The beginning of any research project is an uncertain time as you're trying to define just what it is you're researching. Here are some tips to help.
Do Background Reading
- Consult your textbook, reference books, and publications geared towards a more general audience to get a sense of the current topics and discussions related to your interest.
- Wikipedia can be used to learn the outlines of a topic and to find links to other resources.
Map out Keywords
- From your readings, pull out phrases, names, acronyms, and other keywords that are unique to your topic.
Example: dreams, nightmares, sleep, recall, REM sleep, lucid dreams
- Think of the different ways certain aspects of your topic might be described in published research.
Example: teens, adolescents, high school, young adults
Test Drive Your Search
- Use a recommended database to do a preliminary search of the topic
- Also try searching on Google Scholar (not technically a database but you can integrate it with our library databases)
- Use the Advanced Search option in databases to combine the different aspects of your topic in different search boxes.
- combine each search box with AND to connect terms and keywords that must appear in the results.
Example: teens AND dreams AND recall
- combine similar phrases/words in one box with OR to search for each alternative in one search.
Example: teens OR adolescents OR high school OR young adults
- Look through the results to see the type of research that's being done. Two articles with the same keywords can focus on different or very specific aspects of the topic.
- Pick out any new, relevant keywords that might apply - or adjust your topic based on what is interesting you the most.
Start Digging
- After doing the above you should hopefully have a better sense of what direction you're taking. Use your refined keywords to start locating research that you will use in your project.
- Limit your results to narrow down your options.
Example: set specific date ranges, limit to scholarly/peer reviewed sources, limit to certain types of research methods
- Read the abstracts of relevant research to see if the whole article is applicable to what you are writing about.
- Ask for help if you're stuck or want to talk out your strategy with a librarian.
