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Research Process

The ability to develop a good research topic is an important skill. An instructor may assign you a specific topic, but most often instructors require you to select your own topic of interest. When deciding on a topic, there are a few things that you will need to do:

  • Brainstorm for ideas.
  • Choose a topic that will enable you to read and understand the articles and books you find.
  • Ensure that the topic is manageable and that material is available.
  • Make a list of key words.
  • Be flexible. You may have to broaden or narrow your topic to fit your assignment or the sources you find.

Selecting a good topic may not be easy. It must be narrow and focused enough to be interesting, yet broad enough to find adequate information. Before selecting your final topic, make sure you know what your final project should look like. Each class or instructor will likely require a different format or style of research project.

 

Brainstorming

Choose a topic that interests you. Use the following questions to help generate topic ideas.

  • Do you have a strong opinion on a current social or political controversy?
  • Did you read or see a news story recently that has piqued your interest or made you angry or anxious?
  • Do you have a personal issue, problem, or interest that you would like to know more about?
  • Is there an aspect of a class that you are interested in learning more about?

Write down any key words or concepts that may be of interest to you. These terms can be helpful in your searching and used to form a more focused research topic.

Be aware of overused ideas when deciding a topic. You may wish to avoid topics such as abortion, gun control, teen pregnancy, or suicide unless you feel you have a unique approach to the topic. Ask the instructor for ideas if you feel you are stuck or need additional guidance.

If you need help, try our Research Topic Guide for ideas.

Sometimes using a Concept Map can help you come up with directions to take your research.

Background information can be found in: Information logo.

  • Textbooks
  • Dictionaries
  • General Encyclopedias
  • Subject-Specific Encyclopedias  
  • Articles in Periodicals

These and other sources are often listed on our research guides.

 

1.) Read a general encyclopedia article on the top two or three topics you are considering.

Reading a broad summary enables you to get an overview of the topic and see how your idea relates to broader, narrower, and related issues. It also provides a great source for finding words commonly used to describe the topic. These keywords may be very useful to your later research.

If you can't find an article on your topic, try using broader terms and ask for help from a librarian.

 

2.) Once you have identified some keywords, the next step is to find background information on your topic. Background research:

  • Provides a good overview of the topic if you are unfamiliar with it.
  • Helps identify important facts -- terminology, dates, events, history, organizations, etc.
  • Can help refine your topic.
  • Leads to bibliographies which provide additional sources of information.

Keep it Manageable.

A topic will be very difficult to research if it is too broad or narrow. One way to narrow a broad topic such as "the environment" is to limit the topic. Some common ways to limit a topic are:

  • by Geographic Area

Example: What environmental issues are most important in the Southwestern United States?

  • by Culture

Example: How does the environment fit into the Navajo world view?

  • by Time Frame:

Example: What are the most prominent environmental issues of the last 10 years?

  • by Discipline

Example: How does environmental awareness effect business practices today?

  • by Population Group

Example: What are the effects of air pollution on senior citizens?

Remember that a topic may be too difficult to research if it is too:

  • Locally Confined - Topics this specific may only be covered in local newspapers and not in scholarly articles.

Example: What sources of pollution affect the Gallia County water supply?

  • Recent - If a topic is quite recent, books or journal articles may not be available, but newspaper or magazine articles may. Also, websites related to the topic may or may not be available.
  • Broadly Interdisciplinary - You could be overwhelmed with superficial information.

Example: How can the environment contribute to the culture, politics and society of the Western United States?

  • Popular - You will only find very popular articles about some topics such as sports figures and high-profile celebrities and musicians.

Putting the topic in the form of a question will help focus on what type of information you want to collect.

If you have any difficulties or questions with focusing your topic, discuss the topic with your professor, or with the library staff.

If you are finding too much information, your research topic may be too B R O A D. Consider narrowing it to a more specific:

Time Civil War, Iron Age, 1920's, 18th Century
Location Europe, U.S., Denver, urban, eastern
Population age, race, gender, nationality, ethnic group, occupation
Event or Aspect government regulations related to cloning, Battle of the Bulge in WWII
Person or Group college students, Democrats, Republicans


Broad Topic: Global warming

Narrower Topic: How will climate change impact sea levels and the coastal United States?

