Pearsall Library - North Carolina Wesleyan College

Dr. Karnehm Willis, SOC 215: Choosing a Topic

This tutorial and review assignment will help you to develop the basic research skill of choosing a topic, which is often the most difficult part of academic research projects. Your instructor will provide you with general guidelines, such as possible topical areas and the scope of your project, but then it is up to you to determine the particular aspect of the general topic that you wish to research.

Things to consider while choosing or refining a topic

YOU: Consider your personal interests. What social phenomena have you read about or seen in the news that interests you? How can you personalize a topic?

CLASS/MAJOR: What are the topics being discussed in the courses that you are currently taking, or would like to take? Look at your class notes. Look at the texts from your various courses and examine the tables of contents. Browse through the text and look at the bold headings for ideas that may catch your eye.

	Concept Map: Generate ideas, organize ideas
	Concept mapping allows you to create an order of importance among complex topics.
	Blank Concept Map	Sample

Library Research Guides by Subject are a good starting point when you are at that "just looking around" stage of developing a topic.

Research Guides by Subject

Choosing A Topic Assignment