The Seven Steps of the Research Process
The following seven steps outline a simple and effective strategy for finding information for a research paper and documenting the sources you find. Adapt this outline to your needs.
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Step 1. Identify and develop your topic SUMMARY: State your topic as a question. For example, if you are interested in finding out how violence depicted in movies and on television affects young children, your might pose the question, "What effect does violence depicted in movies and on television have on the welfare of children?" Identify the main concepts or keywords in your question. |
Step 4: Use indexes to find periodical articles SUMMARY: Use periodical indexes to find citations in articles. You can find periodical articles by the searching GALILEO (Georgia Library Learning Online. Using GALILEO to find periodicals
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Step 2: Find background information SUMMARY: Look up your keywords in the indexes to subject encyclopedias. Read articles in these to set the context for your research. Additional information may be found in your class notes, textbooks, and other required readings. |
Step 5: Find Internet resources SUMMARY: Use search engines and subject directories to locate materials on the Web. |
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Step 3: Use catalogs to find books and media SUMMARY: Use keyword searching for a narrow or complex search topic. Use subject searching for a broad subject. When you pull a book from the shelf, scan the bibliography for additional sources. More detailed instructions for using the Griffin Technical College Library Online Catalog |
Step 6: Evaluate what you find SUMMARY: To learn how to evaluate websites, we recommend the Internet Detective website at http://www.vts.intute.ac.uk/detective/index.html |
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Step 7: Cite what you find using a standard format SUMMARY: Give credit where credit is due; cite your sources. Citing or documenting the sources used in your research serves two purposes, it gives proper credit to the authors of the materials used, and it allows those who are reading your work to duplicate your research and locate the sources that your have listed as references. Knowingly representing the work of others as your own is plagarism. Use either MLA style format or APA style format. Your instructor will tell you which style to use. APA and MLA styles handouts available online Use Noodle Tools to set up your works cited list in APA or MLA format... (See a librarian to establish your free student account.)
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