Knowing how to research is a much needed skill and not too difficult. Researching may seem overwhelming with all the different sources and citation guides, but don't worry! In no time, you will become a research expert.
Step
Method 1 of 2: Getting Started
Step 1. Identify your research topic
Sometimes, you can choose a topic and sometimes, your teacher or professor gives you a topic. However, you can usually still choose your focal point of view. Choose an idea that you find interesting and start from there.
- In the early stages, you don't have to really focus on your topic. The basic idea of what you are looking for should suffice. Once you do more research, you will narrow it down.
- For example: If you are researching Shakespeare's Hamlet, you might start by looking for information about Hamlet before narrowing it down to focus on the topic, say, the importance of madness in Hamlet.
Step 2. Understand the task
There are a few things you need to understand about your assignment before you start researching. How much information do you need? If you are typing a 10 page report, then you need more information than a 5 paragraph essay. What information do you need?
- If the assignment is a research paper, you will need facts rather than opinions on the topic, especially if the research paper is on a scientific topic like depression.
- If you're writing a persuasive essay or making a persuasive presentation, you'll need your own opinion and facts to back that up. It's a good idea to include opposing opinions so you can share them and/or refute them.
- If you are writing an analysis, such as the importance of madness in Hamlet, you will use your opinion in the passage in question, as well as the opinions of experts working with the text and information about madness in the Shakespearean period and literary conventions in the Elizabethan.
Step 3. Determine the types of information you will need
This includes things like the format of the material, how important time is in your topic, how important is place and language in your topic. Do you need facts, opinions, analysis, or research studies, or a mix?
- Think about the format of the material. Would you look for the best information in a book, or a journal, or a newspaper? If you are doing medical research, you may need to look in medical journals, whereas Hamlet's research will require books and articles in literary magazines.
- Consider if your information needs to be up-to-date (such as medical or scientific discoveries) or if you can use sources written in the 1900s. If you are looking for history, do you need certain documents from your time period?
Step 4. Do some preliminary research
When you're starting out, it's best to do some kind of basic research and review. This will help you come up with ideas for focus that can be used for your topic. Use extensive sources that provide job reviews.
- If you have a textbook, look in the bibliography section at the back of the book. This can provide a basic overview of your research material.
- Look for sources such as "Oxford Dictionary of X" (your topic) or "Cambridge Companion to X." Reference sources and books (such as encyclopedias) are good places to start looking for your basic information.
- Make sure that you jot down things that interest you about the topic, as you can pick things that will narrow the focus of your topic from your notes.
Method 2 of 2: Research in depth
Step 1. Narrow your research focus
Once you have completed your initial research, you should narrow down your topic focus. If you have several different pieces of information about Hamlet, instead of trying to combine them all into a 10 page essay, take your favorite point of view (like the importance of madness).
- The narrower the focus, the easier it is to find relevant research material. This means having a specific thesis statement that says what you are debating or researching.
- It doesn't matter if you want to adjust your focus as you research, if you find something that refutes or changes your thesis.
Step 2. Access academic resources
You need to look for legitimate research sources and you need to check the materials as you do your research. Although the internet is very useful for research, it is very difficult to check the veracity of the information provided by the internet. Always remember to record your research and where you found it.
- Look for books through WorldCat. This website will show you if your library has the books you need and provide book ideas for your research topic. Usually, you can borrow books through your university or library (through a program like ILLiad).
- Search in repositories like EBSCOHost, or JSTOR for articles on various topics.
- Try and look for academic and trade journals on your topic, or government reports, official documents. You can even use radio and TV broadcasts, or interviews, and lectures.
- Many of the repositories are divided by subject, so you can type in your research topic and see articles and suggestions that appear. Try to be as detailed as possible as you type your research topic. So don't just search for "Hamlet," but look for things like "Hamlet and madness" or something like "Elizabethan viewpoint on madness."
Step 3. Check your sources
It can be difficult when you do your research (especially on the internet) to find and ensure that you have reliable research material. You should pay attention to the claimants in your source, where they get their information, how much other experts in the field support it.
- Make sure that your sources clearly list the authors and co-authors.
- Does the author offer facts or opinions? And are these facts and opinions clearly proven by further research and citations. Are these citations reliable sources (universities, research facilities, etc.). Double-check the information provided and see if it can be supported.
- If the author uses vague or broad generalizations without any information to back them up (e.g.: "Insanity was despised in the Elizabethan period"), or if his opinion does support one side without acknowledging the opinion or point of view of the other, then that source is probably not the source. good research.
Step 4. Organize your information
Once you feel you've done enough research, organize the information you've gathered. This will help shape your final paper or essay or project, so you know where and how this information will be used. It's also a good way to see if you lack the knowledge you need to include.
Make sure that you get definite results or conclusions about your research topic. If not, you'll need to do some more research
Step 5. Cite your sources
Once you are done with your research topic (whether an essay, paper, or project), you need to cite your sources. Different courses and courses have different ways of citing so make sure that you use the correct way of citing for your subject or course.
- APA tends to be used for social studies, such as psychology, or education.
- The MLA format tends to be used for literature, the arts, and the humanities.
- AMA tends to be used for medicine, health, and the biological sciences.
- Turabian is designed for students to use in all subjects, but is one of the lesser-known formats. You can use this format if you are not sure which format to use.
- The Chicago format is used for all subjects in the "real world", by books, magazines, newspapers, and other non-scientific publications.
Tips
- Your school or city library may have many books on your topic.
- Trustworthy websites often end in.gov or.edu. Websites that need to be reviewed often end in.net,.org, or.com.
- Remember five things to find a good website - Values, Power, Purpose, Objectivity, and Writing Style.
Warning
- If your project is in another language, don't use Google Translate because Google Translate also makes mistakes and many people fail because of big mistakes made by some translators.
- Before you write down a topic, think: is it interesting and relevant?
- If you do not cite your sources, it is called plagiarism, which is wrong and illegal. This means that you give yourself credit for something someone else is doing. That's why it's important to cite your sources.
