Transcript Conducting Research - Dakota State University

Basic Research Skills
Created by Deana Hueners
For DSU Composition Students
Conducting Research
What is your
goal in
conducting
research?
Not just to find information—
but to find good and reliable
information!
How Do You Find Quality Material?
Select information that is edited or peer-reviewed
When possible, select articles from “refereed
journals”
•Using search tools that only include these
types of materials will maximize your
results and save you time
Quality Search Tools
•Quality search tools are not free; however, most
libraries subscribe to or buy on-line access to
these “information services” and offer them to
their patrons
•Information services offer access to databases
of materials that have been edited or refereed
Common Information Services
Offers Academic, Reference,
Business and Health databases.
Provides citations and full-text
articles.
Provides Current News,
Business, Legal and Medical
databases. Provides full-text
articles.
Provides a searchable database of
over 8000 magazines, journals,
and newspapers. Offers citations,
full-text articles and images.
Provides access to a number
of databases. Offers mostly
citations.
Allows searches of numerous
library catalogs; magazine,
business, and education
indexes; of Library of
Congress materials; and
several South Dakota
newspapers.
5 Steps to Information Success
1. Define the research problem.
2. Develop a strategy to solve the problem.
3. Locate the information.
4. Engage the information and extract what you
find useful.
5. Integrate the information from various sources
in order to solve your problem.
Step 1: Define the Problem
Figure out what information you need to find based
on the assignment requirements and intended
audience. For help in narrowing an unlimited topic
area, choose a broad topic and them limit it by:
•Reading overview sources such as encyclopedias
•Scan titles in indexes for ideas
•Examine a book/textbook index for ideas
Step 2: Strategize a Solution
•What type of sources will your project require?
•Overview?
•Definitions?
•In-depth information?
•Addresses or business
information?
•Current information?
•Facts and statistics?
•Non-textual materials?
Step 2: Strategize a Solution
Decide on the quality of information you need.
Five Main Types of Magazines/Journals
1.
2.
3.
Scholarly
Technical/trade
Substantial
news
4.
5.
Popular
Sensational
Step 2: Strategize a Solution
How do you find the information you desire?
•Use the library catalog (SDLN) to find out what
the library subscribes to.
•Use periodical indexes (information services) to
find articles.
•Use Internet search engines to find information
on the web.
Step 3:Seek & Evaluate the
Information
Use the online library information services to search
for “key words”.
If you aren’t sure where to start, ask the librarian for
assistance. Note—each library may offer different
services, so always check the library catalog when you
are new to a library.
Step 3:Seek & Evaluate the
Information
Questions to consider:
Is the information you’re finding . . .
• The right content?
• The right quality?
• The right time
Are youperiod?
using . . .
•The right sources?
•The right keywords?
•The right tools?
Step 4: Use & Evaluate
Information
Use the Info:
Evaluate the Info:
Read it
Take notes
Listen to it
Take citations
View it
Determine whether it is
information you need.
Step 5: Synthesize the
Information
Integrate the information
collected from various
sources to answer your
research question. This is
the key component to
producing a quality
research paper.
Talking to Computer Databases
1. Create a list of “Keywords”
2. Familiarize yourself with “Boolean
Operators”
3. Consider “Proximity”
4. Put “Wildcards” to use
Boolean Operators
AND – tells a system that both terms are required.
Censorship and music
OR– tells a system that either one word or the other
are required.
Farms or ranches
NOT– tells a system to find one word but not if it
is with the other word.
Guns not hunting
Proximity
Phrase Searching allows you to tell a system to
search for words in the order given. Different
systems provide different methods, so check the
search instructions for the information service you
are working with.
Gender w bias
“Gender bias”
Wildcards
Wildcard characters allow you to search for “root
words”. Each system’s wildcard character may differ.
Educat#
Educat*
* Or # will produce matches for educator, education,
educate, or educational.
Evaluating Web Sources
The End
last updated 9/14/99