Research as Inquiry (ACRL, 2015) refers to an understanding that research is iterative (repetitive) and depends upon asking increasingly complex or new questions whose answers prompt additional questions.
Information scientist, Marcia Bates (1989), described online searching as being like berry-picking (see diagram at right). You start with one question (Q0) and as new thoughts or information are uncovered, the path winds along to incorporate this new knowledge. This means your original question may change as you work through your research; this is totally normal!
This 6 minute tutorial will help students learn to develop an appropriate topic for a research paper by considering goals, approaches, topic scope and helpful resources.