Name______________________________ Class ______________

Narrowing a Topic

A research topic choice is very important. Many students choose topics that are too broad to cover in a 3 – 5 page research paper. Consider the following questions when deciding how to narrow a research topic to manageable size:

v What do you already know about the topic?

v Is there a specific time period you want to cover?

v Is there a geographic region or country on which you would like to focus?

v Is there a particular aspect of this topic that interests you? For example, historical influence, sociological aspects, specific groups or individuals involved in the topic, etc. (Adapted from www.lib.duke.edu/libguide/refining.htm)

Here are ways for finding a narrowed focus for your research project:

Narrow Topic by:	General	Specific	More Specific	Very Specific
v Time	Sports	Basketball	NBA	Changes in the NBA since the 1960s
v Location	Mammals	African Mammals	Big Cat Mammals in Africa	The Cheetah’s Future in Kenya
v Genre	Music	Rock & Roll	Early Rock & Roll Artists	Elvis Presley’s Influence on Rock & Roll
v Area of Study	Medicine	The Development of Antibiotics	Use of Antibiotics in Preventing Polio	Dr. Salk’s Contribution to Polio Prevention

(Chart adapted from http://mccoy.lib.siu.edu/explorer)

Note that each broad topic is narrowed until a manageable research topic is clarified.

After choosing a partner, complete the following chart as practice for narrowing topics. Everyone will share the results of the narrowing activity with the class.

Narrow Topic by:	General	Specific	More Specific	Very Specific
v Time	World War II
v Location	Europe
v Genre	Art
v Area of Study	Ancient Religion