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Human Services- Evansville

To find a research topic, you will first need to do background research. As you learn about the topic, try to find elements that interest you or inspire further questions. You can find background information many places, including:

  • Your textbook or class readings
  • Books
  • Credible websites
  • Library databases

Use these databases to learn more about a topic to help you select a research question. 

Find Background Information:

Now that you've done some background research, it's time to narrow your topic. Use these questions to narrow down your idea.

  • Is there a specific part of the topic you can focus on?
  • Is there a cause and effect you can explore?
  • Is there an unanswered question on the subject?
  • Can you focus on a specific time period or group of people?

Describe and develop your topic in some detail. Try filling in the blanks in the following sentence, as much as you can:

I want to research ____(what/who)____

and ____(what/who)____

in ____(where)____

during ____(when)____

because ____(why)____.