Research Topics & Questions

You might be assigned a topic for a research assignment, or you might need to come up with one on your own. Here is an example of a broad topic:

Before trying to find scholarly articles on a topic like this one, it is important to narrow it down to a more manageable research question. Consider what aspects of the topic interest you. This can involve reading about the topic in your course textbook or searching for background information through Google, for example.

Let’s say I’m interested in exploring academic performance and marijuana use. A relevant research question might be:

This question is much more specific than the initial topic of marijuana and cognition.

Next we will explore how to identify the key concepts in a research question.