R A 605: Effective Regulatory Writing and Communication

Refining your research topic is a crucial first step in the research process, and the sentence you provided highlights two key aspects: it's one of many possible approaches and it's a flexible, repeated process.

The Initial Topic and the Need for Refinement

When you start a research project, your initial topic is often too broad, complex, or vague to support an effective information search. For example, a topic like "The effects of social media" is massive and could lead to millions of irrelevant results. The single way described on the page—which might involve using a mind map, concept matrix, or the FASST method (Focus, Angle, Scope, Source, Time), for instance—is designed to help you transform that broad idea into a focused, manageable research question. This specific method helps you define the scope, clarify the key variables, and determine the context of your study.

Multiple Paths to Focus

The sentence emphasizes that there are several ways to go about this. This means no single method is universally perfect. Your choice of refinement strategy should depend on your initial topic, your personal learning style, and the requirements of your assignment.

Alternative approaches include:

• Preliminary Searching: Conducting a small, initial search to see what types of information (and how much) are available. This can reveal sub-topics that are well-researched or completely novel.
• The 5W's: Using journalistic questions (Who, What, When, Where, Why) to break down the topic and identify specific parameters.
• Concept Analysis: Breaking the topic into its constituent concepts and looking up specialized vocabulary to ensure you are using the most precise keywords for database searches.

The Iterative Nature of Refinement

The most important detail is that this process is iterative. Iterative means it involves cycles of repetition and refinement. Your research topic isn't set in stone after the first attempt; instead, it's a dynamic hypothesis that changes as you learn more.

The Iterative Cycle:

1. Refine: You use a method (like the one described on the page) to narrow your broad topic into a specific research question.
2. Search: You use your new keywords and research question to conduct a search for relevant information in databases and library catalogs.
3. Evaluate & Adjust: You evaluate the results.
   • If the results are overwhelming (too many, too general), your topic is still too broad. You need to refine it further.
   • If the results are non-existent or completely off-topic, your keywords are too specific, or your question is based on a false premise. You need to broaden your topic slightly and adjust your search terms.
   • If the results are manageable, relevant, and provide diverse viewpoints, your topic is likely refined enough, and you can proceed with deeper research.

This continuous cycle ensures your time is spent efficiently, focusing your search on truly relevant information rather than sifting through masses of unhelpful data.

The basic steps are listed below: