Unit 1: The Research Process Lesson 1: What is Research?

Before learning how to determine your research needs, lets first define exactly what research is. Research is the investigation of a particular topic using a variety of reliable, scholarly resources. The three major goals of research are establishing facts, analyzing information, and reaching new conclusions. The three main acts of doing research are searching for, reviewing, and evaluating information. Learning what research is not may help you fully grasp the concept. Randomly selecting books from the library is not research, nor is surfing the Internet. On the contrary, research requires organization, resourcefulness, reflection, synthesis, and above all, time. Now that you know what research is, lets define the research process.

Lesson 2: What is the Research Process? The research process is the methodical approach to finding and examining a variety of reliable, scholarly resources on a particular topic. The research process has a beginning and an end, with many stages or steps in between. Each one of these steps is built upon the foundation of information. Brainstorming ideas, searching for resources, and analyzing ideas are all information-based activities. Just like DNA is the building blocks of life, information is the building blocks of the research process. Thats why learning how to find, evaluate, and use information is essential to successfully engaging in and completing the research process. Sound like a lot? Well, it is. But fear not: you can easily manage the research process by dividing it into six major steps. Lesson 3: The Research Process in Six Steps The six major steps of the research process are listed below. Carefully complete each step to create a well defined and thoroughly researched paper or presentation. But prepare to be flexible. You may have to go back a step, skip a step and return to it later, or revise a completed step. The Six Steps of the Research Process Step 1: Determining Research Needs

Step 2: Defining a Research Topic Step 3: Developing a Search Strategy Step 4: Conducting the Search Step 5: Evaluating Resources Step 6: Citing Resources The Edison State College Libraries' Research Tutorial will take you through each step of the Research Process.

Lesson 4: How Do I Get Started? The first step in the research process is determining your research needs. To complete this step, you must consider what kind of research project your professor has assigned. You need to determine the amount, date, format, and type of information you will need. You have completed Unit 1. Continue to Unit 2 to learn how to determine your information needs.

Unit 2: Determining Research Needs Lesson 1: Assignment Type Lesson 2: Amount of Information Lesson 3: Publication Date Lesson 4: Publication Types Lesson 5: Primary & Secondary Sources Lesson 6: Format Types Lesson 7: Point of View Lesson 8: Getting Organized

Lesson 1: Assignment Type Assignments can vary in scope from a short, five-minute oral presentation to a twentypage research paper. To determine assignment type, ask yourself: Has my professor assigned a critique, summary, book review, essay, annotated bibliography, research paper, presentation, or other type of assignment?

Unit 2: Determining Research Needs? Lesson 2: Amount of Information Some assignments require you to consult brief summaries or overviews, while others require you to find and evaluate detailed information. To determine how much information you need to find, ask yourself: How many resources does my professor require, what should they cover, and what is their minimum length?

Lesson 3: Publication Date Some assignments require you to find current, up-to-date information, while others require you to use historical data: information on a particular topic that was created or published during a specific period of time. Still other assignments dont require you to find information published during a specific period of time. To determine if you need current or dated resources, ask yourself: Does my professor require me to find information published during a certain period of time? Lesson 4: Publication Type For most assignments, you will need to find information from scholarly resources, including peer reviewed journals, reference books, and monographs. (See definitions below.) For others, you will need to find information from non-scholarly publications, such as newspapers, trade journals, and popular magazines. To determine what type of publications you need to find, ask yourself:

Does my professor require me to use a specific type of publication, such as a peer reviewed journal, reference book, or newspaper? Peer reviewed journals are periodicalsmaterials published in many parts or editions over timedevoted to research in a particular field of study, and examined by scholars in the appropriate field before publication. Monographs are scholarly pieces of writing on specific subjects that range in length from an essay to a book. Reference books provide facts, definitions, statistics, and summaries of various topics, are designed to be consulted rather than read them from beginning to end, and do not circulate. Examples of reference books include dictionaries, encyclopedias, and almanacs. Lesson 5: Primary and Secondary Sources Most of the time, you will need to use secondary sourcespublications that describe and interpret an event that already has taken placeto complete your assignments. However, your professor may require you to use primary sources: documents that provide firsthand accounts of historical events. Examples of primary sources include letters, photographs, diaries, and maps. Examples of secondary sources include books, textbooks, and journal articles. To determine if you need to use primary and/or secondary sources, ask yourself: Does my professor require me to use published materials, primary sources, or a combination of both?

Lesson 6: Format Types You may need to use resources in a variety of formats to complete your assignment. In addition to print materials, you may need to use audio-visual resources, such as DVDs, videos, and CDs, and/or electronic resources, such as websites, e-Books, subscription databases, and CD-ROMs. To determine if you need to find resources in a particular format, ask yourself: Does my professor require me to find resources in a particular format, such as a film, website, or CD? Lesson 7: Point of View To debate a topic or write an argumentative essay, you will need to find information that presents a particular point of view, opposing points of view, or a range of viewpoints. To determine if you need to find information from a particular point of view, ask yourself:

Does my professor require me to take a stance, make an argument, or address a controversial issue?

Unit 2: Determing Research Needs? Lesson 8: Getting Organized To organize this phase of the research process, do the following: 1. What type of assignment, e.g., a book review, research paper, or presentation, has my professor assigned? 2. How many resources does my professor require, what should they cover, and what is their minimum length? 3. Does my professor require me to find information published during a certain period of time? 4. Does my professor require me to use a specific type of publication, such as a peer reviewed journal, reference book, or newspaper? 5. Does my professor require me to use published materials, primary sources, or a combination of both? 6. Does my professor require me to find resources in a particular format, such as a film, website, or CD? 7. Does my professor require me to take a stance, make an argument, or address a controversial issue? You have completed Unit 2. Continue to Unit 3 to learn about search methods.

Unit 3: Defining a Research Topic Lesson 1: Select a Topic Lesson 2: State your Topic as a Question Lesson 3: Identify Key Concepts Lesson 4: Identify Synonyms

Lesson 5: Sources for Topic Ideas Lesson 6: Getting Organized Lesson 1: Select a Topic Selecting and defining a research topic is the most critical part of the research process. If your professor has not assigned a topic, or distributed a list of topics to choose from, you need to select and define your own topic. To select a topic, you must decide which academic discipline you want to do research in. Possibilities include education, history, religion, psychology, anthropology, sociology, philosophy, literature, political science, business, art, communications, crime and law, medicine, technology, natural sciences, popular culture, and public safety. Now think about an issue, concept, movement, person, time period, and/or event within that discipline that interests you. For example, drinking and driving is an issue within the discipline of public safety. Lesson 2: State your Topic as a Question Once you have selected a topic to research, ask yourself what exactly you want to find out about that topic. To do this, restate your topic as a question. Stating your topic as a question will help you manage your ideas, clarify your approach, and narrow your focus. In fact, posing more than one question about your topic will give you several options. Lets say you have selected drinking and driving as your topic. Asking the following questions helps focus this topic. How does drinking affect driving? What are the laws on drinking and driving? What are the statistics on drinking and driving?

Lesson 3: Identify Key Concepts

After you have stated your topic as a question(s), the next step is to identify the main concepts or ideas within your question(s). To do this, you must identify the keywords within your question(s). For example: How does drinking affect driving? What are the laws on drinking and driving? What are the statistics on drinking and driving?

