refining your research topic
Often our first ideas for research topics need refinement; they are too big, too vague, or they don’t quite fit the prompt. This activity is all about refining your research topic to get it just right.
Part 1: Understanding your topic:
- Based on the limited research you have done so far, respond to the following questions:
- What is your chosen research topic, as you understand it now? If you don’t know yet, take the next few minutes to decide. Conference with your peers or instructor to get some ideas.
- What theme/element from dystopian fiction does this topic correspond with? Explain the connection.
- What do you already know about this topic before having done any formal research? Why is it interesting to you?
- What do you still need to learn about this topic? What do you need to research?
- Why do you think this issue is a “problem?” Specifically, why do we need to worry about it?
