1. THE LESSON Choosing a topic Writing a thesis statement/claim

2. CHOOSING A TOPIC: WHY? A class assignment in which the topic is given A class assignment where a scenario is given An open assignment The student’s own initiative

3. CHOOSING A TOPIC: THE GENESIS Mental itch Social concerns Inspiration from other researchers (Literature review)

4. TOPIC: CRITERIA FOR SELECTION Relevance (use in society- addressing a social need) Novelty/Newness- breaking new ground Controversy- possibility of diverse view, beware of beaten tracks!! Feasibility ( can you do it given time, resources, space, skills etc), avoid open ended researches.

5. TOPIC: CRITERIA FOR SELECTION Recent breakthroughs, spin off research; Keep tab of recent developments in your area What is trending: Discussions with fellow students or supervisors or teachers: Recent developments Ideas from workshops, seminars, TV/Media shows etc

6. NARROWING DOWN TOPIC Broad topics will cause enormous problems for the researcher – Too much material to deal with. – Too many possible lines of thought – The possibility of making claims that are too general

7. AN EXAMPLE Politics Politics in Kenya. Politics in Kenya since the Re-Introduction of Multi-Party Democracy in 1990.

8. THE CLAIM – Unproven= Hypothetical statement (also known as hypothesis) – Proven= Thesis statement

9. THE TEST OF CLAIMS/THESIS STATEMENTS: EXAMPLES Politics has played a negative role in the development of higher education in Kenya since the re-introduction of multi-party democracy in 1990. Politics has contributed to ethnic conflict in Kenya since the re-introduction of multiparty democracy in 1990

10. Exercises 1.THE ICC IN KENYA (Is the intervention still necessary?) 2.DEVOLUTION IN KENYA (do we need 47 or 14 counties? Exercise 1 In groups of five critically examine these two topics and narrow them down to viable topics for a term paper of about 15 pages. List as many possible topics as you can and compare them.

11. EXERCISE 2 Formulate an appropriate topic for your paper and develop a possible thesis statement for it?

12. THE END Thank you