There are many ways to generate topic ideas for an assignment:
Once you've got an idea for your research, you'll want to define your research topic a bit further. As a rule, your topic should not be too broad or too narrow in scope- there's a sweet spot right in the middle! Check out Bow Valley College's "Forming Questions" guide for some examples of topics that are too narrow or too broad, and how to fix them.
You will also want to make sure that you understand the boundaries or scope of the assignment- whether you are restricted to certain resources like peer-reviewed journal articles, or whether you can also use grey literature like government documents.
It is often useful to do some exploratory research, to ensure that you can find relevant information without being overwhelmed by the number of search results you get. Google can be a good place to get grounded, as you'll find news articles and top hits for a given search. These will provide you with a good overview of your topic.
However, Google searches alone will not provide you with everything you need to support your academic papers. Information comes in a variety of packages; scholarly books, journal articles, and conference proceedings are typically among the most valued, but there is also grey literature, written by subject experts and published by governments or research groups. Trade journals, written for practitioners rather than scholars, can offer a perspective not included in scholarly literature. Refer to our Grey Literature guide for more information on different types of literature.
The video tutorial below will provide you with an example of an exploratory search to define one's topic.
Once you've got an idea for your topic, searching for background information helps you to get an overview and determine questions or perspectives you might want to explore.
Google can be a good place to get grounded, as you will find news articles and top hits for your given search. These will provide you with a good overview of your topic. The boxes on this page offer specific tips on using Google for preliminary searching.
Depending on your topic, you will likely have to look in a variety of places to find what you need. Google searches alone will not provide you with everything you need to support your academic papers.
Information comes in a variety of packages, including:
Scholarly books, journal articles and conference proceedings are typically the most valued types of academic publishing. Academics and students alike are usually required to cite these kinds of sources when writing academic papers. Depending on your topic, though, other document types can be useful as well. Grey literature, for example, written by subject experts and published by governments or research groups, can be very relevant and reliable. Trade journals, written for practitioners rather than scholars, offer a perspective not included in scholarly literature.
The first step in defining your research topic is to confirm that you understand the instructions of your assignment or the purpose of your research. For example, is it an assigned topic, or can you choose? Are you required to use certain resources, such as peer-reviewed articles, or are sources like newspapers ok? A well-defined research topic should be one for which you can find relevant information without being overwhelmed by the number of search results. While Google is a good place to start, the library has many additional resources that you may find are more useful and relevant to your topic.
The library’s Discovery search tool (located on the library homepage) will help you search our collection of books, journal articles, and videos, and will help you broadly explore your topic area. If you use Discovery to search for - children AND advertising - you may find too many results regarding all aspects of this topic. However, a search for - children AND advertising AND commercials - is more specific and focused. As you search, watch for terms that are similar to your keywords, to help you expand or refine your search. Keep in mind your topic might change a bit as you do exploratory research. Just make sure you start your research early so you have time to revise and refine your topic as needed.
For more information, ask the library for assistance.