Choosing a topic

To choose a topic wisely, ask yourself these questions:

1. Why are you interested in this topic? Does it affect you personally? Does it raise questions you want to answer or problems you want to explore? The more you know about why the topic interest you, the more fascinating your research will be.

2. What do you already know about this topic? Take a few minutes to answer this questions on paper. What you now know will be the starting point for what you will learn.

3. Where does your present knowledge come from? As soon as you ask yourself this questions, you begin to think like a researcher.

4. Can you find many sources of information on this topic? If only one or two sources are readily available, or none at all, you should rethink your topic or choose another.

5. Can you cut the topic down to manageable size? Be reasonable and realistic about what you can do in the time you have.

6. What questions does the topic provoke? Questions help you find a specific problem to investigate.