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Criminal Justice: Broadening / Narrowing Your Topic

Resource guide for topic areas in criminology and criminal justice.

Broadening Your Topic

If your topic is unfamiliar to you or if you are finding too little information, you may want to broaden your search. To broaden a topic, look for more general or less specific terms.

 

Example:

Topic: Young, Asian-American mothers

  • Teen Pregnancy
  • Single Parenthood
  • Parent-Child relationships

 

 

Narrowing Your Topic

If you are finding too much information or if your information is too general, you may want to narrow your search. To narrow a topic, select terms that are more specific or descriptive.

Example:

Topic: Global Warming

  • Renewable Energy
  • Electric Cars
  • Water Crisis

Water Crisis

  • Water Pump
  • Water Farms
  • Windmills

Windmills

  • Windmills in the United States
  • Windmills in a foreign country : Africa

Thesis:  How successful are windmills in Africa?