrease the likelihood that other scholars have already studied it.
  • Too recent - choosing too recent of a topic will also limit how much evidence you can find to support your argument. It takes scholars and experts months, even years, to publish materials that react to recent events. As a result, you are unlikely to find scholarly sources that directly relate to an item that you saw in the news last week.

However, none of these complications automatically mean your topic will not work. You just need to be aware of these complications, and make plans to address them when conducting further research. If your topic is too broad, try to identify one or two smaller points within your topic that you find the most interesting, and consider focusing your entire assignment to that. If your topic is too narrow, consider how your specific topic might relate to other issues, even if they are seemingly unconnected. If your topic is too recent, consider what related topics might have already have been addressed by scholars, and find a way to connect them to your topic.

Example: Turning a Poor Topic into a Good Topic 

I want to do my research assignment on influenza, because I heard about a deadly new strain of influenza in the news, and I want to know how it might affect the University of Maryland.

  • Poor Topic - Too Broad: What is influenza, and how does it affect the human body?
  • Poor Topic - Too Narrow: How will the H1N1 strain of influenza affect the University of Maryland?
  • Poor Topic - Too Recent: Why will the 2014 strain of influenza will be the worst strain ever?

Topics like these will make it difficult for you to create a focused argument that is supported by strong evidence. A good research topic strikes the balance between broad v. narrow, and is timely without being groundbreaking. So what might a good topic about influenza on a college campus look like?

  • Good Topic: Is vaccination an effective method for preventing the spread of influenza on college campuses, and should vaccinations be required for students?

A topic like this will set you up for success. It focuses just on one aspect of influenza, prevention through vaccinations, and sets you up to make an argument based on the evidence you find. However, it's important to note that generating a topic like this immediately is almost impossible. Picking your topic is a crucial part of research, and is likely the most difficult part of the research process. The only way to discover smaller issues within a topic, such as vaccination in the above example, is through preliminary research. While it is tempting to skip this step and go straight into looking at evidence, the strongest research assignments come from well developed topics. 

Conclusion 

If your topic seems too broad, too narrow, or too recent, consider how you could improve the topic before you abandon it for something else. Be flexible when choosing your topic, and keep an open mind in regards to altering your original topic choice as you begin to examine evidence. A strong research topic often leads to the best completed research assignment.