Lakeland College
P.O. Box 359
Sheboygan, WI 53082-0359

Research Topic

If you are like most Lakeland students, then your current topic has two weaknesses.  First, it is too broad – big enough for a book and not a paper.  Second, and more importantly, your topic has no problem.  That is, your paper poses no arguable question that you are trying to answer.  Topics that are too broad or have no problem lead to papers that sound like encyclopedia articles or book reports.  What you need is a focused problem that will lead to a supportable argument.

First, talk to your professor because expectations change from course to course.  An interesting problem for an American History paper probably won’t work for your American Literature class, even if both papers focus on novels.  People in those fields simply care about different kinds of questions.  Similarly, a good 200-level topic is probably too broad for a 400-level research.

You can ask some basics questions about your topic and the problem it tries to solve.  Use this checklist for a well-focused, arguable research problem.  If you cannot answer “Yes” to each of the following questions, change your research topic:

1.   Do you care about answering your research question?

2.   Will you be able to convince your reader that she should care about your question?

3.   Will your reader need to see evidence before she accepts your answer?

4.   Will you be able to find the evidence that your reader requires?

5.   Will you be able to answer to answer your question adequately in ___ pages?

6.   Can you imagine someone disagreeing with your answer?  Can you imagine what that counterargument might look like?

7.   Can you pose your question using words like “Why” or “How” (as opposed to questions that use words like “What,” “When,” “Who,” etc.)?

8.   Have you avoided questions that can be answered “Yes” or “No”?

9.   Have you avoided questions that can be answered simply by looking something up?

10.  Have you avoided questions that seem just like matters of opinion?
(Adapted, with permission, from The Craft of Argument)

Note that, in the end, you have to convince your reader that you have a question worth answering.  So don’t be afraid to keep changing and refining your topic.  You can even work backwards: use your best and most unexpected evidence to formulate an interesting question.