A. Research Process

Although research cannot be thought of as a linear process, the following steps offer a strategy to help you get started:

L.O. flash animation steps of the research process appearing one by one.

B. Define your topic

Selecting a topic is often a daunting task but it is an essential first step. But selecting a topic to research is not a one-step task. Your topic may evolve as you work on your research project. Start with an idea you are interested in. Find and read some background information on that topic so your gain a general understanding. Next search for more specific information. From your gathered information, refine your topic (broaden, narrow, refocus or change) and try another search.

Find a topic

If you can't think of a topic:

• talk with your class instructor
• find something interesting in the course reading assignments
• look at the entries and index of a subject encyclopedia
• ask a librarian for help

Narrow your topic

The initial idea for a research topic is often too broad. If your first searches for resources are so general that you find more information than you can click a mouse at or deal with in a reasonable amount of time (i.e. before the research project is due), focus on one of the following:

• a specific period of time
• a specific geographic location
• specific individuals or groups
• a specific aspect of the subject
• the viewpoint of a specific discipline
• use the boolean operator "and" ?

For example, let's say you must write a five page paper about voting reform. This topic as is would cover most countries and people in the world. It would be impossible to cover in five pages. You may choose to narrow it down to look at women's voting rights in the United States from 1912 to 1920

As always, do not hesitate to talk to your professor or a librarian to get help narrowing your topic.

Broaden your topic

In some cases you may find that your topic is to narrow. Despite your best efforts and help from your professor or a librarian, you may not be able to find enough information on your topic. This is especially true if you have chosen a topic that is too new for material to be published yet. Broaden your topic by:

• expanding the geographic focus
• identify wider subjects or issues related to your topic
• identify key individuals or groups to this topic
• use the boolean operator "or" ?

(inspired by http://www.lib.duke.edu/libguide/refining.htm#BROADENING)

For example, say you are interested in the change in the number of endangered plants in Iraq during the last three years. It may be difficult to find a great deal of information about this specific topic, but if you change you topic to the change in the number of endangered species in the Middle East (or arid environments) during the past twenty years, you may find more information.

Again, consult with your professor or a librarian if you need help broadening your topic.

Make it a question

State your topic in the form of a question. Treat the research project as an attempt to find a specific answer for a specific question.

List main concepts

Pull out ideas and key terms that describe your topic. This step is vital to performing successful searches for information.

Identify the main concepts or keywords in your question.

Need help selecting search terms? See the Selecting Search Terms section.

Analyze your topic

Where should you look for information? From what subject or discipline perspective are you looking at this topic? Do you need scholarly or popular sources? Will you need books, articles, sound recordings, primary sources, etc.?

Select appropriate tools

Which tools do you need to find the type of information you want, (e.g. the library catalog for books, subject specific indexes for journal articles, etc.). Need help? See Selecting Finding Tools.

Initial results

After you do an initial search, you can tell some things just from the number and type of sources you find. If you get too many hits, you probably need to narrow your topic. If you get only a few, broaden it. If the hits seem to be irrelevant to your topic, search using different terms. Do another search and see if you get what seems to be an appropriate amount of appropriate sources. Keep refining your search until you are satisfied with your results. Need help? See the Evaluating and Revising Search Results section of this tutorial.

Revise

After reading through some of the sources you find, you will get a better understanding of the topic you are researching. With this better understanding, you can revise your initial topic and its corresponding question for which you are so diligently seeking an answer. Go back and try another search using your revisions. Repeat as necessary until you have done enough research to know what to ask and how to answer it.

(Adapted from Wesleyan University's Road to Research "Identifying and Developing your topic" http://www.wesleyan.edu/libr/tut/rst/rst2.html)

C. Role of the Library in the Research Process

Libraries play an important role in the research process.  Not only does the library have materials you can use for your research, there are also many services the library provides that can help you. Reference librarians are available for research consultations, research guides have been created to help you identify important resources for specific subjects, tutorials exist to help you learn how to use the library (red flag--need one page for all tutorials). Learn more about the library's services by visiting our website.