{"id":36,"date":"2014-11-19T23:22:34","date_gmt":"2014-11-19T23:22:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.candelalearning.com\/englishcomp21xmaster\/?post_type=chapter&#038;p=36"},"modified":"2014-11-30T17:12:50","modified_gmt":"2014-11-30T17:12:50","slug":"develop-a-research-proposal-discovering-and-choosing-a-topic","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-corning-cc-englishcomp1-3\/chapter\/develop-a-research-proposal-discovering-and-choosing-a-topic\/","title":{"raw":"How to Find and Develop a Viable Research Topic","rendered":"How to Find and Develop a Viable Research Topic"},"content":{"raw":"<h2><strong>Identify a\u00a0Topic<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n<strong>State your topic idea as a question.<\/strong>\u00a0For example, if you are interested in finding out about use of alcoholic beverages by college students, you might pose the question, \"What effect does use of alcoholic beverages have on the health of college students?\"\r\n\r\n<strong>Identify the main concepts or keywords\u00a0in your question.<\/strong> In this case they are alcoholic beverages, health, and college students.\r\n<h3><strong>Suggestions for Finding a Topic<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li>Discuss your topic ideas with your\u00a0class instructor.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Discuss your topic ideas with a\u00a0reference librarian. It may be wise to set up a research consultation.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Explore current topics using\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/guides.library.cornell.edu\/news_online\" target=\"_blank\">News Collections Online<\/a>.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Browse these\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/olinuris.library.cornell.edu\/content\/subject-guides\">subject research guides<\/a>.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h2>Test Your Topic<\/h2>\r\nTest the main concepts or keywords\u00a0in your topic\u00a0by looking them up\u00a0in the appropriate background sources or\u00a0by using them as search terms\u00a0in periodical databases.\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li>If you are finding\u00a0<em>too much information<\/em>\u00a0and too many sources, narrow your topic by using the\u00a0and\u00a0operator: beer\u00a0<em>and<\/em>\u00a0health\u00a0<em>and<\/em>\u00a0college students, for example.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Finding\u00a0<em>too little information<\/em>\u00a0may indicate that you need to broaden your topic. For example, look for information on students, rather than college students. Link synonymous search terms with or: alcoholic beverages or beer or wine or liquor. Use truncation (i.e., alcohol*) with search terms to broaden the search and increases the number of items you find.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h2>Internet Search Resources<\/h2>\r\nThe term \"Research-quality Web Searching\" reflects a\u00a0belief that there is a lot of great material on the Web - primary sources, specialized directories and databases, statistical information, educational sites on many levels, policy, opinion of all kinds, and so much more - and tools for finding it are steadily improving.\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.lib.berkeley.edu\/TeachingLib\/Guides\/Internet\/Evaluate.html\">Recommended Search Strategy:\u00a0\u00a0 Analyze Your Topic &amp; Search With Peripheral Vision<\/a><\/li>\r\n\t<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.lib.berkeley.edu\/TeachingLib\/Guides\/Internet\/Evaluate.html\">Evaluating Web Pages: Why and How<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.lib.berkeley.edu\/TeachingLib\/Guides\/Internet\/Handouts.html#EvalForms\">evaluation checklist forms (PDFs)<\/a><\/li>\r\n\t<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.lib.berkeley.edu\/instruct\/guides\/citations.html\">Style Sheets for Citing Resources (Print &amp; Electronic)<\/a>\u00a0(MLA, APA, Chicago\/Turabian)<\/li>\r\n\t<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.lib.berkeley.edu\/TeachingLib\/Guides\/Internet\/Glossary.html\">Glossary of Internet &amp; Web Jargon<\/a><\/li>\r\n\t<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.lib.berkeley.edu\/TeachingLib\/Guides\/Internet\/Handouts.html\">Handouts and PowerPoints used in UC Berkley\u00a0workshops<\/a><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>","rendered":"<h2><strong>Identify a\u00a0Topic<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><strong>State your topic idea as a question.<\/strong>\u00a0For example, if you are interested in finding out about use of alcoholic beverages by college students, you might pose the question, &#8220;What effect does use of alcoholic beverages have on the health of college students?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Identify the main concepts or keywords\u00a0in your question.<\/strong> In this case they are alcoholic beverages, health, and college students.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Suggestions for Finding a Topic<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Discuss your topic ideas with your\u00a0class instructor.<\/li>\n<li>Discuss your topic ideas with a\u00a0reference librarian. It may be wise to set up a research consultation.<\/li>\n<li>Explore current topics using\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/guides.library.cornell.edu\/news_online\" target=\"_blank\">News Collections Online<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Browse these\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/olinuris.library.cornell.edu\/content\/subject-guides\">subject research guides<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Test Your Topic<\/h2>\n<p>Test the main concepts or keywords\u00a0in your topic\u00a0by looking them up\u00a0in the appropriate background sources or\u00a0by using them as search terms\u00a0in periodical databases.