Research Strategies Dr. Ramchandran Sethuraman Long Beach City College The ideas for the Powerpoint presentation are drawn and used with permission from the CSU system

Defining your research topic  Use critical thinking skills  State your topic as a question  Identify concepts  If necessary, narrow or broaden your topic

Stating your topic as a question  Enables you to clarify and focus on topic  Topic: drinking and driving * How does drinking affect driving? * What are the laws on drinking and driving? * What are the statistics on drinking and driving?

Identify Concepts  Once you have stated your topic as a question, you need to identify the main concepts in the question  Do this by picking out the significant terms in your question.....

Significant Terms/Concepts > How does drinking affect driving? > What are the laws on drinking and driving? > What are the statistics on drinking and driving? Italics indicate the key concepts

Related Terms for Concepts  Make a list of related terms and synonyms  This may provide additional terms to use when searching for information  It may also suggest ways to narrow or broaden your topic  Example: rabbit/bunny)

Listing related terms

Narrowing or Broadening Topic  Finding too much or too little information may mean that you have to narrow or broaden your topic  Examples follow on next slides....

Narrowing the Topic  To narrow a topic, try adding some concrete or specific terms to your question * What are California’s laws on drinking and driving? * What are the statistics on teenage drinking and driving? Once you have formulated a new question, repeat the process of picking out significant terms and making a list of synonyms and related terms

Broadening the Topic  To broaden a topic, try selecting terms that are more general * How does substance abuse affect driving? Once you have formulated a new question, repeat the process of picking out significant terms and making a list of synonyms and related terms

Information needed depends on the assignment!  What type of assignment is it?  How much information do you need?  Is currency an issue?  Particular type of publication?....  Do you need to use primary sources?  Information in a particular format?  Is point of view an issue?

What type of assignment is it? Assignments can vary:  Short oral presentation  Critiques  Summaries  Short essays  Term papers/projects

How much information do you need? Once you have answered the previous question (nature of the assignment) you will have a good idea of how much information you need. Some assignments can be completed by studying brief summaries or overviews - others require more comprehensive information.

Currency?  Some assignments require you to use the most current information.  Others require you to find historical and/or information over a period of time.  Yet others require you to find both (current and retroscpective).

Type of Information  Some assignments may require you to use scholarly or professional journals.  Depending on the topic you may need to consult government information, business sources, trade journals etc.  Some others may actually want you to consult popular journals  And lets not forget books!

Do you need to use primary sources?  Most cases you will use secondary sources (books and articles).  In some cases you may be required to use primary sources (diaries, interviews, letters or raw data).

Do you need information in a particular format? In addition to print materials, your assignment may require you to use other kinds of sources such as:  Numeric sources (statistics)  Electronic sources (the Web, computer files, listservs)  Visual (art slides, maps etc.)  Audio sources (audio tapes)

Is Point of View an issue?  For debates, argumentative essays you may need to find information that presents a particular point of view, opposing points of view or a range of viewpoints.

Summary  You have learned the process of choosing, defining and refining a research topic  You have learned that it is an iterative (repetitive) process  You have learned how to analyze your given topic to determine the amount and type of information you need to gather.  You are now ready to put these skills into action!

Good strategy ensures that you reach your research goals successfully!