Getting Started
Select Resources/Source Types Most Appropriate for the Information Need.
For Example:
| Information Need | Source Types |
|---|---|
| Current information on political issues | Current Newspapers & Magazines |
| Background info in order to develop a question for a research project | Reference, Wikipedia, Topic Overview Videos (Crash Course) |
| Current research on solar and wind power | Academic Journals/Original Research & Government Websites/Docs |
| Information to help make an argument about the impact of U.S. westward expansion on indigenous people | Primary Sources from the time, Academic Journal Articles by historians, & Books on the topic |
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 |
Topic Shop in the New York Times and other newspapers.
- Search "sociology" or any other topic that has interested you in class.
- Scroll through the articles in your search results to get ideas.
- Many articles will link to the original studies being discussed.
Topic Shop in CQ Researcher and SIRS Issues Researcher
- Browse issues you know are related to sociology.
- Browse newspaper and magazine articles within those issues.
More Places to Topic Shop (Recommended by Your Sociology Teacher):
Topic Shop in Wikipedia & Google.
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- For example: Sociology of Gender
- Do basic Google searches on anything that has interested you in sociology class.
- Find news articles, organization websites, government websites, and wikipedia to help formulate a question.
- After conducting background research, determine what aspect of your topic to investigate.
- Consider the mystery, debate, or controversies.
- What interests you?
- Use question starters to help create a question:
- Who
- What
- Why
- When
- Where
- How
- To what extent
- Put your question through some tests:
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Answerable but not obvious?
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Open? (not yes or no answer)
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Simple? (not multiple questions in one)
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Debatable? (multiple perspectives)
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Judgement or evaluation needed?
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Narrow and focused enough?
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- You will eventually develop sub-questions that support your primary question.
- EXAMPLE:
- Main question: Was Harry Truman justified in dropping the atomic bomb?
- Sub question: How extensive was the damage and loss of life in Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
- ****The sub question still answers the primary question.****
- EXAMPLE: