how to narrow down an essay topic

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• Narrowing a Topic Idea
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Importance of Narrowing the Research Topic

Whether you are assigned a general issue to investigate, must choose a problem to study from a list given to you by your professor, or you have to identify your own topic to investigate framed only by the class you are taking, it is important that the scope of the research problem is not too broad, otherwise, it will be difficult to adequately address the topic in the space and time allowed. You could experience a number of problems if your topic is too broad, including:

• You find too many information sources and, as a consequence, it is difficult to decide what to include or exclude or what are the most relevant sources.
• You find information that is too general and, as a consequence, it is difficult to develop a clear framework for examining the research problem.
• A lack of sufficient parameters that clearly define the research problem makes it difficult to identify and apply the proper methods needed to analyze the topic.
• You find information that covers a wide variety of concepts or ideas that can't be integrated into one paper and, as a consequence, you trail off into unnecessary tangents.

Lloyd-Walker, Beverly and Derek Walker. "Moving from Hunches to a Research Topic: Salient Literature and Research Methods." In Designs, Methods and Practices for Research of Project Management . Beverly Pasian, editor. ( Burlington, VT: Gower Publishing, 2015 ), pp. 119-129.

Strategies for Narrowing the Research Topic

A common challenge when beginning to write a research paper is determining how and in what ways to narrow down your topic . Even if your professor gives you a specific topic to study, it will almost never be so specific that you won’t have to narrow it down at least to some degree [besides, it is very boring to grade fifty papers that are all about the exact same thing!].

A topic is too broad to be manageable when a review of the literature reveals too many different, and oftentimes conflicting or only remotely related, ideas about how to investigate the research problem. Although you will want to start the writing process by considering a variety of different approaches to studying the research problem, you will need to narrow the focus of your investigation at some point early in the writing process. This way, you don't attempt to do too much in one paper.

Here are some strategies to help narrow the thematic focus of your paper :

• Aspect -- choose one lens through which to view the research problem, or look at just one facet of it [e.g., rather than studying the role of food in South Asian religious rituals, study the role of food in Hindu marriage ceremonies, or, the role of one particular type of food among several religions].
• Components -- determine if your initial variable or unit of analysis can be broken into smaller parts, which can then be analyzed more precisely [e.g., a study of tobacco use among adolescents can focus on just chewing tobacco rather than all forms of usage or, rather than adolescents in general, focus on female adolescents in a certain age range who choose to use tobacco].
• Methodology -- the way in which you gather information can reduce the domain of interpretive analysis needed to address the research problem [e.g., a single case study can be designed to generate data that does not require as extensive an explanation as using multiple cases].
• Place -- generally, the smaller the geographic unit of analysis, the more narrow the focus [e.g., rather than study trade relations issues in West Africa, study trade relations between Niger and Cameroon as a case study that helps to explain economic problems in the region].
• Relationship -- ask yourself how do two or more different perspectives or variables relate to one another. Designing a study around the relationships between specific variables can help constrict the scope of analysis [e.g., cause/effect, compare/contrast, contemporary/historical, group/individual, child/adult, opinion/reason, problem/solution].
• Time -- the shorter the time period of the study, the more narrow the focus [e.g., restricting the study of trade relations between Niger and Cameroon to only the period of 2010 - 2020].
• Type -- focus your topic in terms of a specific type or class of people, places, or phenomena [e.g., a study of developing safer traffic patterns near schools can focus on SUVs, or just student drivers, or just the timing of traffic signals in the area].
• Combination -- use two or more of the above strategies to focus your topic more narrowly.

NOTE: Apply one of the above strategies first in designing your study to determine if that gives you a manageable research problem to investigate. You will know if the problem is manageable by reviewing the literature on your more narrowed problem and assessing whether prior research is sufficient to move forward in your study [i.e., not too much, not too little]. Be careful, however, because combining multiple strategies risks creating the opposite problem--your problem becomes too narrowly defined and you can't locate enough research or data to support your study.

Booth, Wayne C. The Craft of Research . Fourth edition. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 2016; Coming Up With Your Topic. Institute for Writing Rhetoric. Dartmouth College; Narrowing a Topic. Writing Center. University of Kansas; Narrowing Topics. Writing@CSU. Colorado State University; Strategies for Narrowing a Topic. University Libraries. Information Skills Modules. Virginia Tech University; The Process of Writing a Research Paper. Department of History. Trent University; Ways to Narrow Down a Topic. Contributing Authors. Utah State OpenCourseWare.

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Narrowing a Topic

The procedures surrounding selecting a topic will vary by instructor and by discipline. Before you narrow your topic, it is important that you understand the assignment. If you are you are unsure about the assignment, you may find yourself even more confused when trying to choose a topic.

Two key steps to help you understand your assignment:

• Read the assignment sheet carefully to ascertain the teacher’s expectations. Is there an explicit list of topics, or are you expected to narrow to a topic on your own? Are you to work with a specific theory of course material as you write the paper? Are you to work with a specific theory or course material as you write the paper?
• Contact your teacher if you do not understand any components of the assignment.

If your instructor hands out a topic list and expects you to operate within those boundaries, keep in mind that those lists are often broad topics, not thesis statements. Other teachers prefer to be intentionally vague in order to give you the freedom to narrow to an area of your interest. That means that you will have to search for a topic that you are willing to work with for a considerable amount of time.

Strategies for a topic search:

• Work from the general to the specific.
• Consider the word count or page requirements to determine how narrow your topic needs to be. The shorter the paper, the narrower the topic should be. You cannot cover all aspects of online education in a three-page essay. 
• Note in a research notebook provocative questions that arise in class lecture or discussion, topics in your textbook that appear ripe for further exploration, or issues that come up in your conversations with classmates.
• Use prewriting strategies such as brainstorming, clustering, or free writing to generate topics. See more on these techniques in Prewriting Strategies . 
• Use the on-line library catalogue to narrow to a topic quickly and see what books are available on the topic. Then, look through the library databases for articles on these topics. Reviewing the resources often helps to see what subtopics you could write about. Start on the KU Libraries page.  
• If you do not even know where to start, perusing All Issues on the Issues and Controversies database can give you an idea of many different topics you could write about. 
• The Internet is also a useful resource, although you must take care to evaluate Internet sources for reliability. See Evaluating Websites for more details.
• Make an appointment with the Writing Center and brainstorm ideas with a writing consultant.

Now that you have decided on a topic, narrow your focus.

Questions to ask to narrow your focus:

• Is this topic consistent with the assignment?
• What is interesting about the topic?
• What do I know about the topic?
• What do I want to know?
• What do I need to know?

Skim the literature to help you narrow your topic to a manageable one which meets your instructor's assignment and your interests.

As an example, if your initial topic for a 10 to 20 page paper is " Space Exploration ", by the time you finish your topic search, you might have narrowed your topic to " Unmanned U.S. Space Exploration of Planets " or even to a specific planet and mission like " 1997s Pathfinder Mission ".

Brainstorming

What this handout is about.

This handout discusses techniques that will help you start writing a paper and continue writing through the challenges of the revising process. Brainstorming can help you choose a topic, develop an approach to a topic, or deepen your understanding of the topic’s potential.

Introduction

If you consciously take advantage of your natural thinking processes by gathering your brain’s energies into a “storm,” you can transform these energies into written words or diagrams that will lead to lively, vibrant writing. Below you will find a brief discussion of what brainstorming is, why you might brainstorm, and suggestions for how you might brainstorm.

Whether you are starting with too much information or not enough, brainstorming can help you to put a new writing task in motion or revive a project that hasn’t reached completion. Let’s take a look at each case:

When you’ve got nothing: You might need a storm to approach when you feel “blank” about the topic, devoid of inspiration, full of anxiety about the topic, or just too tired to craft an orderly outline. In this case, brainstorming stirs up the dust, whips some air into our stilled pools of thought, and gets the breeze of inspiration moving again.

When you’ve got too much: There are times when you have too much chaos in your brain and need to bring in some conscious order. In this case, brainstorming forces the mental chaos and random thoughts to rain out onto the page, giving you some concrete words or schemas that you can then arrange according to their logical relations.

Brainstorming techniques

What follows are great ideas on how to brainstorm—ideas from professional writers, novice writers, people who would rather avoid writing, and people who spend a lot of time brainstorming about…well, how to brainstorm.

Try out several of these options and challenge yourself to vary the techniques you rely on; some techniques might suit a particular writer, academic discipline, or assignment better than others. If the technique you try first doesn’t seem to help you, move right along and try some others.

Freewriting

When you freewrite, you let your thoughts flow as they will, putting pen to paper and writing down whatever comes into your mind. You don’t judge the quality of what you write and you don’t worry about style or any surface-level issues, like spelling, grammar, or punctuation. If you can’t think of what to say, you write that down—really. The advantage of this technique is that you free up your internal critic and allow yourself to write things you might not write if you were being too self-conscious.

When you freewrite you can set a time limit (“I’ll write for 15 minutes!”) and even use a kitchen timer or alarm clock or you can set a space limit (“I’ll write until I fill four full notebook pages, no matter what tries to interrupt me!”) and just write until you reach that goal. You might do this on the computer or on paper, and you can even try it with your eyes shut or the monitor off, which encourages speed and freedom of thought.

The crucial point is that you keep on writing even if you believe you are saying nothing. Word must follow word, no matter the relevance. Your freewriting might even look like this:

“This paper is supposed to be on the politics of tobacco production but even though I went to all the lectures and read the book I can’t think of what to say and I’ve felt this way for four minutes now and I have 11 minutes left and I wonder if I’ll keep thinking nothing during every minute but I’m not sure if it matters that I am babbling and I don’t know what else to say about this topic and it is rainy today and I never noticed the number of cracks in that wall before and those cracks remind me of the walls in my grandfather’s study and he smoked and he farmed and I wonder why he didn’t farm tobacco…”

When you’re done with your set number of minutes or have reached your page goal, read back over the text. Yes, there will be a lot of filler and unusable thoughts but there also will be little gems, discoveries, and insights. When you find these gems, highlight them or cut and paste them into your draft or onto an “ideas” sheet so you can use them in your paper. Even if you don’t find any diamonds in there, you will have either quieted some of the noisy chaos or greased the writing gears so that you can now face the assigned paper topic.

Break down the topic into levels

Once you have a course assignment in front of you, you might brainstorm:

• the general topic, like “The relationship between tropical fruits and colonial powers”
• a specific subtopic or required question, like “How did the availability of multiple tropical fruits influence competition amongst colonial powers trading from the larger Caribbean islands during the 19th century?”
• a single term or phrase that you sense you’re overusing in the paper. For example: If you see that you’ve written “increased the competition” about a dozen times in your “tropical fruits” paper, you could brainstorm variations on the phrase itself or on each of the main terms: “increased” and “competition.”

Listing/bulleting

In this technique you jot down lists of words or phrases under a particular topic. You can base your list on:

• the general topic
• one or more words from your particular thesis claim
• a word or idea that is the complete opposite of your original word or idea.

For example, if your general assignment is to write about the changes in inventions over time, and your specific thesis claims that “the 20th century presented a large number of inventions to advance US society by improving upon the status of 19th-century society,” you could brainstorm two different lists to ensure you are covering the topic thoroughly and that your thesis will be easy to prove.

The first list might be based on your thesis; you would jot down as many 20th-century inventions as you could, as long as you know of their positive effects on society. The second list might be based on the opposite claim, and you would instead jot down inventions that you associate with a decline in that society’s quality. You could do the same two lists for 19th-century inventions and then compare the evidence from all four lists.

Using multiple lists will help you to gather more perspective on the topic and ensure that, sure enough, your thesis is solid as a rock, or, …uh oh, your thesis is full of holes and you’d better alter your claim to one you can prove.

3 perspectives

Looking at something from different perspectives helps you see it more completely—or at least in a completely different way, sort of like laying on the floor makes your desk look very different to you. To use this strategy, answer the questions for each of the three perspectives, then look for interesting relationships or mismatches you can explore:

• Describe it: Describe your subject in detail. What is your topic? What are its components? What are its interesting and distinguishing features? What are its puzzles? Distinguish your subject from those that are similar to it. How is your subject unlike others?
• Trace it: What is the history of your subject? How has it changed over time? Why? What are the significant events that have influenced your subject?
• Map it: What is your subject related to? What is it influenced by? How? What does it influence? How? Who has a stake in your topic? Why? What fields do you draw on for the study of your subject? Why? How has your subject been approached by others? How is their work related to yours?

Cubing enables you to consider your topic from six different directions; just as a cube is six-sided, your cubing brainstorming will result in six “sides” or approaches to the topic. Take a sheet of paper, consider your topic, and respond to these six commands:

• Describe it.
• Compare it.
• Associate it.
• Analyze it.
• Argue for and against it.

Look over what you’ve written. Do any of the responses suggest anything new about your topic? What interactions do you notice among the “sides”? That is, do you see patterns repeating, or a theme emerging that you could use to approach the topic or draft a thesis? Does one side seem particularly fruitful in getting your brain moving? Could that one side help you draft your thesis statement? Use this technique in a way that serves your topic. It should, at least, give you a broader awareness of the topic’s complexities, if not a sharper focus on what you will do with it.

In this technique, complete the following sentence:

____________________ is/was/are/were like _____________________.

In the first blank put one of the terms or concepts your paper centers on. Then try to brainstorm as many answers as possible for the second blank, writing them down as you come up with them.

After you have produced a list of options, look over your ideas. What kinds of ideas come forward? What patterns or associations do you find?

Clustering/mapping/webbing:

The general idea:

This technique has three (or more) different names, according to how you describe the activity itself or what the end product looks like. In short, you will write a lot of different terms and phrases onto a sheet of paper in a random fashion and later go back to link the words together into a sort of “map” or “web” that forms groups from the separate parts. Allow yourself to start with chaos. After the chaos subsides, you will be able to create some order out of it.

To really let yourself go in this brainstorming technique, use a large piece of paper or tape two pieces together. You could also use a blackboard if you are working with a group of people. This big vertical space allows all members room to “storm” at the same time, but you might have to copy down the results onto paper later. If you don’t have big paper at the moment, don’t worry. You can do this on an 8 ½ by 11 as well. Watch our short videos on webbing , drawing relationships , and color coding for demonstrations.

How to do it:

• Take your sheet(s) of paper and write your main topic in the center, using a word or two or three.
• Moving out from the center and filling in the open space any way you are driven to fill it, start to write down, fast, as many related concepts or terms as you can associate with the central topic. Jot them quickly, move into another space, jot some more down, move to another blank, and just keep moving around and jotting. If you run out of similar concepts, jot down opposites, jot down things that are only slightly related, or jot down your grandpa’s name, but try to keep moving and associating. Don’t worry about the (lack of) sense of what you write, for you can chose to keep or toss out these ideas when the activity is over.
• Once the storm has subsided and you are faced with a hail of terms and phrases, you can start to cluster. Circle terms that seem related and then draw a line connecting the circles. Find some more and circle them and draw more lines to connect them with what you think is closely related. When you run out of terms that associate, start with another term. Look for concepts and terms that might relate to that term. Circle them and then link them with a connecting line. Continue this process until you have found all the associated terms. Some of the terms might end up uncircled, but these “loners” can also be useful to you. (Note: You can use different colored pens/pencils/chalk for this part, if you like. If that’s not possible, try to vary the kind of line you use to encircle the topics; use a wavy line, a straight line, a dashed line, a dotted line, a zigzaggy line, etc. in order to see what goes with what.)
• There! When you stand back and survey your work, you should see a set of clusters, or a big web, or a sort of map: hence the names for this activity. At this point you can start to form conclusions about how to approach your topic. There are about as many possible results to this activity as there are stars in the night sky, so what you do from here will depend on your particular results. Let’s take an example or two in order to illustrate how you might form some logical relationships between the clusters and loners you’ve decided to keep. At the end of the day, what you do with the particular “map” or “cluster set” or “web” that you produce depends on what you need. What does this map or web tell you to do? Explore an option or two and get your draft going!

Relationship between the parts

In this technique, begin by writing the following pairs of terms on opposite margins of one sheet of paper:

Looking over these four groups of pairs, start to fill in your ideas below each heading. Keep going down through as many levels as you can. Now, look at the various parts that comprise the parts of your whole concept. What sorts of conclusions can you draw according to the patterns, or lack of patterns, that you see? For a related strategy, watch our short video on drawing relationships .

Journalistic questions

In this technique you would use the “big six” questions that journalists rely on to thoroughly research a story. The six are: Who?, What?, When?, Where?, Why?, and How?. Write each question word on a sheet of paper, leaving space between them. Then, write out some sentences or phrases in answer, as they fit your particular topic. You might also record yourself or use speech-to-text if you’d rather talk out your ideas.

Now look over your batch of responses. Do you see that you have more to say about one or two of the questions? Or, are your answers for each question pretty well balanced in depth and content? Was there one question that you had absolutely no answer for? How might this awareness help you to decide how to frame your thesis claim or to organize your paper? Or, how might it reveal what you must work on further, doing library research or interviews or further note-taking?

For example, if your answers reveal that you know a lot more about “where” and “why” something happened than you know about “what” and “when,” how could you use this lack of balance to direct your research or to shape your paper? How might you organize your paper so that it emphasizes the known versus the unknown aspects of evidence in the field of study? What else might you do with your results?

Thinking outside the box

Even when you are writing within a particular academic discipline, you can take advantage of your semesters of experience in other courses from other departments. Let’s say you are writing a paper for an English course. You could ask yourself, “Hmmm, if I were writing about this very same topic in a biology course or using this term in a history course, how might I see or understand it differently? Are there varying definitions for this concept within, say, philosophy or physics, that might encourage me to think about this term from a new, richer point of view?”

For example, when discussing “culture” in your English, communications, or cultural studies course, you could incorporate the definition of “culture” that is frequently used in the biological sciences. Remember those little Petri dishes from your lab experiments in high school? Those dishes are used to “culture” substances for bacterial growth and analysis, right? How might it help you write your paper if you thought of “culture” as a medium upon which certain things will grow, will develop in new ways or will even flourish beyond expectations, but upon which the growth of other things might be retarded, significantly altered, or stopped altogether?

Using charts or shapes

If you are more visually inclined, you might create charts, graphs, or tables in lieu of word lists or phrases as you try to shape or explore an idea. You could use the same phrases or words that are central to your topic and try different ways to arrange them spatially, say in a graph, on a grid, or in a table or chart. You might even try the trusty old flow chart. The important thing here is to get out of the realm of words alone and see how different spatial representations might help you see the relationships among your ideas. If you can’t imagine the shape of a chart at first, just put down the words on the page and then draw lines between or around them. Or think of a shape. Do your ideas most easily form a triangle? square? umbrella? Can you put some ideas in parallel formation? In a line?

Consider purpose and audience

Think about the parts of communication involved in any writing or speaking act: purpose and audience.

What is your purpose?

What are you trying to do? What verb captures your intent? Are you trying to inform? Convince? Describe? Each purpose will lead you to a different set of information and help you shape material to include and exclude in a draft. Write about why you are writing this draft in this form. For more tips on figuring out the purpose of your assignment, see our handout on understanding assignments .

Who is your audience?

Who are you communicating with beyond the grader? What does that audience need to know? What do they already know? What information does that audience need first, second, third? Write about who you are writing to and what they need. For more on audience, see our  handout on audience .

Dictionaries, thesauruses, encyclopedias

When all else fails…this is a tried and true method, loved for centuries by writers of all stripe. Visit the library reference areas or stop by the Writing Center to browse various dictionaries, thesauruses (or other guide books and reference texts), encyclopedias or surf their online counterparts. Sometimes these basic steps are the best ones. It is almost guaranteed that you’ll learn several things you did not know.

If you’re looking at a hard copy reference, turn to your most important terms and see what sort of variety you find in the definitions. The obscure or archaic definition might help you to appreciate the term’s breadth or realize how much its meaning has changed as the language changed. Could that realization be built into your paper somehow?

If you go to online sources, use their own search functions to find your key terms and see what suggestions they offer. For example, if you plug “good” into a thesaurus search, you will be given 14 different entries. Whew! If you were analyzing the film Good Will Hunting, imagine how you could enrich your paper by addressed the six or seven ways that “good” could be interpreted according to how the scenes, lighting, editing, music, etc., emphasized various aspects of “good.”

An encyclopedia is sometimes a valuable resource if you need to clarify facts, get quick background, or get a broader context for an event or item. If you are stuck because you have a vague sense of a seemingly important issue, do a quick check with this reference and you may be able to move forward with your ideas.

Armed with a full quiver of brainstorming techniques and facing sheets of jotted ideas, bulleted subtopics, or spidery webs relating to your paper, what do you do now?

Take the next step and start to write your first draft, or fill in those gaps you’ve been brainstorming about to complete your “almost ready” paper. If you’re a fan of outlining, prepare one that incorporates as much of your brainstorming data as seems logical to you. If you’re not a fan, don’t make one. Instead, start to write out some larger chunks (large groups of sentences or full paragraphs) to expand upon your smaller clusters and phrases. Keep building from there into larger sections of your paper. You don’t have to start at the beginning of the draft. Start writing the section that comes together most easily. You can always go back to write the introduction later.

We also have helpful handouts on some of the next steps in your writing process, such as reorganizing drafts and argument .

Remember, once you’ve begun the paper, you can stop and try another brainstorming technique whenever you feel stuck. Keep the energy moving and try several techniques to find what suits you or the particular project you are working on.

How can technology help?

Need some help brainstorming? Different digital tools can help with a variety of brainstorming strategies:

Look for a text editor that has a focus mode or that is designed to promote free writing (for examples, check out FocusWriter, OmmWriter, WriteRoom, Writer the Internet Typewriter, or Cold Turkey). Eliminating visual distractions on your screen can help you free write for designated periods of time. By eliminating visual distractions on your screen, these tools help you focus on free writing for designated periods of time. If you use Microsoft Word, you might even try “Focus Mode” under the “View” tab.

Clustering/mapping. Websites and applications like Mindomo , TheBrain , and Miro allow you to create concept maps and graphic organizers. These applications often include the following features:

• Connect links, embed documents and media, and integrate notes in your concept maps
• Access your maps across devices
• Search across maps for keywords
• Convert maps into checklists and outlines
• Export maps to other file formats

Testimonials

Check out what other students and writers have tried!

Papers as Puzzles : A UNC student demonstrates a brainstorming strategy for getting started on a paper.

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Allen, Roberta, and Marcia Mascolini. 1997. The Process of Writing: Composing Through Critical Thinking . Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Cameron, Julia. 2002. The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity . New York: Putnam.

Goldberg, Natalie. 2005. Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within , rev. ed. Boston: Shambhala.

Rosen, Leonard J. and Laurence Behrens. 2003. The Allyn & Bacon Handbook , 5th ed. New York: Longman.

University of Richmond. n.d. “Main Page.” Writer’s Web. Accessed June 14, 2019. http://writing2.richmond.edu/writing/wweb.html .

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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1-Research Questions

2. Narrowing a Topic

For many students, having to start with a research question is the biggest difference between how they did research in high school and how they are required to carry out their college research projects. It’s a process of working from the outside in: you start with the world of all possible topics (or your assigned topic) and narrow down until you’ve focused your interest enough to be able to tell precisely what you want to find out, instead of only what you want to “write about.”

Process of Narrowing a Topic

All Possible Topics -You’ll need to narrow your topic in order to do research effectively. Without specific areas of focus, it will be hard to even know where to begin.

Assigned Topics – When professors assign a topic you have to narrow, they have already started the narrowing process. Narrowing a topic means making some part of it more specific. Ideas about a narrower topic can come from anywhere. Often, a narrower topic boils down to deciding what’s interesting to you. One way to get ideas is to read background information from a source like Wikipedia.

Topic Narrowed by Initial Exploration –  It’s wise to do some more reading about that narrower topic to a) learn more about it and b) learn specialized terms used by professionals and scholars who study it.

Topic Narrowed to Research Question(s) –  A research question defines exactly what you are trying to find out. It will influence most of the steps you take to conduct the research.

ACTIVITY: Which Topic Is Narrower?

When we talk about narrowing a topic, we’re talking about making it more specific. You can make it more specific by singling out at least one part or aspect of the original to decrease the scope of the original. Now here’s some practice for you to test your understanding.

Why Narrow a Topic?

Once you have a need for research—say, an assignment—you may need to prowl around a bit online to explore the topic and figure out what you actually want to find out and write about.

For instance, maybe your assignment is to develop a poster about the season “spring” for an introductory horticulture course. The instructor expects you to narrow that topic to something you are interested in and that is related to your class.

Ideas about a narrower topic can come from anywhere. In this case, a narrower topic boils down to deciding what’s interesting to you about “spring” that is related to what you’re learning in your horticulture class and small enough to manage in the time you have.

One way to get ideas would be to read about spring in Wikipedia, looking for things that seem interesting and relevant to your class, and then letting one thing lead to another as you keep reading and thinking about likely possibilities that are more narrow than the enormous “spring” topic. (Be sure to pay attention to the references at the bottom of most Wikipedia pages and pursue any that look interesting. Your instructor is not likely to let you cite Wikipedia, but those references may be citable scholarly sources that you could eventually decide to use.)

Or, instead, if it is spring at the time you could start by just looking around, admire the blooming trees on campus, and decide you’d like your poster to be about bud development on your favorites, the crabapple trees.

What you’re actually doing to narrow your topic is making at least one aspect of your topic more specific. For instance, assume your topic is the maintenance of the 130 miles of sidewalks on OSU’s Columbus campus. If you made maintenance more specific, your narrower topic might be snow removal on Columbus OSU’s sidewalks. If instead, you made the 130 miles of sidewalks more specific, your narrower topic might be maintenance of the sidewalks on all sides of Mirror Lake.

Anna Narrows Her Topic and Works on a Research Question

The Situation: Anna, an undergraduate, has been assigned a research paper on Antarctica. Her professor expects students to (1) narrow the topic on something more specific about Antarctica because they won’t have time to cover that whole topic. Then they are to (2) come up with a research question that their paper will answer.

The professor explained that the research question should be something they are interested in answering and that it must be more complicated than what they could answer with a quick Google search. He also said that research questions often, but not always, start with either the word “how” or “why.”

What you should do:

• Read what Anna is thinking below as she tries to do the assignment.
• After the reading, answer the questions at the end of the monologue in your own mind.
• Check your answers with ours at the end of Anna’s interior monologue.
• Keep this demonstration in mind the next time you are in Anna’s spot, and you can mimic her actions and think about your own topic.

Anna’s Interior Monologue

Okay, I am going to have to write something—a research paper—about Antarctica. I don’t know anything about that place—I think it’s a continent. I can’t think of a single thing I’ve ever wanted to know about Antarctica. How will I come up with a research question about that place? Calls for Wikipedia, I guess.

At https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctica . Just skimming. Pretty boring stuff. Oh, look– Antarctica’s a desert! I guess “desert” doesn’t have to do with heat. That’s interesting. What else could it have to do with? Maybe lack of precipitation? But there’s lots of snow and ice there. Have to think about that—what makes a desert a desert?

It says one to five thousand people live there in research stations. Year-round. Definitely, the last thing I’d ever do. “…there is no evidence that it was seen by humans until the 19th century.” I never thought about whether anybody lived in Antarctica first, before the scientists and stuff.

Lots of names—explorer, explorer… boring. It says Amundson reached the South Pole first. Who’s Amundson? But wait. It says, “One month later, the doomed Scott Expedition reached the pole.” Doomed? Doomed is always interesting. Where’s more about the Scott Expedition? I’m going to use that Control-F technique and type in Scott to see if I can find more about him on this page. Nothing beyond that one sentence shows up. Why would they have just that one sentence? I’ll have to click on the Scott Expedition link.

But it gives me a page called Terra Nova Expedition. What does that have to do with Scott? And just who was Scott? And why was his expedition doomed? There he is in a photo before going to Antarctica. Guess he was English. Other photos show him and his team in the snow. Oh, the expedition was named Terra Nova after the ship they sailed this time—in 1911. Scott had been there earlier on another ship.

Lots of stuff about preparing for the trip. Then stuff about expedition journeys once they were in Antarctica. Not very exciting—nothing about being doomed. I don’t want to write about this stuff.

Wait. The last paragraph of the first section says “For many years after his death, Scott’s status as a tragic hero was unchallenged,” but then it says that in the 20th-century people looked closer at the expedition’s management and at whether Scott and some of his team could be personally blamed for the catastrophe. That “remains controversial,” it says. Catastrophe? Personally blamed? Hmm.

Back to skimming. It all seems horrible to me. They actually planned to kill their ponies for meat, so when they actually did it, it was no surprise. Everything was extremely difficult. And then when they arrived at the South Pole, they found that the explorer Amundsen had beaten them. Must have been a big disappointment.

The homeward march was even worse. The weather got worse. The dog sleds that were supposed to meet them periodically with supplies didn’t show up. Or maybe the Scott group was lost and didn’t go to the right meeting places. Maybe that’s what that earlier statement meant about whether the decisions that were made were good ones. Scott’s diary said the crystallized snow made it seem like they were pushing and pulling the sledges through dry sand .

It says that before things turned really bad ( really bad? You’ve already had to eat your horses !), Scott allowed his men to put 30 pounds of rocks with fossils on the sledges they were pushing and dragging. Now was that sensible? The men had to push or pull those sledges themselves. What if it was those rocks that actually doomed those men?

But here it says that those rocks are the proof of continental drift. So how did they know those rocks were so important? Was that knowledge worth their lives? Could they have known?

Wow–there is drama on this page! Scott’s diary is quoted about their troubles on the expedition—the relentless cold, frostbite, and the deaths of their dogs. One entry tells of a guy on Scott’s team “now with hands as well as feet pretty well useless” voluntarily leaving the tent and walking to his death. The diary says that the team member’s last words were ”I am just going outside and may be some time.” Ha!

They all seem lost and desperate but still have those sledges. Why would you keep pulling and pushing those sledges containing an extra 30 pounds of rock when you are so desperate and every step is life or death?

Then there’s Scott’s last diary entry, on March 29, 1912. “… It seems a pity but I do not think I can write more.” Well.

That diary apparently gave lots of locations of where he thought they were but maybe they were lost. It says they ended up only 11 miles from one of their supply stations. I wonder if anybody knows how close they were to where Scott thought they were.

I’d love to see that diary. Wouldn’t that be cool? Online? I’ll Google it.

Yes! At the British museum. Look at that! I can see Scott’s last entry IN HIS OWN HANDWRITING!

Actually, if I decide to write about something that requires reading the diary, it would be easier to not have to decipher his handwriting. Wonder whether there is a typed version of it online somewhere?

Maybe I should pay attention to the early paragraph on the Terra Nova Expedition page in Wikipedia—about it being controversial whether Scott and his team made bad decisions so that they brought most of their troubles on themselves. Can I narrow my topic to just the controversy over whether bad decisions of Scott and his crew doomed them? Maybe it’s too big a topic if I consider the decisions of all team members. Maybe I should just consider Scott’s decisions.

So what research question could come from that? Maybe: how did Scott’s decisions contribute to his team’s deaths in Antarctica? But am I talking about his decisions before or after they left for Antarctica? Or the whole time they were a team? Probably too many decisions involved. More focused: How did Scott’s decisions after reaching the South Pole help or hurt the chances of his team getting back safely? That’s not bad—maybe. If people have written about that. There are several of his decisions discussed on the Wikipedia page, and I know there are sources at the bottom of that page.

Let me think—what else did I see that was interesting or puzzling about all this? I remember being surprised that Antarctica is a desert. So maybe I could make Antarctica as a desert my topic. My research question could be something like: Why is Antarctica considered a desert? But there has to be a definition of deserts somewhere online, so that doesn’t sound complicated enough. Once you know the definition of desert, you’d know the answer to the question. Professor Sanders says research questions are more complicated than regular questions.

What’s a topic I could care about? A question I really wonder about? Maybe those rocks with the fossils in them. It’s just so hard to imagine desperate explorers continuing to push those sledges with an extra 30 pounds of rocks on them. Did they somehow know how important they would be? Or were they just curious about them? Why didn’t they ditch them? Or maybe they just didn’t realize how close to death they were. Maybe I could narrow my Antarctica topic to those rocks.

Maybe my narrowed topic could be something like: The rocks that Scott and his crew found in Antarctica that prove continental drift. Maybe my research question could be: How did Scott’s explorers choose the rocks they kept?

Well, now all I have is questions about my questions. Like, is my professor going to think the question about the rocks is still about Antarctica? Or is it all about continental drift or geology or even the psychology of desperate people? And what has been written about the finding of those rocks? Will I be able to find enough sources? I’m also wondering whether my question about Scott’s decisions is too big—do I have enough time for it?

I think my professor is the only one who can tell me whether my question about the rocks has enough to do with Antarctica. Since he’s the one who will be grading my paper. But a librarian can help me figure out the other things.

So Dr. Sanders and a librarian are next.

Reflection Questions

• Was Anna’s choice to start with Wikipedia a good choice? Why or why not?
• Have you ever used that Control-F technique?
• At what points does Anna think about where to look for information?
• At the end of this session, Anna hasn’t yet settled on a research question. So what did she accomplish? What good was all this searching and thinking?

Our Answers:

• Was Anna’s choice to start with Wikipedia a good choice? Why or why not? Wikipedia is a great place to start a research project. Just make sure you move on from there, because it’s a not a good place to end up with your project. One place to move on to is the sources at the bottom of most Wikipedia pages.
• Have you ever used that Control-F technique? If you haven’t used the Control-F technique, we hope you will. It can save you a lot of time and effort reading online material.
• At what points does Anna think about where to look for information ? When she began; when she wanted to know more about the Scott expedition; when she wonders whether she could read Scott’s diary online; when she thinks about what people could answer her questions.
• At the end of this session, Anna hasn’t yet settled on a research question. So what did she accomplish? What good was all this reading and thinking? There are probably many answers to this question. Ours includes that Anna learned more about Antarctica, the subject of her research project. She focused her thinking (even if she doesn’t end up using the possible research questions she’s considering) and practiced critical thinking skills, such as when she thought about what she could be interested in, when she worked to make her potential research questions more specific, and when she figured out what questions still needed answering at the end. She also practiced her skills at making meaning from what she read, investigating a story that she didn’t expect to be there and didn’t know had the potential of being one that she is interested in. She also now knows what questions she needs answered and whom to ask. These thinking skills are what college is all about. Anna is way beyond where she was when she started.

Choosing & Using Sources: A Guide to Academic Research Copyright © 2015 by Teaching & Learning, Ohio State University Libraries is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Research Tips and Tricks

• Getting Started
• Understanding the Assignment
• Topic Selection Tips

Topic Narrowing

Ways to narrow your topic, be careful, tools to help, youtube videos about narrowing a topic.

• Breaking Topic Into Keywords
• Developing A Search Strategy
• Scholarly vs Popular Sources
• What Are Primary Sources?
• Finding Scholarly Articles
• Finding Scholarly Books
• Finding Primary Sources
• Citing My Sources This link opens in a new window

Instructional Librarian

Talk to your professor

A common challenge when beginning to write a research paper is determining how to narrow down your topic. 

Even if your professor gives you a topic to study, it will likely be so broad that you will have to narrow it down, at least to some degree.

A topic is too broad to be manageable when you find that you have too many different, conflicting or only remotely related ideas. 

Although you will want to start the writing process by considering a variety of different approaches to studying the research problem, you will need to narrow the focus of your investigation at some point early in the writing process - this way you don't attempt to do too much in one paper.

Here are some strategies to help narrow your topic :

Aspect  -- choose one lens through which to view the research problem, or look at just one facet of it.

• e.g., rather than studying the role of food in South Asian religious rituals, explore the role of food in Hindu ceremonies or the role of one particular type of food among several religions.

Components  -- determine if your initial variable or unit of analysis can be broken into smaller parts, which can then be analyzed more precisely. 

• e.g., a study of tobacco use among adolescents can focus on just chewing tobacco rather than all forms of usage or, rather than adolescents in general, focus on female adolescents in a specific age range who choose to use tobacco.

Methodology  -- how you gather information can reduce the domain of interpretive analysis needed to address the research problem.

• e.g., a single case study can be designed to generate data that does not require as extensive an explanation as using multiple cases.

Place  -- generally, the smaller the geographic unit of analysis, the more narrow the focus.

• e.g., rather than study trade relations in North America, study trade relations between Mexico and the United States. 

Relationship  -- ask yourself how do two or more different perspectives or variables relate to one another. Designing a study around the relationships between specific variables can help constrict the scope of analysis. 

• e.g., cause/effect, compare/contrast, contemporary/historical, group/individual, male/female, opinion/reason, problem/solution.

Time  -- the shorter the time period of the study, the more narrow the focus.

• e.g., study of relations between Russia and the United States during the Vietnam War.

Type  -- focus your topic in terms of a specific type or class of people, places, or phenomena. 

• e.g., a study of developing safer traffic patterns near schools can focus on SUVs, or just student drivers, or just the timing of traffic signals in the area.

Cause  -- focus your topic to just one cause for your topic.

• e.g., rather than writing about all the causes of WW1, just write about nationalism.

When narrowing your topic, make sure you don't narrow it too much. A topic is too narrow if you can state it in just a few words.

For example:

• How many soldiers died during the first world war?
• Who was the first President of the United States?
• Why is ocean water salty?
• Why are Pringles shaped the way they are?
• Developing a Research Topic This exercise is designed to help you develop a thoughtful topic for your research assignment, including methods for narrowing your topic.
• What Makes a Good Research Question?
• Narrowing Your topic
• Four Steps To Narrow Your Research Topic

• << Previous: Topic Selection Tips
• Next: Breaking Topic Into Keywords >>
• Last Updated: Jul 18, 2024 9:17 AM
• URL: https://kingsu.libguides.com/research

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Brainstorming Strategy: Narrowing a Topic

Brainstorming is the process by which ideas are produced using techniques like concept mapping, free-writing, etc. Choosing a topic can be a difficult process when starting an assignment or writing a paper, and brainstorming can be used to choose a topic or narrow down a broad topic. Narrowing your topic is an important step in the research process. A broad, general topic makes it difficult to find specified research, so narrowing down the topic is needed.

WHAT ARE KEYWORDS?

Keywords are specific words or phrases that relate to your main idea or research question. They are used in brainstorming to determine search terms to use in finding research or narrowing down a topic. Keywords can be specific search words found in your research question, synonyms, phrases, or jargon that are common in the field of study.

How to Narrow Your Topic

Start by writing down your broad topic.

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2. Next, identify the main ideas or terms.

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3. Using your list of ideas, try to describe Who, What, Where, When, How, and Why about your topic to determine specifics. Do any of these topics sound interesting? Would you be interested in researching them for your assignment? 

4. Once you have determined which words you’d like to use, combine aspects of your list to create a narrowed down topic.

Narrow research question: What are the effects of using Instagram on the behavior of adolescents?

5. Now, use these keywords and phrases to start searching for sources using the Grand Valley State University Libraries online databases.

RELATED IDEAS

• Understanding your assignment
• Concept mapping
• Asking questions
• Broadening a topic
• Choosing keywords
• Choosing a topic from scratch
• Choosing a topic from a theme
• Choosing a topic with subject terms
• Developing a research question
• Finding sources

Meet with a Consultant

Have other questions? Research consultants can help! We specialize in brainstorming topics, finding sources, reading scholarly materials, and evaluating research. 

Stop by the Knowledge Market during  open hours or make an appointment to talk with a research consultant.

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Choosing and narrowing a topic to write about (for research papers), introduction to choosing a research topic.

Introduction: Research is Never a Waste of Time, But Always Make Good Use of Your Time.

It is natural to stand at the beginning of a research project and feel overwhelmed by the amount of published research that exists in databases, literature reviews, and reference pages. At the same time, each new research project brings the hope of discovering something new. Overwhelming though a project may be, starting at the foothills of a new thread of research is a great privilege, and is best approached as an opportunity to learn rather than a drudgery. As a researcher/writer, you have the chance to dive more deeply into less frequently encountered pools of knowledge.

Depending on the topic or scope of your research, it is also natural to spend many days and weeks - and in some cases months and years - searching. No matter how great or small the scope of research is, the serious researcher needs to reserve adequate time to perform a thorough survey of published articles. For an undergraduate course project, finding five or six sources might seem like plenty of material to review, but graduate-level writing projects typically involve up to 20 sources minimum.

Please note that the main point here is not to say that it is only the number of research articles matters most, but rather that having a broad spectrum of papers to choose from helps you choose your topic for at least the following two reasons: 1) a larger pool of sources provides you with a broader perspective of the topics within your scope of research and 2) along the way you will find many topics within your field that you DO NOT want to write about! So, one particularly effective way of viewing research is not finding the absolute minimum sources to "get by", but rather to find a variety of sources that you can use...like an artist uses negative space to "carve" shapes out of a dark background...to guide you toward topics that are more directly relevant to your topic.

The good news is that as you research you may find that some of your sources that were published in the same decade or so will cite and reference each other.

One of the joys and privileges of research is being able to follow your curiosity; if you are truly curious about your topic, and authentically driven to find out as much as you can, then even the articles you don't find interesting will be useful for a future project, and no energy will be wasted.

Source: Neil Cunningham

Steps 1, 2, and 3: Choosing a Topic

Well, you've been researching for a while now, and you are now ready to settle down on a specific topic. You can do this easily by moving through the following steps. (For the purposes of this learning packet, let say that you are writing on the subject of decomposition .)

Choosing a Specific Topic in Three Steps

1. Choose any topic or topics in the universe. - "e.g., something about organic matter"

2. Be a little more specific about your topic . - "e.g., compost and soil"

3. Be a lot more specific about your topic - "e.g., soil nutrients released by organic matter decomposition"

4. Repeat these three steps three or more times to give yourself a few examples of topics to choose from . When you have a few examples, choose the topic that you feel meets your course requirements, the needs of your intended (or imagined) audience, and/or has the most relevant source material to support it. .

Once you feel terrifically solid about the topic you have chosen, you are ready to Narrow Down Your Topic . Always remember that you can go back to research at any time of your writing process.

Steps 3, 4, and 5: Narrowing Down Your Topic

During the first three steps, you chose a topic. For some, this topic may seem like it's ready to be written about, but the level of precision required in the context of academic writing requires writer-researcher to go through a few additional steps.

In other words, many articles have already been written that describe various aspects of organic matter decomposition, so we must narrow down our chosen topic so that we can focus our research efforts on a more precise question or thesis statement.

Narrowing a Topic in Three Steps, Starting from a Topic that Was Selected Using the Three-Step Choosing a Topic Process.

1) Make one or two more words more specific .

In this case, we replaced the words "soil nutrients" with nitrogen and replaced "organic matter" with food waste to make the topic we wish to write about as precise and as specific as possible.

• Example: " soil nutrients nitrogen released by organic matter the decomposition of food waste "

2) OK, we've added a few words to make the topic more specific. Now turn the topic into a complete sentence that actually makes a statement.

• Example: The forms of nitrogen released by the decomposition of food waste is poorly understood.

3) Make the sentence as precise and arguable as possible.

If you compare the following example with the previous step, you might notice how the context of decomposition moves from just a generalized process of decomposition to a particular process that involves household waste. In addition, this example makes a firm statement that can be argued and supported.

• Example: The amount and value of plant-available nitrogen released by decomposition of household food waste is not well understood because most home composters do not have the tools to measure soil nutrients.

In summary, the steps outlined in this learning packet encourage academic writers who want to increase the precision of the topics they write about to go through a process.

This learning packet has broken down the process of selecting a topic into two large steps - choosing a topic and narrowing it down.

To choose a general topic, follow the following steps:

     1) Choose a topic area. Example: beer

     2) Take you topic area and describe it more specifically. Example: beer and microorganisms

     3) Name a specific aspect of the specific topic. Example: the quality of beer and the quality of microorganisms needed    to brew it properly

To narrow down the focus of your topic, follow the following three steps:

     4) Write down additional specific about your topic. Example: brewing quality tasting beer and the health of the colonies of yeast used to brew small batches of beer  properly.

     5) Turn your topic into a sentence that is a statement. Example: The quality of small batches of beer is affected by the overall health of the yeast used during fermentation.

     6) Now add "fine" focus to your statement by making a statement that can (although it does not necessarily need to) refer back to your research. Example: A survey of microbrewers suggests that beer taste is equally affected by the health of yeast used during fermentation as it is by the quality of the grains used.  

Choosing and Narrowing a Topic

This audio file describes the process of choosing and narrowing a topic that is demonstrated in this learning packet. This audio file is a supplement to the text portion of this packet, and is meant to be listened to the powerpoint slide.

Choosing a Research Topic [Overview]

This narrated slide show provides a brief overview and an example of the topic-selecting process described in this learning packet.

Learning Objectives

Subject:  Pre-Writing Strategies   Topic:  Choosing a Research Topic, Narrowing a Research Topic   Objectives:   This learning packet should review:

• Selecting a topic for research
• Bridging research topics with actual research
• Generating ideas for research topics
• Overcoming writer's block

  Background Knowledge:  By this point, a student should have been exposed to basic research techniques and have a minimum of 3-5 sources to begin to write from.   New Terms:  A few terms that may be new are:

• Thesis statement
• Supportable topic
• Evidence-based writing
• Scholarly writing

  A few notes: For best results, the method described in this learning packet should be practiced several times in order to develop confidence and consistency.

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Prewriting: Ground Zero

19 Selecting and Narrowing a Topic

When you need to write something longer than a text or an email, whether it’s a class assignment, a report for work, or a personal writing task, there’s work to be done before you dive in and begin writing. This phase is called prewriting (even though some types of prewriting involve actual writing).

Note that even though instructors may describe a writing process as having steps that seem to go in order, writers usually skip back and forth between those steps as they work toward a final draft. While you’re in the early stage of prewriting, you might use freewriting (a technique for generating text that you’ll learn more about in the section titled “ Gathering Ideas “) and then use that technique again after revising your first draft. When instructors describe writing as “ recursive ,” this process is what they are talking about. The techniques described for prewriting may come in handy later in your own writing process.

Narrowing/Choosing Your Topic

If you’re working on a course assignment, you may get to select your own topic or a topic may be assigned to you.

If you get to choose your topic, be sure that you understand the kind of topic that will fit the assignment. For example, if your instructor asks you to write an argument about a local problem in your community, you wouldn’t choose to write about the national debt—that’s not a local problem, but a national one. You might try some of the techniques in this resource, like freewriting , listing , or clustering , to discover topics you are interested in. You might use your library’s online databases to search for interesting topics, especially databases that give pros and cons for current issues.

But even if the instructor assigns the topic, you can find ways to make it your own.

Some More Types of Assignments from Instructors

Most of the time, instructors give specific assignments that relate to the course and perhaps to assigned readings or discussions from class. When you are given a specific topic, be sure that you understand what you have been asked to do. Look for the verbs used in the assignment. Here are some common verbs from writing assignments and what they usually mean:

• Summarize : If you are asked to write a summary of something you’ve read, you will be giving the main points and the supporting points from the text. A summary usually does not include your personal opinion.
• Respond : When you are asked to respond to a text, you can give your opinion in a variety of ways. You might talk about the quality of the text, connections you made with the text, or whether you agree or disagree with the author’s ideas. You may need to incorporate a little bit of summary so that the reader has enough background to understand your response. The summary might be in the form of a single paragraph after your introduction, it might be a few sentences within your introduction, or it might be incorporated in multiple paragraphs in a sentence or two.
• Analyze : An analysis breaks something down into parts in order to understand the whole.
• Synthesize : A synthesis combines two or more ideas into a larger whole. For more on synthesis, see “ Synthesizing ” in this text.
• Compare and contrast : When you are asked to compare and contrast (or sometimes the instructor will just say compare, but mean both), you will be looking at two items and stating how they are alike and how they are different.
• Reflect : A reflection asks you to deeply consider something, often on a personal basis. For example, you might be asked to write a personal reflection about your own writing or about your progress during a course. Or you might be asked to reflect on how a particular issue affects you.
• Other terms : There are many possible verbs that you might find in an assignment. If you are unsure what the assignment calls for, be sure to ask your instructor.

Picking Your Own Topic When One Isn’t Assigned

For some assignments, you may be able to write about a topic that is personally significant to you. Being able to write about a topic like this can improve your motivation. Be wary, though, of just writing opinion without backing up your ideas with reasons and evidence that your readers will find convincing. If you want to write about a deeply personal topic, be sure that you are willing to share that with others and also consider whether or not your readers want to know that information about you.

One way to narrow your topic is to decide what you DON’T want to write about. What ideas or subtopics could you eliminate?

Using Preliminary Research

Another way to narrow your topic is to do some preliminary research—not the kind of research you would include in an essay, but rather quick online research to inform yourself about the topic. This is one example of when it’s okay to use a simple Google search or use Wikipedia. Once you see what other people are writing about your topic, it can help you see areas that are interesting to you, and it can also help you understand what people, in general, agree on and what is still undecided and needs to be further explored.

Using Purpose to Determine Topic

You can also use your purpose for writing to define your topic:

• Informative : if your purpose in writing is to inform your readers, what are topics that you already know a lot about? What are some interesting topics that you could easily research?
• Persuasive : if your purpose is to persuade readers to think a certain way or to take an action, what are some topics that you feel strongly about? What are some topics that are currently under discussion that you could explore and form an opinion on?
• Reflective : if your purpose is to reflect on a personal experience or on your learning process, you can explore your knowledge and experience.
• Analytical : if your purpose is to analyze something (usually a text of some kind), is there an assigned list or a specific text? If you get to choose, what books, essays, poems, films, songs, etc. have you recently been exposed to that you could analyze?

Text Attributions

• This chapter was adapted from “ Selecting and Narrowing a Topic ” in The Word on College Reading and Writing by Carol Burnell, Jaime Wood, Monique Babin, Susan Pesznecker, and Nicole Rosevear, which is licensed under a CC BY-NC 4.0 Licence . Adapted by Allison Kilgannon.

Media Attributions

• “Sustainability image” by Intel Free Press is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 Licence.

re=again cursive=writing recursive=writing again

Advanced English Copyright © 2021 by Allison Kilgannon is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Home / News / Academic Writing Tip: 8 Brainstorming Techniques

Academic Writing Tip: 8 Brainstorming Techniques

So, you’ve read and re-read the academic writing assignment that you received from your professor, and now you’re staring at a blank page.

Does your mind feel as blank as the page? Are you Frozen by fear? Rubbing your eyes with exhaustion?

Whether you’re writing an essay for a community college in Boston, Massachusetts or a university in New England, USA, you need to start somewhere. Brainstorming means you use your imagination and prior knowledge to collect thoughts. After gathering a great quantity of ideas, you select the highest quality ideas.

Filling that empty white document can feel like leaping into unknown icy water. Brainstorming is the way to warm up for a deep dive into the EAP topic.

