Psychology Databases

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Choosing a Topic

To choose a good topic, consider gathering information on a topic that is:

1. Interesting! Focus on a topic that you want to know more about and can hold your interest to the end of your research.

2. Think about topics that may affect you or someone you know.

3. Identify a very broad category you'd like to explore:
   • Psychological disorder (chronic illness, depression, learning disability, etc.)
   • Stage of development (infancy, early childhood, elderly, etc.)
   • Population group (gender, race, age, ethnicity, nationality, immigration status, sexuality, religion)
   • Life events (marriage, suicide, school, stress, unemployment, etc.)
   • Psychological theory (Piaget, Freud)
   • Use online tools:
     • American Psychological Association Topics
     • Psychology Today
     • Stanford University
     • National Institute of Mental Health
     • Questia

Topics are tricky, and can change during the course of your research. Sometimes they change a lot, sometimes a little; it just depends on what information you find.

Choose a topic that interests you. Writing a paper that bores you is the worst!

Make sure you can find some information on it. Also, you need to take care not to pick something too broad. Determining a topic’s scope can be a fine line, and it takes practice.