Binghamton University Libraries Ask a Librarian

Research Guide for ESL 210

Help

Conducting Library Research

New Students Web Page

Find it, Get it, Help!

Got Questions?

Getting An A on an English Paper

Multi-Lingual Terms

Library Lingo

Learning How to Read for Research

 


Jumps: Start Page | Background Information | Books | Articles and ILLiad | Web Sites | Citing


Narrowing Your Topic -
Or What is a Research Question anyway?

Once you know some background information, you can start to identify your question or problem that you want to research.

You know what your topic is, and you have even read up on it to get some basic information. That doesn't mean that you done with your topic selection.

When you do college level research, you are expected to provide more then a paper about something - you are expected to provide a paper that proves something.

So take your topic that you have researched, and ask a question.

Topic: Issue related to media
Topic focus: media bias and the American military action in Iraq

Question/Statement:

The American media has been biased concerning the American military action in Iraq, compared to European news sources.

OR

Has there been any bias, either for or against, the American military action in Iraq in the US media?

For some ideas on how to develop a question, see Selecting a Topic.

Phrasing the question can often be one of the most difficult parts of research and writing, and the question might change as research developed and new information is found (or not found, as the case may be). If you are having problems, visit some of the sites below for more help:

 

Created October 2, 2001; Updated April 3, 2008
http://library.lib.binghamton.edu/instruct/classes/esl210/topic.html

Comments to maximiek@binghamton.edu