College Research 101 Course

This module will help you develop your topic into an appropriate, manageable research question or thesis.

In module 2, we talked about the components of the research process and how they relate to each other, to the library's collections, and to your assignment. In this module we'll take a deeper dive into the first component of the research cycle: topic development, or identifying your information need.

By the end of this module, you'll be able to: 

• Investigate, select, and focus your general topic into a viable research question or thesis statement by learning how to:
  • Use brainstorming & mind mapping for topic development
  • Locate sources of topic inspiration
  • Conduct background research
  • Narrow or broaden your ideas into a manageable and practical research question
  • Create a thesis statement or formal research question to guide your investigation

Key Concepts:

• Background research = information from informal or reference resources (like CREDO Reference) that provides the context you and your reader need in order to understand your project; background research generally addresses questions related to your topic such as: who, what, when, where, why, and how that form the foundation of your brainstorming session.
• Research question = the question/s that will guide your research and be answered by your source supported discussion in a research project. It should:
  • Focus on one issue
  • Require analysis
  • Be specific and focused
  • Be clear, with delimited terminology
• Thesis statement = a statement of position on a debatable issue that will be supported by the research supported argument presented in a persuasive project. A thesis statement is composed of:
  • A subject
  • Your position on that subject
  • Evidence that supports your position

Click on the lightbulb to begin the tutorial.