So you have a topic to research, and maybe you have a rough draft of a research question you really like (at the very least, you have 5 possible research questions!). Let’s try a run at looking for information about this topic/question.
On 10/22, we looked over that “fake news” research question to try to find some sources to try to address that question. Below is the same list of bullet points for you to try out with your research topic/question.
- For your research question, what is the best approach to address it? What sort of field of study (e.g., history, psychology, economics, cultural or literary studies, rhetorical studies, marketing, sociology, environmental studies, urban planning, engineering)?
- What sort of evidence is preferred for that field of study?
- What ways of finding information would give you the highest quality evidence to research your topic? (e.g. library databases like Academic Search Complete or JSTOR or EBSCOHost or the Newman Library’s main search engine, internet search engines like Google or Bing, specialized versions of internet search engines like Google Scholar, specific academic journals that you know will have information on your topic, sites with access to image/audio/video–see here for more on that). It can be good to try multiple places to search because each search method will produce different results. If you are not sure where to start, just pick one. You can pick the ones provided (e.g., Academic Search Complete, JSTOR, Google Scholar) or you can explore the databases page on the Newman Library page)
- The place to start for most of this is the Newman Library main page. You can use main search bar but also click “Databases” on right side of page to browse options to look for information.
- Contacting a librarian about places to look for information can always be really helpful. You will learn a ton because they are smart people who specialize in doing exactly what you are just learning to do: find and evaluate information. You can schedule a research consultation here.
- Thinking about how to search is important by using quotation marks to search for full phrases or Boolean operators (E.g., AND, OR, NOT) to help filter things out is a big help. More information on how to search on this LM3 page.
- Wikipedia is fine–just see what they cite and grab those sources instead!
- Popular vs. academic sources–academic sources nearly (but not always) always more reliable. Check web address like “.com” vs. “.edu” or “.org”. Something with “.com” or “.net” might not always be as reliable (just have to do more digging).
- Do you need any primary sources or just secondary sources? Primary sources are the original data talked about–e.g., your Rhetorical Analysis was analyzing a specific text, that specific text was a primary source. Secondary sources talk about data, so you citing a study of college students about learning styles would be secondary since you are not analyzing their data but their analysis of their data.
- Worth collecting your own primary evidence (experiments, making observations, interview people, surveys, personal experience)? If so, how will you go about doing that?
After going through these bullets and trying most (if not all of them) for one of your 5 research questions from last page, comment below with the following in regard to that research question:
- what academic discipline or disciplines would help you address your topic/question?
- what kinds of evidence would best address this question? (go back to the readings due for last class on 10/22 to remind yourself of different kinds of evidence)
- name 2 ways of finding information that you will use–like specific ones not just “the internet” or “a search engine.”
- name 2 keywords and/or phrases that are relevant to searching for information for your topic/phrase
After commenting below, click the button below to continue the module:
Research Question- How has the psychological health of the youth been affected by the development of social media and technology in the last five years?
I will be focusing on the psychology field to find some studies about evidence that social can have negative effects and some positive ones as well.
The best evidence for this would be to possibly even ask some friends to tell me about their experiences and how they themselves have been changed in any way.
Two ways i will find information will be through the Newman Library database which I have already begun to explore. I will also look through different experiments dealing with social media comparing people with different amounts of usage to see any clear differences
KEYWORDS- psychological, mental health, depression, influence
1. I will research the economic political implications of Art of War.
2. In regards to evidence, I think the most appropriate ones include historical evidence, which can come from applications of the text by political or economic leaders in history.
3. I will be referencing books that I will get from the library, as well as JSTOR.
4. “Art of War in business,” “Art of war in politics.” I could narrow them down by adding a particular country or time in history.
1. The American history and even the Black American History field would help me address my subject
2. I believe the evidence of protocols and laws put into place will help. Also, statistics on incarceration and policing at the time.
3. Two ways of finding information is through magazine or new articles at the time or documents about the time
4. two keywords are “war on drugs policies” and “black war on drugs”
1. Movie critics and outside opinions would help me answer the question
2. Feelings and opinions on the topic
3. Critics reviews, news articles
4. “James Bond” “Attracting the attention of an audience”
1. Understanding basic economics and the stock market will be helpful for my topic
2. Since my topic is pretty rececent, I will need to use the internet
3. Articles from professional economists, and Stock analysis articles
4. “March 2020” “Stock Market” “Crash”
1. Psychology, possibly neurology
2. The best type of evidence would be a peer-reviewed journal that focuses on the subject of interest.
3. Google schoolar and the Newman library search engine
4. Bilingual, learn, student, monolingual.
1. I believe that the fields of Psychology and Black American history would allow me to answer the question in the best way possible.
2. The best evidence, in this case, would involve information obtained from scholarly journals that focus on the topic.
3. I will utilize the Newman Library database and JSTOR.
4. The main keywords are “Microaggression” AND “Racism.”
1. I think data and evidence that environmentalists have collected based on human impact, can help me in my writing.
2. I think it will be important for me to use evidence from databases and scholarly websites.
3. I will read science and environmental articles in newspapers, and look under databases with filters in regard to human impact on environment
4. Environment, Human impact on earth
1) Students experiences and their opinions of both public school and homeschooled students.
2) Experiences, opinions, and statistics from testing and students’ mental health.
3) Newman Library Database, Charts, Interviews could all be beneficial.
4) Homeschool, Public School, Academic Success.
1. The medical field would probably be the best place to start. I found many studies related to COVID-19, Zika, Ebola, Yellow Fever, etc.
2. I think data-backed research would be the most convincing. But I might also look into accounts from qualified experts.
3. Google Scholar and Microsoft Academic.
4. I could narrow it down by referencing specific social media.
1. The discipline of public policy would help me understand the funding and the plans of the government in regard to the National Mall.
2. Federal landscape reports and reports on funding.
3. Newman Library Database and LOC
4. “Structure of National Mall DC” and “Public funding DC”