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Are you finding too much information?
Your topic is likely too broad or vague and you should narrow your focus.
Narrow it down by asking yourself some questions about your area of interest:
For example, if you're interested in the military draft, you might narrow your topic like this:
| General Topic | Military draft |
| Place | The US |
| Time | WWI, 1940s |
| People/Group | deferred status people - farmers, college students, etc |
| Aspects | History of exempt/deferred status, social perception of those with deferred status |
Not finding enough information? Your topic may be too specific or too new. In that case, you will need to broaden your idea.
Perhaps your research is focused on answering a question for which there may be no answer yet, or you don't have enough supporting research.
Turn it into a more manageable topic by looking for parallels and opportunities for broader associations.
For example, if you want to know about US military contractors in the war in Afghanistan, you could think about alternative aspects like this:
| Specific topic | American contractors in Afghanistan (2016-2021) |
| Alternate people/group | Contractors or mercenaries (regardless of nationality) |
| Alternate time | The first 10 years of the war in Afghanistan (2000-2010); The Gulf War |
| Alternate place | US Contractors in other wars around the world |
| Aspects | The history of contractor use by the US military; The legal status of contractors; The perception of contractors |