LibGuides: RELG 261: Religion in America (Ko): Develop a Search Strategy

Narrow Your Research

Once you have the topic you would like to research, the next step is forming your research question. Your research question should be focused and specific. The result should also be a question for which there are two or more possible answers. See some examples below:

Broad Topic >	Narrowed Topic >	Focused Topic >	Research Question
Women's health	Women & cancer	Women smokers & breast cancer	Is there a connection between cigarette smoking and breast cancer risk?
Computer games	Computer game violence	Computer game violence & children	How does violence in computer games affect children?
Eating disorders	Teens & eating disorders	Teen peer pressure & bulimia	What role, if any, does peer pressure play in the development of bulimia in teens?

Limit Your Topic

A topic will be very difficult to research if it is too broad or narrow. One way to narrow a broad topic is to assign limits to what you will cover. Some common ways to limit a topic are listed below using the broad topic, "the environment" as an example.

Limiter	Example
geographical area	What environmental issues are most important in the Southwestern United States
culture	How does the environment fit into the Navajo world view?
time frame	What are the most prominent environmental issues of the last 10 years?
discipline	How does environmental awareness effect business practices today?
population group	What are the effects of air pollution on senior citizens?