Choosing a topic

Choosing a topic is an essential first step when beginning any research assignment. Select one of the following situations:

My instructor has assigned a topic | I must choose my own topic

When choosing your own topic, start by selecting something that is broad enough to allow you to find sufficient information. Then, explore your topic in order to focus on specific issues that relate to it.
Focusing your topic enables you to pinpoint certain key ideas that you will want to elaborate on in your assignment
You may find it useful to do some preliminary research to get a better sense of the type of information that is available.

Example

You are interested in reality television as a topic for your assignment. There are many potential areas of interest related to this topic that you could explore.

Here are a few examples:

Selecting a particular genre (ex. crime, love, competition, etc.)
Distortion between reality and "television reality"
Glamorization of reality through television
Audience participation of reality television
Origins of the phenomenon
Effects of reality television on culture