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INQS 125 Common Guide

Successful Research Steps

Steps in a Successful Research Process:

  1. Identify Your Topic - The topic is the idea that you are researching. Example: Affects of caffeine on a student memory.
  2. Gather Background Information -  Get a broad overview of the subject or topic. Encyclopedias, Dictionaries and websites can provide you with background information on your topic.This is important, because background sources give you the language that people are using to discuss your topic. You will use this language when you start to search databases for scholarly articles and resources on the topic. This "pre-research" also gives you a sense if your topic is focused enough. If your initial searches bring back so many results you can't even figure out what the language people are using to discuss your topic, then you should consider narrowing your topic. Remember, background information is always a starting point for research, not an ending point.
  3. Focus Your Research - Gather in-depth, focused information on the topic.
  4. Evaluate Your Sources - Does the author have authority on the topic? What are author's credentials? What is the purpose of the source? How will it impact your research?

 

Creating a Search Strategy: Keywords and Boolean Operators

Conducting research in the library catalog and databases is different than searching in Google. You'll want to follow these three steps:

 

1) Start with keyword(s) and/or phrase(s):  

How does caffeine affect the memory of college students? 

 

2) Brainstorm for related terms (Try using a Thesaurus to generate synonyms), and narrow your search results down.

 Even if a combination of words works well in one database, you may have to change keywords to find results in another database. 

Original Keyword:

Caffeine

Memory

College Students

Related terms:

Coffee, tea, soda, 

energy drinks

short term memory

long term memory

retention

university students

undergraduates

graduates

freshmen

seniors

 
 

 

 

 

Broad topic:How does caffeine affect the memory of college students? 

Narrow topic: How does coffee affect the short term memory of undergraduates?

Narrow topic: How do energy drinks affect the long term memory of college freshmen?

 

3) Add Boolean Operators AND, OR, NOT

You will need to capitalize  AND, OR, or NOT in order for them to work as Boolean operators in the library catalog: 

AND: Will narrow your search - (caffeine AND memory AND college students)

OR: Will broaden your search - (freshmen OR seniors) 

NOT: Will narrow your search - (undergraduates NOT graduates)