Writing Center: Research

Before researching, it is a good idea to engage in "Pre-Search." Click here for resources on pre-search.

Make sure your question is ...

1. Worth exploring: Use who, what, how, and why to formulate interesting questions.
2. Focused: Make sure your question is specific enough that you can answer it given the length of your paper.
3. Debatable: Choose questions that reasonable people could answer in different ways. (Why and how questions are especially good for this).
4. Grounded in Evidence: Choose a question that will lead to concrete evidence, not simply your personal opinions of beliefs. 

Good Sample Research Questions:

• Who is responsible for the contaminated drinking water in Flint, Michigan?
• What happens to the arts without public funding?
• How will higher tariffs on imported cars create new auto industry jobs and help US carmakers become more profitable?
• Why are boys diagnosed with attention deficit disorder more often than girls are?

Partially adapted from A Writer's Reference (pg. 109).

Library Research Resources:

Primo Search Engine 

Research Subject Guides and Databases

Research Help Guide: How to find specific kinds of sources

Other Helpful Research Resources:

Google Scholar: Use this to find reliable articles and webpages on Google. 

Encyclopedia Britannica: This online fact-checked encyclopedia has a wealth of information that can help students writing research papers. We recommend consulting this instead of Wikipedia!

Determining Reliability and Usefulness:

Relevance: Is the source clearly related to your research topic/question and your argument? Ask, "will my readers understand why I included this source?" And "does this source add to my understanding of the research conversation?"

Currency: When was this source written, and when was it published? Ask, "does my research topic require current information?" And "does my research benefit from information from older soources, such as primary texts?"

Credibility: Where does this source come from? Who is the author? The publisher? Ask, "how accurate and trustworthy is this information?" And "does this source cite other writers' research and ideas?"

Bias: Is the author engaging in a scholarly debate or providing their personal viewpoint? Ask, "does this author display biases that affect their ability to be objective on this topic?" And "is there evidence and counter evidence presented in a fair way in this source?"

Determining if a source is scholarly:

1. A scholarly source is written by "experts for a knowledgable audience" (A Writer's Reference 126). Scholarly sources are also called refereed or peer-reviewed. 
2. Determine whether a source is scholarly by looking for:

• Formal language and presentation
• Authors who are academics or scientists
• Footnotes or a bibliography documenting the works cited in the source
• Original research and interpretation (versus a summary of other people's work). 

Detecting False and Misleading Sources:

1. Consider the author: Is this author anonymous or named? Can you find their credentials anywhere?
2. Look at the source's language: Is the language informal? Does the author use second person ("you") frequently?
3. Fact-check the information you find: Can the facts be objectively verifed? Look into the research and sources that your source cites to check for accuracy. 

Adapted from A Writer's Reference (pg. 124, 126, 125)

What to look for in the source:

1. The Purpose of the Source: What is the argument? Look for the source's "thesis statement" or main claim and then put it into your own words. 
2. Smaller Claims: In addition to the main claim of the source, look for smaller claims (often in the form of topic sentences) that the author uses to support his or her main claim or purpose. 
3. Evidence: Determine and record the evidence the source uses to support its main claim (purpose) and smaller claims.

How to take notes:

1. Use an Organized System: Choose a way to record both factual notes on the source and your thoughts about the source, and make sure you keep these two kinds of notes distinct. Take time to think about how the information you write down from the source applies to your research question.
2. Strive for Accuracy: Keep the text close by to ensure that your notes are accurate, but avoid copying directly from the source unless you are quoting.

When to quote, summarize, and paraphrase:

Quote when ...

• It is important to capture the exact words the author uses to accurately reflect their argument or a nuanced concept. 
• The author says something better than you could ever say it. 

Summarize when ...

• You are trying to record the author's main ideas or claims. This is often most helpful when you are trying to record large portions of the author's argument concisely.

Paraphrase when ...

• You can put the athor's words into your own words. But make sure it is truly your own words; if you cannot, quote it instead. 

** When in doubt, quote it! You can always change a quote into a summary or paraphrase later, but you cannot change a summary or a paraphrase into a quote!

Avoiding Plagarism:

1. Labelling: Make clear distinctions in your notes between quoting, summarizing, and paraphrasing. 
2. Bibliography: Record complete bibliographic information for each source so that you can find it again easily and cite it accurately.

Partially adapted from A Writer's Reference pg. (123). 

What is a Working Bibliography and Why Keep One:

A working bibliography is a record of all the sources you have read or viewed. It is "working" because it is always changing as you add more sources. Eventually, you will narrow down sources to what you will actually keep in your bibliography. A working bibliography helps you keep track of the sources you have viewed for easy re-access. Also, it helps you get a head start on the final bibliography you will need at the end of your writing process.

How to Keep a Working Bibliography:

Create citations for all your sources as you read, listen to, or view them. This information includes, but is not limited to, the source title, the author, the publisher, and the publication date. Different types of sources (article, web source, book, interview, etc.) will require slightly different types of information to be recorded. and citation formatting will be dependant on the documentation style you are using. Look here for more information on citations and styles. 

Partially adapted from A Writer's Reference (pg. 118)

Research Strategies Essay Wheel Video!

Our librarians specialize in research practices.

Did you know? There is a specific librarian for your major!

Learn more about our librarians and schedule an appointment for research help here. 

See also: A Writer's Reference pg. 131