Narrowing Your Topic
If you start with a very broad topic, for example obesity, you would find way too much information on this subject--enough to write hundreds of books. The topic is too broad!
Instead, think of a sub-topic of the general subject of obesity that interests you, for example:
- Consequences of obesity
- Definitions of obesity
- Causes of obesity
- Obesity in certain groups of people
- Here are some additional types of sub-topics:
| An age group: | obesity in youth |
| A location: | obesity in the U.S. |
| A related topic: | school cafeterias |
| A population: | obesity in women |
| A timeframe: | obesity in the last 5 years |
Let's say that you had picked obesity in certain groups of people. You could then narrow the sub-topic of obesity in certain groups of people even more by adding more sub-topics such as obesity in youths with the related topic of school cafeterias to get your research topic. It is helpful to write out your topic as a a question.