This document outlines the research process, beginning with asking a question, brainstorming related terms, searching for background information, defining a search strategy, evaluating results, and potentially repeating the process with new questions. It discusses primary and secondary sources and provides examples. Key steps include narrowing the research topic, determining where relevant information can be found, and assessing if search results answer the question. The goal is an iterative process of discovering new questions to further understanding.
3. Ask a Question
Research starts with Curiosity
What do you want to know?
May start with a general question
Ex. What would life have been like for a young woman immigrating to
New York from Ireland during the Great Famine?
5. Brainstorm Related Terms and
Ideas
Pick out the key ideas in your
topic/question
Try to think of synonyms or
alternate phrasing
List any related terms
(broader/narrower) you can
think of
Ireland | Irish | Éire | Gaelic |
County Cork, etc.
Great Famine | Potato
Famine | an Gorta Mór (“the
Great Hunger”) | an
Drochshaol (“the bad life”)
New York | Ellis Island | Five
Points
Immigration | Emigration
1845 – 1852
7. Initial Search for Background
Information
Read for general information on your topic
Identify gaps in your existing knowledge
Narrow and focus your research
Sources
Encyclopedias and other Reference Books
Skim a Book on the general topic
Web Search
9. Define a Search Strategy
Articulate what you need to know
Determine where/how you are most likely to find it
If you don’t know, ASK!
10. Types of Information Sources
Primary Sources
Information in its original form when it first appears
Secondary Sources
Restates, rearranges, examines, or interprets information from one or more
primary sources
Tertiary Sources
Leads you to secondary sources
11. Primary Sources
Has not been published anywhere else or put into a context, interpreted, filtered,
condensed, or evaluated by anyone else
Examples
A speech, lecture, or presentation
Writing by the witnesses of an event, person, or place
Newspaper articles
A diary or journal
Letters, correspondence, or transcribed conversations
Artwork, poetry, and other artistic expressions
An original scientific study
Historical documents or publications
The U.S. Constitution
12. Secondary Sources
Has been removed from its original source and repackaged
Examples
Notes or summary of a speech, lecture, or presentation
Book or journal article analyzing an historical person or event and attempting
to put it in context
Critic’s response to artwork, poetry, and other artistic expressions
Encyclopedia article on a topic
Newspaper article reporting on a scientific study published elsewhere
May also lead you to primary information
Bibliography or index of primary sources
13. Tertiary Sources
Commonly used to identify and locate secondary sources
Examples
Bibliography of critical works about a person, period, work, or other topic
Index to secondary sources
Index to journal, magazine, or newspaper articles
Library catalog
18. Evaluate Your Results
Did you find an answer to your research question?
Yes – Is the answer useful for your research project?
Fact vs. Opinion
Sufficient detail?
No – Re-evaluate your search strategy and try something different
19. Repeat?
Research is an iterative
process
Finding the answer to
your initial question may
raise new, more
interesting questions
Ask a
Question
Brainstorm
Background
Information
Search
Evaluate
Results
20. Ask a Question
Original Question
What would life have been like
for a young woman immigrating
to New York from Ireland during
the Great Famine?
Focus and Narrow
What would have been popular
or common knowledge?
Stories and Tales
Flowers
Clothes
Occupations