Learn more about how the Cal Poly Humboldt Library can help
support your research and learning needs.
Stay updated at Campus Ready.
Choosing a topic is an important part of doing research!
Ask yourself:
What am I interested in?
Is this a big topic or a small topic?
From what perspective do I want to explore my interest (sociology, psychology, education, literature, political science, history, etc.)?
If you determine that your topic is a big topic, think about the smaller topics that might fall under the big topic. Immigration, for instance, is a very large topic. Its subtopics include:
...among many others!
The next step is to decide which of these subtopics interests you. As you're thinking about the subtopics, try also to consider what about that subtopic is interesting. Are you interested in the history of border crossings? The psychology of xenophobia? The causes of poverty in Mexico? Ultimately, your goal should be to write down a question that your research will aim to answer.
As you can see, this part of the research process can take a little bit more time that you might expect! If you're having trouble choosing a focused topic, let me know and we can work through some of the possibilities together.