Brainstorming begins with simple questions. What do you know about the topic? What do you want to learn about the topic?

As you brainstorm, you journey farther down the academic writing quest. How do you narrow down a topic into a thesis? How do you gather the examples and evidence necessary for an academic essay?

Here are EAP brainstorming strategies to jumpstart the engine of your creativity.

Brainstorming tip #1: Freewriting

Do you have no ideas? Or the opposite problem—too many ideas?

Freewriting means what it sounds like—you’re free to write whatever comes to mind. The point is not to make it perfect—not even necessarily to make it good—but just to put thoughts on paper—no rules, no revising. You can even write about how you don’t know what to write about.

The only limit you should set for yourself is that you write for a specific period of time—let’s say 30 minutes—or for a specific number of pages—let’s say 2 pages. Non-stop activity gets the juices flowing, and a concrete goal gives you satisfaction. Here’s an example of freewriting:

This essay is supposed to be about the Boston Tea Party but I don’t know anything about US history except that the American Revolution happened a long time ago (when???) somewhere in Massachusetts or maybe I’m wrong. I can’t think of anything else to say and now the clock says two minutes, I’ll keep babbling anyway. Boston, MA, politics, tea. My grandmother used to make tea when I stopped by after my English courses. But that’s not useful for this essay. Or maybe there’s a connection. Hmmm… I remember the professor talked about the taxes in the New English states (colonies?) and my grandmother used to complain about paying high taxes at the market and…

Freewriting stimulates your brain the same way physical exercise wakes up your mind.

Brainstorming tip #2: Making a Cube

Draw a cube in your notebook. Each of the six sides has a task:

Side 1: Describe the topic.

Side 2: Compare the topic.

Side 3: Connect the topic.

Side 4: Classify the topic.

Side 5: Argue for or against the topic.

Side 6: Personalize the topic.

Instead of those 6 tasks, you could replace those verbs with other academic tasks: apply, analyze, question, connect, define, classify, associate, or explain cause and effect—whichever inspire ideas.

Imagine your topic is attending university in the U.S. Next to each point on the cube, you would write words and phrases inspired by the verb at hand:

Side 1: Describe: Exciting, difficult, expensive, growing opportunities, expensive, valuable.

Side 2: Compare: Different from my country. USA = more essay writing, dorms with roommates, critical thinking, fewer standardized exams and lectures, smaller classes.

Side 3: Connect: student visa policies, US immigration law, IELTS, TOEFL iBT, travel restrictions from covid-19, globalization means more English at work.

Side 4: Classify: community colleges (Holyoke, Greenfield), state universities (UMASS Boston), private ivy league (Harvard) graduate schools, MBA, BA, MFA programs.  

Side 5: Argue for : opens doors, better jobs, international workplace, investment in future, social networking, broadens horizons.

Side 6: Personalize: my cousin > engineering degree, MIT internship, campus resources help with culture shock (which worries me.) IELTS stresses me out!!!!  Way to avoid?

This brainy approach works if you like approaching topics from different angles.

Brainstorming tip #3: Clustering

When you cluster, you draw bubbles and connect words and concepts associated with the topic—anything that comes to mind.

This visual method works when you have a lot of random thoughts and you are trying to “see” connections.

Brainstorming tip #4: Bulleting

With this technique, you make bulleted lists with concepts, terms, and ideas. This can help you narrow down from the first list to a second list. The list on the left contains general bullet points, while the list on the right expands on a single bullet to delve deeper.

This method works great if you’re an orderly person who likes making lists.

Brainstorming tip #5: Venn Diagram

  The famous Venn diagram technique works well for brainstorming differences and similarities between two topics. You draw two intersecting circles and write the qualities they share in the middle where the circles intersect and the qualities that are unique in the left and right spaces. For example, let’s say you’re brainstorming differences and similarities between two cities in Massachusetts, Boston and Northampton.

This famous brainstorming method is used in the academic and business worlds because it so clearly shows differences and similarities.

To analyze relationships among three topics, you can make a Venn diagram with three circles. The 3-circle helps visualize and understand complex connections. You brainstorm three basic questions. Which qualities are unique to each? Which traits do any two topics have in common? Which similarities are shared by all three topics?

Brainstorming tip #6: Tree diagram

The tree diagram begins with a central idea that branches off into categories or supporting ideas.

Imagine you’re brainstorming different types of schools in US higher education.

Tree diagrams are perfect for brainstorming classification essays. You could also draw tree diagrams to brainstorm effects, starting with a cause at the top and branching off into increasingly specific downstream effects. Pretty cool, huh?

Brainstorming tip #7: Journalist Dice

Dice aren’t just toys for games and gambling–they can be a tool for writing. Rolling journalist dice is a stimulating way to flesh out narrative essays. Each side of the die corresponds to one of the 6 question words. To make the game fun, roll a die, and write down one answer the question every time you roll. Roll at least a dozen times to write down a variety of details and ideas.

In addition to building a narrative essay, this brainstorming technique can help you develop a compelling story for your college application essay. For the tired and uninspired writer, the game element of rolling dice makes the writing process more engaging and enjoyable. 

Brainstorming tip #8: T diagram

This method works well if you like thinking in terms of opposites.  Can you say “On the one hand” and “On the other hand”? 

What’s next in the writing process?

After your fast and furious brainstorm, the next step is to create an outline. When you outline, you pick your best and brightest ideas. Then you begin organizing them into a coherent, linear argument. You select and sort supporting points, evidence, examples, and elaboration. To learn more about outlining, click here for the next article in our academic writing series. 

The best way to improve your writing is to join an academic or business English course . With guidance from an expert instructor and feedback from a community of peers, you can master the art of academic writing.

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How to Narrow the Research Topic for Your Paper

• Writing Research Papers
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• B.A., History, Armstrong State University

It is typical for students to set off on a research topic only to find out that the one they've chosen is too broad. If you are lucky, you will find out before you conduct too much research, because much of the early research you carry out might be useless once you finally narrow your topic.

It is a good idea to run your initial research idea by a teacher or librarian to get an expert opinion. He or she will save you some time and give you some tips on narrowing the scope of your topic.

What Is Too Broad?

Students get tired of hearing that their chosen topic is too broad, but it is a very common problem. How do you know if your topic is too broad?

• If you find yourself in the library staring at a entire section of books that could work as references for your topic, it is too broad! A good topic addresses a specific question or problem. You should see only four or five books on the shelf that address your specific research question (maybe fewer!).
• If your topic can be summed up in a word or two, like smoking, school cheating , education, overweight teens, corporal punishment , Korean War, or hip-hop, it is too broad.
• If you have trouble coming up with a thesis statement, your topic is probably too broad.​

A good research project must be narrowed down in order to be meaningful and manageable.

How to Narrow Your Topic

The best way to narrow your topic is to apply a few of the old familiar question words, like who, what, where, when, why, and how.

• Paddling as punishment:
• Where? : "Paddling in grade school"
• What and where? : "Emotional effects of paddling in grade school"
• What and who? : "Emotional effects of paddling on female children"
• Hip-hop dancing:
• What? : "Hip-hop as therapy"
• What and where? : "Hip-hop as therapy in Japan"
• What, where, and who? : "Hip-hop as therapy for delinquent youth in Japan"

Eventually, you will see that the process of narrowing your research topic actually makes your project more interesting. Already, you're one step closer to a better grade!

Another Tactic

Another good method for narrowing your focus involves brainstorming a list of terms and questions related to your broad topic. To demonstrate, let's start with a broad subject, like unhealthy behavior as an example.

Imagine that your instructor has given this subject as a writing prompt. You can make a list of somewhat-related, random nouns and see if you can ask questions to relate the two topics. This results in a narrow subject! Here is a demonstration:

This might look random, but your next step is to come up with a question that connects the two subjects. The answer to that question is the starting point for a thesis statement , and a brainstorming session like this can lead to great research ideas.

• Art and unhealthy behavior:
• Is there a specific piece of art that represents the hazards of smoking?
• Is there a famous artist who died from an unhealthy habit?
• Sandwiches and unhealthy behavior:
• What happens if you eat sandwiches every day for dinner?
• Are ice cream sandwiches really bad for us?
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• Writing an Annotated Bibliography for a Paper
• How to Develop a Research Paper Timeline
• 5 Steps to Writing a Position Paper
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• What Is a Bibliography?
• Tips for Typing an Academic Paper on a Computer
• The Introductory Paragraph: Start Your Paper Off Right

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• 3. Narrow Your Topic

Ask yourself:

What aspect of the topic do I want to focus on?

What interests me about the topic?

What do I want to write about?

Is there more than one side to this issue? What are the opposing viewpoints on it?

As you start to narrow this down into a topic/thesis, you'll want to continue to look for more sources. As you research, you might tweak or adjust your topic/thesis.  In order to help you find more related sources about your topic, you'll want to identify keywords to help you search.

As you think about what concepts you want to research, think about what particular words might be found in a good article about that topic.  For instance, if you are writing about the paying college athletes , think of related keywords:

You can also combine your keywords to find articles connecting the two ideas. Unlike Google, our library databases work best using connector terms, such as AND or OR .

Keywords work best by trial-and-error. Never do only one search. Some keywords will work better than others, and some keywords may lead you to different articles than you found in your first search.  Search the databases with the keywords you selected to find relevant articles. And remember to ask a librarian if you need assistance coming up with keywords or looking for sources.

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Narrowing Down The Topic

In narrowing down your topic, you should consider the following ideas:

• Identify and define the main elements of the topic that you have chosen and look at the different ways that they can be applied to the primary material of your essay.
• Pay attention to the length that the professor has assigned for the essay. The length can dictate the amount of information that you will be able to fit into your paper. The length will also dictate the number of body parts that you will be able to use to support your thesis. As a general rule, the shorter the essay, the more limited and precise the topic will be. The longer the essay, the more space you will have to explore your topic and its implications and complexity.
• In narrowing down your topic, pay attention to the specific aspects of the topic that are addressed within the primary text(s) for your essay and within class discussion. This will give you an indication of the specific ways that you can write about your source material. Professors are usually looking for a specific topic that addresses one of the central ideas of the material that you are studying. Choose the specific aspect that you feel runs through as much of the text as possible. This will afford you a topic that can be developed through the course of the primary source(s) to present your reading audience with a clearer view of the text or the ideas that dominate the material.
• If you have any doubts about how you can find a specific aspect to address within the assigned topics, or if you are unsure as to which aspect you should focus on, do not hesitate to contact your professor for guidance. Often, this can save you a great deal of wasted effort and can help to focus your attention on a specific avenue for researching your topic.

Useful links

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• Admission Essay
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• Cause and Effect Essay
• Classification Essay
• Comparison Essay
• Critical Essay
• Deductive Essay
• Definition Essay
• Exploratory Essay
• Expository Essay
• Informal Essay
• Literature Essay
• Narrative Essay
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• Persuasive Essay
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How To Narrow Down a Research Topic

Once you’ve decided on a research topic, you’ll need to narrow it down into a thesis statement or a research question. You will save tens of hours because you will be able to conduct more focused searches much earlier in your research process as you complete this step.

As many tutors will explain, narrowing down a research topic not only simplifies your writing process but also encourages an in-depth investigation of the topic. It also shapes how you will conduct the research projects in high school and during undergraduate studies.

Selecting a great research topic necessitates approaching the problem from the outside in.  Starting with a broad topic and narrowing it down to the point where you can define what you’d like to discover rather than only what you’d like to “ write about “ is always a good common practice.

If you’ve been provided with a general topic to explore, a set of problems to research, or you’ve been asked to come up with your own topic, you should make certain that the scope of the research problem relevant to this study isn’t overly broad before proceeding.

How to Narrow Down a Research Topic, with Examples

The good news is that you can follow the steps below to narrow down the focus of your entire paper to a specific topic:

1. Pick a broad topic area to focus on.

Begin by writing down your broad area of interest. Employee turnover, for instance, could be the general topic area.

2. Demographic factors

Every research study focuses on specific individuals. Pick your group of interest and narrow your research paper topic based on demographic factors.

Reduce the scope of your research paper by age group, occupation, ethnicity, gender, and so on.

For example, international college graduates who are entering the workforce face a number of difficulties.

3. Provide a detailed description of the subject matter.

As a good example, consider the nursing industry and its turnover.

4. Move down to an aspect of that specific topic you have identified

In the next step, consider the factors that influence turnover among registered nurses in a particular specialty area.

5. Make a list of any additional details about the subject.

As an illustration, consider the stress and turnover experienced by registered nurses in the emergency units.

6. Condense the topic into a single sentence or a single statement.

To explain this, let’s say workplace stress has a serious influence on the turnover of registered nurses in emergency departments across the United States.

7. Consider fine-tuning the topic using other elements such as time and correlation

An example of a fine-tuned topic is “Emergency Department stress is correlated with increased Turnover among nurses in Ohio, United States.

