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FYW: Beer & Society: Paper 4 Topics

Developing Your T.O.P.I.C.

Hunting in the Literature

It might seem a little backwards, but sometimes you can get good ideas for way beer might apply to an academic area by going straight into the subject-specific databases. Select a database for the area you are thinking about and just type in "beer" or any other related term. Now scan the results. You might be surprised to see the kinds of research already being done to connect beer and that subject.

Bullseye Searching

When searching for ideas, remember that you may need to narrow or broaden your search to get the best results. Think of a bullseye: the center is the most specific search you can think of while each ring gets a bit broader.

For example, you might be interested in beer consumption by students before and during college football games. You might broaden this idea to be any alcohol consumption as details about beer specifically might be difficult to find. On the other hand, you might narrow your search on a specific type of school (like private, liberal arts) or even a specific school (like Furman).