Research Guides: ENGW 103: Forming Your Topic

Often, students will know what topic they want to research, but they won’t have a solid research question. A good research question will move beyond a topic and search for the significance or the impact of a particular topic. Having a question also helps you narrow your search as you seek our more specific information.

In The Craft of Research, the authors suggest framing your topic this way:

I want to study _________, because I want to find out ___________, in order to help the reader understand _________________.

So how can you move from a broad topic to solid research question?

Read the conversation. See what scholars are saying about the topic and who or what is impacted.

When choosing a topic or trying to narrow a topic to a research question, it can be helpful to start with popular sources—especially popular sources that engage and discuss current research. These sources can help you understand the significance or application of scholarly research—a task that can be difficult to novice readers of scholarly writing.

Here are some good starting places:

The Conversation
The Conversation is publication where leading scholars around the world and from many fields write to the general public. The authors will link to scholary research in the articles and explain its significance.
History News Network
HNN features op eds by prominent historians.
Science Daily
Science Daily is a popular news site that reports on the latest scientific research to the general public. This is a good starting place for understanding the real-world application of a research topic.

Newspapers are another great source to start browsing for a topic. Focus on editorials where writers will argue for a particular viewpoint--helping you see the multiple perspectives in a debate and the significance of a topic.

New York Times
Click "opinion" to go directly to the editorials. To set up an account for nytimes.com, copy and paste this address: https://answers.library.wheaton.edu/faq/266295?m=p
The Chicago Tribune
Click "opinion" to go right to the editorials.
NPR

US Newsstream This link opens in a new window
US Newsstream enables users to search the most recent premium U.S. news content, as well as archives which stretch back into the 1980s featuring newspapers, newswires, blogs, and news sites in active full-text format. Titles in this database include: The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, Newsday, and Chicago Tribune, all searchable on the ProQuest platform.

These following sites focus on current events and debates; they are devoted to providing evidence to support multiple viewpoints.

ProCon.org
Promoting critical thinking, education, and informed citizenship by presenting controversial issues in a straightforward, nonpartisan, primarily pro-con format.
AllSides.com
Unlike regular news services, AllSides exposes bias and provides multiple angles on the same story so you can quickly get the full picture, not just one slant.
SQResearcher.com
Full-length articles include an overview, historical background, chronology, pro/con feature, plus resources for additional research.

What about Wikipedia?

Wikipedia is an ok place to start your research. Often, the explanations are easy-to-understand, and, just like an academic encyclopedia, you may discover ways to narrow your topics. But Wikipedia is not a reliable source as there is no robust review system for the information, and anyone can add or remove information.

Wikipedia does have one important use--you can often find other reliable sources in a Wikipedia entry. Look at the References section, and click on sources if hyperlinked or use Google Scholar to find a source if there is no link. ALWAYS read the original source to verify the accuracy of the information, and cite from the original source.