BIOL 201: Tools for Research

Where and when information is published is important to your research.  Scholarly, peer-reviewed articles take longer to published than a newspaper article.

• You can use your research assignment, textbook, your instructor, your classmates, The Daily Show, or even your social media feed to help generate ideas that will lead to an appropriate and engaging topic. 
• You can browse the Libraries’ reference resources, journals, magazines, or newspapers to help you identify a topic.  The Forest Grove Campus Library has a browsing area of magazines, including Time, Ebony, Wired, Mother Jones, and Rolling Stone; as well as numerous newspapers, including The Oregonian and The New York Times.  
• Before you start your research, it can help to do a bit of prewriting. Ask yourself what you are interested in, what matters to you.
• Jot down any words, significant names, phrases, or subjects that will help you get started.
• You can ask yourself prompting questions: What do I think about X? What do I want to know more about? How does X affect me? What do I already know about X?
• At this point, your topics might be general; general topics include domestic violence, World War II, eating disorders, smoking, sharks, or diseases.
• However, it is likely your instructor, your course readings, and/or class discussions will have already presented many possible topics to choose from. 

By turning your research topic into a question, you focus in on what you want to research. The research question will also help define your search term(s) before beginning the search. You can do this step as you begin your actual research or after you have done some preliminary investigation on your topic.

Once you have a basic idea of what information you would like to find, it is important to become a little more specific. Ask yourself questions like these:

Once you have an idea of what information you want to find, it is important to generate more specific questions like:

• • Do I need brief information or something more involved?
  • What specifically about this topic is important to me?
  • What would I like to learn about this topic?
  • What do I need to find that will help support my position?

An important aspect of doing research is being flexible and willing to change your research topic should you discover a new focus, find a lack of information, or run out of time.