Transcript: Background Research

Before deciding on your research question, it is usually a good idea to do some background research on your topic. This will help you to better understand the scope of the topic and to identify aspects of the topic of interest to you.

This doesn’t have to be extensive or time consuming. One option is to look at Wikipedia or other encyclopedia article related to your topic. These are often good places to start because they provided a broad overview of the topic and allow you to identify subtopics that you would like to learn more about. These articles will often highlight aspects of the topic that are controversial or debatable, which can often be turned into good research questions. You can also do a basic Google search for ideas or you can do a preliminary search in a library database. This will allow you to see the kinds of articles others have written about your topic. It may open your eyes to new aspects of the topic that you would not have considered.

Once you have a bit of background information, you will be better able to focus your topic into a good research question.

When doing background research, keep in mind that you are not really searching for sources, just for more information on your topic. But, if you do see a source that looks really helpful, be sure to save the citation information so you can use it later.