If you feel overwhelmed or confused how to start your research, follow the general research approach:
Planning the research can seem daunting, but in fact it saves time and effort:
Looking at general overview on a certain topic require sources that provide background information, such as historical background about an event, geographical background about a place, definition and descriptive information about a concept that is not common or well known.
Example of Background Information Sources:
Dictionary, thesaurus, atlas, encyclopedia, almanac, Who's Who, biographies, books, and sometimes even textbooks, handouts, etc.
Credibility
Such sources of background information are relatively credible, but it is always essential to evaluate any source consulted.
Usage
Mostly, background information is used in the introduction of essays and papers, but it can also be used in any other part provided it support the flow and structure of the text.
Popular Sources: unlike the name states, they are not called as such because they are famous or well-known sources, but because they can be created and accessed by anyone.
Example of Popular Sources:
Diaries, blogs, websites, reports, magazine and newspaper articles, social media posts, podcasts, vlogs, interviews, documentaries, talk shows, advertisements, Wikipedia, etc...
Credibility
The credibility of these sources varies depending on the authority behind them. For example, a governmental website is more credible than a commercial website. Many criteria are considered when evaluating a source, including but not limited to:
Usage
Information from these sources can be used in research papers as long as their credibility is well evaluated, and they are properly used as example, cases, opinions, rather than factual information (with some exceptions when proven).
Scholarly Sources are research/scientific articles written by professionals in the field. They discuss research in a particular academic, clinical or scientific field. Mostly they are published in specialized journals.
Examples of scholarly sources:
Journal of Leadership Studies, British Medical Journal, Journal of Higher Education, Journal of Asian History, Chemical Reviews, etc.
Credibility
They are considered highly credible sources, as they are authored by experts in the field, and most of the articles are now being peer-reviewed (reviewed by other professionals in the field before they are published) which ensures accuracy and reliability of the information disseminated.
Usage
Due to their credibility, information from these sources are highly used in other research papers, theses and dissertations and other academic papers. The information can be relied upon and might be used as factual information in several cases.
Primary sources are sources of information shared for the first time or original materials on which other research is based. Primary sources display original thinking, report on new discoveries, or share fresh information about an event/incident as they first take place without any interpretation or commentary.
Examples of Primary Sources:
Scholarly research-based journal articles, datasets, survey data, statistics, some governmental reports, conference proceedings, original artwork, poems, photographs, diaries, speeches, letters, memos, personal narratives, interviews, autobiographies, etc.
Secondary sources analyze, comment on, describe or explain primary sources. They would summarize, quote, interpret, or provide a layer of interpretation or perspective onto a primary source.
Examples of Secondary Sources:
Textbooks, edited works, books and scholarly or other articles that interpret or review research works, documentaries, critics, law reviews, political analyses and commentaries, etc.
Tertiary sources index, abstract, organize, compile information in primary and secondary sources with a purpose to list, summarize or reorganize ideas. They usually do not have a particular author.
Examples of Tertiary Sources:
Dictionary, encyclopedia (may also be secondary), almanacs, manuals, guidebooks, directories, Wikipedia, handbooks, and textbooks (may be secondary), indexes and bibliographies.
Boolean Operators (BO) in research are conjunction terms used to combine keywords in a certain logic to retrieve a specific set of results and refine a search, especially when using multiple keywords.
The most commonly used Boolean Operators are AND, OR and NOT.
In some databases, AND is implied and used as default operator between keywords without being inserted. For example, Google automatically puts an AND in between your search terms.
CAPITALIZE your Boolean Operators. Not all databases understand that you're using these terms as BO unless they are in capital letters.
AND: used to narrow down results to resources containing all keywords linked by the BO.
Example: Cloning AND Religion
OR: used to broaden the search results by retrieving resources containing one or more of the keywords connected. Usually used with two or more similar concepts (synonyms)
Example: Faith OR Religion
NOT: used to exclude from the results resources that contain the keyword used after it.
Example: Cloning NOT Religion
Search Order
AND is usually the first operator, and the database will connect keywords with AND first. When using both AND and OR operators in a search, enclose in parentheses the keywords to be "ORed" together.
Examples:
Religion AND (cloning OR reproduction)
(Faith OR Religion) AND (Reproduction OR Cloning)
In many databases you may use symbols to search for different forms of a word (plurals or different spellings).
Truncation
A symbol is added at the end of the root of a word to search for all forms of a word starting with this root. The most common truncation symbol is asterisk (*).
Example: child* retrieves child, children, childhood
Wildcards
A symbol replaces any character at the end of or within a word. The asterisk (*), pound symbol (#) and question mark (?) are usually used in databases. Check the database's help section or search tips to know which wildcard should be used.
You can use more than one wildcard to represent more than one character. Each wildcard represents 0 or 1 character.
Example: with a word: ne#t retrieves net OR neat OR next OR nest OR.
When you search using multiple keywords or sentences, and even if all your search terms are included in the results, they may not be be in the same order you entered them or even dispersed.
To search for sentences, quotes, or consecutives keywords in a certain order, use the phrase searching technique by adding quotation marks around the phrase. This way, the phrases and words will show up in the results as entered.
Examples:
Slogan: "I love my library"
Combining two concepts: "college students" AND "standardized tests".
Proximity operators allow you to specify that the words you are searching are within a certain proximity of each other. The symbols mostly used are w ("within") and n ("near"). Proximity search is not available in all databases.
P.S.: Each database provider has different proximity operators, you are encouraged to check their help section.
wx retrieves results using the keywords within x number of words from each other, in the order entered in the search.
Example: defense w4 education
nx retrieves results using the keywords within x number of words from each other, regardless of the order in which they occur.
Example: "climate change" n3 pollution will find the two search terms within 3 words of each other and in no specific order
Databases index their records using fields, such as Author, Title, Journal Title, Publication Date, Publisher, Subject, Abstract, etc...
You may limit your search by specifying the query to look into certain fields only.
Example: to search for a book by a particular author, limit your search query to the Author field.
The fields are usually available in the "Advanced Search" section of a database. Look for drop down boxes or menus to select the field you want to search. You may also combine several field searches (Author and Publication Date). You may also combine words and fields together with Boolean operators, if needed.
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