When is a Topic Too Broad?

When a professor tells a group of college students that the topic they chose is too broad, they get discouraged. This is a very common occurrence. What is the best way to determine whether your topic is too broad?

Even if you can summarize the subject in one or two words, such as school cheating, capital punishment, drug abuse, or overweight teens, the subject is obviously too broad to be considered in isolation.

Similarly, if you go to the library and realize that you are staring at a whole section of books that can be used as sources for your study subject, the topic is likely to be too broad. A good topic should be focused on a specific problem or question that needs to be addressed. If you are looking for books that can effectively address a specific research problem, you should look for four to five books (or even fewer) on a shelf.

The likelihood that your topic is too broad is increased if you have difficulty coming up with a thesis statement for your research paper.

The Problems of Not Narrowing Down the Topic

If you don’t do this, you will find it difficult to complete the study problem within the time and space constraints. The choice to write on a very broad PhD research topic may present a number of difficulties to the writer. The issues are as follows:

• The abundance of information makes it difficult to decide what to omit or include, as well as which sources are the most important.
• The difficulty in developing a clear framework for addressing the research problem stems from the difficulty in locating generic information.
• Identifying and employing the appropriate methods for analyzing the research problem becomes difficult when there are insufficient parameters to effectively define the problem at hand.

Other challenges that you could encounter include:

• Throughout your research, you come across information that addresses a diverse range of concepts that cannot be covered in a single paper. As a result, you are prone to getting bogged down in unnecessary details.
• Beginning a research paper can be a difficult task because it requires deciding how to refine a research topic to a manageable size.
• Even if your professor assigns you a specific topic of study, you will be expected to narrow it down to a certain extent. Aside from that, the professor will find it tedious to mark fifty papers that all discuss the same subject.

That is why you should narrow the scope of your research early on in the writing process. You won’t try to cram too much information into a single research paper this way.

Guidelines for Narrowing a Research Subject

(a) multiple angles.

One lens should be chosen and used to view a research problem in more detail. The other option is to narrow your attention to a single perspective. For example, instead of researching the various factors that contribute to cancer, researchers could look into how smoking can lead to lung cancer.

(b) Different components

Determine whether the initial unit or variable of analysis can be subdivided into smaller components, allowing you to analyze them with greater precision as you progress. An investigation into teenage tobacco use, for example, can be narrowed down to chewing tobacco only, rather than all forms of tobacco use or teenagers in general. A more effective strategy would be to target male teenagers who chew tobacco in a specific age range and geographic region.

(c) Methodological approach

Data collection methods can limit the scope of interpretive analysis required to address your research problem depending on the methods used to collect the data. For example, you can design a single case study to generate data that does not necessitate the same level of explanation as data generated from multiple case studies.

(d) Location of study

Overall, investigating a smaller geographical unit means focusing on a more specific topic area. Rather than studying trade relations in Asia, you could instead concentrate on trade relations between China and Malaysia as a case study to guide you through the process of explaining challenges in that region.

(e) Association between variables

Learn how two or more variables or are related to one another by conducting an investigation. When you design a study around the correlation of different variables, you are able to narrow the scope of your investigation. The following are some examples of variables to keep an eye out for:

• compare and contrast
• group vs individual
• cause and effect
• males and females
• problem and solution
• current and previous

(f) Timeframe variations

Researchers can assign timelines to study periods if desired. In general, the shorter the time span of a study, the more narrowly focused the study’s focus becomes. For example, instead of focusing on the trade relations between China and the United States, consider the trade relations between China and the U.S. between 2015 and 2020 as a whole.

(g) The phenomenon

Concentrate on a specific group of people, phenomena, or locations when researching a particular topic. As an example, a study on the development of better housing near schools may concentrate solely on condominiums, universities, or construction materials.

(h) Combining different small topics

You can pick at least two of the suggestions above to help you narrow down your search to a specific topic.

It is critical to narrow down a research topic. We hope the guidelines will be useful to you.

In summary, you can either narrow down a broad topic provided by your instructor, or you can develop your own topic first and narrow it down later after receiving feedback (some teachers give this freedom). In either case, you should make certain that your narrowed topic is specific and contains more than a couple of words rather than only a few word.

Always remember that you want to be able to write a strong thesis statement from the topic and then proceed to write a paper on it. You can seek feedback from your peers or your instructor to determine whether the topic is interesting and worth writing about. As you can see, writing on a specific topic is much easier than writing on a topic that is too broad.

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How to Choose a Dissertation Topic | 8 Steps to Follow

Published on November 11, 2022 by Shona McCombes and Tegan George. Revised on November 20, 2023.

Choosing your dissertation topic is the first step in making sure your research goes as smoothly as possible. When choosing a topic, it’s important to consider:

• Your institution and department’s requirements
• Your areas of knowledge and interest
• The scientific, social, or practical relevance
• The availability of data and resources
• The timeframe of your dissertation
• The relevance of your topic

You can follow these steps to begin narrowing down your ideas.

Table of contents

Step 1: check the requirements, step 2: choose a broad field of research, step 3: look for books and articles, step 4: find a niche, step 5: consider the type of research, step 6: determine the relevance, step 7: make sure it’s plausible, step 8: get your topic approved, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about dissertation topics.

The very first step is to check your program’s requirements. This determines the scope of what it is possible for you to research.

• Is there a minimum and maximum word count?
• When is the deadline?
• Should the research have an academic or a professional orientation?
• Are there any methodological conditions? Do you have to conduct fieldwork, or use specific types of sources?

Some programs have stricter requirements than others. You might be given nothing more than a word count and a deadline, or you might have a restricted list of topics and approaches to choose from. If in doubt about what is expected of you, always ask your supervisor or department coordinator.

Start by thinking about your areas of interest within the subject you’re studying. Examples of broad ideas include:

• Twentieth-century literature
• Economic history
• Health policy

To get a more specific sense of the current state of research on your potential topic, skim through a few recent issues of the top journals in your field. Be sure to check out their most-cited articles in particular. For inspiration, you can also search Google Scholar , subject-specific databases , and your university library’s resources.

As you read, note down any specific ideas that interest you and make a shortlist of possible topics. If you’ve written other papers, such as a 3rd-year paper or a conference paper, consider how those topics can be broadened into a dissertation.

After doing some initial reading, it’s time to start narrowing down options for your potential topic. This can be a gradual process, and should get more and more specific as you go. For example, from the ideas above, you might narrow it down like this:

• Twentieth-century literature   Twentieth-century Irish literature   Post-war Irish poetry
• Economic history   European economic history   German labor union history
• Health policy   Reproductive health policy   Reproductive rights in South America

All of these topics are still broad enough that you’ll find a huge amount of books and articles about them. Try to find a specific niche where you can make your mark, such as: something not many people have researched yet, a question that’s still being debated, or a very current practical issue.

At this stage, make sure you have a few backup ideas — there’s still time to change your focus. If your topic doesn’t make it through the next few steps, you can try a different one. Later, you will narrow your focus down even more in your problem statement and research questions .

There are many different types of research , so at this stage, it’s a good idea to start thinking about what kind of approach you’ll take to your topic. Will you mainly focus on:

• Collecting original data (e.g., experimental or field research)?
• Analyzing existing data (e.g., national statistics, public records, or archives)?
• Interpreting cultural objects (e.g., novels, films, or paintings)?
• Comparing scholarly approaches (e.g., theories, methods, or interpretations)?

Many dissertations will combine more than one of these. Sometimes the type of research is obvious: if your topic is post-war Irish poetry, you will probably mainly be interpreting poems. But in other cases, there are several possible approaches. If your topic is reproductive rights in South America, you could analyze public policy documents and media coverage, or you could gather original data through interviews and surveys .

You don’t have to finalize your research design and methods yet, but the type of research will influence which aspects of the topic it’s possible to address, so it’s wise to consider this as you narrow down your ideas.

It’s important that your topic is interesting to you, but you’ll also have to make sure it’s academically, socially or practically relevant to your field.

• Academic relevance means that the research can fill a gap in knowledge or contribute to a scholarly debate in your field.
• Social relevance means that the research can advance our understanding of society and inform social change.
• Practical relevance means that the research can be applied to solve concrete problems or improve real-life processes.

The easiest way to make sure your research is relevant is to choose a topic that is clearly connected to current issues or debates, either in society at large or in your academic discipline. The relevance must be clearly stated when you define your research problem .

Before you make a final decision on your topic, consider again the length of your dissertation, the timeframe in which you have to complete it, and the practicalities of conducting the research.

Will you have enough time to read all the most important academic literature on this topic? If there’s too much information to tackle, consider narrowing your focus even more.

Will you be able to find enough sources or gather enough data to fulfil the requirements of the dissertation? If you think you might struggle to find information, consider broadening or shifting your focus.

Do you have to go to a specific location to gather data on the topic? Make sure that you have enough funding and practical access.

Last but not least, will the topic hold your interest for the length of the research process? To stay motivated, it’s important to choose something you’re enthusiastic about!

Most programmes will require you to submit a brief description of your topic, called a research prospectus or proposal .

Remember, if you discover that your topic is not as strong as you thought it was, it’s usually acceptable to change your mind and switch focus early in the dissertation process. Just make sure you have enough time to start on a new topic, and always check with your supervisor or department.

If you want to know more about the research process , methodology , research bias , or statistics , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

Methodology

• Sampling methods
• Simple random sampling
• Stratified sampling
• Cluster sampling
• Likert scales
• Reproducibility

 Statistics

• Null hypothesis
• Statistical power
• Probability distribution
• Effect size
• Poisson distribution

Research bias

• Optimism bias
• Cognitive bias
• Implicit bias
• Hawthorne effect
• Anchoring bias
• Explicit bias

Formulating a main research question can be a difficult task. Overall, your question should contribute to solving the problem that you have defined in your problem statement .

However, it should also fulfill criteria in three main areas:

• Researchability
• Feasibility and specificity
• Relevance and originality

All research questions should be:

• Focused on a single problem or issue
• Researchable using primary and/or secondary sources
• Feasible to answer within the timeframe and practical constraints
• Specific enough to answer thoroughly
• Complex enough to develop the answer over the space of a paper or thesis
• Relevant to your field of study and/or society more broadly

You can assess information and arguments critically by asking certain questions about the source. You can use the CRAAP test , focusing on the currency , relevance , authority , accuracy , and purpose of a source of information.

Ask questions such as:

• Who is the author? Are they an expert?
• Why did the author publish it? What is their motivation?
• How do they make their argument? Is it backed up by evidence?

A dissertation prospectus or proposal describes what or who you plan to research for your dissertation. It delves into why, when, where, and how you will do your research, as well as helps you choose a type of research to pursue. You should also determine whether you plan to pursue qualitative or quantitative methods and what your research design will look like.

It should outline all of the decisions you have taken about your project, from your dissertation topic to your hypotheses and research objectives , ready to be approved by your supervisor or committee.

Note that some departments require a defense component, where you present your prospectus to your committee orally.

The best way to remember the difference between a research plan and a research proposal is that they have fundamentally different audiences. A research plan helps you, the researcher, organize your thoughts. On the other hand, a dissertation proposal or research proposal aims to convince others (e.g., a supervisor, a funding body, or a dissertation committee) that your research topic is relevant and worthy of being conducted.

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How to Use Transitions to Start a Paragraph [Tips with Examples]

Transition words are essentially bridges that help you move smoothly from one topic to another, ensuring your writing maintains its flow and relevance. These words and phrases are particularly useful when starting a new paragraph, as they signal a shift to a new aspect of the main topic under discussion. Understanding and using transition words effectively is a subtle yet powerful skill that can significantly enhance the coherence of your writing. As a writer, I'll demonstrate the best ways to incorporate transition words so your passages flow seamlessly and make sense to your readers.

What are Transitions?

Transition words are words or phrases that connect ideas, sentences, and paragraphs to ensure a smooth flow in writing. They serve as bridges, guiding readers from one point to the next without losing coherence. These transitions can indicate relationships such as addition (e.g., "furthermore," "moreover"), contrast (e.g., "however," "on the other hand"), or cause and effect (e.g., "therefore," "consequently").

The importance of transition words in essays cannot be overstated. They enhance the overall structure, making the text more readable and logical. By clearly signaling shifts in ideas or arguments, transition words help readers follow the writer's train of thought and understand the connections between different points. This not only improves comprehension but also keeps the readers engaged, making the writing more effective and persuasive.

Transition Words in Academic Writing

Transition words are valuable in academic writing as they help with the flow of presenting your idea or argument. However, students are often confused, either by not knowing which one to use where or by how many to use. So, while transitions are important, misuse or overuse can both be a nuisance. Let's explore five important categories of transition words for essays and how you can use them effectively in your essays, reports, and research papers.

1. Addition and Emphasis

When you're building your argument or explaining complex ideas, addition and emphasis transition words are invaluable. Use these to introduce new information, provide examples, or stress key points. They'll help you expand on your thoughts and strengthen your arguments, showing your professor that you've thoroughly explored the topic.

