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Term Paper Topics

• Abortion • Affirmative Action • AIDS • Animal Rights• Anthrax• Assisted Suicide• Asteroids• Blackout• Capital Punishment• Child Abuse• Cloning• Conjoined Twins• Diabetes• Drunk Driving• Easter Island• Eating Disorders• E-mail Spam• Empire State Building• Global Warming• Gangs • Gender Issues Health Care• Holocaust Immigration Islam

A topic is general. It is a category, frequently expressed in a single word or phrase, such as “alcoholism" or “teenage mothers.” A topic is a good starting point, but by itself, it is usually too broad, and so it must be refined.

Ask Yourself Questions About Your Topic:

•Is the topic of interest to me?

•Is my topic appropriate for my audience? Is it relevant to my course?

•How much or how little do I know about it?

The question the researcher asks that guides his or her inquiry into the topic. A good research question asks a clear, concise question and helps you keep a tight focus on your topic.

A good research question is broad enough to allow you to find enough material, but narrow enough to fit within the size and time constraints of your paper.

Choose a research question worth arguing about or exploring.

FORMULATE A RESEARCH QUESTION

EvidenceFind evidence to support your

research question

Types of Evidence

booksarticlesreviewstextbooksbibliographiesWeb sites

census data

lawsdiariesspeechesautobiographiestech reportstranscriptse-mailmusical scoresletters

Data or information that

has not been analyzed or evaluated

Data that has been analyzed

The overwhelming majority of scholarsand researchers publish their work in academic journals available from subscription bibliographic databases accessible from the library homepage

NOT FREE on the Internet.