Los Angeles Valley College Library: Business Research Guide : Develop a Topic

Explore & Refine

Explore Your Topic
Refine Your Topic

A hiker cresting a mountain with the word "Explore"

Before you develop your research topic or question, you'll need to do some background research first.

Some good places to find background information:

Your textbook or class readings
Encyclopedias and reference books
Credible websites
Library databases

Try the library databases below to explore your topic. When you're ready, move on to refining your topic.

Find Background Information:

Gale eBooks This link opens in a new window
Cross-searches full text of more than one hundred encyclopedias, almanacs, and specialized reference sources covering arts and humanities, biography and genealogy, business, careers, education, literature, history, philosophy, information industry, law, government, medicine and health, multicultural studies, countries, religion, science, social studies, sports, technology, and women's studies.
MasterFILE Complete This link opens in a new window
This multidisciplinary database provides full text for more than 2,000 general reference publications with full text information dating as far back as 1922. Covering virtually every subject area of general interest, MasterFILE Complete also contains full text for more than 1,000 reference books and over 164,400 primary source documents, as well as an Image Collection of over 502,000 photos, maps & flags.

Encyclopedia of Business and Finance by Gale Editors
Publication Date: 2014
Designed to meet both the specific research and general inquiry needs of all business students by providing easy to understand essays covering all of the foundational topics, themes, and theories that will be covered in their business degree curricula. Complete reference covering five general areas: finance and banking; accounting; marketing; management; and information systems.
Marketing: A Quickstudy Digital Reference Guide by Robert Murdick; Ruth Thaler-Carter
ISBN: 1423239911
Publication Date: 2019
This big-picture view of marketing's most important core concepts includes the details behind those concepts in clear, concise and easy to review sections. Students can use this reference tool to stay sharp and make the grade in marketing courses.
Encyclopedia of Business and Finance by Burton S. Kaliski (Ed.)
ISBN: 0028660617
Publication Date: 2007
Designed for the non-specialist, the Encyclopedia of Business and Finance is a 2-vol. complete reference covering five general areas: finance and banking; accounting; marketing; management; and information systems.

a glass beaker with gold liquid inside with the word "Refine" at the top

Now that you've done some background research, it's time to narrow your topic. Remember: the shorter your final paper, the narrower your topic needs to be. Here are some suggestions for narrowing and defining your topic:

Is there a specific subset of the topic you can focus on?
Is there a cause and effect relationship you can explore?
Is there an unanswered question on the subject?
Can you focus on a specific time period or group of people?

Describe and develop your topic in some detail. Try filling in the blanks in the following sentence, as much as you can:

I want to research ____(what/who)____ and ____(what/who)____

in ____(where)____ during ____(when)____ because ____(why)____.

Example: I want to research cable companies and marketing to Millennials in the United States today because most of my friends have "cut the cord" and I'm interested in how cable companies are trying to get their business back.

Video: How to Narrow Your Topic

The following video [3:34] will give you tips for narrowing your topic. Note: clicking on the image below will open the video in a new tab or window.