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Criminal Justice

Learn about criminal justice and law enforcement online and print resources, CCC Library's all-in-one catalog, APA resources, and more.

What is on this website?

International Criminal Court logo. Wikimedia Commons.CCC Library's Criminal Justice Research Guide is your one-stop shop to access criminal justice databases, APA templates, and other helpful criminal justice research resources.

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International Criminal Court logo [Public domain image]. Available from https://commons.wikimedia.org

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Choosing a good research topic

Before you choose a topic to research, test it out and make sure it is a good topic to use!

Now that you've learned how to choose a good research topic, the next step is to develop a thesis.

Screen blank or would like Closed Captioning? Watch the YouTube video.

  Video created by CCC Library (Feb. 2018).

Choose a topic

Having trouble finding a topic for your assignment? The most important aspect of your topic is that it needs to be interesting to you - because you get to learn (research) and write (paper) about it.

Try the steps below:

  1. Review your assignment prompt, as well as any class notes, to get an idea of what your instructor wants you to write about.
  2. Broad topic: Start broad with a topic that relates to the assignment prompt.
  3. Ask yourself:
    • What do you want to know about the topic?
    • What do you already know about the topic?
    • You may also want to consider your audience and purpose.
  4. Reflect on those answers. What seems more interesting to you? Are there themes you are seeing that you want to explore more? 
  5. Write down a question that focuses the broad topic to one that interests you.

A good topic is not too broad or too narrow. You may need to do some searching in the library catalog or online to figure out if your topic is too broad or narrow, and adjust.

Examples
  • Broad topic: Climate change
  • Ask yourself:
    • What do you want to know?
      • How does climate change impact individual people or communities?
      • Does climate change hurt farms or other ways we get food?
      • What can we do to help with climate change?
    • What do you already know?
      • Politicians argue a lot about climate change.
      • Sometimes it’s called Global Warming.
      • It seems like there are more floods and droughts. And wildfires.
    Reflect and write out a question
    • How does climate change impact people’s ability to get fresh food?
  • Broad topic: Misinformation about climate change
  • Ask yourself:
    • What do you want to know?
      • Why do some media outlets keep downplaying or denying climate change?
      • How is research funding affected by climate change denial?
      • Why is the United States behind on addressing climate issues compared to many other countries?
    • What do you already know?
      • The US withdrew from the Paris Agreement, an international climate change agreement.
      • Environmental groups and researchers have data showing proven ways to slow climate change down or reverse it.
      • Climate change denial is misinformation, like, it's factually wrong. But is still shared by organizations and people.
    Reflect and write out a question
    • How is misinformation about climate change impacting our ability to effectively address the climate crisis?
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