Research Guides: Writing Research Papers: Research Topic / Question

Topic vs. Research Question

A research topic is a subject that you are interested in investigating. For instance, Bees is a Topic.

A research question drives your investigation. It is something that you want to know about your topic; something you will explore and try to answer. For example, "How do bees work together as a community?" is a research question.

Using the 5Ws to Develop a Research Question

Concept Mapping Your Topic

Concept mapping can be a great way to brainstorm ideas and make connections between them. The following worksheets can be helpful to you in this process. But first, check out this tutorial on how use concept mapping to generate a great list of questions: https://uclalibrary.github.io/research-tips/questions/.

Sources to Help You Explore Your Topics Related to Contemporary or Controversial Issues

Opposing Viewpoints
Provides a complete one-stop source for information on social issues. Access viewpoint articles, topic overviews, statistics, primary documents, links to websites, and full-text magazine and newspaper articles.
CQ Researcher
Explores a single "hot" issue in the news in depth each week. The CQ Researcher web site offers online access to issues dating back to October 25, 1991.
New York Times Digital
Anyone with a valid CUNY email address can sign up for free access to the NYTimes.com website and apps. It also means that you can cancel your personal subscription to NYTimes.com! (But first read the Restrictions section below to make sure you want to cancel.)

How to Register for Your Free Academic Pass:

Go to nytimes.com/passes
Click Register to create a NYTimes.com account using your cuny.edu email address. If you already have a NYTimes account (free or paid) associated with your CUNY email, you need to unlink your CUNY email from that account before signing up for your Academic Pass. Log in to NYTimes.com, click your Username in the top right corner, select My Account, and replace your CUNY address with a non-CUNY one. You can then use your CUNY address to register for your pass.
At the bottom of the Welcome page, click Continue. You will be prompted to check your email. Watch for the confirmation message, which should arrive within 15 minutes.
Click the link in the confirmation email. This will simultaneously verify your eligibility and grant your Academic Pass, which will provide access to NYTimes.com for 52 weeks.
If you don't get the confirmation email, check your spam filter. If you still do not receive it, send an email from your CUNY email account to edu@nytimes.com.
Ongoing Use: Once you have activated your Academic Pass, you should have full access for 52 weeks (364 days) with no further action on your part. If you see a message that you are reaching the limit of free articles on the site, youre probably not logged in. Simply log back in.
Renewal: As people who have signed up reach their one-year anniversary, their passes will expire, and they will start seeing the article counter again. Then, after accessing 10 articles, they will be prompted to subscribe or log in. When this happens to you, just go to https://nytimes.com/passes and sign in as an existing subscriber to enjoy another free year of access to the digital New York Times.
Apps: Your Academic Pass includes access to the NYTimes apps. Once you have registered your Academic Pass, you can access nytimes.com on most web-capable devices.

Canceling a Personal Subscription: To cancel your personal subscription, call NYTimes customer service at 1-800-NYTIMES or, if you subscribed through iTunes, follow these instructions. There may be other things you have to do, depending on the device you have been using to read the NYTimes. If you had an annual subscription, you will receive a refund for the unused portion of the year. If you had a monthly subscription, you will not receive a refund for the month in which you cancel.