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The Research Process
- Develop a Topic
- These ideas should be fairly broad to make sure you can find a lot of information.
- You can always narrow and refine your topic as you conduct your search.
- Locate Background Information
- Use databases that are general and broad or use EagleSearch.
- Formulate a Research Question
- This focuses the topic.
- What do you want to know about the topic?
- Create Search Terms
- Nouns from your research question turn into keywords.
- Find Sources
Evaluate Your Search Results
- Read the abstract to learn overview of the article.
- Look at the keywords. Do they match your search?
- Even if they don't match, is the article still relevant?
- If the article is relevant, add new keywords to search.
- Can you understand the vocabulary?
- When was it published? Do you need a recent article?
- Does the article contain references?
- Is it original research?
- Does it use primary or secondary sources?
- Does it include charts, graphs, or other data?
- How does this article relate to your topic?
- How is it similar?
- Does it focus on the same questions you have?
- How is it different?
- Does it present a different argument than what you want?
- How could that be used in your project?
- Is this article useful to your project?
- Does it relate to what you are talking about?
- Can it fit into your project?
- If it is not useful to your topic, why isn't it useful?