If you are finding too little information, your topic may be too NARROW, specialized, or current. Use these strategies to broaden your topic.

Generalize

 Generalize your topic.  If your topic is the health effects of fracking on a specific community, broaden your topic to all communities in that state or the United States.

Currency

 If your topic is very current, there may not be books or journal articles available yet. Choose an alternative topic that is not so recent.
Database Choice Use other databases in your subject area or consider databases in a related subject area which might cover the topic from a different perspective.
Synonyms Use a thesaurus to find synonyms for your topic. When reading background information, note the terminology that is used.
Related Explore related issues.
Expand / Remove Expand or remove: location, time period, aspect, event, population, person/group.


Example of a Narrow Topic:  Does cartoon viewing cause aggression in children under age five?

Broader:  What are the negative effects of TV on children and adolescents?

 

Keep track of the words that are used to describe the topic. This will help when searching in different databases, because not every author uses the same keywords to describe the same topic.

  • What were the important words found in the encyclopedia?
  • Are there synonyms for these words? Example: "heart disease" and "cardiovascular disease"
  • Are there broader (less specific) or narrower (more specific) words to use? Example: "Smog" is more specific than "air pollution," but "children" is less specific than "kindergartners."
  • Not every database or article uses the same words to describe the same topic, so look for suggested keywords or subject terms during your search.

The keywords you use can have a profound impact on the results of your research. Using the “right” words will speed up the research process, while the “wrong” words can bring to it to a halt.

Before you can begin searching for information, you need to identify keywords related to your topic. Key terminology can be easily be found by scanning: 

  • Your research questions
  • Articles found from background research Magnifying glass.
  • Bibliographies found at the end of books and articles

If you are still struggling:

  • Use a thesaurus to identify synonyms.
  • Find pictures related to your topic, then describe them.
  • Brainstorm keywords with a librarian, your instructor, or a friend.

 

Use library resources to search for the articles, books, and other sources of information that you need.

  • Use your list of keywords to search the library's databases. Check out the Search Tips to make better searches.
  • Use database limiters to shorten and focus your list of results. Limiters like "Full Text," "Peer-Reviewed," and date ranges can be very helpful.
  • You may start searching and not be able to find the type of information you need right away. Be flexible. You may have to broaden or narrow your topic or use different keywords in your search. You may have to do several searches to find what you are looking for.

Keep in mind the assigned length of the research paper, project, bibliography or other research assignment. Be aware of the depth of coverage needed and the due date. These important factors may help you decide how much and when you will modify your topic. You instructor will probably provide specific requirements, if not the table below may provide a rough guide:

Length of Research Paper or Project Suggested Guidelines for Approximate Number and Types of Sources Needed
1 - 2 pages 2 - 3 magazine articles or websites
3 - 5 pages 4 - 8 sources, including books, articles (scholarly or popular), and websites
Annotated Bibliography 6 - 15 sources, including books, scholarly articles, websites, etc.
10 - 15 pages 12 - 20 sources, including books, scholarly articles, websites, etc.

Boolean operators are connector words, such as AND, OR, and NOT, that are used to combine or exclude words in a search string for more focused results.

Operator Examples Results
AND

business AND ethics

cooking AND Spain

 Results contain    
ALL of the search terms.
OR

hotels OR motels

www OR world wide web

theater OR theatre

 Results contain ANY of the search terms, but not necessarily all of them.
NOT

java NOT coffee

Clinton NOT Bill

 Excludes results containing
the second search term.

 

Carefully Select Search Terms

  • Keywords: Use the most specific words to describe your topic including synonyms and alternate terms, such as abbreviations and scientific terms.

Use Advanced Search Techniques

  • Phrase Searching. Some databases and search engines will allow the use of quotations to search for an exact phrase or words together in a paragraph or sentence. This also may be referred to as proximity searching.
    • Example: "air pollution" Retrieves sources with the complete phrase instead of "air" in one sentence and "pollution" in another, unrelated sentence.
  • Boolean Operators: AND, OR, and NOT may be used to combine key words in electronic database searching. Using Boolean operators can make your search more focused and yield more precise results.
    • Use AND to retrieve records containing only all search terms. AND will reduce and refine the results.
    • Use OR to retrieve records containing one, both or all of the search terms. OR will expand the search and retrieve more results.
    • Use NOT to exclude terms in a search. Be cautious when using NOT, useful search results may be omitted.
  • Truncation is used to expand results by instructing the computer to look for the root of the word and all alternate word endings. The ? (question mark) or * (asterisk) may substitute for any number of characters at the beginning, middle or end of a word.
    • Example: gun* Retrieves gun, guns, gunners, gunnery, gunning, etc.