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>If you are finding\u00a0<em>too much information<\/em>\u00a0and too many sources, narrow your topic by using the\u00a0and\u00a0operator: beer\u00a0<em>and<\/em>\u00a0health\u00a0<em>and<\/em>\u00a0college students, for example.<\/li>\n<li>Finding\u00a0<em>too little information<\/em>\u00a0may indicate that you need to broaden your topic. For example, look for information on students, rather than college students. Link synonymous search terms with or: alcoholic beverages or beer or wine or liquor. Use truncation (i.e., alcohol*) with search terms to broaden the search and increases the number of items you find.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Internet Search Resources<\/h2>\n<p>The term &#8220;Research-quality Web Searching&#8221; reflects a\u00a0belief that there is a lot of great material on the Web &#8211; primary sources, specialized directories and databases, statistical information, educational sites on many levels, policy, opinion of all kinds, and so much more &#8211; and tools for finding it are steadily improving.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.lib.berkeley.edu\/TeachingLib\/Guides\/Internet\/Evaluate.html\">Recommended Search Strategy:\u00a0\u00a0 Analyze Your Topic &amp; Search With Peripheral Vision<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.lib.berkeley.edu\/TeachingLib\/Guides\/Internet\/Evaluate.html\">Evaluating Web Pages: Why and How<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.lib.berkeley.edu\/TeachingLib\/Guides\/Internet\/Handouts.html#EvalForms\">evaluation checklist forms (PDFs)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.lib.berkeley.edu\/instruct\/guides\/citations.html\">Style Sheets for Citing Resources (Print &amp; Electronic)<\/a>\u00a0(MLA, APA, Chicago\/Turabian)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.lib.berkeley.edu\/TeachingLib\/Guides\/Internet\/Glossary.html\">Glossary of Internet &amp; Web Jargon<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.lib.berkeley.edu\/TeachingLib\/Guides\/Internet\/Handouts.html\">Handouts and PowerPoints used in UC Berkley\u00a0workshops<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\t\t\t <section class=\"citations-section\" role=\"contentinfo\">\n\t\t\t <h3>Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t <div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <div id=\"citation-list-36\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <div class=\"licensing\"><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Shared previously<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>LibGuides-How to Find and Develop a Viable Research Topic. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Cornell University Library . <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/olinuris.library.cornell.edu\/ref\/research\/topic.html\">http:\/\/olinuris.library.cornell.edu\/ref\/research\/topic.html<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike<\/a><\/em><\/li><li>Finding Information on the Internet:  A Tutorial. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: University of California at Berkley. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.lib.berkeley.edu\/TeachingLib\/Guides\/Internet\/FindInfo.html\">http:\/\/www.lib.berkeley.edu\/TeachingLib\/Guides\/Internet\/FindInfo.html<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike<\/a><\/em><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t <\/section>","protected":false},"author":9,"menu_order":25,"template":"","meta":{"_candela_citation":"[{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"LibGuides-How to Find and Develop a Viable Research Topic\",\"author\":\"\",\"organization\":\"Cornell University Library \",\"url\":\"http:\/\/olinuris.library.cornell.edu\/ref\/research\/topic.html\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by-nc-sa\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"Finding Information on the Internet:  A Tutorial\",\"author\":\"\",\"organization\":\"University of California at Berkley\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.lib.berkeley.edu\/TeachingLib\/Guides\/Internet\/FindInfo.html\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by-nc-sa\",\"license_terms\":\"\"}]","CANDELA_OUTCOMES_GUID":"","pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-36","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":141,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-corning-cc-englishcomp1-3\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/36","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-corning-cc-englishcomp1-3\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-corning-cc-englishcomp1-3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-corning-cc-englishcomp1-3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-corning-cc-englishcomp1-3\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/36\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":552,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-corning-cc-englishcomp1-3\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/36\/revisions\/552"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-corning-cc-englishcomp1-3\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/141"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-corning-cc-englishcomp1-3\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/36\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-corning-cc-englishcomp1-3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-corning-cc-englishcomp1-3\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=36"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-corning-cc-englishcomp1-3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=36"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-corning-cc-englishcomp1-3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=36"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}