Research Guides: Economics: Develop a Topic

Develop Your Topic

Explore Your Topic
Refine Your Topic

Before you develop your research topic or question, you'll need to do some background research first.

Some good places to find background information:

Your textbook or class readings
Encyclopedias and reference books
Credible websites
Library databases

Try the library databases below to explore your topic. When you're ready, move on to refining your topic.

Find Background Information:

GALE EBOOKS This link opens in a new window
Gale Virtual Reference Library's powerful delivery platform puts your reference content into circulation. Researchers will have the power to Search and share results, Create mark lists, Track research through search history, Share articles using InfoTrac InfoMarks and more.
GALE IN CONTEXT, Opposing Viewpoints This link opens in a new window
A full-text resource covering today's hottest social issues, from Terrorism to Endangered Species, Stem Cell Research to Gun Control. Drawing on the series published by Greenhaven Press and other Gale imprints, Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center brings together information that's needed to understand an issue: pro & con viewpoint articles, reference articles that provide context, full-text magazines, academic journals, and newspapers, primary source documents, organizational statistics, & more.

Now that you've done some background research, it's time to narrow your topic. Remember: the shorter your final paper, the narrower your topic needs to be. Here are some suggestions for narrowing and defining your topic:

Is there a specific subset of the topic you can focus on?
Is there a cause and effect relationship you can explore?
Is there an unanswered question on the subject?
Can you focus on a specific time period or group of people?

Describe and develop your topic in some detail. Try filling in the blanks in the following sentence, as much as you can:

I want to research ____(what/who)____

and ____(what/who)____

in ____(where)____

during ____(when)____

because ____(why)____.