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Unit 4: Search Methods
Lesson 3: Broaden Your Topic
Finding little to no information on a particular topic means that the topic you have selected is too narrow. You will need to broaden your topic, which will narrow your search.
How Do You Broaden a Topic?
Broaden your topic by thinking more generally. Select more general keywords, or omit the keywords that overly specify your research question.
To broaden the narrow topic, the effects of teenage drinking and driving in Florida in the 1990s, eliminate one or more of the topic’s specifications or keywords.
What are the effects of teenage drinking and driving in Florida? [Removed: 1990s]
What are the effects of drinking and driving in Florida? [Removed: teenage and 1990s]
What are the effects of drinking and driving? [Removed: Florida, teenage, and 1990s]
Remember: occasionally a topic is so new that published resources do not yet exist.