When getting started with your research, it is a good idea to get a general overview of a topic or gather background information. This information can help you decide if the topic really is in line with your thinking, and whether you want to continue researching in that subject area. Background information may include facts, historical figures, timelines, definitions, origins, theories, and events.
During the course of your research, you may find information that contradicts your research statement. When this happens, you will want to try to find more information that confirms or denies the contradictory information.
You may also determine that your original research question needs to be revised. That is ok! Finding new information can always reshape your opinion on a topic. If this happens, it can be worthwhile to examine the relationship between the concepts, and revise your outline to incorporate these new concepts.
Once you have answered your initial research question, you should not stop your research before determining if the original information need has been satisfied or if additional information is needed.
Although not scholarly, the internet will more than likely be your initial starting point for topic ideas and information. Informal channels of information, such as blogs and alert services, are invaluable resources that help you stay current and informed about your research area, and will provide assistance in directing you to the resources that are appropriate to use in your research.
Research news websites are also good sources for the latest information in research. This is a great way to keep up with current research, learn about potentially interesting topics, and understand where the research in a particular field is heading. Headlines for recently published research can be found by searching by the keywords ‘research news’.
EurekAlert!, sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, is a service that gathers and posts press releases from research organizations (universities, medical centers, government agencies, publishers). Science Daily is a website that provides top headlines in recent research and discoveries in key topic areas like Health and Medicine, Education & Learning, Computers & Mathematics and more.
Popular news sources and magazines can also be useful for finding out about the latest trends or research. News sources, like New York Times, Washington Post, NPR, The Chronicle of Higher Education and more, will regularly report on research of interest to a general audience.
Use the links provided in online articles or the informal in-text citation within the article to locate the original research publication. These resources can be found by conducting an internet search, or using PubFinder tool to search for specific publications by title.
You may also want to learn more about the differences between Academic and Popular Sources to better understand the use of these resources in your academic research.
Why search when articles can come to you? News feeds or alerts locate recently published research in a subject area. Subscribing to news feeds helps you stay up-to-date on the research that is being done in a specific field.
Many websites offer ways to subscribe to their feeds. Tools like Feedly allow you to keep websites and news sources all in one place. A simple way to organize and streamline information is to use an RSS feed reader.
It is important to keep in mind that with so many resources out there, you could quickly become overwhelmed with information being delivered daily. It is probably best to skim blogs and newsgroups until you settle on a specific idea, and then limit yourself to one or two key groups, newsfeeds, etc.
Open Access Resources can be invaluable for exploring your topic. These resources are freely available 'open access’ documents from professional and trade associations, government agencies, non-profit organizations, research institutes, universities and other entities. They are good places to explore for statistics, reports, conference abstracts and proceedings, white papers, association newsletters, industry news and more.
The TSTC library maintains a collection of open access resources through CloudSource Plus.
Once you have selected a topic, you must decide what exactly interests you most about your topic.
For example, you may have chosen "Healthcare" as a topic, but when you run a search for "Healthcare" in the Library databases, you get over 25 million results! In a situation like this you will need to narrow your search. Ask yourself "What do I find interesting about Healthcare"? Try adding some keywords to "Healthcare" to come up with a smaller, more manageable, set of search results.
You may also find that your research topic is much too narrow, or focused. Trying to look for articles about the effects of healthcare costs for the working poor in Hill County, will more than likely return zero results. In this situation you need to broaden your topic by taking away some keywords or being less specific about your research topic.
"Healthcare" = too broad
"healthcare costs for the working poor in Hill County"= too narrow
"healthcare costs for Texas residents" = manageable topic
As mentioned above, it’s important to choose a topic that is not too narrow or too broad. It is also helpful to select a topic where you can effectively explore relationships. For example, "Is there a relationship between healthcare costs and the worker's employment status?" Use your research topic or question to identify the main ideas, which will become your keywords.
keywords = "healthcare cost" "Texas" "employment status"
Searching the above takes the results list down to a more manageable 300 results.
As you continue searching, refine your search by adding or combining different keywords that further explore your topic. You may find you need to modify your question. Carefully read and evaluate scholarly research articles to determine their suitability and validity. Use information from selected articles to form a response to your question and guide future searches.
Understanding how to narrow or broaden your topic is a an important part of the research process. Learn to recognize when these steps need to occur and what to do to carry out these steps. Once you have developed a research topic, you will want to begin thinking about the type of information you need and the best approach to finding it.
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Use "quotation marks" for exact-phrase searching |
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Search for keywords within specific fields - use the drop-down list beside the search box. |
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Use suggested topics, subjects and thesaurus terms for more refined searching |
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Use the available limiter options (left side of results page) |
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Use narrower keywords |
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Example |
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Use "or" to look for versions of the same concept (synonyms, related words) |
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Use * [shift+8] after a word's root to search all endings |
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Use broader keywords |
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