One way of exploring your topic is by using concept mapping. In this video, the person is determining a topic for a paper, and exploring the relationship between college sucess and another topic. View this video to learn more.

WEDU's Florida This Week tackles issues and news stories from Tampa and around Florida. In this interview with Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn, Rob Lorei uses a journalistic interview and question/answer session. This is a good exmple of asking the right questions.

Radioactive Wolves is a documentary about what has happened years after the Chernobyl nuclear accident. This trailer is very short, but can give you a sense of what kinds of questions one might ask for a cause and effect or relationship paper or project.

Exploring & Refining Your Topic

Ask the right questions!
Explore your topic: ask the right questions for the type of paper or project you need.

A. Compare/Contrast

EXAMPLE of a compare/contrast assignment: Compressed air automobiles versus Gasoline powered cars, versus other alternative "Green" fuel sources.

·             What is ____ similar to?  In what ways?

·             What is ____ different from? In what ways?

·             ____ is superior (inferior) to what? How?

·             ____ is most unlike (like) what? How?

B. Journalistic questions

Example of a Journalistic Interview - see video "Florida This week"

Second EXAMPLE: Who leaked sensitive information about security issues to the congress and the press? When was the leak done, what was their reason, and when did the administration find out? Why would the leak have happened when it did? What was the motivation for the leak? How will the leak affect _____'s election/re-election chances? How will this affect the general public's attitude about the issue and candidate(s)?

·             Who?

·             What?

·             Where?

·             When?

·             Why?

·             How?

·             So What?

C. Common topic areas What other topic is similar to my topic and what do  I know about that?

Example: Economic recession in the United States; how is it similiar to the European Debt Crisis?

D.  Definition

EXAMPLE: Open Access  - Definition - Open-access (OA) literature is digital, online, free of charge, and free of most copyright and licensing restrictions. OA removes price barriers (subscriptions, licensing fees, pay-per-view fees) and permission barriers (most copyright and licensing restrictions). The PLoS shorthand definition —"free availability and unrestricted use"— succinctly captures both elements.

·             How does a comprehensive college-level dictionary define Open-Access?

·             What do I mean by ____?

·             What group of things does ____ belong to?

·             How is ____ different from other things?

·             What parts can ____ be divided into?

·             Does ____ mean something now that it didn't years ago? If so, what?

·             What other words mean about the same as ____?

·             What are some concrete examples of ____?

·             When is the meaning of ____ misunderstood?

E. Relationships

EXAMPLE: Acid Rain

·             What causes acid rain?

·             What are the effects of ____?

·             What is the purpose of ____?

·             What is the consequence of ____?

·             What comes before (after) ____?

F. Testimony

EXAMPLE: Exposure to radioactivity

·             What have I read, viewed, or heard disucssed about exposure to radioactivity?

·             What are some facts of statistics about ____?

·             Can I locate and quote any scholarly articles, television documentaries, newpaper articles about ____?

·             Are there any laws about ____?

G. Circumstances

EXAMPLE: Could the United States suffer another major stock market crash, triggering another Great Depression?

·             Is another Great Depression possible or impossible? (based on what peer reviewed articles, expert opinions?)

·             What qualities, conditions, or circumstances make ____ possible or impossible?

·             When did ____ happen previously, and under what conditions?

·             Who can do ____?

·             If ____ starts, what makes it end?

·             What would it take for ____ to happen now?

·             What would prevent ___ from happening?