Choosing a Research Topic

1. Brainstorm

   • What are you passionate about?

   • Think about research you have done in previous courses you may want to expand on.

   • Search in databases and newspapers

     • What are trends in the field?

     • Are there gaps in the literature?

2. Choose and narrow a topic

   • What is possible to research in the time you have available?

   • Eliminate topics that have already been throughly researched,

   • Talk to faculty and advisors about your possible topics

3. Finalize your research question

   • Come up with specific answerable questions surrounding your topic.

   • Conduct more detailed research into the literature to inform your research question.

   • Identify the question you think you can best answer.

Ready? Make sure to seek help from your advisors and librarians!

Why write a Literature Review?

• Literature reviews provide a handy guide to a particular topic. 
• If you have limited time for research, literature reviews can give you an overview or act as a road map on the topic. 
• Literature Reviews condense research and information from various works/sources into one place. 

How is a Literature Review different from an academic paper?

• In an academic research paper, you use "the literature" as a foundation and as support for a new insight that you contribute. 
• In a literature review, the focus is to summarize and synthesize the arguments and ideas of others without adding new contributions.