One of your best resources for working on a paper is the Research Guide: Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Paper. There is a tremendous amount of information which can guide your topic development. Three areas that may be helpful are linked below. Key concepts are included on this page.

What interests you about this topic? Consider using the  “5W’s and an H” to focus your search.

• Who – Is your focus on the family, the caregivers, the individual, the nutritionist?
• What – Is your focus on the type of food? The availably of nutrition? A specific population or ethnic group?
• Where – Are you thinking about nutrition at home? An elder care center? A hospital? A geographic location?
• When – Are you interested in historic research or something more current?
• Why – What causes differences in … (e.g., eating patterns, services, etc.)
• How – Would your question be: how much do they eat? How often? How easy or difficult it is to serve this clientele?

An example of combining the above is:

• Are there differences in eating patterns between Alzheimer’s and non-Alzheimer’s patients in a hospital and how are they addressed?