Sometimes you may have a topic assigned to you or you have the option to research a topic of your choosing -- either can be daunting! This guide will walk you through strategies to spark your curiosity, follow it through the research process, and meet your assignment requirements. 

Leading with curiosity makes for a more engaging research experience. Your scope (or size and scale) to start with will be broad and you’ll narrow as you find information about your topic. 

Scoping or shaping your topic can be a deceptively challenging part of the research process. It's a good idea to bounce ideas off of your friends, classmates, professor and librarian -- they can help you focus in on a manageable topic. Scoping will look different for every person and in different contexts.

This self-assessment will help you understand the different types of curiosity you gravitate towards and give you a way to frame your exploration.

Reflect: 

• How do you see evidence of the kinds of curiosity from the self-assessment in your everyday life and in class? 
• Epistemic curiosity - “the drive to know”
  • You may enjoy: puzzles, riddles, discussing abstract concepts
  • For a research topic, you may enjoy examining a specific theory around your topic
• Perceptual curiosity - “the drive to experience and feel”
  • You may enjoy: trying new foods, exploring the outdoors, and traveling
  • For a research topic, you may enjoy a deep-dive into a new topic
• Interpersonal curiosity - “the drive to know more about other people”
  • You may enjoy: people watching, meeting new people, reading biographies and memoirs
  • For a research topic, you may enjoy exploring the human story of your topic

These reflection questions are intended to get you thinking; it's always a good idea to bounce ideas off your classmates, professors, or a librarian. 

Sometimes you're assigned topics that you're not passionate about. The research and writing process is more engaging when you are genuinely interested in your topic. The key to finding a topic that interests you within the structure of your assignment is to find a kernel or aspect that you are curious about. To do this, you need to do some background reading -- Wikipedia is a great tool for this part of the research process. As you read, notice what information stands out to you or makes you want to learn more. 

Example:

You need to write a paper about a controversy in your field of study. Since you're just learning about your profession, you probably don't know about the controversies and conversations happening withing your field. One way to get started is to explore why you chose your major and why it interests you. If you are going into social work, maybe you chose that career to connect unhoused people with resources. Maybe you want to learn more about the causes of homelessness and what government services exist and how does this compare to what social work practitioners recommend. 

Take into consideration the assignment requirements and time constraints and scope (or size and scale):

• What are you being asked to do for this assignment? Does your topic match that scope?
• How can you leverage your curiosity and personal interest to meet the scope of the assignment?

The guides listed below walk through the different aspects of the research process.