Skip to Main Content

HDFS470: Children and Families at Risk

Developing your Topic

Most research topics start as a general idea.

 ex) Childhood poverty, immigration, incarceration, disability, etc.

Once you have a general idea, you can search an article database to see what kinds of topics are being discussed that relate to your general idea. Take a look at the search tips page for databases you can try.  As you notice a focus area that catches your interest, you can add those words to your search to dig into that topic further. Remember, it's ok if your research question changes as you learn more, that is how research is supposed to work!

Ebscohost result screen with portions of the title highlighted that represent focus areas for a childhood poverty topic. Highlighted text includes "adult health outcomes," Well-child visits" and "later life depression"