2A. Selecting and Refining Your Topic
Sometimes selecting and refining your topic can be the most difficult part of writing a research paper. However, time spent thinking about and clarifying a topic usually pays off in increased efficiency of the research process.
The following tips may help you in the process of picking a topic:
• Make sure you clearly understand the assignment and the instructor's expectations, including the type of paper, the length, the type of resources required, and the due date.
• Write about something that interests you. Think about your major, your interests, your job, and significant people and events in your life as well as current issues that might be of interest to you.
You may get an idea for a topic from a number of places:
1. From casual listening of talk shows on radio or TV, or browsing through books, or magazine and newspaper articles, or surfing the Web.
2. Specialized print resources that are designed to provide you with many topic ideas and background information. These specialized topic tools include the following series of books in the ACC Library: Taking Sides, Opposing Viewpoints, Current Controversies, At Issue, and CQ Researcher.
3. Online subscription topic tools on the ACC Library homepage, which include the following: CQ Researcher, Issues & Controversies and Today's Science, and the periodical databases, such as ProQuest and EBSCOhost.
4. Also, if you click into the Library's Reference page, the links under Topics & Issues list a number of good specialized websites for topic ideas and background information.
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