Research Fears: Home

For this exercise, your group will select and explore one of the provided research questions. You are not attempting to answer the question in this brief exercise--this is only your initial descent into the terrifying depths of academic research. Rather, the focus is exploration of topic using scholarly research tools.
 

Examine the list of questions. Discuss which ones might interest you. Listen to everyone's input. If you can't decide, take a vote. Alternatively, a megalomaniac group member can seize power and unilaterally declare which question to choose.

Talk about the question and develop a search strategy. What search terms/keywords will you use? How will you format your search? What search techniques will you use? Write down your initial keywords and test out your search in Onesearch (the main search box directly beneath the library tower photographs). Do not use any other databases, search engines, or any other tools.  

Analyze the search results. Read article titles. Read book titles. Read abstracts and book descriptions. There is no need and no time to try and read entire articles or book chapters. Look at subject terms in the metadata of the records. Talk to one another. Write down what you tried, how well it worked, what you changed, etc. Use the questions below to guide you:

• Did your initial set of results seem relevant to the research question or some part of the question? Why or why not? 
• Did you encounter any new concepts, terminology, or approaches to the question that caused you to rethink and revise your search? Did you decide to remove any search terms and replace them with others? Did you use the advanced search? Set any search limits? What other changes did you make to your search? 
• Did the changes improve the relevancy of the results? Why or why not? 

It's OK if you aren't sure about the quality and relevancy of your results or if you don't like your answers to the questions above. Uncertainty is a huge part of research, especially the initial exploration. After all, we don't ask research questions that we already have answers for.

Once your group is reasonably satisfied with the results of your searches (or has collapsed in despair), choose two sources to share with the class and tell us why you chose them. I will likely pose a question or two to you about your group's approach.

The sources you choose can be any type of information found in Onesearch, not just journal articles or books. For instance, you might choose a news article or a government document. Those types of sources are often more approachable and easier to tackle than highly technical scholarly sources. 

Don't worry if your sources don't seem perfect or even if you feel like you struck out completely. Research is tricky.