So you have a topic to research, and maybe you have a rough draft of a research question. Let’s try a run at looking for information about this topic/question.

On 3/22, we looked over that “fake news” research question to try to find some sources to try to address that question. (see also reading from textbook due that day)

In Learning Module 7, we talked about moving toward a proposal for your topic, things to think about when evaluating sources, and using questions to help choose sources. (see also readings from textbook due that day).

On 4/5 we used stasis theory as a way to narrow down a possible research question to ask, and, finally, on Monday (4/12) we related research questions to disciplines of knowledge and connected that to writing practices in regard to citation.

Below is a 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? How do you know?
• 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 page under “Finding Texts.”
• 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 specific texts, those specific texts were primary sources. 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?

Task

After going through these bullets, comment below with the following in regard to your topic/question:

1. what academic discipline or disciplines would help you address your topic/question?
2. what kinds of evidence would best address this question? (go back to the readings due so far and past lessons/modules linked above to remind yourself of different kinds of evidence)
3. name 2 ways of finding information that you will use–like specific ones not just “the internet” or “a search engine.”
4. 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: