Developing a Research Focus

When you’re given a research assignment, sometimes the hardest part comes right at the beginning, when you need to determine what to research. Read on to learn about techniques that will help you develop an appropriate, manageable, and interesting research focus.

Introduction

Most assignments are not completely open ended. Odds are, your instructor already has done some of the work for you in guiding your research focus by how he or she has framed the assignment’s requirements. Read these carefully. Even a well written, interesting paper will not succeed if it does not fulfill the requirements. You also will save yourself a lot of work if you clearly understand the requirements before you start your research. For example, your assignment might ask you to write about a historical figure you have studied in class. This will narrow down your research focus for you before you even open a source. Or, a paper might be only 3 to 4 pages in length—requiring far less in-depth research than a 10-page term paper. Some assignments require you to find original sources or conduct surveys or experiments, while others ask you to stick with sources you’ve already been assigned for class reading.

While understanding an assignment’s requirements is a key first step, you still have a long way to go before you actually write your paper. You may be eager to “choose” a topic or argument but it is more productive to take a broader approach early on. Do: Find a starting place for your research rather than deciding on exactly what you want to write about. Your assignment is your first guide. From there, use background sources to get additional ideas and questions to explore your topic. Don’t: Decide on your argument too early in your research process—this will hinder the success of your writing. Developing a research focus and choosing a position are not the same thing.

If you understand your assignment’s requirements and appreciate the importance of open mindedness when developing your research focus, you’re well on your way to success. But where do you go now? Your assignment may give you enough guidance that you have a basic idea about what you want to explore, but there are a few other ways you can “pre-research” to sharpen your topic. The following pages will introduce you to strategies you may use during the pre-research stage to define your research emphasis.

One of the best things about the pre-research described on the previous pages is that it not only helps you determine what you’re interested in researching, it also gives you ideas for search terms that will allow you to further hone your focus. As you do your initial explorations into encyclopedia articles, tables of contents, news summaries, or other introductory sources, keep a record of names and terms you want to learn more about. Then run initial searches on these terms. You may need to do multiple searches to determine the most effective combination of terms. Begin with the broad concepts related to your research interest, then revise your search term bank to explore other aspects of the issue, such as a location or time period. If you’re having trouble locating sources on your research interest, try using alternate search terms like synonyms.

As you run initial searches, keep in mind your assignment requirements. For a short report, you only may need to explore sickle cell anemia at a high level. An in-depth case study, on the other hand, would require a deeper search using specific medical terminology related to the condition.

Refining Your Search Scope

Don’t get too bogged down in the details of these early searches. Instead, use them as an opportunity to take stock of where you are. Are you getting a very large or very small number of results? If so, the disparity might be a hint that the focus of your search was too narrow or too large to support your research assignment. Try adjusting the scope as shown in the illustration here.

Your next assignment is a report on climate change and bird migration. You also will be required to present your findings at the next meeting of the Western Association of Wildlife Researchers.

Are you encountering new terms or ideas in these early searches? Don’t get confused or discouraged. The research process naturally will branch into new areas as you explore further. Take a few minutes to scan this new information and evaluate how it fits in with your initial plans for a research focus. Remember that even after you’ve arrived at a general focus for your research, it may continue to evolve as you consult additional sources and find new paths to pursue that interest you.

In this example, the central idea of space exploration is broad, while related ideas like space law and moon landing are narrow areas of focus. The idea you choose to write about will depend on your assignment’s purpose and length. Using this concept map, additional research questions such as, ‘what is the relationship between space debris and space safety?’ may occur to you.

Concept Maps

A concept map is a research tool that allows you to organize the new terms and ideas you encounter in your research. Using a concept map, you’ll be able to spot connections between ideas and hone in on the aspects you’d like to write about. They also may help you identify ideas that require further research. Take a look at this concept map on the topic of space exploration.

Conclusion

It’s the sign of engaged research if your research focus evolves as you learn more. At the beginning of the process, you only may know enough to have a general idea of what you want to write about, but with an open mind you will explore multiple sources and hit on something more specific that you can study more deeply.