Develop A Topic - Human Services - Fort Wayne - Ivy Tech Libraries at Ivy Tech Community College

Explore Your Topic
Refine Your Topic

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:

Opposing Viewpoints in Context This link opens in a new window Scholarly articles, News articles and Audio-visual content, Opinions, Primary sources, Reference, and Websites on topics of social interest. Scholarly content and general reader. Recommended for argumentative research.
Issues & Controversies (FoF) This link opens in a new window Resources covering current issues in politics, business, law, energy, education, health, society, and culture. Presents pro and con, designed for student debate research. Includes overview articles and videos, primary sources, timelines, and bibliographies. Also editorial cartoons. Browse topics or keyword search. Recommended for argumentative research.
Credo Reference This link opens in a new window More than 1,200 reference works providing background information for topics ranging from agriculture to technology. Search within multiple sources using keywords, or browse topics in different subjects. Recommended for introductory research in all topics. Browse Subjects covered by Credo Reference.

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)____.