Preliminary Literature Review: Topic Development
START
by Dr. Olga Koz, Collegiate Librarian and IRML Evidence Synthesis Methodologist
Objectives
of the learning module
Learn
Develop
Understand
Discover
Review Purposes
Topic, Concepts, Question
Tools
Definition, process
Finding gaps in research Framing the research
Positioning research in the literature
Learn and understand the process of preparation for research, including reviewing literature to develop a research topic and question
Sources and Tools availble at the library or outside of the library walls
Learn about the process of the development of a research topic, question, concepts clarification
01
Understand
Learn and understand the research preparation process within the college or high school curriculum, including reviewing literature as a key part of it.
start
Definition
01
A preliminary literature review involves identifying and analyzing existing research to develop a research topic, clarify key concepts and connections between them, and learn about the key literature in the area of research Essentially, it's a simultaneous learning and research process.
Research Planning
01
College/High School curriculum
Hopscotch Research Design by Dr. Jorrin Abellan
Hopscotch Research Design Model
+ info
Research Proposal with Literature Review by Dr. Koz
How
What
Why
Topic & Concepts Development
Problem or Interest
Research Question
Protocol evaluation, ethical, research integrity, rigor
Theoretical & Concept. Framework
Literature Review
Gaps in knowledgetthe study, positioning
Research Design
Goals or Purposes
Approach to research, worldview, paradigms
02
Develop
Research Concepts, Topic and Question
start
Topic Development
02
The role of the literature review
- Scholar-practitioner
- Applied research
- Student with focus on local issues and needs
- Conceptual Learning for a student
- New topic for a researcher
Transcript
02
Topic Elements - Narrow the topic
Disciplinary Index: Topic Mapping
Thesaurus Subject Dictionaries, Concept Mapping
Problem of Practice/Research Gaps
Filters in the databases/indexes to narrow a topic
Topic Development
For qualitative vs. quantitative research
Quantitative Study: 2 narrow operational concepts or variables
Qualitative study: Broad concept or a phenomenon
+ info
+ info
Transcript
Research Question Structure
02
If you fully develop the research topic, it will be easier to formultate a research question based on the research types and methodology
Learn more about a research question structure
https://libguides.kennesaw.edu/questions/structure
03
Discover
Sources and Tools available at the library or outside of the library walls
start
Preliminary Search
Tooltip
Systematic search
Learn more about
Sources
for research topic development
Concepts Connecting
Title 01
Concepts/Broad/Narrow/Relevant Terms Clarification & Connection
Subtitle here
Knowledge Mapping
Subject scientific dictionaries, research handbooks- clarify terms and concepts
Synopsis, Summaries, Gale Topic Finder, "Dimensions," and other literature mapping tools
Check the academic databases Subjects or Thesaurus option, concept mapping tools
ThesaurusBrowsing
List of databases with a thesaurus and tutorials how to do this search by a database
Academic Databases
Gale Databases
Gale Topic Finder
Gale In Context: High School and Gale OneFile: High School Edition
Video
PDF
Research Topic Overview
Open Access AI app
Research Topics Visual Map Concept Mapping Link to texts
Link
Info
AI Research Topic Generators
Paperguide
Lorem Ipsum
The example of the AI driven Topic Generator
- Lorem ipsum dolor sit
- Consectetur adipiscing
- Donec eu porta justo
- Sed interdum dui
- Integer convallis in
- Be aware of the limitations of using generic GPTs for research
- Complimentary tool
Transcript
Guides to Research Planning & Literature Review Review
04
Link
05
Quiz
What tool is the most helpful for research topic development?
start
Quiz
Select a tool or technique
Select a tool
Quiz
Wrong!
Limitations of GPTs
Oops!
- Hallucinations and Inaccuracy
- Lack of "Out-of-the-Box" and Genuine Thinking
- Lack of Contextual and Domain Expertise
Quiz
Make a decision
Narrow the topic
Make a decision
In a quantitative study, limiting concepts provide boundaries that keep the research feasible.
Include speciifc population (age, education or other charsacteristics)
Finding small gap in knowledge in research or evidence
Limiting the scope, the context, the setting of the study
Bibliography
Write a subtitle here
Interactive Research Methods Lab (IRML) https://irml.kennesaw.edu/start_here.php
01
Koz. O. Preliminary Literature Review
02
Koz. O. Guide to Research Planning
03
04
Koz. O. 2025. Research Topic Development: Tutorial
Lesson completed!
KnowledgeMap overviews research topics and the documents related to each area. Identify relevant content. Separate the wheat from the chaff: AI pipeline clusters similar documents together despite ambiguous terms. Identify relevant concepts with the help of AI: one of the most difficult tasks when you are new to a research field is to learn the “language” of the field. Find open content: the Knowledge Maps include both closed- and open-access documents.
The quantitative approach requires you to take a broad topic and rigorously narrow it down to just two primary operational concepts or variables. You must then define precisely how you will measure them, turning abstract ideas into concrete variables. Finding theories that establish existing relationships might help. This diagram illustrates the reduction process. The broad topic is distilled into two clear concepts ("Academic Pressure" and "GPA"). These are then operationalized into measurable variables (e.g., a test score for pressure, an official GPA for performance). The final question is a linear, testable hypothesis about the relationship between these two specific variables.
The qualitative approach involves starting with a broad topic or construct and then exploring the connections among many concepts that emerge. You might narrow down at the beginning, but you expand and capture the phenomenon's complexity during the study.As shown in the diagram above, a broad topic like "College Student Stress" explodes into a web of interconnected, non-linear concepts. The goal is not to isolate them but to understand how they interact. The final research question reflects this by being open-ended ("How..."), focusing on the process of navigation and the meaning of the experience.
What is the role of the literature review in the process of the research topic and question development? It depends on who you are as a researcher and your access to scientific knowledge. If you need to learn about the topic, a preliminary review of knowledge is detrimental. If you have access to the latest research, you should review it to figure out the gap in research to justify the selected topic or question.
When using generative AI tools (like ChatGPT) to come up with research ideas, watch out for these three major pitfalls: They make things up: AI will sometimes confidently give you fake facts or invent fake sources—a problem known as "hallucinating." They aren't truly original: AI lacks real critical thinking. It tends to recycle existing ideas rather than giving you something genuinely new. They are biased: AI mostly learns from the free, public internet. It absorbs the biases found there and often cannot access high-quality, paywalled scientific journals. A Better Alternative Specialized AI tools like Paperguide are built differently. Because they pull information directly from real academic databases, they are much better at avoiding bias and fake facts. The Catch: Even with a great academic AI tool, the hardest part is still up to you. The AI can only give you good answers if you know how to ask a strong, clear research question in the first place.
I want to emphasize that developing the topic or "topic reduction", moving from the initial broad to a more specific area of research, is different if one conducts a qualitative or quantitative study.
Quantitative topics should include a limited number of variables that are easier to measure. In contrast, a more inductive or qualitative study might focus on whole cases, experiences, phenomena, and multiple concepts.
The primary purposes of a preliminary literature search are to clarify the core concepts and constructs related to your research topic, identify key terms, and establish a search strategy. This process typically begins by defining main ideas and determining the vocabulary and terminology that will guide your exploration. The next step involves locating seminal works and conceptual papers that connect these concepts, providing a foundation for understanding the relationships within your topic area. As you move from conceptual mapping to literature mapping, you progressively narrow your research topic and sharpen your research question, ensuring that your inquiry is both focused and grounded in the existing body of knowledge.
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Transcript
Preliminary Literature Review: Topic Development
START
by Dr. Olga Koz, Collegiate Librarian and IRML Evidence Synthesis Methodologist
Objectives
of the learning module
Learn
Develop
Understand
Discover
Review Purposes
Topic, Concepts, Question
Tools
Definition, process
Finding gaps in research Framing the research Positioning research in the literature
Learn and understand the process of preparation for research, including reviewing literature to develop a research topic and question
Sources and Tools availble at the library or outside of the library walls
Learn about the process of the development of a research topic, question, concepts clarification
01
Understand
Learn and understand the research preparation process within the college or high school curriculum, including reviewing literature as a key part of it.
start
Definition
01
A preliminary literature review involves identifying and analyzing existing research to develop a research topic, clarify key concepts and connections between them, and learn about the key literature in the area of research Essentially, it's a simultaneous learning and research process.
Research Planning
01
College/High School curriculum
Hopscotch Research Design by Dr. Jorrin Abellan
Hopscotch Research Design Model
+ info
Research Proposal with Literature Review by Dr. Koz
How
What
Why
Topic & Concepts Development
Problem or Interest
Research Question
Protocol evaluation, ethical, research integrity, rigor
Theoretical & Concept. Framework
Literature Review
Gaps in knowledgetthe study, positioning
Research Design
Goals or Purposes
Approach to research, worldview, paradigms
02
Develop
Research Concepts, Topic and Question
start
Topic Development
02
The role of the literature review
Transcript
02
Topic Elements - Narrow the topic
Disciplinary Index: Topic Mapping
Thesaurus Subject Dictionaries, Concept Mapping
Problem of Practice/Research Gaps
Filters in the databases/indexes to narrow a topic
Topic Development
For qualitative vs. quantitative research
Quantitative Study: 2 narrow operational concepts or variables
Qualitative study: Broad concept or a phenomenon
+ info
+ info
Transcript
Research Question Structure
02
If you fully develop the research topic, it will be easier to formultate a research question based on the research types and methodology
Learn more about a research question structure
https://libguides.kennesaw.edu/questions/structure
03
Discover
Sources and Tools available at the library or outside of the library walls
start
Preliminary Search
Tooltip
Systematic search
Learn more about
Sources
for research topic development
Concepts Connecting
Title 01
Concepts/Broad/Narrow/Relevant Terms Clarification & Connection
Subtitle here
Knowledge Mapping
Subject scientific dictionaries, research handbooks- clarify terms and concepts
Synopsis, Summaries, Gale Topic Finder, "Dimensions," and other literature mapping tools
Check the academic databases Subjects or Thesaurus option, concept mapping tools
ThesaurusBrowsing
List of databases with a thesaurus and tutorials how to do this search by a database
Academic Databases
Gale Databases
Gale Topic Finder
Gale In Context: High School and Gale OneFile: High School Edition
Video
PDF
Research Topic Overview
Open Access AI app
Research Topics Visual Map Concept Mapping Link to texts
Link
Info
AI Research Topic Generators
Paperguide
Lorem Ipsum
The example of the AI driven Topic Generator
Transcript
Guides to Research Planning & Literature Review Review
04
Link
05
Quiz
What tool is the most helpful for research topic development?
