Narrowing down what to specifically look at in a master paper is challenging. If you are interesting in migration policy in Southern Africa, start thinking about what about this topic interests you? Is it the government's response to a certain 'hot topic'? Is is a specific policy that interests you, perhaps for reasons of success or failure? Then think of who those stakeholders are: which government agencies, civil society members, the various 'categories' of migrants. Then READ. Read a few articles around this broader topic that interest you and critically think about what are these scholars not mentioning or talking about. It could also be that you find an article from another region of the world that might be applicable to Southern Africa, in that case you could apply the study design to Southern Africa and have a project for you master paper. Once you have your topic, you will need to identify one specific aspect to pay attention too. For instance with migration policy, do you think timing of a policy would influence migration flows, or do you question the effectiveness of an agency to implement a policy. I find it is easiest to just choose one specific aspect to look at. Then as you read you will find a topic that fits to certain populations, agencies, policy types, ect that narrow down your final topic. Hope it helps & Good luck.

ps. If you are interested in migration policy, check out this article, it was really inspiring to me in my undergrad.

Czaika, M., & De Haas, H. (2013). The effectiveness of immigration policies. Population and Development Review, 39(3), 487–508. http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1728-4457.2013.00613.x

Thanks Christina. Your response has affirmed what i was thinking of focusing on and i was not certain if it will work. I'm thinking of looking at immigration policy and explore whether it constrains or promote regional integration. I will read the article as well. It can be very equally enlightening and confusing as one reads the information that is out there. It then becomes a challenge as to what to focus on and what to leave out, particularly the conceptual frameworks.

Vonani Aretha Mhlanga I think it is better to focus in on one specific policy (ex. access to family reunification, access to language courses, or path to citizenship ect.) then determine how you would measure integration. Think of which level you wish to look at, micro (individual), Meso (household or community) or Macro (national/statewide), since this can also help guide you for the type of data you need to collect and thus how you can proxy integration. Integration is a major field, one in which it is easy to get lost in. For that reason you should pick what you want to look at before reading, then once you start reading make sure to keep you research question in mind to keep yourself focused.

Thanks Christina. Integration is indeed broad. I will keep this in mind so that i do not get lost. You have been very helpful.

To narrow the research paper you may focus on the aspects that must be part of the abstract. The introductory sentences, the purpose, the research question, the methodology, the participants, the findings and conclusions. This may serve as mind-map when summarising the content of your dissertation or abstract.

Ndia livhuwa vho Nndwamato. I submitted a draft proposal yesterday and await feedback. This will still help going forward.