A concept map helps to narrow, broaden and otherwise organize research topics. In this example, the research question is, “Should abstinence-only education be used to teach sexual education in schools?” This topic is broad: the concept map breaks the topic into keywords in the center circle, and into four smaller subtopics that are related to the larger question.
1. Teen pregnancy rates
2. Free condoms in schools
3. What are the reproductive rights of teens?
4. How does this relate to the issues of church/state separation?
This is an example of how any topic can be broken into subtopics, and also into keywords that would provide search results on those subtopics. Going through this exercise is helpful to determine the scope and specificity of your chosen research topic. Is too big? Too narrow? Create your own concept map to track what the interrelated ideas of your topic are, before you outline how your research question will be answered.
