Seven Steps of Research
1) Choose Your Topic
2) Find Background Information
3) Find Books on Your Topic
4) Use Databases to Find Periodical
Articles on Your Topic
5) Find Web Resources
6) Evaluating Your Sources both
in the Library and Online
7) How to Cite Your Sources
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The first step towards writing a research paper is deciding on a topic. Your instructor may assign a topic or you may have to come up with one on your own.
Define Your Topic
Thoroughly understand what you are being asked to do and define your topic to meet the requirements of your assignment:
- Understand the assignment
- Find a topic and brainstorm ideas
- Can the topic be narrowed or broadened?
- Get an overview to help determine key names, dates, and concepts
- Look at the entries and index of a subject encyclopedia
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 too much information, you can focus on one of the following:
- a specific period of time
(present, Civil War era, 20th Century)
- a specific geographic location
(geographic location or place: city/town, state, world)
- specific individuals, group, population
(women, children, ethnic group, political group)
- a specific aspect of the subject
- the viewpoint of a specific discipline
(legal, social, political, economic, religious)
Broaden Your Topic
The narrower the topic, the less information you will find. You many want to broaden your topic to find additional information. Think about the bigger picture and how it relates to your topic. Broaden your topic using the same criteria for narrowing above.
Draft a Thesis Statement
Once you have selected a topic and determined how you are going to develop it, you should be ready to write your thesis statement that states what you intend to do or argue. In your research, you will be collecting evidence to defend, clarify or develop you thesis statement.
- State your topic as a question.
- Identify the main concepts or keywords in your question.
- Identify synonyms and other related words.
Organize Your Topic into Concepts and Keywords
Use our Printable Workform (PDF)
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Keywords that express your concepts |
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Related terms or synonyms for the
keywords in Column One |
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Concept 1
and
Concept 2
and
Concept 3
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______________
______________
______________ |
or
or
or |
______________
______________
______________ |
or
or
or |
______________
______________
______________ |
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Once you have identified the main topic and keywords for your research, it is best to begin to locate sources that will help you understand the broader context of your research, and explain in general terms what is known about your topic. The most common background sources are encyclopedias, dictionaries, handbooks and companions and they are located in the reference section of the library. Look up your keywords in the index volumes to encyclopedias.
See E-Reference Resources for online Reference sources.
Gathering background information also enables you to see if there is sufficient information on your topic.
Encyclopedias – General
Encyclopedias – Specialized
- Encyclopedia of Education
- Encyclopedia of Superstitions
- Encyclopedia of the Novel
- Encyclopedia of Psychology
Dictionaries
Dictionaries also, are general and specialized, and are good sources to use especially when a subject or topic has specific terminology.
Handbooks and Companions
- Handbook of North American Indians, 17 vols.
- Oxford Companion to Philosophy
Bibliographies
Whether reading through encyclopedia articles, journal articles, or books, check at the end of these sources for a bibliography. Following up on the sources cited in the bibliographies can generate a large number of books and articles on your topic. Many reference books are published list of information on one subject.
- Native Americans: An Annotated Bibliography
- Hate Crimes: A Bibliography
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The Library's online catalog has a record for each of the items that are owned by the library. These include:
- Books
- Periodicals
- Microforms
- Special Collections
- Government Documents
- Video and DVD Recordings
- Music in All Formats
- Electronic Resources
There are several options for searching the Catalog:
| Type of Search |
What It Does |
| Keyword Search |
Search for items by Keyword |
| Subject Search |
Search for items by Library of Congress Subject Headings |
| Title Search |
Search for items by Title |
| Author Search |
Search for items by Author Name |
| Course Reserve |
To find course materials placed on reserve by an instructor |
| Your Library Account |
To see a list of books you have checked out and to renew books |
Call Numbers
Each item in the library is cataloged and assigned a call number. To do this we use the Library of Congress Classification System, which works in conjunction with the Library of Congress Subject Headings and organizes materials by subject.
To find a book located in the Geisel Library, note the call number of a book and use the first letter of the call number to determine on which floor the book is located. For library information, see these maps.
| Call Numbers |
Level |
| A–DK 264 |
Main Level |
| DK 265–T |
Upper Level |
| U–Z, Oversize |
Lower Level |
For a guide on Understanding Call numbers, see this tutorial.
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What Is a Periodical?
A periodical is a magazine, journal, or other publication having issues that appear at regular intervals (often monthly or quarterly). In other words, periodicals include everything from Time to the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
Why Look for Periodicals?