2. Cause and Effect

In academic writing, you'll often need to explain how one thing leads to another. Cause and effect transition words help you clearly demonstrate these relationships. Whether you're discussing scientific processes or historical events, these transitions will make your reasoning more logical and easier to follow.

3. Contrast and Comparison

Sometimes you'll need to show how things are similar or different in your assignments. That's when contrast and comparison transition words come in handy. They help you present different ideas side by side, making it easier for your readers to see connections and differences. These transitions are especially useful when you're analyzing literature, comparing historical periods, or discussing pros and cons in a debate.

4. Sequence and Order

Organizing your ideas logically is key to successful academic writing. Sequence and order transition words help you present information in a clear, step-by-step manner. Whether you're describing a process, narrating events, or structuring an argument, these transitions will make your writing more coherent and easier to understand.

5. Summary and Conclusion

As you wrap up your essays or reports, summary and conclusion transition words signal to your reader that you're bringing your thoughts together. Use these to restate your main points, offer final insights, or suggest areas for further research. They'll help you end your writing on a strong note, leaving your professor with a clear understanding of your argument or analysis.

How to Choose the Right Transition Words

Choosing the right transition words can significantly improve the flow and clarity of your writing. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to transition between paragraphs and sentences to help you select the most appropriate transition words:

1.Identify the relationship between ideas

First, analyze how your sentences or paragraphs connect. Are you:

Adding information?

Showing contrast?

Explaining cause and effect?

Providing an example?

Emphasizing a point?

Understanding this relationship will guide you towards the right category of transition words. For instance, if you're adding information, you might use words like "furthermore" or "in addition." If you're showing contrast, "however" or "on the other hand" could be appropriate. For cause and effect, consider "therefore" or "as a result".

2.Consider the purpose of your transition

Think about what you're trying to achieve with your transition. Are you:

Moving to a new topic?

Elaborating on a previous point?

Concluding your thoughts?

This will help you narrow down your choices within the category you've identified. For example, if you're moving to a new topic, you might use "shifting gears" or "turning to." If you're elaborating, "to illustrate" or "specifically" could work well. For conclusions, consider "in summary" or "ultimately."

3.Look at the context

Consider the tone and style of your writing. Some transitions are more formal, while others are more casual. Choose one that fits the overall voice of your essay.

4.Avoid overuse

Don't feel pressured to use a transition word for every sentence. Use them where they truly add value and improve the flow of your writing.

5.Experiment with different options

If you're unsure, try out a few different transition words to see which one sounds best. Reading your work aloud can help you decide.

For example, let's say you're transitioning:

Between two paragraphs:

Transitioning between related ideas

Transitioning from a general idea to a specific example

These examples demonstrate how transition words can improve the flow and coherence of your writing. The "bad" examples aren't necessarily incorrect, but the "good" examples show how transitions can make the connections between ideas clearer and more explicit. Each transition word subtly changes the relationship between the ideas, so choose the one that best represents your intended meaning.

Once we understand the purpose of transition words, using them in essays becomes a lot easier. But then a question that often arises is: how many transition words are appropriate in an essay? The answer is simple: look at the points where you're transitioning from one idea to another. These are your opportunities to use transition words effectively.

This can be a little challenging, which is why I recommend using WPS Office . WPS Office offers an AI spell check feature, which allows students to ensure that not only are there no spelling or grammatical errors in their content, but it also provides checks for clarity, engagement, and delivery.

Let's look at a paragraph I wrote in WPS Office, where I thought I had used a few transition words appropriately. However, when I had it checked by WPS AI spell check, it turned out there were a couple of unnecessary transition words in the article.

This shows how even when we think we're using transition words correctly, there's always room for improvement. Tools like WPS Office can be invaluable in helping us refine our writing and use transition words more effectively.

Using WPS AI to Perfect Your Essay

WPS AI is an AI tool incorporated within the WPS Office suite, offering a multitude of features that leverage advanced artificial intelligence to support your essay writing needs. From helping you refine and build up your ideas to making them more definite, WPS AI assists at every stage of your writing process. If you have already written your essay, it will ultimately help you refine it further.

Here’s how WPS AI can assist you in crafting an outstanding essay:

1.Check the Grammar and Syntax

WPS AI meticulously checks your essay for grammatical errors and syntax issues. It ensures that your writing is free from common mistakes, such as incorrect verb tenses, misplaced commas, and subject-verb disagreements. By providing suggestions for corrections, WPS AI helps you maintain a high level of professionalism and clarity in your writing.

2.Rewrite Your Statement for Clarity

WPS AI can improve the clarity and coherence of your essay by rewriting complex or awkwardly phrased sentences. It identifies areas where your writing may be ambiguous or convoluted and offers alternative phrasing that enhances readability. This feature ensures that your ideas are communicated effectively and your arguments are presented logically.

To access this function, simply look for the WPS AI list of options and click on "Improve Writing". This will generate a more refined version of your essay, making your writing more polished and professional.

3.Automatically Expand Content

When you need to elaborate on a point or expand a section of your essay, WPS AI can automatically generate additional content. This feature helps you continue writing seamlessly, providing suggestions and content that align with your essay's theme and tone. It’s particularly useful for developing supporting arguments, providing more examples, or elaborating on complex ideas.

To use this function, simply click on the "Continue Writing" option from the WPS AI list of options. This will generate additional content that extends your current paragraph or section.

1. Can using too many transition words be a problem?

Overusing transition words can diminish the quality of your writing. These words are meant to link sentences and ideas, but using them too much can make your writing repetitive and dull. Striking a balance in their application ensures your writing remains concise and effectively communicates your ideas without unnecessary repetition.

2. Can transition words be used in formal writing?

Transition words and phrases are essential in formal writing as they promote coherence, navigate readers through arguments, and improve the overall flow of your text, guaranteeing clarity and logical progression.

Transitions 101: Your Guide to Smoother, Clearer Writing

Once you get the hang of transition words, you can bet you can write an essay in its full flow. But even if you're short on time, you can use WPS AI to help with where and how you want to add transition words.

With WPS Office, you get these advanced features and more, all designed to support your academic writing needs. Its AI-powered tools help you write, edit, and refine your essays, ensuring they are polished and professional. Plus, WPS Office is free, making it an accessible and invaluable resource for students and academics. Download WPS Office today and take your essay writing to the next level!

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Election is a choice between common sense in Donald Trump and craziness in Kamala Harris

The only sensible vote is a vote for trump.

As an Independent voter, I've voted Republican and Democrat through the years depending on their agenda and policies unlike many voters who vote along party lines. 

This election we do have a very distinct choice. 

Do you want open borders allowing another 10 million and who knows how many "got-aways" coming into our country, or closed borders allowing migrants to cross at the ports of entry, just as our ancestors did?

Do you want to hear in the news about immigrants robbing, assaulting, raping and killing our young? 

Do you want the Freedom Fund to bail out illegal immigrants and protestors to offend again and again?  

Do you want high crime with defunding the police?

Do you want high energy prices, high inflation, high consumer prices, and high interest rates to make buying a home almost improbable? 

On the world front, we had virtual tranquility throughout the world for four years under the Trump administration. Now, we are teetering on World War III.

This election is not about Trump vs. Harris or even Republican vs. Democrat. It's a choice between common sense vs. craziness. The choice is yours .

Roger Ranker, Urbandale

Maybe liberal politics is behind book-removal choices

You have mentioned, regarding the “book ban,” that such books as “1984,” “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “Roots” are among the books being banned and you suggest that they are being banned for sex. That opinion must be the result of your progressive tendencies.

As a constitutional conservative, I cannot see any reason that these books would be banned by a conservative or even a liberal Republican. However, I can see strong reasons for a Democrat progressive librarian to ban the books.

“1984” talks about the evils of a autocratic society, just the type of society that the progressives want. The other titles are set in the politically Democratic southern states, and I am sure that is a time and era that progressives want to eliminate from history.

Finally, there is also the possibillty that politically progressive librarian would ban the books for spite, so the willfully ignorant public would see the ban as a bad thing and you would report it as such.

Bottom line, these books should not have been banned, and if they were, it was done on purpose for a political reason, by a left-leaning librarian.

Brad Fregger, Fairfield

Books that run afoul of Iowa’s narrow ban are not ‘essential’

"Banning essential books in our schools is a burden for our educators,” according to Iowa State Education Association President Joshua Brown .

Iowa’s law prohibits only books that depict explicit sexual acts from secondary school libraries, not works which only mention, for example, rape, which is mentioned, but not described, in “To Kill A Mockingbird.”

Does Brown believe the following books are “essential,” and, if so, why?

“A Court of Silver Flames,” which has been reviewed as having "lots and lots of graphic, full out erotic sex … and zero plot."

“Push,” with explicit descriptions of incestuous child rape.

“Gender Queer,” with comic book or graphic novel depictions of oral sex on a dildo, a looking-down-at-the-toilet view of a menstruating woman’s blood-drenched legs, a view of a sanitary napkin with dried blood particles, and a reference to a visit to the studio for a sadist masochist website. The author of “Gender Queer” has admitted it is appropriate only for adults.

All of these books were, at one time, in my local school district’s libraries. 

Please, President Brown, explain why these books are “essential.” 

Donald W. Bohlken, Indianola

Democrats’ economic agenda is indisputably better than GOP’s

No one likes to see high inflation, but we’re being lied to about what’s happening to inflation and the American economy.

Donald Trump and other Republicans repeatedly blame the Biden administration for the rise in inflation. They don’t mention how much it has come down.

The increase was caused by strong consumer demand with a shortage of labor and supplies during the pandemic. The war in Ukraine also sent it higher. Still, it was lower than in many other countries. Many economists predicted that inflation would remain high and that we’d have the double whammy of a major recession. But rate of inflation has dropped to 3%. On July 31, the Federal Reserve kept the federal funds rate steady  in the effort to reduce inflation.

Republicans also complain about deficit spending. The budget deficit was sizable under both Joe Biden and Donald Trump because of pandemic relief, but under Trump’s watch, it was the largest in history, at $3 trillion in 2020.

Recently, 16 Nobel-prize winning economists signed a letter saying that another Trump presidency would cause inflation to rise because he plans to impose hefty tariffs on Chinese products. They called the Democratic economic agenda “vastly superior” to Trump’s.

If you want a strong economy, vote for Democrats in November, at both the federal and state level. Please question the hype that you hear from all media and do your own research from nonpartisan think tanks.

Cynthia Cechota, Dubuque

Were emergency vehicles considered in Ingersoll redesign?

Ingersoll nightmare: With the redesigned Ingersoll Avenue, there are bike lanes, walking lanes, but no lanes for emergency equipment. I witnessed a fire truck and paramedic vehicle trying to move and it was total gridlock with just the two lanes of traffic. What is the priority here? The city brags about slowing the traffic by a couple mph. How about someone needing emergency services?

Dan Neldo, West Des Moines

There is nothing concerning about Tim Walz not being wealthy

While reading remarks about Gov. Tim Walz's net worth online, I wished that the remarks were the opposite of what I read. Instead, I would have preferred comments about what an honorable servant of our country and to young Americans he is.

I find the wealth politicians accumulate in office repulsive, no matter what party they represent. People who become wealthy from public office are not public servants, but rather opportunists.

Opportunistic public officials in recent years have demonstrated little shame about their newly acquired riches because the public expects very little morality of politicians.

Being personally wealthy is not necessarily an attribute for someone running for office, although it helps mount the challenge of accessing exposure and campaign funds initially. Most wealthy presidents over the years have been the benefactors of large inheritances. Few are self-made men. Having a lot of money demonstrates only that a person has a lot of money, not that they are suited for public service or a gifted leader.

In the case of Walz, we can expect a man willing lead by example, to put his duty to the country first and to stand against corruption.

Mary K Acton, West Des Moines

Greg Ganske is another enabler for Trump

Greg Ganske, in his Aug. 4 guest essay , gave good advice to Donald Trump about not attacking Kamala Harris personally but rather encouraged him to stick to the issues. However, the column left me wondering why Ganske is supporting Trump at all. With this public support, he showed that he doesn't see the former president as I do, as a narcissistic bully with authoritarian tendencies who cares only about money, power, and his own image and who is a threat to democracy. Unlike some other Republicans, like Mike Pence and Liz Cheney, it looks like Ganske is, sadly, just another of Trump's many enablers.

Steve Gude, Des Moines

Ganske’s attacks on women’s credentials were gratuitous

Greg Ganske is condescending, despite what he says in his Aug. 4 guest essay .

When talking about his campaign strategy when opposing Connie McBurney, why is being mean and condescending a turnoff only to female voters? Bringing it to the upcoming election, he then points out that Kamala Harris didn’t go to an Ivy League school or pass the bar exam on her first try. Seriously?

