You won't know what you'll find, and sometimes it isn't even what you were looking for! As I said in class, you've got to fill that basket with eggs you have found before you can make the omlet (or research paper in this analogy). If you can't find any purple eggs, you will have to go back and collect all the green and yellow eggs you can instead!
For those who haven't had my Lit class yet, the eggs stands for key words and key phrases, the basket full of eggs stands for your research articles collected.
Okay, so this narrowing down the topic using keywords is pretty tough -- it often requires us to go back and get rid of a couple words or phrases, add some new ones, and try researching again. Finding the right keywords can be particularly frustrating if you are researching a new-to-you area. That's why I encourage students to pick a topic they are interested in and one that focuses on your major. You then become more of an "expert" as you go through your core classes.
Experiment -- get three eggs together and then do some research in the library databases. See what you can find. If nothing works, go back and try to come up with a new topic area. It takes work. If you get frustrated (and you know who I'm talking to!), then walk away, or talk to a friend, or drop me an email. Bounce some ideas of others as to what you think is a topic you can stick with.
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