Evaluate Your Sources: The CRAAP Method

Knowing where information is coming from, who wrote it, and why they wrote it, is an important step in doing research. When you find a new source of information, especially on the Internet, ask yourself the following questions.

Currency

  • When was this material published or put on the Internet?
  • Are there links within the website that are dead?
  • Is the site maintained and updated?
  • If information is dated, does that make it less valuable? If you are researching current events, information from ten years ago won't work.

Relevance or Coverage

  • Is the information presented in a manner that makes it easy to use?
  • Is the article focused on one topic or does it discuss many topics?
  • Is the text edited, abridged, or added to in any way?
  • Can you see the whole article? Or is it just an abstract?

Authority

  • Who published this material?
  • What are the author's qualifications?
    • Is this someone in your field of study with a Ph.D.?
    • What other research has this person done?
    • What is this person's reputation?
  • Can the author be contacted if you have questions?
  • What organization is sponsoring the website?

Accuracy

  • Can you verify the accuracy of the information?
  • Is there a bibliography or links to other sources used by the author?
  • Is information cited properly?
  • Has the article been peer-reviewed?
  • Is the information written well?  i.e., spelling, punctuation, grammar, etc.

Purpose

  • What is the purpose of this page?
    • Is it to inform, explain, persuade, or sell a product?
  • Is the information intended for a specific audience (high school students, scholars, etc.)?
    • Is the intended audience useful/appropriate for your research?
  • Is information presented objectively or does it have a bias?
    • If it has a bias (e.g., a specific political or philosophical point of view) does that detract from the usefulness to you?
  • Does the author belong to or the website for a non-profit organization, a political party, or in support of a cause?
    • For websites, look at the end of the web address (URL) for the domain name, .com is for companies who might be trying to sell something, .gov is for government websites, and .org is usually for non-profit groups who often have a very specific point of view.

Although this list of questions is not exhaustive, do you feel confident that the information presented on the website you are evaluating is of use for you and your research?

Types of Resources

Below is a list of the most commonly cited resources used for research.


Scholarly Peer-Reviewed Journals
 Articles are reviewed and approved for publication by scholars/experts in the field.
Examples: Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), Journal of Accountancy

  • Uses jargon of the discipline
  •     Extensive footnotes/references at the end of the article
  •     Purpose of the article is to publish the results of research
  •     Audience: scholars, researchers, professionals, students
  •     Graphics are usually statistical illustrations, in black-and-white

Books and Ebooks
 Books provide broad and foundational coverage of a topic.
Examples: How to Win Friends and Influence People, Freakonomics    Ebooks are just digitized print books

  •  Books have a longer publishing cycle, so they aren’t a source to consult for trends
  •   Books are not peer reviewed, but are reviewed by the publisher's editor(s) prior to publication.

Encyclopedias & Handbooks
 Encyclopedias & handbooks feature introductory overviews of topics.
Examples: Encyclopedia of Social Theory, The Persuasion Handbook

  • Professors most often will not allow you to cite encyclopedias in your papers
  •     Useful to consult when you've been tasked with researching a topic you know little about.
  •     Often cites sources or suggests further readings on the topic

 Government Websites
 Government websites have .gov as their designated domain. They are often a great place to search for statistical information.
Examples: http://www.usa.gov/ and http://nces.ed.gov/

    Can be challenging to search and navigate to the information you need

  •      .gov websites also provide Laws/Statutes, regulations, and codes
  •     Find government information using the following:

                http://www.google.com/unclesam
                http://www.usa.gov/

Other Source Types

Trade Journals
 Articles are written and read by professionals in a specific industry.
Examples: Harvard Business Review, Chronicle of Higher Education

