Research Guides: HI481 History Research Seminar: Topic Development

Preliminary Research

After selecting a preliminary topic it's a good idea to do a preliminary search on your topic. Wikipedia is a good place to start for gathering background information.

Some of the benefits of preliminary searching are:

Clarify the topic
Support background knowledge in order to develop your research focus
Identify key terminology for further searching
Understand gaps in the literature, what have people already researched? What questions still need to be answered?

Developing a Research Topic

Developing Your Research Topic
This worksheet has examples of the many ways you a approach topic development. While you may already have a topic in mind, visualizing your topic using a concept map may help you identify other gaps in your research.

Concept Maps

Use a concept map to help visualize the relationship between different patterns within your data. How many of the below questions can you answer with your general knowledge of the topic?

After preliminary searching, see if you can answer the remainder or add to your original responses. Write down other questions you have on your topic; this will help you to narrow down your ideas.

Take a look at some of the other examples of concept maps -- There is no right or wrong way to do this brainstorming activity!

https://www.imperial.ac.uk/staff/educational-development/teaching-toolkit/educational-research-methods/methods/concept-maps/

Concept mapping your topic
Another example of how to structure a concept map

Developing a Good Research Question

What Makes a Good Research Question?
How can you formulate a good research question based on your initial topic interest? This resource will help you consider the many pieces that go into formulating a research question.

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