CHOOSING A TOPIC

FOR RESEARCH
Primary principles in choosing a topic

1. interest in the subject

2. limitations placed on the subject
- availability of materials
- time/duration of study
- participants/informants
3. timeliness of the subject
4. relevance of the subject
TOPICS TO BE AVOIDED
1. Controversial topics

• Depend greatly on writer’s opinions or prejudicial

• Writer has the tendency to be biased

• Cannot be supported by facts

2. Highly technical subjects

• For a beginner, researching on topics that need

advanced study, technical knowledge, and great
experience is a very difficult task
3. hard-to-investigate subjects

• A subject is hard to investigate if there are no

available reading materials about it, and if these
materials are not up-to-date.
4. Too broad subjects

• Prevents researcher from giving an in-depth

analysis of the subject matter
5. Too narrow subjects

• Very limited or specific that an extensive or

thorough searching for information about it is not
necessary.
6. Vague subjects

• Prevents researcher from having a clear focus of

the study