A brief overview of the research process.

1. Research: A multi-step process Develop a topic and research question Brainstorm a list of useful search terms Find information using online resources Evaluate what you find Use what you find

2. Before you begin… Brainstorm ideas: What are you interested in? What do you want to know more about? What aspects/subtopics of that topic exist?

3. Research Questions Turn general topic statement into a question Answer question by doing research! Questions should be specific, not too broad! Gives research and paper a focus

4. Research Questions Very Broad: Pollution Less Broad: River pollution Useful topic: River pollution and fish Research question: What effect does river pollution have on fish populations?

5. Identifying Keywords Research question: Is drug and alcohol abuse more likely to cause unemployment? Possible search terms: Drug abuse alcohol abuse unemployment Job loss alcoholism employment Substance abuse addiction

6. Next Step: Find Information! Popular: Magazines, newspapers, most of the internet (Google can find), some books Scholarly: Academic books, scholarly journals, some of the internet (Google can’t usually find) You will usually be expected to find scholarly sources

7. The Public Web Google and other search engines Evaluate all websites Use sites you trust Reliable scholarly information can be hard to find!

8. Scholarly Information Journals: different from magazines and newspapers Academic books Statistics Reference materials

9. What Babson Library can do for you Online access to the best scholarly and popular sources of information Research assistance from knowledgeable library staff Interlibrary Loan (finding and sending books and articles to you) Online tutorials, research guides, and more!