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How to Begin Research
Developed by Judy Baumgardner Step One: Develop a Clearly Defined Research Topic You need to develop a focused research topic in order to gather relevant material for your research project. If your topic is clearly defined, the research process will go more smoothly. TIP: Thoroughly understand what you are being asked to do! Do not leave class without knowing EXACTLY what your instructor requires from you. When in doubt, make an appointment with your instructor and ask direct questions about the assigned research paper. Example: You are working on a 5-page paper for an English class. You have chosen to do your paper on child abuse. This is a very broad subject and you will need to narrow the subject and develop a more focused topic. Is there some specific type of types of child abuse that you want to focus on? Do you know if your instructor requires information from a certain number of different sources? Do you know if you are required to include a Bibliography/Works Cited page? If so, what style does the instructor require that you use? These are some, but not all, of the types of questions that you need to know the answers to. You need to learn to pick and refine a topic before figuring out the focal pint of your paper: your thesis statement or research question. You just can not afford to waste time wandering aimlessly around the library or wandering around in your paper. You need to know what the ultimate purpose is and what you need to know and do to get there. State your topic idea as a question. Information research begins with good questions. For example, phrase your topic in the form of a question. A question usually begins with one of the following words: Who? What? Where? When? Why? How? As you begin to look for information , you will constantly be asking yourself, "Does this particular information answer my research question?" Often your paper will take the form of several research questions. Example: You have narrowed your topic down to one type of child abuse: sexual abuse. This topic can b e phrased as several questions: What is sexual child abuse? Where does most of the abuse take place? Who are the ones most likely to sexually abuse children? How prevalent is sexual child abuse? These research questions are a "pathway" to finding relevant information; you know what information you need to find to answer these questions.
Step Two: Identify Keywords or Main Concepts in the Research Question Pick out the significant terms, concepts and keywords that describe your topic/research question(s). In addition, make a list of synonyms and related terms. These terms will become the key for searching catalogs, indexes, and databases for information about your subject. This list may also suggest ways to narrow or broaden your topic. TIP: Finding too little information may indicate that your topic is too narrow and that you need to broaden your topic. In this case, try selecting terms that are more general. If you are finding too much information and too many sources, you will need to narrow your topic. If you need to narrow your topic, try thinking of concrete or more specific terms. Once you have formulated a new research question, you will have to repeat the process of picking out the significant terms and making a list of synonyms and related terms. Example: Test the main concepts or keywords in you topic by looking them up in the appropriate background sources or by using them as search terms in the college online book catalog and in periodical indexes.
Step Three: Write a Thesis Statement Once you have selected your topic, you need to write a thesis statement. A thesis statement is a summary of the topic - what are you going to write about? What will be discussed in your paper? The thesis statement is very important in the development of your paper. It will lead you to specific materials for your research. A working thesis statement is not meant to lock you into a topic, rather to guide you. As you learn more and more about your topic, your thesis statement will naturally evolve. The thesis statement is necessary because it is important for the writer - it gives the structure of the paper. It is important for the reader - it tells the point of the paper right from the beginning. TIP: A good thesis statement in a research paper:
Step Four: Find Background Information Once you have identified and tested the main topic and keywords for your research, find one or more sources of background information to read. These sources will help you understand the broader context of your research and provide an overview or summary of the topic. These will also give you information on special terminology and significant authors or researchers in the field. The most common background sources are general encyclopedias, subject-specific encyclopedias, dictionaries and textbooks. Also, these resources often provide bibliographies - lists of books and articles that will allow you to discover what else is available on a subject. Step Five: Create a Research Strategy and Search for Information Create a research strategy by asking yourself what kind of information you will need to answer your research question. Look at the assignment that you have been given and carefully consider the following: What kind of information do I need? How much information do I need? Is currency and issue? Do I need information from a particular type of publication or source? Do I need primary sources? Is point of view an issue? How much time do I have? The answer to these questions will determine how you conduct your search and what tools you will use. TIP: Depending on your topic, different types of resources may be more appropriate than others. These different types of resources include: the web, newspapers, popular magazines, scholarly journals, books, articles in books, government documents, primary sources, statistics, video and sound recordings, bibliographies, etc. you need to be aware of what kind of information is in each type of source. Step Six: Evaluate What You Have Found Not all information is equally valuable. Retrieved information must be carefully examined to determine its usefulness and quality. Evaluating the authority, useful ness, and reliability of the information you find is a crucial step in the process of library research. The questions you ask about books, periodical articles, multimedia titles, or web pages are similar whether you're looking at a citation to the item, a physical item in hand, or an electronic version on a computer. All Sources: You can begin evaluating a physical information source ( a book or an article for instance) even before you have the physical item in hand. Appraise a source by first examining the bibliographic citation. The bibliographic citation is the written description of a book, journal article, newspaper article, or some other published material that appears in a catalog or index. Bibliographic citations characteristically have three main components: author, title, and publication information. These components can help you determine the usefulness of this source for your paper. ( In the same way, you can appraise a web site by examining the home page carefully.) Initial Appraisal:
Having made an initial appraisal, you should now examine the physical body of the source. Content Analysis:
To Specifically evaluate periodicals please see module #6 and for web pages, please see module #8.
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