It’s important to learn basic information about your topic before you decide to commit to it and before you can develop a strong research question. Pick something that will hold your interest throughout the assignment.
Once you have a general idea for a topic, see if there’s an in-depth report in CQ Researcher or an issue page in SIRS Researcher (linked below). Our online reference sources and free online encyclopedias can provide helpful overviews of a topic. Textbooks provide excellent background research as well.
Tip: Take notes during your background research. Jot down terms you might use or authors you might want to explore.
Learn about specific terms used in this tutorial on the Definition of Terms page.
