Getting Started With Research

Once you've decided on your topic, there might be a few more steps to consider.

It might be necessary to refine your topic, meaning - working on focusing on a specific subject and/or person from within the broad topic you've chosen. 

EXAMPLE:

• Initial topic of interest: Abstract art
• More specific: Women's role in early abstract painting

Once some refining has been done, the next step will be to develop your topic. This can be done by:

• Stating the topic in the form of a specific statement or question
• Identifying the main concepts, terms, and keywords that describe your topic
• Begin a list of words to describe your topic; what are the keywords?

Another great way to work out what topic and direction to go in is by doing some concept mapping.

Check out this great concept mapping tutorial created by Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) Research and Instruction Librarian Ellen Petraits, explaining how concept mapping can help you sketch out ideas for research papers and art projects.

If you are choosing your own topic, remember that this process is research and that it is NOT a linear, one-way street from deciding on a topic to writing your paper. It is very likely that in the process of choosing your topic, you will be going through cycles of exploratory research, modifying your research question, writing, editing, and rewriting.

Here’s a video produced by NCSU Libraries about how picking your topic is research.