For a 59-year-old woman with all her accomplishments, that is irrelevant. I cheer for people who learn from a setback and then succeed. I’ve done it all during the Olympics. Ganske says Kamala Harris is out of touch and tries to pigeon-hole her into only representing California views. For me, it is Ganske who is out of touch and doesn’t represent my views.

Peggy Urtz, West Des Moines

Immigration explainer was top-notch

I thought Deborah Fink’s commentary (“Before immigration became an Issue, we exploited immigrants’ lands”) was an extremely well-written synopsis that shows that U.S. actions in the past have contributed greatly to the immigration crisis. I hope to hear more from Ms. Fink on this issue.

Anita Holub, Urbandale

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Harris Energizes Democrats in Transformed Presidential Race

1. the presidential matchup: harris, trump, kennedy, table of contents.

• Other findings: Both Harris and Trump are viewed more favorably than a few months ago
• Voting preferences among demographic groups
• How have voters shifted their preferences since July?
• Harris’ supporters back her more strongly than Biden’s did last month
• Large gap in motivation to vote emerges between the candidates’ younger supporters
• Harris and Trump have gained ground with their own coalitions
• Share of ‘double negatives’ drops significantly with change in presidential candidates
• Views of Biden have changed little since his withdrawal from the 2024 presidential race
• Acknowledgments
• The American Trends Panel survey methodology

Nationally, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are essentially tied among registered voters in the current snapshot of the presidential race: 46% prefer Harris, 45% prefer Trump and 7% prefer Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Following Biden’s exit from the race, Trump’s support among voters has remained largely steady (44% backed him in July against Biden, while 45% back him against Harris today). However, Harris’ support is 6 percentage points higher than Biden’s was in July . In addition to holding on to the support of those who backed Biden in July, Harris’ bump has largely come from those who had previously said they supported or leaned toward Kennedy.

Harris performs best among the same demographic groups as Biden. But this coalition of voters is now much more likely to say they strongly support her: In July, 43% of Biden’s supporters characterized their support as strong – today, 62% of Harris’ do.

Overall, many of the same voting patterns that were evident in the Biden-Trump matchup from July continue to be seen today. Harris fares better than Trump among younger voters, Black voters, Asian voters and voters with college degrees. By comparison, the former president does better among older voters, White voters and voters without a college degree.

But Harris performs better than Biden across many of these groups – making the race tighter than it was just a few weeks ago.

• In July, women’s presidential preferences were split: 40% backed Biden, 40% preferred Trump and 17% favored Kennedy. With Harris at the top of the ticket, 49% of women voters now support her, while 42% favor Trump and 7% back Kennedy.
• Among men, Trump draws a similar level of support as he did in the race against Biden (49% today, compared with 48% in July). But the share of men who now say they support Harris has grown (to 44% today, up from 38% last month). As a result, Trump’s 10-point lead among men has narrowed to a 5-point lead today.

Race and ethnicity

Harris has gained substantial ground over Biden’s position in July among Black, Hispanic and Asian voters. Most of this movement is attributable to declining shares of support for Kennedy. Trump performs similarly among these groups as he did in July.

• 77% of Black voters support or lean toward Harris. This compares with 64% of Black voters who said they backed Biden a few weeks ago. Trump’s support is unchanged (13% then vs. 13% today). And while 21% of Black voters supported Kennedy in July, this has dropped to 7% in the latest survey.
• Hispanic voters now favor Harris over Trump by a 17-point margin (52% to 35%). In July, Biden and Trump were tied among Hispanic voters with 36% each.
• By about two-to-one, Asian voters support Harris (62%) over Trump (28%). Trump’s support among this group is essentially unchanged since July, but the share of Asian voters backing Harris is 15 points higher than the share who backed Biden in July.
• On balance, White voters continue to back Trump (52% Trump, 41% Harris), though that margin is somewhat narrower than it was in the July matchup against Biden (50% Trump, 36% Biden).

While the age patterns present in the Harris-Trump matchup remain broadly the same as those in the Biden-Trump matchup in July, Harris performs better across age groups than Biden did last month. That improvement is somewhat more pronounced among voters under 50 than among older voters.

• Today, 57% of voters under 30 say they support Harris, while 29% support Trump and 12% prefer Kennedy. In July, 48% of these voters said they backed Biden. Trump’s support among this group is essentially unchanged. And 12% now back Kennedy, down from 22% in July.
• Voters ages 30 to 49 are now about evenly split (45% Harris, 43% Trump). This is a shift from a narrow Trump lead among this group in July.
• Voters ages 50 and older continue to tilt toward Trump (50% Trump vs. 44% Harris).

With Harris now at the top of the Democratic ticket, the race has become tighter.

Much of this is the result of shifting preferences among registered voters who, in July, said they favored Kennedy over Trump or Biden.

Among the same group of voters surveyed in July and early August, 97% of those who backed Biden a few weeks ago say they support or lean toward Harris today. Similarly, Trump holds on to 95% of those who supported him a few weeks ago.

But there has been far more movement among voters who previously expressed support for Kennedy. While Kennedy holds on to 39% of those who backed him in July, the majority of these supporters now prefer one of the two major party candidates: By about two-to-one, those voters are more likely to have moved to Harris (39%) than Trump (20%). This pattern is evident across most voting subgroups.

In July, Trump’s voters were far more likely than Biden’s voters to characterize their support for their candidate as “strong” (63% vs. 43%). But that gap is no longer present in the Harris-Trump matchup.

Today, 62% of Harris voters say they strongly support her, while about a third (32%) say they moderately support her. Trump’s voters are just about as likely to say they strongly back him today as they were in July (64% today, 63% then).

Kennedy’s voters make up a smaller share of voters today than a month ago – and just 18% of his voters say they strongly support him, similar to the 15% who said the same in July.

Across demographic groups, strong support for Harris is higher than it was for Biden

Among women voters who supported Biden in July, 45% said they did so strongly. That has grown to 65% today among women voters who support Harris.

Increased intensity of support is similar among men voters who back the Democratic candidate: In July, 42% of men voters who supported Biden said they did so strongly. This has since grown to 59% of Harris’ voters who are men.

Across racial and ethnic groups, Harris’ supporters are more likely than Biden’s were to say they back their candidates strongly.

Among White voters, 43% who supported Biden in July did so strongly. Today, Harris’ strong support among White voters sits at 64%.

A near identical share of Harris’ Black supporters (65%) characterize their support for her as strong today. This is up from the 52% of Biden’s Black supporters who strongly backed him in July. Among Harris’ Hispanic supporters, 56% support her strongly, while 45% of Asian Harris voters feel the same. Strong support for Harris among these voters is also higher than it was for Biden in July.

Across all age groups, Harris’ strength of support is higher than Biden’s was. But the shift from Biden is less pronounced among older Democratic supporters than among younger groups.

Still, older Harris voters are more likely than younger Harris voters to describe their support as strong. For instance, 51% of Harris’ voters under 50 say they strongly support her, while 71% of Harris supporters ages 50 and older characterize their support as strong.

Today, about seven-in-ten of both Trump supporters (72%) and Harris supporters (70%) say they are extremely motivated to vote.

Motivation to vote is higher in both the Democratic and Republican coalitions than it was in July .

These shifts have occurred across groups but are more pronounced among younger voters.

Today, half of voters under 30 say they are extremely motivated to vote, up 16 points since July. Motivation is up 11 points among voters ages 30 to 49 and 50 to 64, and up 6 points among those ages 65 and older.

Among the youngest voters, the increased motivation to vote is nearly all driven by shifts among Democratic supporters.

• In July, 38% of 18- to 29-year-old Trump voters said they were extremely motivated to vote. Today, a similar share of his voters (42%) report that level of motivation.
• But 18- to 29-year-old Harris supporters are far more likely to say they are extremely motivated to vote than Biden’s supporters in this age group were about a month ago. Today, 61% of Harris’ voters under 30 say this. In July, 42% of voters under 30 who supported Biden said they were extremely motivated to vote.

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Climate Forward

The other 2024 races with big climate stakes.

Outside of the presidential election, a number of down-ballot races, including Senate and state contests, could have an impact on climate policy.

By David Gelles

The political world is understandably focused on the presidential race, which is tighter than ever as Vice President Kamala Harris gains ground on former President Donald J. Trump.

And while whoever occupies the White House for the next four years will have a big impact on the nation’s climate policy, a topic that we explored in June , many of the down-ballot races will also be consequential in determining how fast the United States transitions away from fossil fuels. Take, for example, Arizona and Montana, where elections to commissions that regulate utilities will help determine just how fast those states embrace renewable energy.

“Whoever is in the White House matters,” said Laurel Javors, associate director for state and local politics at the Sierra Club. “But a lot of climate work also comes down to local elections.”

Of paramount importance, climate activists say, is who controls Congress. The president can only do so much to bend the emissions curve without a House and a Senate that can champion climate policy like the Inflation Reduction Act, which is unleashing billions of dollars in clean energy investment .

With the Senate controlled by Democrats and the House controlled by Republicans, both by narrow margins, congressional elections in November will go a long ways to shaping the next four years of climate action in the U.S.

And in some of the most closely watched races in the country climate is a campaign issue.

In Pennsylvania, Dave McCormick, a former hedge fund executive running as a Republican and challenging Senator Bob Casey, a Democrat, has made fracking a central issue of the campaign . Casey has been an outspoken champion of clean energy, while Mr. McCormick, who has been endorsed by Trump, has pledged to support fracking.

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• Our new forecast for America’s presidential election

Why the polls don’t tell the whole story

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W ith the benefit of hindsight, it is easy to paint Kamala Harris’s polling surge as inevitable. Americans consistently told pollsters they were dissatisfied with their presidential nominees. But Ms Harris has far exceeded expectations . She has transformed her personal ratings and enthused the Democratic base. She leads Donald Trump nationwide by three percentage points and has overtaken him in the most recent polling of most swing states. Our revised presidential forecast , launched this week, shows that on July 21st, the day he withdrew, Joe Biden had a 24% chance of re-election. Now, Ms Harris has a 52% chance of winning in November—in effect, it’s a toss-up.

Our model believes she would be the narrow favourite if the election were held today, with a 61% chance of winning. But history cautions against relying too heavily on polls at this stage. So far there are only three weeks’ worth of polls with Ms Harris and Mr Trump as candidates. During that time, Ms Harris’s numbers have improved markedly. But what has recently gone up could very well come back down. Our forecast therefore combines polling with “fundamentals”—based on more stable, long-term trends.

So what is our fundamentals prediction? Based on past elections, it suggests that Ms Harris will win the national popular vote by 1.8 percentage points. She benefits from not being the president at a time when our model takes the economy to be a slight political burden for the incumbent, thanks to accumulated inflation and lacklustre consumer sentiment. She also benefits from the Democrats being in power for only one term (parties in power for eight years or longer tend to suffer at the ballot box). But history suggests she will still be hurt by Mr Biden’s low approval ratings.

Crucially, our fundamentals model expects Democrats to continue to face an electoral-college disadvantage. In 2016 and 2020 polls underestimated Mr Trump’s performance in swing states in the Midwest. Our model expects Ms Harris to do worse in those states than she does nationwide. As a result, the fundamentals point to her winning the popular vote while losing the election—as Hillary Clinton did in 2016.

For now, Ms Harris is outperforming this prediction, leading by more than 1.8 points. Her swing-state polling has been mirroring this picture. Recent polling by the New York Times/ Siena College had Ms Harris leading Mr Trump by four points in each of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Another pollster, David Wolfson, found her leading by six points in Nevada; others put her ahead in Arizona; and a poll by YouGov Blue showed her tied in North Carolina, a state Mr Trump won in 2020.

Our forecast takes these polls seriously, but cautiously. Ms Harris’s success may partly be the result of a sugar high. In a matter of weeks, American news coverage turned from very unfavourable for Democrats—lauding Mr Trump’s debate victory, reacting to his brush with death by assassination and reflecting an enthusiastic Republican National Convention—to very favourable for them.

The rapid change in mood could have led to a phenomenon known as “partisan non-response bias”, when enthused partisans are more likely to respond to pollsters, artificially boosting their candidate’s score. Opinions of Ms Harris may shift as Republicans hone their attacks over the coming weeks. Intense campaigning between now and November could remind voters why they have such a negative view of the administration in which she serves.

Ms Harris has achieved an impressive improvement on Mr Biden’s position. But she has a lot more work to do to establish a lasting lead. ■

Stay on top of American politics with  The US in brief , our daily newsletter with fast analysis of the most important electoral stories, and  Checks and Balance , a weekly note from our Lexington columnist that examines the state of American democracy and the issues that matter to voters.

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This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline “Too close to call”

United States August 17th 2024

America prepares for a new nuclear-arms race, can kamala harris win michigan without arab-american voters, pious pupils in america perform better, studio flats are now affordable in many more american cities, donald trump plays with fire in atlanta, why the 2024 chicago convention is not the 1968 convention.

From the August 17th 2024 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

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