- articles in periodicals often provide the latest news or thought on a particular topic
- they supplement the information found in books
- in some cases they may be the only source of information available on a selected topic
- almost any subject can be explored in periodical articles, therefore they can often provide depth of information on a narrow or specialized topic
To learn more about the differences among scholarly journals, newspapers, and popular magazines, see popular and scholarly sources.
Selecting Journal Databases
- Before choosing a database, consider the sort of information you wish to find. Different databases will cover different types of material.
- Coverage may vary according to the type of material indexed.
- A brief description is provided for each database on the Database by Subject page. This helps to clarify the 'scope' of the different databases (amount and type of information covered).
- Search commands may vary from database to database. Most include easily readable Help Screens or online tutorials.
- The librarian on duty will help you to select an appropriate database for your topic and will explain the more advanced aspect of the database.
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Use search engines and subject directories to locate materials on the Web. Check to see if your class has a bibliography or Course Guide created by a librarian. They often include the best web sites in the discipline.
For more information about search engines, current engines, and tips on using search engines, see:
Popular Search Engines and Directories:
With AltaVista you can search for exact phrases, search within the title of an HTML document, search for documents that contain a link to a particular URL, and use wildcards. The advanced search allows the use of Boolean operators (AND, OR, AND NOT, NEAR). Also has Babel Fish Translations.
Google, one of the most popular search engines, displays the most relevant Web sites near the top of your list of results. Importance is measured in part by how many other sites link to it – the more important the site, the higher it ranks in Google's search results.
Google Scholar provides a simple way to broadly search for scholarly literature. From one place, you can search across many disciplines and sources: peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, abstracts and articles, from academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories, universities and other scholarly organizations. Google Scholar helps you identify the most relevant research across the world of scholarly research.
Google U.S. Government Search searches a subset of the above engine, limiting its search to U.S. federal and state government sites.
Yahoo is a popular Internet directory. Unlike the search engines listed above, which use computer programs to search the Internet for Web pages, Yahoo catalogs sites manually, depending largely on user submissions. Yahoo's front page is an alphabetical list of broad subject areas that are then subdivided into smaller categories.
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While it is necessary to evaluate all information one uses, it is especially necessary to do so when using information found on the internet, where there is often no fact-checking or editorial control.
Examine your sources carefully using the following criteria:
- Accuracy: As far as you can tell, is the information presented free of errors and omissions?
- Authority: Who is the author? What are his/her credentials? Does the publisher have a respected reputation academically? A large publishing house or major university is a safe bet; but look very critically at documents found on WWW pages. Check carefully to see if the item is signed, copyrighted, dated, etc.
- Objectivity: For factual information, check to ensure that it is free of bias and that statistical information is not so selective as to skew results.
- Currency: How up-to-date is the information presented? Does the time frame covered meet your research needs?
- Coverage: Is the author's treatment of the material broad or narrow? Are footnotes and references to additional reading provided?
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Citing or documenting the sources used in your research serves two purposes, it gives proper credit to the authors of the materials used and it allows those who are reading your work to duplicate your research and locate the sources that you have listed as references.
- Avoid frustration by keeping track as you go along of all the elements necessary for citing sources.
- Note citation information for any and every source you think you may use.
- It would be better to have the information and not need it all of it, than not have the information and need it.
- Keep a record of every source. Try using note cards or a spreadsheet or a bibliographic citation management software.
Online Style Guides
Print Style Guides
We have a number of books that will help you cite, write and format your paper. These can be found at the Main Reference Desk on the first floor:
- A Writer's Reference by Diana Hacker
Ref PE1408 .H2778 (Print Version at the Reference Desk)
- The Chicago Manual of Style. 15th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2002
Ref Z253 .U69
- MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 6th ed. by Joseph Gibaldi, New York: MLA
Ref LB2369 G53 2003
- Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. 5th ed. Washington: APA
Ref BF 76.7 P83 2001
- A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations. 7th ed. Kate L. Turabian, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
Ref LB2369 T8 2007
- The ACS Style Guide: Effective Communication of Scientific Information. Anne M. Coghill and Lorrin R. Garson, eds. Washington: American Chemical Society, 2006
Ref QD8.5 .A25
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NOTE: Material in this guide has been adapted and/or modified from Library Research at Cornell: a
Hypertext Guide, developed by the Reference Services Division of Olin*Kroch*Uris Libraries at Cornell
University.
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