Lesson 4: Identify Synonyms Now make a list of terms that are synonymous with, or similar to, the keywords you have identified. Brainstorm as many synonyms and related words for each concept as possible. Since few synonyms are exact, you will need to think of both narrower and broader terms. But dont worry if you cannot come up with synonyms for certain terms. Some concepts, such as tinnitus, really only have one word to describe them. Examples Drinking Alcoholism Substance abuse Drug abuse Intoxication Addition Drunkenness Driving Automobile Vehicle Transportation Traffic accidents Traffic safety Traffic violations Drinking & Driving Drunk driving Alcoholism and crime Drinking and Traffic accidents Automobile drivers and Drug abuse DUI (Driving Under the Influence) Traffic accidents and Alcoholism

Lesson 5: Sources for Topic Ideas Having trouble coming up with a workable research topic? Try these resources: ESC Libraries Research Guides: Choose the appropriate subject guide(s) to review for ideas. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center<: Review the linked topics on the homepage of this database, which features resources on current and controversial topics. New Dictionary of the History of Ideas: This set of reference books is located at Charlotte and Lee Campuses. The Call Number is REF CB9 .N49 2005. Ask an ESC Librarian: Click on this link for a list of campus contacts.

Lesson 6: Getting Organized To organize this phase of the research process, print and complete this guide sheet. 1. List some potential research topics. 2. Write two or three questions about your research topics. 3. Identify two or three keywords from each question. 4. Brainstorm some synonyms for the keywords you identified in your questions.

Unit 4: Search Methods Lesson 1: Keyword Searching Lesson 2: Narrow Your Topic Lesson 3: Broaden Your Topic Lesson 4: Boolean Searching: AND, OR, and NOT Lesson 5: Phrase Searching Lesson 6: Truncation

Lesson 7: Wildcards Lesson 8: Subject Headings Lesson 9: Spelling, Abbreviations, and Acronyms Lesson 1: Keyword Searching When looking for information on a newly defined research topic, its best to start with keyword searching. Keywords are significant terms that identify the information described in an online search tool. Keyword searching prompts online search tools to find works that include your keyword search term in all fields of each bibliographic record. Thats a lot of library jargon! Below are some definitions: Online search tools are library catalogs, subscription databases, and search engines. A search engine is an Internet site, such as Google.com, which allows you to search other websites. A bibliographic record is the description of an individual resource in a collection of library materials. Bibliographic records are organized into fields, including author, title, publication place and date, page number, summary, and subject fields. Search by keyword to

look for ideas for your research find information about a particular topic combine two or more concepts find exact subject headings for your topic find complete title or author information search the entire bibliographic record

Remember: The keywords you choose for searching will affect the number of relevant results you retrieve from online search tools. Your search is only as successful as the quality of the keywords you use, and how you combine them. If you use very common search terms, you will retrieve a lot of irrelevant material. If your search terms are too specific, you will retrieve few results.

Lesson 2: Narrow Your Topic Finding too much information on a particular topic means your topic is too vague. You will need to narrow your topic.

How Do You Narrow a Topic? Narrow your topic by associating a time period, place, and/or person(s) with your chosen topic. Specify your topic by decade or year; geographic region, country, state, or city or town; and/or person, organization, or ethnic group. For example, you can narrow the broad topic drinking and driving by assigning a place, time period, and group of people to the topic. For example, investigate the effects of teenage drinking and driving in Florida during the 1990s. Another technique is to ask yourself who, what, where, when, how, and why questions. The following questions about the broad topic American Civil War help focus the topic:

Who led the Confederacy during the American Civil War? What were the causes of the American Civil War? Where did American Civil War battles take place? When did Florida secede from the Union? How did women participate in the American Civil War? Why did African Americans fight in the American Civil War?

Lesson 3: Broaden Your Topic Finding little to no information on a particular topic means your topic is too narrow. You need to broaden your topic. How Do You Broaden a Topic? Broaden your topic by thinking more generally. Select more general keywords, or omit the keywords that overly specify your research question. To broaden the narrow topic, the effects of teenage drinking and driving in Florida during the 1990s, eliminate one or more of the topics specifications or keywords.

What are the effects of teenage drinking and driving in Florida? Removed: 1990s What are the effects of drinking and driving in Florida? Removed: teenage and 1990s What are the effects of drinking and driving? Removed: Florida, teenage, and 1990s

Remember: a topic is occasionally so new that published resources do not yet exist.

