BASICS

Narrowing a topic:

Sometimes you find too much information on a topic and need to narrow its scope. There are a number of ways to do this. For example, if you are doing a paper on censorship and the arts you might consider the following:

Is there a specific time period you want to cover?
Is there a geographic region or country on which you would like to focus?
Is there a particular aspect of this topic that interests you? For example, public policy implications, historical influence, sociological aspects, psychological angles, specific groups or individuals involved in the topic, etc.

TO ILLUSTRATE:

NARROWING STRATEGY	EXPLANATION
Time Period	The present, past decades (1950's, 1970's, 2000), Ancient History, Medieval, Renaissance, Enlightenment, Romantic Age, Post-modern, etc.
Place/Geography	Local, national (United States), European country, African country, Asian country, Middle Eastern country; individual cities, counties, etc.
Population	Age, ethnic, occupational, socio-economic groups; homeless, rural, urban populations; nations, species, etc.
Viewpoint/aspect	Social, legal, medical, ethical, biological, psychological, economic, political, philosophical, historical, religious; feminism, Marxism, Historicism, Creationism, Catholicism, environmentalism, etc. Note: different aspects might require using unfamiliar resources. CONSULT YOUR SUBJECT LIBRARIAN for assistance!

ANOTHER TIP:

Open the full record of an article or book that you retrieved to examine the SUBJECT HEADINGS assigned to that item. You can sometimes identify terms that will facilitate your search by broadening or narrowing your focus. For example:

We're looking for books that deal with psychic trauma in fiction:

With those KEYWORDS you will retrieve 8 items as shown below.

You can use the same process to narrow a search that is too broad. You can also use the same technique when using the databases as you look for journal articles.

More on broadening your topic:

If you have over-defined your topic by making it too specific or specialized, or if you are seeking answers to questions that have not been addressed in the literature, you will need to broaden your focus. Look at the examples below which demonsrate a wide range of topics.

EXAMPLES:

1. "Should Native Americans practice religious and social customs that violate local and
Federal laws?" The words underlined are the KEYWORDS in this query.

KEYWORD	RELATED	BROADENED	NARROWED
NATIVE AMERICANS	Indians, Amerinds, North American Indians	Indigenous peoples, North American history	Makah, Nez Perce, Cherokee, Kwakiutl,etc.
CUSTOMS	Marriage, social relations, spirituality, rites and ceremonies, religion, culture	Social systems, anthropology	Lodge house(s), hunting, whaling, potlatch, etc.
LAWS	Legislation, crimes, treaty rights	Criminal justice, U.S Constitution, constitutional law	Bureau of Indian Affairs, NAGPRA (Native American Graves Protection Act), cases, (e.g. Kennewick Man, Neah Bay whaling)

Note: Example's content is borrowed with permission from University of Washington.
Permission is pending for use of Native American Indian image.

2. "To what degree did Puritans practice religious toleration in America?"

KEYWORD	RELATED	BROADENED	NARROWED
RELIGIOUS TOLERATION	Religious liberty, freedom of conscience, Freedom of religion	Religious diversity	Persecution
AMERICA	Colonial America, American Colonies	New World	New England, Massachusetts [other individual colonies]
PURITANS	Puritanism	Colonists	Pilgrims, Calvinists

Content provided by Jennifer Dorner, History Librarian

3. "I want to know something about organizational behavior and how it affects employee productivity."

KEYWORD	RELATED	BROADENED	NARROWED
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR	Corporate culture, organizational culture, communication, etiquette, organizational change, organizational climate	Management, organization, industrial psychology, social psychology	Work environment, office politics, expectancy theories, misconduct, leadership
EMPLOYEES	Personnel, human resources	Labor	Clerks, executives, management, white collar workers, female employees
PRODUCTIVITY	Performance	Evaluation, assessment, review, rating	Efficiency, motivation, success, failure

Content provided by Kerry Wu, Business Librarian.

4. "Motivating high school students to read better literature."

KEYWORD	RELATED	BROADENED	NARROWED
HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT	youth, adolescent, teenager	student	grade 10, sophomore
MOTIVATING	perceptions, psychosocial states	attitudes	rewards, extra credit
READING	literature appreciation, reading behavior	literacy	literary novels, taste

Content provided by Sarah Beasley, Education Librarian.

5. "How did Expressionism influence the style of the New York school of art?”

KEYWORD	RELATED	BROADENED	NARROWED
EXPRESSIONISM	Fauvism, German Expressionism, neo-Expressionism	Modernism, European modern art, Movements in modern art	Die Brücke [The Bridge], Der Blaue Reiter [The Blue Rider],Munch, Ensor, Kandinsky, Klee, Marc, etc.
STYLE	manner, techniques, practices, methods, facture	vision, philosophy, aesthetics, world view	Colors, lines, compositions, forms, brushstrokes, act of painting, etc
NEW YORK SCHOOL OF ART	Abstract Expressionists; New York school, first generation; New York avant-garde	American modern art, American avant-garde, American abstract art, 20 th century American art	Action painting, Color-field painting, Gestural painting, Pollock, Rothko, de Kooning, Newman, etc.

Content provided by John Burchard, Art Librarian.

Page designed and maintained by Sharon Elteto

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NARROWING & BROADENING TOPICS: A TUTORIAL