Research FAQs

The Research Process for Writing a Paper

1. Identify your topic. 

   1. What is your assignment? Does your teacher want you to research a specific topic or do you have some choices to make about what you want to look into?

   2. Pose your topic as a question. A good research question is open-ended, specific, and focused. You should be able to obtain enough information to answer your question in a paper. A good research question is NOT overly speculative, a yes-or-no question, or broad.

      1. Good research question: "How did the invention of the iPhone change how teenagers talk about their mental health?" This is a question we can answer with multiple examples based on research. There are studies and books available about this topic. 

      2. Poor research question: "Would the Revolutionary War outcome have changed if Tiktok existed back then?" This question cannot be answered. It is speculative and we cannot look up any information to answer it.

2. Do a preliminary search. 

   1. Is there enough information out there to answer your research question? If not, don't be afraid to change your question to get more specific or more broad.

   2. Identify key words in your research question and do some basic searches, both on the web and in a database. If you don't get much, see if you can choose different key words, adjust your question slightly, or rephrase it. 

3. Locate materials. 

   1. Now you can start choosing sources. Explore physical books, reference materials, and online sources about your topic. If a lot of your research is online, keep a document with links to your sources so you can go back quickly later. 

4. Evaluate your sources. 

   1. Assess the quality of your sources by using the CRAAP Test. Use factors of Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, and Purpose. 

      1. Currency - how recently was this published? For quickly changing fields such as medicine or technology, more recent might be more helpful. For other fields such as history, you may want a date far in the past if you are looking for primary sources.  

      2. Relevance - does this material relate to your question? Is it at a high school level, or too easy or difficult? Who is the intended audience?

      3. Authority - who created the source? Are they qualified to do so based on their credentials? What else have they written? Are they sponsored by any sort of organization?

      4. Accuracy - where does this information come from? Is the source heavily biased? Has it been peer-reviewed? How is the grammar, spelling, and tone, and what can that tell us? Can you verify the information with another source?

      5. Purpose - is this source meant to inform, persuade, sell, or entertain? How opinionated is this source? Is it propaganda? Does it acknowledge other points of view? Are there political, religious, ideological, or cultural biases heavily present?

5. Make some notes. 

   1. As you read through your sources, write down helpful quotes on a notecard or Google Doc. Be sure to note where the information is coming from so you can cite it later. 

6. Write a rough draft. 

   1. Time to organize your thoughts and notes! Start with your introduction to present your research question. Use several paragraphs to explain your answer with supporting information, then conclude. Some writers like starting with an outline, while others prefer to just write. Do what works for you, or what your teacher recommends if the assignment needs it.

7. Cite your sources properly. 

   1. Most high school papers use MLA format, but ask your teacher for confirmation! If you skip this step, it is plagiarism. 

   2. Citing has two steps - in-text citations, and a works cited page. 

      1. In-text citations include a brief note at the end of a sentence with an author's name and sometimes a page number. 

      2. A works cited page will have all of your sources listed, with specific formatting. See the Citations page for help. 

8. Proofread. 

   1. Rough drafts are allowed to be rough! Final drafts should be more polished. Check to be sure that your paper is free of grammatical and structural errors, your information is cited properly, and the writing flows well.

      1. Ask a friend or family member to proofread your paper. They can find things you miss. 

      2. Read your paper out loud. This will help you with punctuation by showing you where natural pauses might be.