Community Development

A subject guide to support research in the field of Community Development.

Library Research Guide

Developing a Topic

It can be difficult to choose the right topic for your research in community development. Here are some questions to ask yourself:

  • What are you interested in?
  • What do you know about the topic?
  • Is there a specific time period you want to cover?
  • Is there a geographic region or country on which you want to focus?
  • Is there a particular aspect of the topic that interests you?

Narrow Your Topic

Too Broad or Narrow?

If you have learned what to do when your topic is too broad, consider another scenario:

Though having a topic that is too broad is a common problem, you also need to make sure your topic is not too narrow. If your topic is so limited by geographical area, details, or is very current, you may not be able to find any information about it when researching. 

Below is a table that shows examples of topics that are too broad, too narrow and just right.

 
Too Broad Just Right Too Narrow

Discipline of children from different cultures

How does race effect the severity of discipline in early childhood education?

Corporal punishment in Johnson County, Kansas elementary schools

Housing segregation in the United States

The effect of racism on home lending and its relationship to housing segregation

How race affects buying homes in Manhattan, Kansas

Negative effect of environmental toxins

 

The exposure of different racial communities to environmental toxins

The exposure of Nicodemus, Kansas to outdated farming pesticides