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Unit 4: Search Methods
Lesson 2: Narrow Your Topic
Finding too much information on a particular topic means that the topic you have selected is too vague. You will need to narrow your topic, which will narrow your search.
How Do You Narrow a Topic?
Narrow your topic by specifying the time period, place, and/or person(s) associated with your chosen topic. Specify your topic by decade or year; geographic region, country, state, or city or town; and/or person, organization, or ethnic group.
For example, you can narrow the broad topic drinking and driving by assigning a place, time period, and group of people to the topic.
Broad Topic
drinking and driving
+
Time Span 1990s
Place Florida
Person teens
=
Narrowed Topic
What were the effects of teenage drinking and driving in Florida in the 1990s?
Another technique is to ask yourself who, what, where, when, how, and why questions. For example, the following questions about the broad topic American Civil War helps focus the topic.
Who led the Confederacy during the American Civil War?
What were the causes of the American Civil War?
Where did American Civil War battles take place?
When did African American soldiers fight in the American Civil War?
How was the American Civil War won?
Why was the American Civil War fought?
Notice the new keywords prompted by these questions.