Identifying Potential Topics• Will you be able to find enough

information about the topic?• Can you develop a paper about this

topic that presents and supports your original ideas?

Identifying Potential Topics• Is the topic too broad or too narrow for the

scope of the assignment? Can you modify it so it is more manageable?

Narrowing Your TopicTopic: sexual education programsFocus: the pros and cons of sexual education in

kids’ television programs

Topic: popularized dietsFocus: physical effects of the South Beach Diet

Narrowing Your Topic• Explore Your Topic in Writing

– Freewrite, brainstorm

Narrowing Your Topic• Explore Your Topic in Writing

– Freewrite, brainstorm• Conduct Preliminary Research

– Internet searches, newspapers, magazines, friends, blogs

Formulate a Research Question• This is your goal for your research

Formulate a Research Question• This is your goal for your research• It will guide you to find information

Formulate a Research Question• This is your goal for your research• It will guide you to find information• It will require you to put together different pieces of

information, interpret and analyze them, and figure out what you think.

Formulate a Research Question• This is your goal for your research• It will guide you to find information• It will require you to put together different pieces of

information, interpret and analyze them, and figure out what you think.

• Include simple factual questions as well as more complex questions that would require analysis and interpretation.

Topic: Low-carbohydrate diets

Main Question: Are low-carb diets as effective as they have been portrayedto be by media sources?Sub Questions:Who can benefit from following a low-carb diet?What are the advantages?When did low-carb diets become a hot topic in the media?Why has the low-carb diet approach received so much media attention?Where do average consumers get info about diet and nutrition?

Working Thesis

• Initial answer to the main research question

Working Thesis

• Initial answer to the main research question• Expresses a debatable idea or claim you hope to

prove through additional research

Working Thesis

• Initial answer to the main research question• Expresses a debatable idea or claim you hope to

prove through additional research• Subject to change

Working ThesisMain Question:Are low-carb diets as effective as they have sometime been portrayed to be by the mass media?

Working Thesis:Low-carb diets do not live up to the media hype surrounding them.