Research Help & Resources

Dive into research; we can help!

This page will teach you how to confidently and successfully conduct research in any of your classes.

Follow these Research Steps

1. Explore your topic

Exploring your topic is an important first step in the research process. Reading background information about a topic helps you learn important facts and become more familiar with the context and issues around your topic. Here are some tips you can follow:

Wikipedia or other articles on the web can provide a broad overview, but keep in mind that information on the Web is not always reliable.

News and magazine articles provide the most current information on a topic and editorials can give you an idea of the opposing sides of a topic.

As you explore a topic, try to find an aspect that is of interest to you on a personal level. That will make researching your topic much more interesting!

Things to consider

Choosing the right focus for a topic is also important! If your topic is too broad you will be overwhelmed with results and if your topic is too narrow you will have a hard time finding information.

You might have to tweak your topic based on the information you are finding. You might have to go through an exploratory cycle several times before you come up with a topic that will work well for your assignment.

2. Determine your focus/question

Steps to developing a research question

Choose an interesting general topic. Most professional researchers focus on topics they are genuinely interested in studying. Writers should choose a broad topic about which they genuinely would like to know more. An example of a general topic might be “Slavery in the American South” or “Films of the 1930s.”

Do some preliminary research on your general topic. Do a few quick searches in current periodicals and journals on your topic to see what’s already been done and to help you narrow your focus. What issues are scholars and researchers discussing, when it comes to your topic? What questions occur to you as you read these articles?

Consider your audience. For most college papers, your audience will be academic, but always keep your audience in mind when narrowing your topic and developing your question. Would that particular audience be interested in the question you are developing?

4. Start asking questions. Taking into consideration all of the above, start asking yourself open-ended “how” and “why” questions about your general topic. For example, “Why were slave narratives effective tools in working toward the abolishment of slavery?” or “How did the films of the 1930s reflect or respond to the conditions of the Great Depression?”

5. Evaluate your question. After you’ve put a question or even a couple of questions down on paper, evaluate these questions to determine whether they would be effective research questions or whether they need more revising and refining.

Is your research question clear? With so much research available on any given topic, research questions must be as clear as possible in order to be effective in helping the writer direct his or her research.

Is your research question focused? Research questions must be specific enough to be well covered in the space available.

Is your research question complex? Research questions should not be answerable with a simple “yes” or “no” or by easily-found facts. They should, instead, require both research and analysis on the part of the writer. They often begin with “How” or “Why.”

Still need some help? Use this tool from the University of Michigan Library to develop your research question.

3. Dive deeper & track info/sources

Find sources and take notes

Once you have a decent understanding of your topic (you should know the major who, what, where, when facts and details) it's time to find sources authored by experts to learn from. During this stage of research, it's extremely important to keep track of your sources and decide on a system for notetaking such as notecards. Click here for an online notes template.

4. Synthesize your findings

What steps do I need to take to reach synthesis?

To effectively synthesize the literature, you must first critically read the research on your topic. Then, you need to think about how all of the ideas and findings are connected. One great way to think about synthesis is to think about the authors of the research discussing the topic at a research conference. They would not individually share summaries of their research; rather, the conversation would be dynamic as they shared similarities and differences in their findings. As you write your paragraphs, focus on a back and forth conversation between the researchers.

Synthesizing

This is the fun step of the research process. Synthesize means you take all the information and you pull it together in one organized piece: a project, presentation, or report. This is the creation step where you make something out of your research. The best synthesis is when you can find a common element and connect the research.

How is synthesis different from summarizing?

When asked to synthesize sources and research, many writers start to summarize individual sources. However, this is not the same as synthesis. In a summary, you share the key points from an individual source and then move on and summarize another source. In synthesis, you need to combine the information from those multiple sources and add your own analysis of the literature. This means that each of your paragraphs will include multiple sources and citations, as well as your own ideas and voice.

Why do I need to include synthesis?

At the upper-division and graduate level, you are entering the scholarly conversation on advanced topics in your field of study. Because of this, you need to show that you understand and can integrate research on these topics in a unique way that adds to the conversation. By synthesizing research, you are showing that you can combine current information in your field of study and add a new interpretation or analysis of those sources.

What strategies can I use to synthesize my information?

The key to a good synthesis is to be organized as you’re researching and reading sources on your topic. One way to organize your research is to use a synthesis matrix. In this chart, you can record your sources and main ideas on the topic. When finished, it will provide a visual representation of your research and help you to see how sources are connected.

In addition to a matrix, as you critically read your sources, take note of the following:

Do any authors disagree with another author?
Does one author extend the research of another author?
Are the authors all in agreement?
Does any author raise new questions or ideas about the topic?

5. Cite your sources

MLA Works Cited: Electronic Sources (Web Publications)

The 8th edition of the MLA handbook highlights principles over prescriptive practices. Essentially, a writer will need to take note of primary elements in every source, such as author, title, etc. and then assort them in a general format. Thus, by using this methodology, a writer will be able to cite any source regardless of whether it’s included in this list. Find out more about using citing your sources on Purdue Wise Owl.

Need help citing? Check out this in-text citation flow chart!

Helpful Research Process Videos

Crash Course: Papers and Essays

Writing research papers is an essential skill in your career as a student, and this week we’re going to help you do that like a pro. From figuring out where to begin, to finding the best systems, to breaking out of “research recursion system” (maybe just figuring out what that means).

How to write a research paper for kids

If you have to write the traditional research paper, this video will help you through this process. Also, Ms. Thomas is just an email or chat away. So, schedule a time with her for one-on-one assistance.

Buck Institute for Education

This playlist on YouTube presents at least 33 videos from the Buck Institute for Education. Each video profiles an actual PBL unit. The Buck Institute for Education has some great resources for presentation: