Unit 4: Search Methods

Lesson 2: Narrow Your Topic


Finding too much information on a particular topic means your topic is too vague. You will need to narrow your topic.

How Do You Narrow a Topic?

Narrow your topic by associating a time period, place, and/or person(s) 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. For example, investigate the effects of teenage drinking and driving in Florida during the 1990s.

Another technique is to ask yourself who, what, where, when, how, and why questions. The following questions about the broad topic “American Civil War” help 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 Florida secede from the Union?
• How did women participate in the American Civil War?
• Why did African Americans fight in the American Civil War?

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