Here are some worksheets to help you as you begin your research, develop your topic, and record the information you need about the sources you find.
If you don't know much about your topic or are having trouble finding or understanding sources, you might need to do some background research before you continue searching for sources. This can also help you explore some options if you aren't sure what you want to write about.
The following databases are great places to start for background research.
Yes! We're happy to help you brainstorm and talk about how you might find a narrower focus.
Finding the right scope for a research topic can be tricky. Some folks start with a very narrow topic and can't find any related research. Other folks start with a broad topic and don't know how to focus their paper.
How can you tell whether you need to adjust the scope of your topic? As you start to do some research, pay attention to what you find.
If your topic is too broad to be manageable for your current assignment, you'll want to choose a narrower aspect of your topic to focus on.
For example, "What effects do advertising have on children?" is probably too broad for a 10-page paper. Here are some ideas to help you get started -- some of these strategies will be more useful than others for different topics: