Student's guide to writing college papers, Fourth edition - Kate L. Turabian 2010
How to choose a topic
Finding a research question
Writing your paper
Most teachers and handbooks tell students that what they must do with a topic is to narrow it. That's not wrong, but it is misleading. What makes your paper work is a focused research question, not how narrow your topic might be. So as you work through this section, keep in mind that at every stage you are looking for a good, focused research question. As soon as one comes to mind, skip to 2.5 to test it. Until you find a question, keep narrowing that topic—a specific topic is a better source of questions than a general one. But remember, it's the question, not the topic, that matters most.
QUICK TIP
The Value of Surprise and Disagreement
Keep in mind as you look for a research question that what is surprising or wrong catches our attention most easily. Look for ideas, claims, facts, or anything that makes you think, Wow, I didn't know that! or How can that be true? Not only will those matters hold your attention longer, but they will make it easier to get the attention of your readers.
2.2.1 How to Work with an Assigned Topic
In most cases, you will be expected to find a research question related to the subject matter of your class, no matter what your plans or interests. Even if you are passionate about military history, you may be hard-pressed to write about it in a class on Buddhism. But you should still look for a topic that might engage you, even if only for a short while.
If your assignment specifies a general topic—for example, Buddhism and war—skip to section 2.2.3 to narrow it. But if you are free to choose any topic related to the theme of your class, look for one that interests you in the following places:
✵ Do any of your personal interests overlap with the class theme?
✵ Review your books and notes. What has surprised or irritated you?
✵ Look over any books or chapters that your teacher skipped.
✵ Skim other books by the authors of your assigned texts, looking for matters related to your class. Did an author write an earlier work that is inconsistent with the assigned text? Did she apply some of the same ideas in a wholly different context?
✵ Skim a textbook for a more advanced class on the same or a related subject.
✵ Look through the archive for an online discussion list that covers the subject of your class. What topics have been discussed?
CAUTION
What Teachers Say and What They Really Mean
Some teachers walk with you step-by-step through the process of developing a research question, so that you can't miss finding a good one. Other teachers will give you just a written assignment sheet and expect you to find a question on your own. If so, you'll have to learn to read between the lines of your assignment.
When experienced researchers like your teachers talk to one another, they use a shorthand that can mislead those with less experience. You'll know that your teacher is using that shorthand in your assignment sheet if you see phrases like these:
explore X
discuss X
analyze X
explain X
critique X
investigate X
compare X with Y
discuss X in light of Y
In each case, your assignment will really be something more like this:
Find an issue in X that raises a question about a specific aspect of X, whose answer will help us understand some larger theme, feature, or quality of X.
In using the shorthand, your teacher is not trying to fool you. She's just assuming that you already understand what she means. If you keep our advice in mind, then in fact you will.
2.2.2 How to Find a Topic Based on Your Personal Interests
If you can pick any topic, look for things that surprise, irritate, or otherwise interest you.
✵ What do you love to think about—sailing, the blues, finches, old comic books? The less common, the better. Investigate something about it you don't know: its origins, technology, place in another culture, and so on.
✵ What would you like to know more about? A place? A person? A time? An object? An idea? A process?
✵ Is there an important problem you can't solve now, but you can learn more about? Would you like to know more about twelve-step programs? About affordable green housing? About the health risks of gluten-heavy diets?
Look in these places for things that spark your curiosity:
✵ Wander through a museum with a special collection—cars, dinosaurs, photography. If you can't go in person, browse a “virtual museum” on the Internet. Stop when something catches your eye.
✵ Wander through a shopping mall or store, asking yourself, How do they make that? or I wonder who thought up that product?
✵ Browse a large magazine rack. Look for trade magazines or those that cater to specialized interests. Investigate what catches your eye.
✵ Use a search engine to find websites about something people collect. (Narrow the search to exclude dot-com sites.) You'll get hundreds of hits, so look only at the ones that surprise you.
You might find a topic in your disagreements with others:
✵ Is there an issue you have debated with others, then found that you couldn't back up your views with good reasons and evidence?
✵ Is there a common belief that you suspect is simplistic or just wrong? Do research to make a case against it.
✵ Tune in to talk radio or interview programs on TV until you hear a claim you disagree with. Can you make a case to refute it?
You might also find a topic if you think about your future:
✵ What courses might you take later? Find a textbook, and skim its study questions.
✵ If you have a dream job, what kind of research report might help you get it? Employers often ask for samples of an applicant's work.
Keep in mind that you may be living with your topic for a long time, so be sure it interests you enough to get you through the inevitable rocky stretches.
2.2.3 Make Your Topic Manageable
If you pick a topic whose name sounds like an encyclopedia entry—bridges, birds, masks— you'll find so many sources that you could spend years reading them. You have to carve out of your topic a manageable piece. You can start by limiting it: What is it about, say, masks that made you choose them? Think about your topic in a special context that you know something about, then add words and phrases that name what's special about that context:
masks
masks in religious ceremonies
Hopi masks as symbols in religious ceremonies
Hopi mudhead masks as symbols of sky spirits in fertility ceremonies
You might not be able to focus your topic until after you've read something about it. That takes time, so start early. Begin with a general encyclopedia like the Encyclopaedia Britannica or even Wikipedia (but see the caution, below). Since you are just looking to prime your thinking, you can search the Internet for ideas without too much concern for the reliability of what you find (which, however, will be crucial later if you want to use a source as evidence). Your goal here is to put your topic into a context of what others think is important about it.
CAUTION
Watch Out for Wikipedia
When you need information quickly, Wikipedia can be a godsend. You can access it from any browser, and studies show that it is generally reliable. But it is usually incomplete, and it does have errors, sometimes outrageous ones. As a result, many teachers ban its use as a source. If you have easy access to an established encyclopedia such as Britannica, use it. Otherwise, feel free to use Wikipedia for ideas or citations to pursue. But do not use it for information you must cite. When you access a Wikipedia article, check out its “Discussion” tab, which will help you decide how much confidence to place in that article.