  •     Uses jargon of the industry
  •     Occasionally cite sources
  •     Purpose of the article is to report industry trends, practical advice, and industry news

Popular Magazines
 Articles are intended to casually inform, entertain, or present an opinion.
Examples: Time, Fortune, Vanity Fair

  •     General reading level
  •     Rarely cites sources
  •     Audience: non-professionals
  •     Due to frequency of publication, usually the first to report about a trend or news story

Newspapers
 Published daily, newspapers are often the first to report a newsworthy story.
Examples: New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today

  •  Written for a general audience
  •  Sources are informally cited as witnesses, officials, and people involved with the news story
  •  Articles provide enough information to report the news story with the information they have at the time, but often do not go in to great detail

You have found sources you want to use in a paper or project, but how do you use them well? How does the source fit into the structure of your paper? Think about how each of your sources could add to your project with the following elements.

What could a writer do with this source graphic.

What could a writer do with this source? by (Kristin M. Woodward/Kate L. Ganski) / Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License

Why Cite?

Accurately documenting sources used for research is an important part of the writing and research process. Documentation is important because:

  • It is used to give credit for information originally written elsewhere.
  • Documentation enables others to find the same information again.
  • Failure to give credit for drawing on the work of others constitutes plagiarism.

Citation Styles

There are many citation styles but the most popular ones are:

  • APA (American Psychological Association): for sciences and social sciences
  • MLA (Modern Language Association):  for literature, arts, and humanities

We have guides available to use in the library, or you can see the staff at the Jenkins Center on campus as a quick resource.

The Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) is also great for quick APA and MLA reference styles.

 

Keep track of Useful Sources as You Find Them

  • Email citations to yourself or print articles as you find them.
  • Write down information about your sources as you find them. Include the article title, the author, and information about the journal: title, year of publication, and volume/issue numbers.

Tutoring & Paper Writing Help in the Jenkins Center in Davis Library

Adam Hollingshead.

Adam Hollingshead at the Jenkins Academic Center on the Ground Floor of Davis Library.

The Jenkins Academic Center offers assistance with writing and citing: Much of which may be done online.

Email papers to  jenkinscenter@rio.edu

Taking Notes Electronically

  • Keep a separate Work Cited file of the sources you use.
    • As you add sources, put them inthe style your professor requests that you use such as APA or  MLA format.
    • Group sources by publication type (i.e., book, article, website).
    • Number source within the publication type group.
    • For websites, include the URL information.
  • Next to each idea, include the source number from the Work Cited file and the page number from the source. See the examples below. Note #A5 and #B2 refer to article source 5 and book source 2 from the Work Cited file.

#A5 p.35: 76.69% of the hyperlinks selected from homepage are for articles and the catalog
#B2 p.76: online library guides evolved from the paper pathfinders of the 1960's

  • When done taking notes, assign keywords or sub-topic headings to each idea, quote or summary.
  • Use the copy and paste feature to group keywords or sub-topic ideas together.
  • Back up your master list and note files frequently.

Taking Notes by Hand

  • Use index cards to keep notes and track sources used in your paper.
  • Create Work Cited cards for each source.
    • Include the citation (i.e., author, title, publisher, date, page numbers, etc.) in MLA format. It will be easier to organize the sources alphabetically when creating the Work Cited page.
    • Number the source cards.
  • On each note card:
    • Use only one side to record a single idea, fact or quote from one source. It will be easier to rearrange them later when it comes time to organize your paper.
    • Include a heading or key words at the top of the card. 
    • Include the Work Cited source card number.
    • Include the page number where you found the information.
  • Taking notes:
    • Use abbreviations, acronyms, or incomplete sentences to record information to speed up the notetaking process.
    • Write down only the information that answers your research questions.
    • Use symbols, diagrams, charts or drawings to simplify and visualize ideas
   

 

Maybe you've never written a research paper. Maybe you didn't know what you were doing last time you wrote one. Maybe it's been a while and you've forgotten. No matter what the scenario is, we can help at every step of the way. 

This guide will help you through the process of research, including picking a topic, focusing you topic, finding keywords, searching library resources, evaluating sources, and citing sources.

If you are having trouble at any point during the research process, please contact a librarian and we can help you.

Need Help or Need More?: Ask Us!