Lesson 4: Boolean Searching: AND, OR, and NOT Boolean searching combines keywords using connecting terms called Boolean Operators. Boolean searching is just a fancy term for the act of connecting two or more keywords in a search. Use Boolean searching to make your search more precise. The three basic Boolean search terms are AND, OR, and NOT. AND requires all search terms to appear in a catalog record. OR retrieves records with either search term. NOT eliminates specified keywords. For example: AND will focus your search

OR will broaden your search

NOT will cast information out

Lesson 5: Phrase Searching Phrase searching is a way to find records that contain an exact phrase: terms that are located side by side, and in a specific order. Phrase searching allows you to locate terms that have a distinct meaning when put together as a phrase, as opposed to individual keywords that do not have to be located right next to each other.

To conduct a phrase search, simply place your phrase in quotation marks. For example, the search phrase public safety will locate all records with the phrase public safety. However, entering the terms public and safety as individual keywords will separately locate these terms. Other examples:

animal experimentation civil rights sex education war crimes

Search Tips

Some online search tools use brackets to search for phrases Review the Help function of online search tools to learn what symbols to use Edison State College Libraries online catalog uses quotation marks for phrase searching.

Lesson 6: Truncation Truncation is a way to search for multiple endings of a particular keyword. Use truncation to find terms that begin with the same root word, or words with variant spellings. To truncate a keyword, insert the truncation symbol * or ? at the end of the root word. For example, to truncate the term crime, add a ? to the end of the root word crim. The search term crim? will retrieve all records with variants of the root word, including crime, crimes, criminology, criminal, and criminals. Other examples:

child? finds child, children, childhood, childcare, etc. library? finds library, libraries, librarian, librarians, etc. comput? finds computer, computers, computing, computerized, etc.

Search Tips

Review the Help function of online search tools to learn which symbol to use Some online search tools do not support truncation Enter at least the first three letters of a term before truncating it Only use truncation at the end of a term Edison State College Libraries online catalog uses the symbol ? to truncate.

Lesson 7: Wildcards Wildcard searching is a way to find variations within a particular keyword. Use wildcard symbols to locate keywords with irregular plurals or multiple spellings. To use a wildcard, replace the letter or character of the keyword for which you want to find variations with the symbols #, !, or ?. For example, to find records with the search terms women and woman, replace the e with the wildcard symbol ?. The search term wom?n will retrieve all records that contain the terms woman and women. Other examples:

wom?n finds woman and women theat! finds theater and theatre colo#r finds color and colour

Search Tips:

Review the Help function of online search tools to learn which symbol to use Some online search tools do not support the use of wildcards You cannot use a wildcard symbol as the first letter of a search term You may use wildcards more than once in the same search string Edison State College Libraries online catalog uses the wildcard symbol ?.

Lesson 8: Subject Headings Subject headings are terms and phrases that describe the main topics or subjects of a bibliographic record. Conducting a subject search prompts an online search tool to find words and phrases that are listed only in the subject field of a bibliographic record. To search by subject, your search terms must be worded and formatted in the exact same way that they are listed in the records of online search tools. For example, to search for information on the subject Roman Art in the subject search field, you must enter the search terms Art, Roman in your online search tool or your search will yield no results. This is because Art, Roman is the universally accepted or standardized way to describe all works on the subject of Roman Art. Warning: Since subject headings are standardized terms, they have limitations for the everyday user. Searching by subject will greatly narrow your results. Searching by keyword is the best way to find relevant resources, especially when you begin searching for resources.

Lesson 9: Spelling, Abbreviations, and Acronyms Spelling Counts Unlike Google, library catalogs and some subscription databases do not automatically correct your spelling. A misspelled search term may incorrectly indicate that no resources on your topic exist. Double-check your spelling if your search yields no results. Abbreviations & Acronyms If your search term is an abbreviation or acronym, and your search yields no results, try spelling out your search term, and vice versa. For example, if the search term GPA yields no results, try Grade Point Average instead. Other examples:

EMT = Emergency Medical Technician NFPA = National Fire Protection Association NCLEX-RN = National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses

Search Tip: For comprehensive search results, search for both versions of the keyword