Picking keywords and a research question will help shape your topic–the size of the topic, the way you’re looking at it, and what kind of questions you have about it. This worksheet is meant to be a first step; your initial question doesn’t have to be your final research question, and your keywords may change as you dig deeper into a topic.
Your research question should be open ended (can’t be answered by yes, no, or a simple fact), but if you can’t think of an open ended question, try sticking “how” or “why” to the front of your question.
Struggling to think of a question? Try generating keywords first! If you’re still having trouble, try the Research Question Generation Exercise.
Want to work through this on your own? You can access a google doc version of this exercise to use anytime, for any class. Also available in PDF and Word Doc formats at the bottom of this box.
Find your main keywords:
Think about your keywords as the most important words in your topic. They can be broad or narrow, but should summarize your topic or idea pretty succinctly. Avoid small words (to, the, that, some) and verbs (cause, affect, become, understand).
For example! If my general research question is: How did manifest destiny and its religious implications change settlers' intentions toward land use?
My keywords would be: "manifest destiny," "religious implications," settlers, and "land use" since those are the four most important parts of my question. Since "manifest destiny" has religions implications already, I could probably even just use "manifest destiny," settlers, and land, simplifying my keywords further.
Find your alternatives:
Not everyone talks about a topic in the same way. Try finding a broader/less specific alternative, an equivalent, synonym, or antonym (opposite), and a narrower/more specific alternative for each of your keywords.
For instance! Let's take a look at the keyword settlers. A less specific/broader word could be Americans, and equivalent could be cowboys, a synonym could be colonists, an antonym could be "indigenous peoples," and a more specific/narrower word could refer to a group, such as Mormons.
What's the difference between equivalent and synonym?
With an equivalent the term is not necessarily a synonym, but instead a similar topic that might intersect with yours. A synonym is a word you could easily swap in for your main keyword in your essay without changing the meaning of your topic at all.
Not all keywords have all alternatives!
Some keywords already are the broadest or narrowest version of the idea, and some keywords don't have a handy equivalent, synonym, or antonym. Do your best! And don't be afraid to use a thesaurus, Wikipedia, or your friends to help come up with ideas.
Find your subject areas:
Your topic might fall into different areas, each of which can shape your topic. You can think of these as the angle or lens you look at your topic through. For instance, if you’re doing a psychology topic but are looking at how that affects income or pay then you’d be looking at an economics angle on your topic.
For instance! For our topic, obviously we are looking at the subject area History. But given we are talking about land use, we could also look at Environmental Studies for the ecological impact, or Economics for the monetary impact. Since we're talking about manifest destiny and religious implications we could look at Religious Studies. And of course all colonization has an aspect of power over others--a type of Politics. Each of these subject areas can help us adjust, narrow, or change our topic by providing places for more specific research. To find databases in your subject areas go to Databases A-Z and use the “Subject” drop-down to find your area. You can also visit the subject guide for an area of interest!
Need a boost to help get a good research question for your paper? Try this exercise!
Research Question Generation Exercise:
Set a timer for 5 minutes and write down every question you have. Don’t stop writing!
