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
It's very common to select a topic or formulate a question that starts out too broad.
EXAMPLE OF AN OVERLY BROAD TOPIC: To what extent are cyberattacks a problem for society?
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, hacking and cyber warfare are pretty broad topics, but looking at the relationship between hacking and financial data 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 hacking as an example:
Use how, what, or where (two or three) to develop a research question on the topic of hacking:
NARROWER QUESTION: How do hacking and cyberattacks on banks in the United States impact bank customers and banking services?
NARROWER QUESTION: How does hacking and cyberattacks on school systems in California affect the privacy of teenage students?
WHAT: hacking and cyberattacking, banks, schools
WHERE: United States, California
HOW: privacy, security, services
WHO: bank customers, teenage students
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