Prepare
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State your research question/topic
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EXAMPLE: "How do cigarette companies target children with their advertising?"
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Identify main concepts:
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EXAMPLE: "How do cigarette companies target children with their advertising?"
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Brainstorm synonyms, related terms, broader terms, scientific/technical terms, and more specific terms based on your own background knowledge:
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EXAMPLE:
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Cigarette companies: Philip Morris, Camel, Imperial
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Children: child, adolescent, teen, teenager, students, youth
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Advertising: ads, marketing, commercials, promotions, product placement
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Avoid the following:
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Abbreviations - spell them out
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Relationship words - words like compare, contrast, causation, etc.
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Judgement words - words like best, worst, pro, con, etc.
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If needed, search Wikipedia and other reference sources to further develop your list of keywords.
Science
| Primary Source | Secondary Source |
| DEFINITION: A document that fully describes original research written by those that conducted that original research. | DEFINITION: A document that contains commentary, interpretation, and/or analysis of original research. |
| EX: Academic journal article where researchers describe their own research and experimentation regarding enzymes in bovine liver. European Journal of Biochemistry | EX: Popular magazine blog post that comments on multiple studies regarding the impact of sleep on regulating emotions. Psychology Today |
Humanities
| Primary Source | Secondary Source |
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DEFINITION: a document, image, or artifact that provides us with evidence about the past. (Also called a direct source.) |
DEFINITION: A document that contains commentary, interpretation, and/or analysis of a primary source(s). |
| EX: the "I Have a Dream" speech by Martin Luther King Jr, | EX: an academic journal article analyzing King's speech. |
Examples of Primary and Secondary Sources
| Primary Sources | Secondary Sources |
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