Choosing a Topic for Research
Because you are going to put a lot of your time and energy into your research project, the topic is especially important. In many instances your instructor may give a specific topic. If this is done, you have little choice, but most instructors will permit or even welcome a slightly changed focus in a topic if it is supported by good thinking.
In some of your classes, the instructor may present a suggested list of several topics from which you are to make a choice. If this is done, do not simply select the first idea that attracts your attention. It may be one with which you will soon become bored, or it may be one on which you would have difficulty finding all the necessary information. Looking at the topics, try to consider how you might go about developing each of them. When you find out what seems especially interesting and worthwhile, do a bit checking in the library to see if you can get the basic resources you will need.
Choosing a good research topic does not necessarily mean finding something that has a lot written about it. Many times you will have to research around a topic in order to find out the most useful information. Exciting and original topics often come to mind by combining two completely different interests. Let us say that you are interested in child psychology and in sports. Perhaps you can combine these into a study of the effect that is watching on the subject, you can research the topic individually and, by putting your information together, then draw a conclusion.