Research Strategy
- Allow enough time
- An efficient research strategy moves from GENERAL
to SPECIFIC sources.
Step1: Choose a Topic
Understand your assignment. For example, compare, define and discuss have different meanings and will need to be approached in a different manner.
Chose a topic that interests you. Deciding what to research can be the most difficult part of the research process.
If you are having difficulty deciding on a topic, the following resources provide articles, overviews, statistics, primary documents, bibliographies and webliographies on a variety of topics.
- Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center - online
- CQ Researcher - online
- Contemporary World Issues - print
- At Issue - print
Step 2: Get an overview of your topic
You will want to start with a high level overview of your topic. Brainstorm about your topic. Take a few minutes to write down your topic and everything you can think of about that topic. Include what you already know as well as what you need to find out. Ask who, what, where, why and how
Expand your overview using the following:
- specialized dictionaries
- encyclopedias
- handbooks
- textbooks
- library guides
- bibliographies
These tools will help deepen your understanding of your topic by providing terminology, definitions of specialized terms, historical perspectives, chronologies of events, bibliographic references, and subtopics which will help you narrow your paper.
Step 3: Narrow your topic and form your research question
After reading your background sources, you will have an
awareness
of various aspects of your topic that you may wish to pursue. Be
aware that not all information is equal. You need to recognize the
difference between fact and opinion.
You are now ready to narrow the scope of your research and to form your research question. Your research question is a statement of the point of view that your paper will take. Your focus from this point forward will be on the smaller portion of the larger topic.
Step 4: Find resources
TO FIND BOOKS
Use the library's online catalog to find books, videos, and other items available through the library. Begin with a keyword search, then explore the subjects assigned to likely candidates. Stuck? Reference librarians can assist you further in finding resources.
TO FIND JOURNAL ARTICLES
Use the library's article databases to find journal articles. The library has many article databases, each one covering different subject areas. You will need to choose which databases to search and you will probably have to search more than one.
Step 5: Evaluate your resources
- Relevance: does the information pertain to your research question?
- Currency: how recently was the information published? How recently has it been updated? Have there been new developments on the topic?
- Authorship: who wrote it? What are their credentials? Do they cite their sources?Has the information been peer reviewed? (Peer reviewed means that a group knowledgeable in the subject has examined the article and determined it accurate.)
- Objective: What is the authors objective? Persuade? Explain? Manipulate?
Step 6: Write the paper and cite sources
Now that you have an understanding of your topic and have found information to support your research questions, it is time to write your paper and sort your sources. Remember to list your sources using the style (APA, MLA, etc.) that you instructor requires.