Five Colleges of Ohio Research Tutorial: Selecting and Refining Your Topic 2

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Tips on Refining that Perfect Topic

1. The most common problem with topics is that they are TOO BROAD!

2. Refining your topic is an ONGOING PROCESS. As you define your research question, focus on particular aspects of the topic, and continue to locate more information, you may need to modify your topic several times.

3. The BEST way to start refining your topic is to read a general overview on the topic, which would normally be found in a textbook, scholarly book, or sometimes a popular book on the subject. If your topic is "Depression", for example, find an abnormal psychology textbook and read the chapter about depression. While these sources may not be used in your final paper, they may give you a great overview, mention specific topics that sound exciting to you, and perhaps lead you to more specific scholarly literature that will be helpful in your paper. You may need to use some reference materials at this point, but we'll come back to that.

4. As you do background reading, think about these hints about ways to refine your topic:

Identify a specific population, geographic area, or time period. Here are some ways to narrow the topic "depression", for increasingly more specific topics...
- depression in women
- rates of depression in women who are mothers and work full time outside the home
- depression in women with history of childhood abuse
- prevalence of depression among men in prison
Choose a subfield of your discipline or topic...
- depression rates and depressive symptoms in women vs. men
- depression and memories of childhood abuse in women
- treatment of depression
  - cognitive therapy treatments for depression in young children
  - effectiveness of prozac in treating depression
- cognitive factors leading to depression in women
- effects of parental depression on emotional communication with infants
Use the suggestions about finding topics on the previous page as you continue to select and refine your topic. E.g., explore your text and syllabus, talk to your professor, read popular sources, and browse through journals and books.