Research Guides: Research Skills: Starting Research

Choosing a Topic

A lot of time professors will ask you "What are you passionate about?" to get you excited about doing research. But what if you don't know what you're passionate about? Professor Bea has a solution: rather than focusing on what you're passionate about, focus on what pisses you off. Mad Pluto's not a planet anymore? Mad Flint, MI still doesn't have clean water? Mad about continuity errors in the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Start there!

Asking a Research Question

Mind Mapping
Oftentimes when you have a general topic but want to narrow it down to a research question, Mind Mapping can help. It's a way or organizing ideas and thoughts and questions that revolve around a topic. Check out this tool to create your own mind map and start developing research questions!
Mind Map Worksheet
Just need a Mind Map worksheet? Click here to access a version made using Google Slides.

Identifying Keywords

Research as a Process

When you're researching, remember that you might have to revisit your topic, broaden the scope of your question, or take things in unexpected directions! There's not straight line to doing research, so let your curiosity take over.