The Research Process
This guide walks through some research strategies and points to resources, tools, and people that can help.
In This Section
In this section, you'll find:
In this section, you'll find:- Tips for choosing a topic, including
Research as Inquiry, Scholarship as Conversation
What are you curious about?
- What do you still have questions about?
- This might seem obvious, but your topic should interest you!
How can you contribute to the conversation?
- Are there gaps in existing research?
- Can you approach a topic from a new angle or perspective?
Picking a topic is research, too!
This video (3 minutes) describes the process of choosing and testing out a topic. See more tips below the video, too!
Video posted on YouTube by North Carolina State University Libraries under a Creative Commons 3.0 BY-NC-SA US license.
Do Some Background Reading
Reference sources are a great place to start when you're trying to choose or narrow a topic.
They'll help you learn the language of the topic you're interested in, and help you gather:
- basic facts or established information on your topic
- key concepts, terms, and people
- related topics, and more places to search
Try these general reference sources to get started, and check out our Research Guides for subject-specific reference works.
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Credo Reference This link opens in a new window
An online collection of over 600 full-text reference works, including encyclopedias, dictionaries, and more. -
Gale Virtual Reference Library This link opens in a new window
A collection of over 3,000 reference works, covering all disciplines. -
Encyclopaedia Britannica This link opens in a new windowOver 72,000 articles from the encyclopedia and Britannica Book of the Year. Over 10,000 illustrations, including photographs, drawings, maps, flags and more. Includes Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary with over 75,000 definitions and pronunciation guides. Continuously revised.
TIP:
A reference source summarizes facts and concepts on a topic and provides useful background information. Reference sources include dictionaries and encyclopedias.
Brainstorm Keywords
Use some basic questions to help you brainstorm keywords, or search terms, for your topic.
| WHO |
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| WHAT |
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| WHEN |
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| WHERE |
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| HOW |
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| WHY |
|
When you have a list of keywords, take a second pass through it and try to come up with synonyms or related terms.
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