Good topics are out there, but it takes work to find them.
To find a good research topic, follow this strategy:
- Look for inspiration by reading overviews.
- The best place to find overviews & summaries is in encyclopedias. For example, you could browse Wikipedia, or you could browse the encyclopedias in the library.
- The advantage of encyclopedia articles is that they are quick and easy to read. You can learn about many possible topics in just a short time.
- Remember that overviews are simplified sources, written at a beginner level. They're useful for getting started, but they should not be cited in your paper.
- When you find an interesting topic, do some exploratory research to determine whether there are enough citable sources on this topic.
- Sometimes you'll see sources cited at the bottom of the encyclopedia article. That's a good start, but you'll need to see if there are more sources available.
- Depending on how the exploratory research goes, you might decide to keep the topic, or to shift to a related topic, or to start over by reading more overviews. Any of these three options is okay!
This video from North Carolina State University gives a detailed breakdown of how to find a good topic:
