Skip to Main Content
Skip to Library Help widget
 

Anthropology 696A: Anthropological Research Design

Picking Your Topic is Research

This video is published under a Creative Commons 3.0 BY-NC-SA US license. License, credits, and contact information can be found here: http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/tutorials/pic...

Choosing and Narrowing a Topic

A topic that is manageable for a research project will not be too broad or too narrow. Manageable topics generally have two to three concepts. Examples of manageable topics include:

  • Do children sent to daycare or preschool start kindergarten with more highly developed language skills?
  • What impact has deregulation had on commercial airline safety?

Topics with one concept are generally too broad.

  • global warming
  • body image
  • food safety

When a topic idea is too broad, common ways to break down an idea include: place, time period, gender, age group, or ethnic group.

Topics with more that three concepts are usually too narrow.

  • What are the 14 different disease-causing genes that were discovered in 2000?
  • Are genetically altered soybeans grown in Iowa safe for human or animal use?

Using less specificity will be necessary when a topic idea is too narrow. 

Check out the Picking Your Topic is Research video on this page for more specifics on selecting a manageable topic.

"Choosing a Topic" information was based on the information in following websites. Suny Empire State CollegeDePaul University Library, and Walden University.

Report ADA Problems with Library Services and Resources. Resources on this page may require Document Viewers