Defining Your Research Topic
This assignment will assist you in learning how to pick a research topic, create a thesis statement, and develop a research strategy.

1. Select a research TOPIC (subject)

   The role of the alternative media in shaping American society and institutions.

2. Write down three questions or statements about this topic based upon what you already know about it.

   1. Does the alternative media have much affect in shaping the ideas and opinions of American society and governmental and cultural institutions?

   2. How does the purchase and consolidation of the mass media by large corporations affect the independence and quality of journalism and reporting?

   3. What role should libraries play in collecting and providing access to materials published by the alternative media?

3. Select one of the questions above from which to develop your thesis statement. Write down a WORKING THESIS or PRIMARY FOCUS. Your final thesis statement will probably change as you find out more about your topic.

   This paper will examine the role that the alternative press plays in shaping American society and its governmental and cultural institutions. It will also compare the role of the alternative media to that of the corporate funded mainstream media.

4. From what perspective(s) would you approach the topic [humanistic (i.e., religious, ethical, philosophical, cultural), social scientific (i.e., political, economic, sociological, anthropological, legal), scientific (i.e., biological, medical)]?

   ethical, cultural, political, economic, sociological

5. Take a look at the questions you wrote down above and your working thesis statement. Identify the main ideas and write them down as keywords. These words will be helpful to you when you perform keyword searches on the Internet and in online databases.

   alternative media, alternative press, small press, American society, mass media, mainstream press, mass media consolidation, corporate press

6. Locate two SUBJECT HEADINGS (from the Library of Congress Subject Heading books, or from the LC Subject Authority database on PALS) on your topic. Write them down.

   Underground press, LC tells me to use this heading rather than Alternative press. [The note for this subject heading states: Here are entered works about publications issued legally (and usually serially) and produced by radical, anti-establishment, counter-culture groups. Works about publications issued clandestinely and contrary to government regulation are entered under Underground literature.]

   Mass media criticism, LC tells me to use this heading rather than Criticism of the mass media. I also found Mass media--Social aspects, and Mass media--Political aspects. Social aspects and Political aspects are sub-headings that further define the subject Mass media.

7. What types of library materials are appropriate for you topic? (e.g. books, periodical articles, subject encyclopedias, biographies, bibliographies, statistics, web sites). Write down the appropriate materials.

   Books dealing with both the alternative and mass media. Journalism and media watchdog magazines and journals. Web sites devoted to media analysis and criticism. Mass media bibliographies.

8. Would you expect to find most information in scholarly journals or popular sources? Explain why.

   Both. Because there are both popular magazines as well as scholarly journals devoted to the media and journalism. However, I expect to use more materials from popular sources that discuss the role of the alternative media and critique the corporate ownership of the mainstream media.

9. Would you expect to find most information in primary or secondary sources? Explain why.

   Secondary sources. Most of the material will come from sources that critique the mainstream and alternative media. These types of resources include a lot of political, social and ethical opinion that is based upon primary resources and research.