Research Project
Getting Started
Finding a topic is usually a multi-step process. Many students begin by selecting a broad, general topic of interest. Perhaps you already have some particular aspect of navigation you are interested in. If not, a good way to get some ideas is to scan through a text or general sourcebook that covers navigation. There are a few such books in the library, but a better resource may be the course text (volume 199 of The Experimental Journal of Biology). While the class text is, by no means, an exhaustive review of the field of navigation (e.g., human navigation, for example, is not directly addressed), it might give you some broad ideas of a topic you are interested in. You may also try paging through a few recent copies of some journals that deal with issues in navigation. It is not uncommon for me to go to the library and simply go through the stacks of current periodicals and just scan through the table of contents of a journal to see if there is something interesting or related to my work. Take this link to a list of journals that include articles on navigation
Literature Search
Once you have selected a general category you need to determine if there is enough material available for you to comply with the research presentation and paper requirements. Therefore, you should conduct a literature review. This involves going to the library and searching through the various reference materials available there. Typical sources for a literature review include the Psychological Abstracts, the Science Citation Index, the various CD ROM databases, and the various databases that can be searched through the Library's GATE system. If you do not know how to make use of these resources ask a librarian for assistance. It is, after all, what they are there for. Also, check this link for information about workshops on using the library system. Unless you have chosen an especially esoteric topic, you will probably find that there are far more articles and other resources available than you need for your research project.
Narrowing the Field
Having too broad a topic can be just as bad as having too narrow a topic. Remember that you only have a maximum of 15 pages in which to address your topic in a critical and complete manner. The best way to narrow your general topic down is to read some of the papers published in the field you have identified (and conducted the literature search on). A good thing to do is to look at some of the review articles your literature search has identified. Review articles (much like those in the class text) are of great assistance in identifying the big issues in a field (i.e., the important theoretical and/or methodological points that are being discussed, researched, and investigated). Once you get an idea of what the hot topics are you should be able to narrow your project down to a feasible scope.
What Stays, What Goes?
At this point you may need to conduct another literature search. This search should be much more focussed that the first one. In this search you might be looking for articles on specific topics or all the articles by a particular researcher, for example. After identifying and reading these articles you may find that some of them are not actually appropriate to your topic after all. Unfortunately, that happens. Try to avoid "stacking" your research paper. That is, do not add in as many references as you can. Only include those that are related to your topic (likewise, I won't need to see an additional list of all the things you have read; just include the reference list of those sources cited in the paper itselv). Reading more than you ultimately include in a paper is just part of the research process. If it is any consolation, no knowledge is wasted: maybe you can use it in some future project.
Fun
Finally, have fun with this project! Try to select something that you are actually interested in. This project is going to be an awful lot of work, so there is no point saddling yourself with something that is really, really dull.
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