Research Guides: Professor McCarthy ENL109; ENL110 Foundations of Library Research: Set Up Your Search Strategy

Analyze Your Research Needs

Ask yourself these essential questions:
- What do you know about the information requirements of your assignment? How many sources will you need to find?
  - I am writing a 2-3 page paper. (Look for 2-3 sources)
  - I am writing a 6-8 page paper. (Look for 8-10 sources)
  - I am writing a 15-20 page research paper. (Look for 15+ sources)
  - I am writing an Honors Thesis. (Look for 30+ sources)
- What do you need to find about your topic? This shapes which articles and books you select to read.
  - I just need a brief overview.
  - I need to find recent criticisms of a literary work.
  - I need to find out what people do in a career I am thinking about.
  - I need to research common writing problems.
  - I need to find out about current political and news events.
- What types of information sources does your professor expect you to find? Does your assignment ask for specific types of sources?
  - A book related to my topic
    - A popular or a scholarly book?
  - An article related to my topic
    - A news article?
    - An article from a general interest magazine like Time or Newsweek?
    - An article from a "scholarly, peer-reviewed journal"?
    - An article published within the past 1-2 years
    - An article published within the past 5 years
    - An article published anytime - could be over 20 years old
  - A web site about my topic?
    - A web site created by a subject expert?
    - A web site from a professional association?

Ask yourself these essential questions:
- What is your topic/subject?
  - How would you describe what you are looking for about your topic?
  - For example, suppose your topic is "Black Lives Matter"
    - What do you want to say about Black Lives Matter in your paper?
      - What Black Lives Matter is
        
        an activist movement
        
        a philosophy
        
        a sequence of historical events
      - Goals of Black Lives Matter
      - Strategies of Black Lives Matter
      - Who is involved with Black Lives Matter
      - Comparing the Black Lives Matter movement with Civil Rights movements in the 1960s

For example:

Brainstorm about your topic to get some ideas of what you might want to write about in your paper:
"Global Warming Brainstorm" by Richard Scott 33 is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0