Refining the Topic

Once you have selected a topic, you have a lot to do before you can begin gathering information.

To do the best project you can you must:

• gather all the KEYWORD search terms you can
• generate the questions that will guide your research
• make some important decisions about how to conduct your research

Let us imagine a situation where you are studying Ancient Egypt and decide to do a project on hieroglyphics.

General Refining Steps	For our example
Choose your topic	Reason? You like to draw and are curious about hieroglyphics.
The first step in generating KEYWORD search terms is to ask yourself "What do I already know?" and write down your answer.	It has something to do with Egyptians and writing
What KEYWORDS (search terms) can you add to hieroglyphics from what you already know?	Ancient Egypt writing
Look at a summary source like an encyclopedia or textbook to get an idea of the scope of your topic.	In an encyclopedia you find: "Hieroglyphs are pictures or symbols used in writing. The hieroglyphic code of Ancient Egypt was translated using the Rosetta Stone now housed in the British Museum."
What KEYWORDS can you add from this reading? Look for words in capital letters for some ideas. Cross references (SEE, SEE ALSO) might also be good search terms.	Rosetta Stone codes British Museum
THIS IS THE BIGGIE! Based on what you already know, generate the questions that will guide your research. What questions do you still have after reading the summary? What kind information is the teacher expecting from your research? Who, Where and When are good ways to ask factual questions. How and Why make better research questions. Although you need both, make sure you have more How and Why questions. You should expect to add and subtract from you original question list as you continue the research process.	Where did the term "hieroglyphics" come from? Were their any early guesses about what the symbols meant? Is there any structure to the language? How did the Rosetta Stone guide the translation process? How do hieroglyphics fit into the whole process of language development?
Make a list of all the KEYWORD search terms you have so far. You may have added some when you generated your questions. You will use any or all of these in the resources you find.	hieroglyphics Ancient Egypt Rosetta Stone codes British Museum language
Do you need to NARROW or EXPAND your research topic?	If it looks as if there is not enough information on hieroglyphics to complete the assignment you might want to look at exploring all aspects of communication in Ancient Egypt. If there is too much, you might decide to just focus on the translation of the Rosetta Stone.

It is often helpful to put these questions and keywords into some kind of graphic organizer to keep track of your thinking.

On to the next section...Organizing your thinking

 

 

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Last modified: October, 2003 by Steinke, Ague, Feuerhelm, Maxwell, and Warburg