Choosing a Topic and a Title

8/19/2019 Choosing a Topic and a Title

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Choosing Topic & Title

Prof. AhmedChouari

Research Methods(S 5)


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Research

Methods

Contents

Introduction

Choosing a topic

Choosing a title

Practice


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Topic

Choosing a

Topic


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Introduction

• If you are free to research any topic thatinterests you, that freedom might seemfrustrating—so many choices, so little time.

At some point, you have to settle on a topic.• Research begins—not with a big question

that attracts everyone in a field, but with amental itch about a small one that only asingle researcher wants to scratch.


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From an interest to a topic

Choosing an easy topic is not the best idea.Most of us have more than enough interests.

eginners often find it hard to locate among

their interests a topic focused enough tosupport a substantial research pro!ect."tart with what most interests you. #othingcontributes to the quality of your wor$ morethan your commitment to it.


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From an interest to a topic

As$ing friends, classmates, even yourteacher about topics that interest them.Interest may come when you learn more

about a topic.%hin$ about what ma$es it interesting topeople.&nce you have a list of topics, choose theone or two that interest you most.


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Where to fnd in ormationabout your topic

"tart with a good encyclopedia.Chec$ out your school or local library catalog.'og on to the Internet( )our topic as a $ey word.*ew e+perienced researchers trust i$ipedia , sounder no circumstances cite it as a source ofevidence -unless your topic is the i$ipedia itself .If information is too difficult( /o bac$ to square oneand choose another topic.


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From a broad topic to a focusedone

"ome topics are too large0broad.1on2t narrow your topic so much that youcan2t find data on it.

%he best way to begin wor$ing on yourspecific topic is not to find all the data youcan on your general topic, but to formulatequestions that point you to !ust those datathat you need to answer them.


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)ou can start with the standard !ournalisticquestions( who, what, when, and where, butfocus on how and why.

%o engage your best critical thin$ing,systematically as$ questions about yourtopic2s history, composition, and categories- ooth, Colomb, 3 illiam, 4556, pp. 789:5 .


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At this point, your biggest risk is settlingon a topic so broad that it could be asubheading in a library catalog.

• A topic is probably too broad if you canstate it in four or ve words.• Examples:• Free will in olstoy• he history of commercial aviation


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Title

Choosing a

Title


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Choosing a Title

• hat $ey s$ills are needed when writing a%itle;

riting good headlines represents about

85< of the s$ills vital to article writing. *orthis reason the gurus of research writingtend to dedicate more pages to discussingthe importance of the title than they do toany section in the paper itself.


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Choosing a Title

• =very word in your title is important. "o the$ey is to devise a title that(

>. will immediately ma$e sense to the referee,

4. will easily be found by a search engine orinde+ing system,7. will attract the right $ind of readers rather

than discouraging them, and will also catchthe attention of browsers,


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Choosing a Title

:. does not consist of a string of nouns and will beimmediately comprehensible to anyone inyour general field,

8. is short, and?. has a definite and concise indication of what itis written in the paper itself. It is neither un!ustifiably specific nor too vague or generic.


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How can I generate atitle?

• hink about the following !uestions:

hat have I found that will attract attention;hat is new, different and interesting about

my findings;hat are the 7@8 $ey words that highlight

what ma$es my research and my findingsunique; -"ee Chin, 455:, p. ??


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Ho can I ma!e m" title mored"namic#• =very word -apart from articles and

prepositions included in the title should addsignificance. %he following words in italics

rarely add value( inquiry, analysis, evaluation,and assessment.

• "tudy and investigation may be useful to ma$eyour research sound less conclusive.


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$hat t"pes of ords should Itr" to include#

Consider the use of subtitles to amplify the purposes ormethods of study.

A title should be consistent with the research hypothesis,

purpose, or question.If a title is strongly tied to a particular model or theory,consider mentioning it in the title.

A title may be in the form of a question( se sparingly and

with caution. -"ee Byrc a$ 3 ruce, 4558, pp. 7D9 :?


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$hat t"pes of ords should Itr" to include#

here possible use the 9ing form of verbs rather thanabstract nouns. %his will ma$e your title more readable aswell as ma$ing it 4@7 words shorter.

%ry to choose ad!ectives that indicate the unique featuresof your wor$, e.g. low cost, scalable, robust, andpowerful.

A title should indicate what was studied 9 not the resultsor conclusions of the study.Consider mentioning the population-s in a title when astudy is deliberately delimited


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%ractice

"ee handout

Research Methods


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Choosing a Topic and a Title