Intro to Psych - Research Project

• 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:

  • Answerable but not obvious?

  • Open? (not yes or no answer)

  • Simple?  (not multiple questions in one)

  • Debatable? (multiple perspectives)

  • Judgement or evaluation needed?

  • Narrow and focused enough?

• 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.****

1. State your research question/topic

   • EXAMPLE: "How do cigarette companies target children with their advertising?"

2. Identify main concepts:

   • EXAMPLE:  "How do cigarette companies target children with their advertising?"

3. Brainstorm synonyms, related terms, broader terms, scientific/technical terms, and more specific terms based on your own background knowledge:

   • EXAMPLE:

     • Cigarette companies:  Philip Morris, Camel, Imperial

     • Children:  child, adolescent, teen, teenager, students, youth

     • Advertising:  ads, marketing, commercials, promotions, product placement

4. Avoid the following:

   • Abbreviations - spell them out

   • Relationship words - words like compare, contrast, causation, etc.

   • Judgement words - words like best, worst, pro, con, etc.

5. If needed, search Wikipedia and other reference sources to further develop your list of keywords.

Select Resources/Source Types Most Appropriate for the Information Need.

For Example: