Task
Is Your Research Topic Too Broad?
You were purposely given 15 very broad abstract topics to choose from when deciding what to research. Your job, outlined in the summer research assignment, is to narrow the broad topic to a narrower, more precise, topic.
If you find yourself in the library staring at a shelf full of books that could work as references for your topic, your topic is too broad. A good topic addresses a specific question or problem.
If your topic can be summed up in a word or two, like smoking, media violence, politics, overweight teens, death penalty, abortion, or teen pregnancy, it is too broad.
So, how do you focus in on a specific topic? Think about which of the 15 braod topics is your area of interest, and then begin narrowing it down to a specific issue or problem that you can address.