Research is an iterative process. Instead of straightforward and linear, it is repetitive and cyclical. As you move through the steps to learn, you should modify and revise your strategies. Don't be afraid to return to an earlier step to reset your process!
Long description of "Research is a Process" for web accessibility
Narrow Your Topic or Research Question
It's very common to select a topic or formulate a question that starts out too broad.
Question 1: How does college benefit students? (broad)
When the scope of your topic is too big, it's hard to dig through the huge volume of information available to find something relevant. It's also hard to write a paper or give a presentation of with any depth.
Most scholarly research examines fairly narrow topics and looks at relationships between concepts. For example, college is a pretty broad topic, but looking at the relationship between college and student participation in clubs and extracurriculars might be a more manageable topic.
There are many ways to narrow a topic that is too broad by asking one or more W questions. Let's use college as an example:
Use how, what, or where (two or three) to develop a research question on the topic of college:
Question 2: Does participation in clubs and extracurricular activities while in college lead to greater life satisfaction for graduates? (narrowed)
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