Basic Research

Research is a process that is messy and can be time-consuming. If you are having a hard time, don't beat yourself up- even the best researchers make mistakes and get hung up from time to time. But by being organized and planning out your research strategy, you can save yourself from hitting your head against the wall. For this reason, we are going to do some simple brainstorming and planning before we even start looking for articles.

One way to approach research is to understand that it is a problem-solving process. You have a problem (a research question) that needs to be solved (by finding information). Most often, your research question will be part of a class assignment.

The very first thing you should do is look closely at the assignment.

A common mistake is to start your research before having a clear understanding of what you are looking for and how you are going to use it. Take a look at the sample assignment below to see how you can break down what you need to be successful with the assignment.

Do you have an assignment you're working on? Go ahead and look at the requirements and try to identify the different particulars that you need to pay attention to. Write them out in a list or highlight them.

Don't have an assignment but want to play along? Look at the assignment above and think about what you might want to research and write about if you were in this class.

Move on to the next page, where we'll look at the process of choosing a topic. It's not as simple as it seems, but it also isn't as daunting as most people think.