1. Finding a topic

2. Narrowing a general subject into a scholarly topic Examine one narrowed issue, not a broad subject Address knowledgeable readers and carry them to another plateau of knowledge Have a serious purpose—one that demands analysis of the issues, argues from a position, and explains complex details Meet the expectations of the instructor and conform to the course requirements

3. Relating your personal ideas to a scholarly problem Connecting personal experience to scholarly topics Speculating about your subject to discover ideas and to focus on the issues, for example, free writing, listing keywords, arranging keywords into a preliminary outline, narrowing by comparison, asking questions,

4. Talking with others to refine the topic Personal interviews (instructors, potential advisors, classmates, listening to the concerns of others) Online discussion groups

5. Using online searches to refine your topic Using an online subject directory Using an Internet keyword search Using the library’s electronic databases to find an narrow a topic

6. Using the library’s electronic book catalog to find a topic

7. Developing a thesis statement, enthymeme, or hypothesis Statement: Chat room and online mating services enable people to meet only after a prearranged engagement by e-mail. Hamlet’s character is shaped, in part, by Shakespeare’s manipulation of the stage setting for Hamlet’s soliloquies.

8. Enthymeme: Hyperactive children need medication because ADHD is a medical disorder, not a behavioral problem. Because people are dying all around the globe from water shortages, the countries with an abundance of water have an ethical obligation to share it.

9. Hypothesis: proposing a theory or suggests an explanation for something. Discrimination against young women in the classroom, known as “shortchanging,” harms the women academically, socially, and psychologically. Class size affects the number of written assignments by writing instructors.

10. Drafting a research proposal The specific topic The purpose of this paper (explain, analyze, or argue) The intended audience Your voice as the writer (informer, advocate) The preliminary thesis statement or opening hypothesis