FINDING A TOPIC
The Topic: One of the major problems confronting
undergraduates is what to research. If it is at all possible,
the student should choose a topic in which he is interested
– at least one which seems to hold the promise of being
beneficial to him. This is not to say, of course, that he
should shy away from anything which is not in the
immediate realm of his knowledge or experience. On the
contrary, the research paper will offer him the opportunity
to explore new areas. But there must be at least some
glimmer of interest on his part, for nothing can be as dull
and deadening, for both him and his reader, as spending
months on a subject with which he is actually bored.
FINDING A TOPIC (2)
• There must also be some purpose and use for the
research. Research for its own sake cannot be
justified under any conditions. It seems that much
that passes for research today serves no other
function than to fill up pages. The research must
make a definite contribution, if not to the general
body of knowledge, at least to the knowledge of
the researches.
TOPIC LIMITATION
• Once the topic has been selected – that is, the general
area of interest that the student hopes to explore
further – it must be limited so that it can be treated
thoroughly and in depth. Before being able to limit,
however, the student must be aware of several factors
which will affect the limitation: word limitation,
preparation time, audience. Let us look at each of these
individually. (One final word on topic limitations.
Until such time as a library search has been completed,
any limitation is tentative and subject to change.)
AUDIENCE
• The audience – the readers for whom the paper is
being written – plays an important role in the
limitation and treatment of the topic. Idealistically, the
writer should not assume that the paper is being done
for the sole benefit of the examiners and simply to
‘pass’ the course. He must know something about his
potential audience: How knowledgeable are they is
this field? What is their age level? Their educational
level? Answers to these and other questions will
certainly affect not only the topic limitation but the
writer’s treatment of his material in general.
WORD LIMITATION
• Perhaps even of greater importance is the word limitation
that may have been placed by the instructor, the examiner,
or the mentor. Certainly justice cannot be done to a
treatment of Mark Twain’s cynicism or the development of
the short story in America within the confines of a 2000 to
3000 word paper. The student must remember that research
demands more than a cursory, superficial treatment of a
subject; the treatment must be thorough and in depth. As
such, a 4-credit course of Academic Writing requires the
student to write his research paper of 10,000 words (40
pages) in length. Likewise, a 15,000 words (60 pages) for
the 6-credit thesis.
TIME PREPARATION
• Amount of time for the preparation and submission
of the final draft is another important factor for the
student to consider. The student who has one
semester to prepare a paper is expected to do an
intensive and extensive job. Certainly the longer
the period of time to be spent in the preparation,
the more wide-ranging the search can be. Here the
opportunity exists for utilizing library facilities
outside of the immediate area, for possible
communication with potential sources, and for
wider reading.
TIME PREPARATION (2)
• There is another factor, in terms of time
preparation, to be considered before the student
make an intelligent choice and limit his topic
appropriately. He must have some general, overall
knowledge of the broad topic he has chosen. To
gain this knowledge, he must do some background
reading. He should browse in the library, and in
the Internet.