start
Quiz
Select a tool or technique
Select a tool
Quiz
Wrong!
Limitations of GPTs
Oops!
Quiz
Make a decision
Narrow the topic
Make a decision
In a quantitative study, limiting concepts provide boundaries that keep the research feasible.
Include speciifc population (age, education or other charsacteristics)
Finding small gap in knowledge in research or evidence
Limiting the scope, the context, the setting of the study
Bibliography
Write a subtitle here
Interactive Research Methods Lab (IRML) https://irml.kennesaw.edu/start_here.php
01
Koz. O. Preliminary Literature Review
02
Koz. O. Guide to Research Planning
03
04
Koz. O. 2025. Research Topic Development: Tutorial
Lesson completed!
KnowledgeMap overviews research topics and the documents related to each area. Identify relevant content. Separate the wheat from the chaff: AI pipeline clusters similar documents together despite ambiguous terms. Identify relevant concepts with the help of AI: one of the most difficult tasks when you are new to a research field is to learn the “language” of the field. Find open content: the Knowledge Maps include both closed- and open-access documents.
The quantitative approach requires you to take a broad topic and rigorously narrow it down to just two primary operational concepts or variables. You must then define precisely how you will measure them, turning abstract ideas into concrete variables. Finding theories that establish existing relationships might help. This diagram illustrates the reduction process. The broad topic is distilled into two clear concepts ("Academic Pressure" and "GPA"). These are then operationalized into measurable variables (e.g., a test score for pressure, an official GPA for performance). The final question is a linear, testable hypothesis about the relationship between these two specific variables.
The qualitative approach involves starting with a broad topic or construct and then exploring the connections among many concepts that emerge. You might narrow down at the beginning, but you expand and capture the phenomenon's complexity during the study.As shown in the diagram above, a broad topic like "College Student Stress" explodes into a web of interconnected, non-linear concepts. The goal is not to isolate them but to understand how they interact. The final research question reflects this by being open-ended ("How..."), focusing on the process of navigation and the meaning of the experience.
What is the role of the literature review in the process of the research topic and question development? It depends on who you are as a researcher and your access to scientific knowledge. If you need to learn about the topic, a preliminary review of knowledge is detrimental. If you have access to the latest research, you should review it to figure out the gap in research to justify the selected topic or question.
When using generative AI tools (like ChatGPT) to come up with research ideas, watch out for these three major pitfalls: They make things up: AI will sometimes confidently give you fake facts or invent fake sources—a problem known as "hallucinating." They aren't truly original: AI lacks real critical thinking. It tends to recycle existing ideas rather than giving you something genuinely new. They are biased: AI mostly learns from the free, public internet. It absorbs the biases found there and often cannot access high-quality, paywalled scientific journals. A Better Alternative Specialized AI tools like Paperguide are built differently. Because they pull information directly from real academic databases, they are much better at avoiding bias and fake facts. The Catch: Even with a great academic AI tool, the hardest part is still up to you. The AI can only give you good answers if you know how to ask a strong, clear research question in the first place.
I want to emphasize that developing the topic or "topic reduction", moving from the initial broad to a more specific area of research, is different if one conducts a qualitative or quantitative study. Quantitative topics should include a limited number of variables that are easier to measure. In contrast, a more inductive or qualitative study might focus on whole cases, experiences, phenomena, and multiple concepts.
The primary purposes of a preliminary literature search are to clarify the core concepts and constructs related to your research topic, identify key terms, and establish a search strategy. This process typically begins by defining main ideas and determining the vocabulary and terminology that will guide your exploration. The next step involves locating seminal works and conceptual papers that connect these concepts, providing a foundation for understanding the relationships within your topic area. As you move from conceptual mapping to literature mapping, you progressively narrow your research topic and sharpen your research question, ensuring that your inquiry is both focused and grounded in the existing body of knowledge.